Catholic Public Domain Version
"He has chosen strong wood that will not decay. The skillful artisan seeks a way to set up an idol that cannot be moved. "
— Isaiah 40:20, Catholic Public Domain Version
“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.”
“He that is too impoverished for such an oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a skilful workman to set up a graven image, that shall not be moved. ”
“He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot. He seeks a skillful workman to set up an engraved image for him that will not be moved.”
“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.”
“He hath chosen strong wood, and that will not rot: the skilful workman seeketh how he may set up an idol that may not be moved.”
“The wise workman makes selection of the mulberry-tree of the offering, a wood which will not become soft; so that the image may be fixed to it and not be moved.”
“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.”
All the nations in his sight are as if they did not exist, and they are considered by him as if they were nothingness and emptiness.
Therefore, to whom would you liken God? Or with what image would you replace him?
Should the workman cast a statue? Or has the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver?
He has chosen strong wood that will not decay. The skillful artisan seeks a way to set up an idol that cannot be moved.
Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been announced to you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundations of the earth?
He is the One who sits upon the globe of the earth, and its inhabitants are like locusts. He extends the heavens as if they were nothing, and he spreads them out like a tent, in which to dwell.
He has brought those who examine what is secret to nothingness. He has brought the judges of the earth to emptiness.