1 Hear what the LORD says to you, O house of Israel. |
2 This is what the LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them. |
3 For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. |
4 They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. |
5 Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good." |
6 No one is like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. |
7 Who should not revere you, O King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you. |
8 They are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols. |
9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. What the craftsman and goldsmith have made is then dressed in blue and purple--all made by skilled workers. |
10 But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath. |
11 "Tell them this: 'These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.'" |
12 But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. |
13 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. |
14 Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. His images are a fraud; they have no breath in them. |
15 They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish. |
16 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the tribe of his inheritance--the LORD Almighty is his name. |
17 Gather up your belongings to leave the land, you who live under siege. |
18 For this is what the LORD says: "At this time I will hurl out those who live in this land; I will bring distress on them so that they may be captured." |
19 Woe to me because of my injury! My wound is incurable! Yet I said to myself, "This is my sickness, and I must endure it." |
20 My tent is destroyed; all its ropes are snapped. My sons are gone from me and are no more; no one is left now to pitch my tent or to set up my shelter. |
21 The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of the LORD; so they do not prosper and all their flock is scattered. |
22 Listen! The report is coming--a great commotion from the land of the north! It will make the towns of Judah desolate, a haunt of jackals. |
23 I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps. |
24 Correct me, LORD, but only with justice--not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing. |
25 Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the peoples who do not call on your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him completely and destroyed his homeland. |