1Hear ye the word which Jehovah speaketh to you, O house of Israel!
2Thus saith Jehovah: Conform ye not to the way of the heathen, And be not dismayed at the signs of the heavens, Because the heathen are dismayed at them!
3The customs of the nations are vanity. For a tree of the wood is cut down, It is wrought by the hands of the artificer with the axe,
4It is decked with silver and gold, And with nails and with hammers is it fastened, That it may not totter.
5They are like a turned palm-tree pillar, and cannot speak; They must be borne by men, for they cannot walk. Be not afraid of them, for they cannot hurt, Nor is it in their power to do good.
6There is none like thee, O Jehovah! Thou art great, And great is thy name by mighty deeds.
7Who shall not fear thee, O king of nations, For to thee doth it belong! For among all the wise men of the nations, And in all their kingdoms, there is none like thee.
8They are all brutish and without understanding; A doctrine of vanities is the stock.
9Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, And gold from Uphaz, The work of the artificer and the founder; Blue and purple is their clothing; The work of the skilful is it all.
10But Jehovah is the true God, He is the living God, and an everlasting king; At his wrath the earth trembleth, And the nations are not able to abide his indignation.
11[[Thus shall ye say to them: The gods, that have not made the heavens and the earth, Shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.]]
12He made the earth by his power; He established the world by his wisdom, And by his understanding he spread out the heavens.
13When he uttereth his voice there is an abundance of water in the heavens; He causeth clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth; He maketh lightnings with rain; He bringeth the wind from his storehouses.
14Brutish is every one who hath not this knowledge; By his image is every founder put to shame, For his molten-work is deceit; There is no breath in it.
15They are vanity, deceptive work; In the time of their punishment shall they perish.
16Not like them is He who is the portion of Jacob; He is the former of all things, And Israel is his allotted inheritance; Jehovah of hosts is his name.
17Gather up thy goods out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress!
18For thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will sling forth the inhabitants of the land at this time; I will distress them, so that they shall be taken.
19“Ah me! my wound!” [[saith the daughter of Zion;]] “My bruise is deadly; Yet I say, This is my affliction, and I must bear it!
20My tent is torn down, And all my cords broken. My children are gone forth from me, and are no more; There is none to stretch forth my tent any more, Or to set up my curtains.
21For the shepherds have become brutish; They have not sought Jehovah; Therefore have they not prospered, And all their flock is dispersed.”
22[[Hark!]] the sound of tiding! Behold it cometh, And a great tumult from the land of the North, To make the cities of Judah desolate, A dwelling-place for jackals.
23“I know, O Jehovah, that the way of a man is not within his power, That it is not within the power of a man that walketh to establish his steps.
24Chasten me, O Jehovah, but in measure; Not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing!
25Pour out thy wrath on the nations which acknowledge thee not, And on the kingdoms which call not on thy name! For they have devoured Jacob; They have devoured and consumed him, And laid waste his dwelling-place.”