Johnny Cash - Jesus Was a Carpenter: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "Jesus Was a Carpenter" on your guitar with our chord guide. This page provides everything you need to perform this song on the guitar, including lyrics integrated with chords, chord diagrams, and a key transposer to match your vocal range.

For easier playing, use our Simplify Chords feature to remove difficult chords like barre.

G#           G#7             C#                       D#7
Jesus was a carpenter and he worked with a saw and a hammer
         G#                G#7          C#              D#7
And his hands could form a table true enough to stand forever
        G#                  C#              G#             D#7
And he might have spun his life out in the coolness of the mornings
       G#             C#           D#                 C#
But he put aside his tools and he walked the burning highways
    G#                 A#                D#7
To build a house from folks like you and me

And he found them as they wandered through the wild Judean mountains
And he found them as they pulled their nets upon the Sea of Galilee
And for a thousand evenings while the day behind him emptied
He walked among the poor and he stopped to touch the dying
And he built his house from people just like these

It was on a shining Sunday when he rode to old Jerusalem
And the palms they cast before him were the crimes they laid against him
It was on a storming Friday when he climbed the streets of Calvary
And where he died today why they're sellin' beads and postcards
And they tell us too that that was long ago

But would he stand today upon the sands of California
Or walk the sweating blacktop in New York and Mississippi
Where the mighty churches rise above the screaming cities
Would he be a guest on Sunday a vagrant on a Monday
With the doors locked tight against his kind you know

Come again now Jesus be a carpenter among us
There are chapels in our discontent cathedrals in our sorrows
And we dwell in golden mansions with the sand for our foundations
And the raging water's rising and the thunder's all around us
Won't you come and build a house on rock again

Jesus was a carpenter and he worked with a sow and a hammer
And his hands could form a table true enough to stand forever
And he might have spun his life out in the coolness of the mornings
But he put aside his tools and he walked the burning highways
To build a house from folks like you and me


You can simplify chords by removing barre

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Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

A#

Guitar chord A#

C#

Guitar chord C#

D#

Guitar chord D#

D#7

Guitar chord D#7

G#

Guitar chord G#

G#7

Guitar chord G#7

Here you can see detailed diagrams for each guitar chord used in the song. Utilize our key transposer to adjust the chords to a key that better fits your singing range. Simply select the desired key, and the chords throughout this page will update automatically, ensuring you can play and sing comfortably.

If you are also interested in learning how to play "Jesus Was a Carpenter" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "Jesus Was a Carpenter" by Johnny Cash.

Johnny Cash Song List