1. Hear the word that the Lord has spoken to you, house of Israel.
2. This is what the Lord says:Do not learn the way of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens,although the nations are terrified by them,
3. for the customs of the peoples are worthless.Someone cuts down a tree from the forest;it is worked by the hands of a craftsman with a chisel.
4. He decorates it with silver and gold. It is fastened with hammer and nails, so it won’t totter.
5. Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch,their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk.Do not fear them for they can do no harm —and they cannot do any good.
6. Yahweh, there is no one like You. You are great;Your name is great in power.
7. Who should not fear You,King of the nations? It is what You deserve.For among all the wise people of the nationsand among all their kingdoms,there is no one like You.
8. They are both stupid and foolish,instructed by worthless idolsmade of wood!
9. Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz from the hands of a goldsmith,the work of a craftsman.Their clothing is blue and purple,all the work of skilled artisans.
10. But Yahweh is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His rage.
11. You are to say this to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under these heavens.”
12. He made the earth by His power,established the world by His wisdom, and spread out the heavens by His understanding.
13. When He thunders, the waters in the heavens are in turmoil, and He causes the clouds to risefrom the ends of the earth.He makes lightning for the rainand brings the wind from His storehouses.
14. Everyone is stupid and ignorant.Every goldsmith is put to shameby his carved image, for his cast images are a lie; there is no breath in them.
15. They are worthless, a work to be mocked.At the time of their punishmentthey will be destroyed.
16. Jacob’s Portion is not like thesebecause He is the One who formed all things. Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; Yahweh of Hosts is His name.