1 Hear what the LORD says to you, O house of Israel. |
2 This is what the LORD says: |
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.' "1 10:11 The text of this verse is in Aramaic. |
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. |
