[1] Hear you the word which Yahweh speaks to you, house of Israel: [2] thus
says Yahweh, "Don`t learn the way of the nations, and don`t be dismayed at
the signs of the sky; for the nations are dismayed at them. [3] For the
customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a tree out of the forest,
the work of the hands of the workman with the ax. [4] They deck it with
silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it
not move. [5] They are like a palm-tree, of turned work, and don`t speak:
they must be carried, because they can`t go. Don`t be afraid of them; for
they can`t do evil, neither is it in them to do good. [6] There is none
like you, Yahweh; you are great, and your name is great in might. [7] Who
should not fear you, King of the nations? for to you does it appertain;
because among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal
estate, there is none like you. [8] But they are together brutish and
foolish: the instruction of idols! it is but a stock. [9] There is silver
beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz,
the work of the artificer and of the hands of the goldsmith; blue and
purple for their clothing; they are all the work of skillful men. [10] But
Yahweh is the true God; he is the living God, and an everlasting King: at
his wrath the earth trembles, and the nations are not able to abide his
indignation. [11] Thus shall you say to them, The gods that have not made
the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from
under the heavens. [12] He has made the earth by his power, he has
established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he
stretched out the heavens: [13] when he utters his voice, there is a tumult
of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends
of the earth; he makes lightnings for the rain, and brings forth the wind
out of his treasuries. [14] Every man is become brutish [and is] without
knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his engraved image; for his
molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. [15] They are
vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall
perish. [16] The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former
of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Hosts
is his name. [17] Gather up your wares out of the land, you who abide in
the siege. [18] For thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will sling out the
inhabitants of the land at this time, and will distress them, that they may
feel [it]. [19] Woe is me because of my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I
said, Truly this is [my] grief, and I must bear it. [20] My tent is
destroyed, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth from me,
and they are no more: there is none to spread my tent any more, and to set
up my curtains. [21] For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not
inquired of Yahweh: therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks
are scattered. [22] The voice of news, behold, it comes, and a great
commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah a
desolation, a dwelling-place of jackals. [23] Yahweh, I know that the way
of man is not in himself: it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
[24] Yahweh, correct me, but in measure: not in your anger, lest you bring
me to nothing. [25] Pour out your wrath on the nations that don`t know you,
and on the families that don`t call on your name: for they have devoured
Jacob, yes, they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste
his habitation.