Isaiah 44:13
New International Version
The carpenter 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, human form in all its glory, that it may dwell in a shrine.

New Living Translation
Then the wood-carver measures a block of wood and draws a pattern on it. He works with chisel and plane and carves it into a human figure. He gives it human beauty and puts it in a little shrine.

English Standard Version
The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house.

Berean Standard Bible
The woodworker extends a measuring line; he marks it out with a stylus; he shapes it with chisels and outlines it with a compass. He fashions it in the likeness of man, like man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine.

King James Bible
The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.

New King James Version
The craftsman stretches out his rule, He marks one out with chalk; He fashions it with a plane, He marks it out with the compass, And makes it like the figure of a man, According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house.

New American Standard Bible
The craftsman of wood extends a measuring line; he outlines it with a marker. He works it with carving knives and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of mankind, so that it may sit in a house.

NASB 1995
Another shapes wood, he extends a measuring line; he outlines it with red chalk. He works it with planes and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of man, so that it may sit in a house.

NASB 1977
Another shapes wood, he extends a measuring line; he outlines it with red chalk. He works it with planes, and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of man, so that it may sit in a house.

Legacy Standard Bible
Another crafts wood, he extends a measuring line; he outlines it with a stylus. He makes it with planes and outlines it with a compass and makes it like the form of a man, like the glory of man, so that it may sit in a house.

Amplified Bible
The carpenter stretches out a measuring line, he marks out the shape [of the idol] with red chalk; he works it with planes and outlines it with the compass; and he makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of man, that it may sit in a house.

Christian Standard Bible
The woodworker stretches out a measuring line, he outlines it with a stylus; he shapes it with chisels and outlines it with a compass. He makes it according to a human form, like a beautiful person, to dwell in a temple.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
The woodworker stretches out a measuring line, he outlines it with a stylus; he shapes it with chisels and outlines it with a compass. He makes it according to a human likeness, like a beautiful person, to dwell in a temple.

American Standard Version
The carpenter stretcheth out a line; he marketh it out with a pencil; he shapeth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compasses, and shapeth it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
The carpenter chooses wood and he measures it, and he fastens it with glue, and he carves it and he makes it in the likeness of a man, according to the beauty of a son of man

Brenton Septuagint Translation
The artificer having chosen a piece of wood, marks it out with a rule, and fits it with glue, and makes it as the form of a man, and as the beauty of a man, to set it up in the house.

Contemporary English Version
Some woodcarver measures a piece of wood, then draws an outline. The idol is carefully carved with each detail exact. At last it looks like a person and is placed in a temple.

Douay-Rheims Bible
The carpenter hath stretched out his rule, he hath formed it with a plane: he hath made it with corners, and hath fashioned it round with the compass: and he hath made the image of a man as it were a beautiful man dwelling in a house.

English Revised Version
The carpenter stretcheth out a line; he marketh it out with a pencil; he shapeth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compasses, and shapeth it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, to dwell in the house.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Carpenters measure blocks of wood with [chalk] lines. They mark them with pens. They carve them with chisels and mark them with compasses. They carve them into forms of people, beautiful people, so the idols can live in shrines.

Good News Translation
The carpenter measures the wood. He outlines a figure with chalk, carves it out with his tools, and makes it in the form of a man, a handsome human figure, to be placed in his house.

International Standard Version
The carpenter measures it with a line; he traces its shape with a stylus, then fashions it with planes and shapes it with a compass. He makes the idol like a human figure, with human beauty, to be at home in a shrine.

JPS Tanakh 1917
The carpenter stretcheth out a line; He marketh it out with a pencil; He fitteth it with planes, And he marketh it out with the compasses, And maketh it after the figure of a man, According to the beauty of a man, to dwell in the house.

Literal Standard Version
He has worked [with] wood, | He has stretched out a rule, | He marks it out with a line, | He makes it with carving tools, | And he marks it out with a compass, | And makes it according to the form of a man, | According to the beauty of a man, | To remain in the house.

Majority Standard Bible
The woodworker extends a measuring line; he marks it out with a stylus; he shapes it with chisels and outlines it with a compass. He fashions it in the likeness of man, like man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine.

New American Bible
The woodworker stretches a line, and marks out a shape with a stylus. He shapes it with scraping tools, with a compass measures it off, Making it the copy of a man, human display, enthroned in a shrine.

NET Bible
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.

New Revised Standard Version
The carpenter stretches a line, marks it out with a stylus, fashions it with planes, and marks it with a compass; he makes it in human form, with human beauty, to be set up in a shrine.

New Heart English Bible
The carpenter stretches out a line. He marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes. He marks it out with compasses, and shapes it like the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to reside in a house.

Webster's Bible Translation
The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.

World English Bible
The carpenter stretches out a line. He marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes. He marks it out with compasses, and shapes it like the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to reside in a house.

Young's Literal Translation
He hath wrought with wood, He hath stretched out a rule, He doth mark it out with a line, He maketh it with carving tools, And with a compass he marketh it out, And maketh it according to the form of a man, According to the beauty of a man, To remain in the house.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The LORD has Chosen Israel
12The blacksmith takes a tool and labors over the coals; he fashions an idol with hammers and forges it with his strong arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he fails to drink water and grows faint. 13The woodworker extends a measuring line; he marks it out with a stylus; he shapes it with chisels and outlines it with a compass. He fashions it in the likeness of man, like man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine. 14He cuts down cedars or retrieves a cypress or oak. He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a laurel, and the rain makes it grow.…

Cross References
Judges 17:4
So he returned the silver to his mother, and she took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to a silversmith, who made them into a graven image and a molten idol. And they were placed in the house of Micah.

Judges 17:5
Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.

Psalm 115:5
They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see;

Isaiah 41:7
The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and he who wields the hammer cheers him who strikes the anvil, saying of the welding, "It is good." He nails it down so it will not be toppled.

Isaiah 44:14
He cuts down cedars or retrieves a cypress or oak. He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a laurel, and the rain makes it grow.

Ezekiel 8:10
So I went in and looked, and engraved all around the wall was every kind of crawling creature and detestable beast, along with all the idols of the house of Israel.

Ezekiel 8:11
Before them stood seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.


Treasury of Scripture

The carpenter stretches out his rule; he marks it out with a line; he fits it with planes, and he marks it out with the compass, and makes it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.

he marketh

Exodus 20:4,5
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: …

Deuteronomy 4:16-18,28
Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, …

Acts 17:29
Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.

that it may

Genesis 31:19,30,32
And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's…

Genesis 35:2
Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:

Deuteronomy 27:15
Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.

Jump to Previous
Beauty Carpenter Circles Compass Dwell Extends Figure Gives Glory House Instrument Line Maketh Making Marker Marketh Marks Measures Measuring Outline Outlines Plane Red Reside Rule Shapes Stretches Stretcheth Wood Woodworker
Jump to Next
Beauty Carpenter Circles Compass Dwell Extends Figure Gives Glory House Instrument Line Maketh Making Marker Marketh Marks Measures Measuring Outline Outlines Plane Red Reside Rule Shapes Stretches Stretcheth Wood Woodworker
Isaiah 44
1. God comforts the church with his promises
7. The vanity of idols
9. And folly of idol makers
21. He exhorts to praise God for his redemption and omnipotence














(13) The carpenter.--The wooden idol comes next. First there is the rough measurement with the "rule;" then the artificer draws the outline of the figure in red chalk. "Plane" and "compasses" come in to make the form more definite. The human figure is complete; then there is the artist's final touch to add the element of beauty; and so it is ready for the "house," or temple.

Verse 13. - The carpenter, etc. When the smith has done his part in the formation of tools, the carpenter is called into action. His proceedings are traced "extragressively." (Delitzsch). First, he is regarded as in possession of his block of wood. On this he proceeds to stretch out his rule, to obtain the idol's length and breadth. Then he marks out on the block a rough outline with red chalk (sered). After this he pares away the superfluous wood with planes, or chisels, and marks out the limbs more accurately with the compass, planing and measuring until he has brought the rough block into the figure of a man, and impressed on it something of the beauty of a man, so that it may seem worthy of remaining in the place where it is set up, whether temple or private house. But there is something necessarily anterior to all this. To obtain his block, the carpenter must first cut down a tree, or have one cut down for him (ver. 14); to obtain a tree, he (or some one for him) must have planted it; for the tree to have grown to a fitting size, the rain must have watered it. So the very existence of these wooden idols depends ultimately on whether it has rained or not - i.e., whether God has given his rain or withheld it.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
The woodworker
חָרַ֣שׁ (ḥā·raš)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 2790: To cut in, engrave, plow, devise

extends
נָ֣טָה (nā·ṭāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5186: To stretch out, spread out, extend, incline, bend

a measuring line;
קָו֒ (qāw)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6957: A cord, for, measuring, a rule, a rim, a musical string, accord

he marks it out
יְתָאֲרֵ֣הוּ (yə·ṯā·’ă·rê·hū)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person masculine singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's 8388: Taanath-shiloh -- probably to incline

with a stylus;
בַשֶּׂ֔רֶד (ḇaś·śe·reḏ)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 8279: A, scribing-awl

he shapes
יַעֲשֵׂ֙הוּ֙ (ya·‘ă·śê·hū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

it with chisels
בַּמַּקְצֻע֔וֹת (bam·maq·ṣu·‘ō·wṯ)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 4741: A scraper, a carving chisel

and outlines
יְתָאֳרֵ֑הוּ (yə·ṯā·’o·rê·hū)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - third person masculine singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's 8388: Taanath-shiloh -- probably to incline

it with a compass.
וּבַמְּחוּגָ֖ה (ū·ḇam·mə·ḥū·ḡāh)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 4230: An instrument for, marking a, circle, compasses

He fashions it
וַֽיַּעֲשֵׂ֙הוּ֙ (way·ya·‘ă·śê·hū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

in the likeness
כְּתַבְנִ֣ית (kə·ṯaḇ·nîṯ)
Preposition-k | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 8403: Structure, a model, resemblance

of man,
אִ֔ישׁ (’îš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

like man
אָדָ֖ם (’ā·ḏām)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 120: Ruddy, a human being

in all his glory,
כְּתִפְאֶ֥רֶת (kə·ṯip̄·’e·reṯ)
Preposition-k | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 8597: Beauty, glory

that it may dwell
לָשֶׁ֥בֶת (lā·še·ḇeṯ)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

in a shrine.
בָּֽיִת׃ (bā·yiṯ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1004: A house


Links
Isaiah 44:13 NIV
Isaiah 44:13 NLT
Isaiah 44:13 ESV
Isaiah 44:13 NASB
Isaiah 44:13 KJV

Isaiah 44:13 BibleApps.com
Isaiah 44:13 Biblia Paralela
Isaiah 44:13 Chinese Bible
Isaiah 44:13 French Bible
Isaiah 44:13 Catholic Bible

OT Prophets: Isaiah 44:13 The carpenter stretches out a line (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 44:12
Top of Page
Top of Page