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18 (A)To whom can God be compared?
    How can you describe what he is like?
19 He is not like an idol that workers make,
    that metalworkers cover with gold
    and set in a base of silver.
20 (B)Anyone who cannot afford silver or gold[a]
    chooses wood that will not rot.
He finds a skillful worker
    to make an image that won't fall down.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 40:20 Verses 19-20a in Hebrew are unclear.

18 With whom, then, will you compare God?(A)
    To what image(B) will you liken him?
19 As for an idol,(C) a metalworker casts it,
    and a goldsmith(D) overlays it with gold(E)
    and fashions silver chains for it.
20 A person too poor to present such an offering
    selects wood(F) that will not rot;
they look for a skilled worker
    to set up an idol(G) that will not topple.(H)

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