Idols and the Living God

¹Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. ²Thus says the Lord:

“Learn not the way of the nations,

nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens

because the nations are dismayed at them,

³ffor the customs of the peoples are vanity.1

gA tree from the forest is cut down

and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.

⁴hThey decorate it with silver and gold;

ithey fasten it with hammer and nails

so that it cannot move.

⁵Their idols2 are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,

and jthey cannot speak;

kthey have to be carried,

for they cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of them,

lfor they cannot do evil,

neither is it in them to do good.”

⁶mThere is none like you, O Lord;

you are great, and your name is great in might.

⁷nWho would not fear you, O King of the nations?

For this is your due;

for among all the wise ones of the nations

and in all their kingdoms

there is none like you.

⁸oThey are both pstupid and foolish;

the instruction of idols is but wood!

⁹qBeaten silver is brought from rTarshish,

and gold from sUphaz.

qThey are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;

their clothing is violet and purple;

tthey are all the work of skilled men.

¹⁰uBut the Lord is the true God;

vhe is the living God and the everlasting King.

At his wrath the earth quakes,

and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

¹¹Thus shall you say to them: w“The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth xshall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”3

¹²yIt is he who zmade the earth by his power,

zwho established the world by his wisdom,

and aby his understanding stretched out the heavens.

¹³bWhen he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,

cand he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.

cHe makes lightning dfor the rain,

cand he brings forth the wind efrom his storehouses.

¹⁴fEvery man is stupid and without knowledge;

gevery goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,

for his images are false,

hand there is no breath in them.

¹⁵They are worthless, a work of delusion;

at the time of their punishment they shall perish.

¹⁶Not like these is he who is ithe portion of Jacob,

for he is the one who formed all things,

jand Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;

kthe Lord of hosts is his name.

¹⁷lGather up your bundle from the ground,

O you who dwell under siege!

¹⁸For thus says the Lord:

m“Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land

at this time,

nand I will bring distress on them,

that they may feel it.”

¹⁹Woe is me because of my hurt!

oMy wound is grievous.

But I said, “Truly this is an affliction,

and I must bear it.”

²⁰pMy tent is destroyed,

and all my cords are broken;

my children have gone from me,

qand they are not;

there is no one to spread my tent again

and pto set up my curtains.

²¹rFor the shepherds sare stupid

and do not inquire of the Lord;

therefore they have not prospered,

tand all their flock is scattered.

²²A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!—

ua great commotion out of the north country

to make vthe cities of Judah a desolation,

va lair of jackals.

²³wI know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself,

that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.

²⁴xCorrect me, O Lord, but in justice;

not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.

²⁵yPour out your wrath on the nations that know you not,

and on the peoples that call not on your name,

zfor they have devoured Jacob;

they have devoured him and consumed him,

and have laid waste his habitation.