Isaiah 44:13

¹¹ Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are only human. Let them all assemble and take their stand; they will all be brought to terror and shame.

¹² The 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.

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.

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.

¹⁵ It serves as fuel for man. He takes some of it to warm himself, and he kindles a fire and bakes his bread; he even fashions it into a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it.

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: 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.
KJV: 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.
WEB: 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.
ASV: 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.
DARBY: The worker in wood stretcheth out a line; he marketh it out with red chalk; he formeth it with sharp tools, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of man: that it may remain in the house.
BLB: The craftsman of wood stretches out the measuring-line; he traces it with the stylus, he fashions it with the chisel, and he marks it out with the compass; he makes it like the figure of a man, like the splendor of mankind, that it may dwell in a house.

ÅB: Treskjæreren spenner ut en målesnor, risser av med en stift, arbeider treet med en kniv og risser av med passer, og han lager det til som bildet av en mann, som en prektig menneskeskikkelse, til å bo i et hus.
OTB: Tømreren strekker en linje og lager en skisse med en markør; han grovformer det med meisler og merker det med passer. Han former det i menneskelig form, menneskelig form i all sin skjønnhet, for å bo i et helligdom.
B1930: Treskjæreren spenner ut en målesnor, risser av med en stift, arbeider treet med en kniv og risser av med passer, og han lager det til som billedet av en mann, som en prektig menneskeskikkelse, til å bo i et hus.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Judges 17:4–5
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.
Read in context
Deuteronomy 4:16–18
that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female,
Read in context
Psalms 115:5–7
They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see;
Read in context
Romans 1:23
and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Read in context
Acts 17:29
Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.
Read in context
Genesis 35:2
So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your garments.
Read in context
Judges 18:24
He replied, “You took the gods I had made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’”
Read in context
Ezekiel 8:12
“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? For they are saying, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’”
Read in context