Hear the word that Yahweh speaks to you, house of Israel!
This is what Yahweh says: “Do not learn the way of the nations, and do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the nations are dismayed at them.
For the customs of the peoples are a delusion. Because it is a tree someone cuts out of the forest, the work of the hands of a craftsman with an ax.
They adorn it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers so that it does not totter.
They are like a scarecrow in a cucumber patch; they do not speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, nor is it in them to do good.”
There is none like you, O Yahweh. You are great, and your name is great in might.
Who should not fear you, O King of the nations? For that respect is what you deserve! For among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is none like you.
But one and all they are stupid and foolish; the instruction of Delusions...is wood!
Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz that are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; blue and purple is their clothing, they are all the work of skillful men.
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 stand up to his indignation.
You are to say this to them: “The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”
It is he who has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and he has stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
When he utters his voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens, and he causes the mist to rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings forth the wind out of his storehouses.
Everyone is stupid and without knowledge. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his carved image, for his cast metal image is a lie, and there is no breath in them.
They are a delusion, a work of error; in the time of their punishment they will perish.
Not like these is the Portion of Jacob, for he is the one who formed all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Armies is his name.
Gather up your belongings from the ground, you who live under siege.
For this is what Yahweh says: “Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and will bring distress upon them, so that they will feel it.”
Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is grievous, but I said, “Truly this is an affliction, and I must bear it.”
My tent is destroyed and all my tent cords are broken; my children have gone from me, and they are no more; there is no one to spread out my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
For the shepherds have become stupid and have not inquired of Yahweh, so they have not prospered, and all their flocks are scattered.
The sound of a report. Behold, it comes. A great commotion from the land of the north— to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a place where jackals live.
Yahweh, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
Yahweh, correct me, but with justice; not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.
Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you and on the families that do not call on your name, for they have devoured Jacob, yes, they have devoured him and consumed him and have laid waste his habitation.