Isaiah 40:20

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot; he then seeks a skilled craftsman to make an idol that will not fall over.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • 1 Sam 5:3-4 : 3 When the residents of Ashdod got up early the next day, Dagon was lying on the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set him back in his place. 4 But when they got up early the following day, Dagon was again lying on the ground before the ark of the LORD. The head of Dagon and his two hands were sheared off and were lying at the threshold. Only Dagon’s body was left intact.
  • Isa 41:7 : 7 The craftsman encourages the metalsmith, the one who wields the hammer encourages the one who pounds on the anvil. He approves the quality of the welding, and nails it down so it won’t fall over.”
  • Isa 46:7 : 7 They put it on their shoulder and carry it; they put it in its place and it just stands there; it does not move from its place. Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply; it does not deliver him from his distress.
  • Jer 10:3-4 : 3 For the religion of these people is worthless. They cut down a tree in the forest, and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools. 4 He decorates it with overlays of silver and gold. He uses hammer and nails to fasten it together so that it will not fall over.
  • Dan 5:23 : 23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone– gods that cannot see or hear or comprehend! But you have not glorified the God who has in his control your very breath and all your ways!
  • Isa 2:8-9 : 8 Their land is full of worthless idols; they worship the product of their own hands, what their own fingers have fashioned. 9 Men bow down to them in homage, they lie flat on the ground in worship. Don’t spare them!
  • Isa 44:13-19 : 13 A carpenter takes measurements; he marks out an outline of its form; he scrapes it with chisels, and marks it with a compass. He patterns it after the human form, like a well-built human being, and puts it in a shrine. 14 He cuts down cedars and acquires a cypress or an oak. He gets trees from the forest; he plants a cedar and the rain makes it grow. 15 A man uses it to make a fire; he takes some of it and warms himself. Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire– over that half he cooks meat; he roasts a meal and fills himself. Yes, he warms himself and says,‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’ 17 With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships it. He prays to it, saying,‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’ 18 They do not comprehend or understand, for their eyes are blind and cannot see; their minds do not discern. 19 No one thinks to himself, nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves:‘I burned half of it in the fire– yes, I baked bread over the coals; I roasted meat and ate it. With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol? Should I bow down to dry wood?’

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Isa 40:18-19
    2 verses
    81%

    18To whom can you compare God? To what image can you liken him?

    19A craftsman casts an idol; a metalsmith overlays it with gold and forges silver chains for it.

  • Isa 44:9-12
    4 verses
    78%

    9All who form idols are nothing; the things in which they delight are worthless. Their witnesses cannot see; they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame.

    10Who forms a god and casts an idol that will prove worthless?

    11Look, all his associates will be put to shame; the craftsmen are mere humans. Let them all assemble and take their stand! They will panic and be put to shame.

    12A blacksmith works with his tool and forges metal over the coals. He forms it with hammers; he makes it with his strong arm. He gets hungry and loses his energy; he drinks no water and gets tired.

  • Hab 2:18-19
    2 verses
    76%

    18What good is an idol? Why would a craftsman make it? What good is a metal image that gives misleading oracles? Why would its creator place his trust in it and make such mute, worthless things?

    19Woe to the one who says to wood,‘Wake up!’– he who says to speechless stone,‘Awake!’ Can it give reliable guidance? It is overlaid with gold and silver; it has no life’s breath inside it.

  • Isa 44:17
    76%

    17With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships it. He prays to it, saying,‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’

  • Jer 10:3-4
    2 verses
    75%

    3For the religion of these people is worthless. They cut down a tree in the forest, and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools.

    4He decorates it with overlays of silver and gold. He uses hammer and nails to fasten it together so that it will not fall over.

  • Isa 44:14-15
    2 verses
    75%

    14He cuts down cedars and acquires a cypress or an oak. He gets trees from the forest; he plants a cedar and the rain makes it grow.

    15A man uses it to make a fire; he takes some of it and warms himself. Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it.

  • Isa 46:6-7
    2 verses
    73%

    6Those who empty out gold from a purse and weigh out silver on the scale hire a metalsmith, who makes it into a god. They then bow down and worship it.

    7They put it on their shoulder and carry it; they put it in its place and it just stands there; it does not move from its place. Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply; it does not deliver him from his distress.

  • Jer 51:17-18
    2 verses
    73%

    17All idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made. For the image he forges is merely a sham. There is no breath in any of those idols.

    18They are worthless, objects to be ridiculed. When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.

  • Jer 10:14
    73%

    14All these idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made. For the image he forges is merely a sham. There is no breath in any of those idols.

  • Isa 17:8
    73%

    8They will no longer trust in the altars their hands made, or depend on the Asherah poles and incense altars their fingers made.

  • Isa 2:8
    72%

    8Their land is full of worthless idols; they worship the product of their own hands, what their own fingers have fashioned.

  • Isa 44:19-20
    2 verses
    71%

    19No one thinks to himself, nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves:‘I burned half of it in the fire– yes, I baked bread over the coals; I roasted meat and ate it. With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol? Should I bow down to dry wood?’

    20He feeds on ashes; his deceived mind misleads him. He cannot rescue himself, nor does he say,‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’

  • Ps 135:15
    71%

    15The nations’ idols are made of silver and gold, they are man-made.

  • Isa 45:20
    71%

    20Gather together and come! Approach together, you refugees from the nations! Those who carry wooden idols know nothing, those who pray to a god that cannot deliver.

  • Ps 135:18
    71%

    18Those who make them will end up like them, as will everyone who trusts in them.

  • Deut 4:28
    71%

    28There you will worship gods made by human hands– wood and stone that can neither see, hear, eat, nor smell.

  • Ps 115:8
    71%

    8Those who make them will end up like them, as will everyone who trusts in them.

  • Jer 16:20
    71%

    20Can people make their own gods? No, what they make are not gods at all.”

  • Ps 115:4
    70%

    4Their idols are made of silver and gold– they are man-made.

  • Ezek 20:32
    70%

    32“‘What you plan will never happen. You say,“We will be like the nations, like the clans of the lands, who serve gods of wood and stone.”

  • Ezek 15:3-4
    2 verses
    70%

    3Can wood be taken from it to make anything useful? Or can anyone make a peg from it to hang things on?

    4No! It is thrown in the fire for fuel; when the fire has burned up both ends of it and it is charred in the middle, will it be useful for anything?

  • Ps 52:7
    70%

    7“Look, here is the man who would not make God his protector! He trusted in his great wealth and was confident about his plans to destroy others.”

  • Jer 10:8
    70%

    8The people of those nations are both stupid and foolish. Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless!

  • Isa 41:24
    69%

    24Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent; the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting.

  • Isa 10:15
    69%

    15Does an ax exalt itself over the one who wields it, or a saw magnify itself over the one who cuts with it? As if a scepter should brandish the one who raises it, or a staff should lift up what is not made of wood!

  • Exod 35:33
    69%

    33and in cutting stones for their setting, and in cutting wood, to do work in every artistic craft.

  • Isa 41:7
    69%

    7The craftsman encourages the metalsmith, the one who wields the hammer encourages the one who pounds on the anvil. He approves the quality of the welding, and nails it down so it won’t fall over.”

  • Deut 27:15
    69%

    15‘Cursed is the one who makes a carved or metal image– something abhorrent to the LORD, the work of the craftsman– and sets it up in a secret place.’ Then all the people will say,‘Amen!’

  • Isa 2:20
    69%

    20At that time men will throw their silver and gold idols, which they made for themselves to worship, into the caves where rodents and bats live,

  • Isa 31:7
    69%

    7For at that time everyone will get rid of the silver and gold idols your hands sinfully made.

  • Hos 10:1
    68%

    1Israel is Guilty of Fertility Cult Worship Israel was a fertile vine that yielded fruit. As his fruit multiplied, he multiplied altars to Baal. As his land prospered, they adorned the fertility pillars.

  • Isa 40:21
    68%

    21Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told to you since the very beginning? Have you not understood from the time the earth’s foundations were made?

  • Prov 28:19
    68%

    19The one who works his land will be satisfied with food, but whoever chases daydreams will have his fill of poverty.

  • 1 Chr 29:5
    68%

    5for gold and silver items, and for all the work of the craftsmen. Who else wants to contribute to the LORD today?”

  • Ezek 7:20
    68%

    20They rendered the beauty of his ornaments into pride, and with it they made their abominable images– their detestable idols. Therefore I will render it filthy to them.

  • Exod 31:4
    68%

    4to make artistic designs for work with gold, with silver, and with bronze,

  • Isa 27:11
    68%

    11When its branches get brittle, they break; women come and use them for kindling. For these people lack understanding, therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them; the one who formed them has no mercy on them.

  • Prov 13:7
    68%

    7There is one who pretends to be rich and yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor and yet possesses great wealth.

  • Isa 27:9
    68%

    9So in this way Jacob’s sin will be forgiven, and this is how they will show they are finished sinning: They will make all the stones of the altars like crushed limestone, and the Asherah poles and the incense altars will no longer stand.