Parallel Verses

Youngs Literal Translation

For the statutes of the peoples are vanity, For a tree from a forest hath one cut, Work of the hands of an artificer, with an axe,

New American Standard Bible

For the customs of the peoples are delusion;
Because it is wood cut from the forest,
The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.

King James Version

For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

Holman Bible

for the customs of the peoples are worthless.
Someone cuts down a tree from the forest;
it is worked by the hands of a craftsman with a chisel.

International Standard Version

For the practices of the people are worthless. Indeed, a tree is cut down from the forest; it's the work of the hands of a craftsman with an ax.

A Conservative Version

For the customs of the peoples are vanity. For [a man] cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.

American Standard Version

For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.

Amplified


For the customs and decrees of the peoples are [mere] delusion [exercises in futility];
It is only wood which one cuts from the forest [to make a god],
The work of the hands of the craftsman with the axe or cutting tool.

Bible in Basic English

For that which is feared by the people is foolish: it is the work of the hands of the workman; for a tree is cut down by him out of the woods with his axe.

Darby Translation

For the statutes of the peoples are vanity; for it is a tree cut out of the forest, worked with a chisel by the hands of the artizan;

Julia Smith Translation

For the laws of the peoples, this vanity: for they cut down a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.

King James 2000

For the customs of the people are vain: for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

Lexham Expanded Bible

For the statutes of the peoples [are] vanity, for it [is] a tree cut down from [the] forest, [the] work of [the] hands of a craftsman with the tool.

Modern King James verseion

For the customs of the people are vain; for one cuts a tree out of the forest with the axe, the work of the hands of the workman.

Modern Spelling Tyndale-Coverdale

Yea all the customs and laws of the Gentiles are nothing but vanity. They hew down a tree in the wood with the hands of the workman, and fashion it with the axe;

NET Bible

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.

New Heart English Bible

For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.

The Emphasized Bible

For as for the prescribed customs of the peoples, vanity, they are, - For a tree out of the forest, one cutteth down, Work for the hands of a skilled workman with the axe:

Webster

For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.

World English Bible

For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.

Interlinear

English(KJV)
Strong's
Root Form
Definition
Usage
For the customs
חקּה 
Chuqqah 
Usage: 104

of the people
עם 
`am 
Usage: 1867

הבל הבל 
hebel 
Usage: 73

כּרת 
Karath 
Usage: 287

a tree
עץ 
`ets 
Usage: 329

out of the forest
יער 
Ya`ar 
Usage: 58

the work
מעשׂה 
Ma`aseh 
Usage: 234

of the hands
יד 
Yad 
Usage: 1612

of the workman
חרשׁ 
Charash 
Usage: 37

References

Easton

Axe

Fausets

Hastings

Morish

Context Readings

False Gods Contrasted With The Creator

2 Thus said Jehovah: Unto the way of the nations accustom not yourselves, And by the signs of the heavens be not affrighted, For the nations are affrighted by them. 3 For the statutes of the peoples are vanity, For a tree from a forest hath one cut, Work of the hands of an artificer, with an axe, 4 With silver and with gold they beautify it, With nails and with hammers they fix it, And it doth not stumble.



Cross References

Isaiah 44:9-20

Framers of a graven image are all of them emptiness, And their desirable things do not profit, And their own witnesses they are, They see not, nor know, that they may be ashamed.

Isaiah 45:20

Be gathered, and come in, Come nigh together, ye escaped of the nations, They have not known, Who are lifting up the wood of their graven image, And praying unto a god that saveth not.

Leviticus 18:30

and ye have kept My charge, so as not to do any of the abominable statutes which have been done before you, and ye do not defile yourselves with them; I am Jehovah your God.'

1 Kings 18:26-28

And they take the bullock that one gave to them, and prepare, and call in the name of Baal from the morning even till the noon, saying, 'O Baal, answer us!' and there is no voice, and there is none answering; and they leap on the altar that one had made.

Isaiah 40:19-31

The graven image poured out hath a artisan, And a refiner with gold spreadeth it over, And chains of silver he is refining.

Jeremiah 2:5

Thus said Jehovah: What -- have your fathers found in Me perversity, That they have gone far off from Me, And go after the vanity, and become vain,

Jeremiah 10:8

And in one they are brutish and foolish, An instruction of vanities is the tree itself.

Hosea 8:4-6

They have made kings, and not by Me, They have made princes, and I have not known, Their silver and their gold they have made to them idols, So that they are cut off.

Habakkuk 2:18-19

What profit hath a graven image given That its former hath graven it? A molten image and teacher of falsehood, That trusted hath the former on his own formation -- to make dumb idols?

Matthew 6:7

And -- praying -- ye may not use vain repetitions like the nations, for they think that in their much speaking they shall be heard,

Romans 1:21

because, having known God they did not glorify Him as God, nor gave thanks, but were made vain in their reasonings, and their unintelligent heart was darkened,

1 Peter 1:18

having known that, not with corruptible things -- silver or gold -- were ye redeemed from your foolish behaviour delivered by fathers,

King James Version Public Domain

Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers.

International Standard Version Copyright © 1996-2008 by the ISV Foundation.

New American Standard Bible Copyright ©1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org

American Standard Version Public Domain

NET Bible copyright © 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. NetBible

Basic English, produced by Mr C. K. Ogden of the Orthological Institute - public domain