Idols and the Living God
Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus 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,
3 afor the customs of the peoples are vanity.
bA tree from the forest is cut down
and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
4 aThey decorate it with silver and gold;
bthey fasten it with hammer and nails
so that it cannot move.
5 Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
and athey cannot speak;
bthey have to be carried,
for they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
cfor they cannot do evil,
neither is it in them to do good.”
6 aThere is none like you, O Lord;
you are great, and your name is great in might.
7 aWho 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.
8 aThey are both bstupid and foolish;
the instruction of idols is but wood!
9 aBeaten silver is brought from bTarshish,
and gold from cUphaz.
aThey are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;
their clothing is violet and purple;
dthey are all the work of skilled men.
10 aBut the Lord is the true God;
bhe is the living God and the everlasting King.
At his wrath the earth quakes,
and the nations cannot endure his indignation.
11 Thus shall you say to them: a“The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth bshall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”
12 aIt is he who bmade the earth by his power,
bwho established the world by his wisdom,
and cby his understanding stretched out the heavens.
13 aWhen he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
band he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
bHe makes lightning cfor the rain,
band he brings forth the wind dfrom his storehouses.
14 aEvery man is stupid and without knowledge;
bevery goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false,
cand there is no breath in them.
15 They are worthless, a work of delusion;
at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
16 Not like these is he who is athe portion of Jacob,
for he is the one who formed all things,
band Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
cthe Lord of hosts is his name.
17 aGather up your bundle from the ground,
O you who dwell under siege!
18 For thus says the Lord:
a“Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land
at this time,
band I will bring distress on them,
that they may feel it.”
19 Woe is me because of my hurt!
aMy wound is grievous.
But I said, “Truly this is an affliction,
and I must bear it.”
20 aMy tent is destroyed,
and all my cords are broken;
my children have gone from me,
band they are not;
there is no one to spread my tent again
and ato set up my curtains.
21 aFor the shepherds bare stupid
and do not inquire of the Lord;
therefore they have not prospered,
cand all their flock is scattered.
22 A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!—
aa great commotion out of the north country
to make bthe cities of Judah a desolation,
ba lair of jackals.
23 aI know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself,
that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
24 aCorrect me, O Lord, but in justice;
not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.
25 aPour out your wrath on the nations that know you not,
and on the peoples that call not on your name,
bfor they have devoured Jacob;
they have devoured him and consumed him,
and have laid waste his habitation.