13 The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil.[a] He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. (A)He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. 14 (B)He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 44:13 Hebrew stylus

13 The carpenter(A) measures with a line
    and makes an outline with a marker;
he roughs it out with chisels
    and marks it with compasses.
He shapes it in human form,(B)
    human form in all its glory,
    that it may dwell in a shrine.(C)
14 He cut down cedars,
    or perhaps took a cypress or oak.
He let it grow among the trees of the forest,
    or planted a pine,(D) and the rain made it grow.

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