Isaiah 40:20-22
Lexham English Bible
20 The one who is too impoverished for a gift chooses wood that will not rot;
he seeks a skillful artisan for himself to set up an image that will not be knocked over.
21 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told to you from the beginning?[a]
Have you not understood from the foundation of the earth?
22 He is the one who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
the one who stretches out the heavens like a veil
and spreads them out like a tent to live in,
Footnotes
- Isaiah 40:21 Literally “head”
Isaiah 40:20-22
King James Version
20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.
21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
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Isaiah 40:20-22
English Standard Version
20 (A)He who is too impoverished for an offering
chooses wood[a] that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsman
to set up an idol that will not move.
21 (B)Do you not know? Do you not hear?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are (C)like grasshoppers;
(D)who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
Footnotes
- Isaiah 40:20 Or He chooses valuable wood
Isaiah 40:20-22
New King James Version
20 Whoever is too impoverished for such [a]a contribution
Chooses a tree that will not rot;
He seeks for himself a skillful workman
(A)To prepare a carved image that will not totter.
21 (B)Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who (C)stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a (D)tent to dwell in.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 40:20 an offering
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The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

