7. Everyone should respect you, King of all the nations. You deserve their respect. There are many wise men among the nations, but not one of them is as wise as you.
8. All the people of the other nations are stupid and foolish. Their teachings come from worthless wooden statues.
9. They use silver from the city of Tarshish and gold from the city of Uphaz and make their statues. Carpenters and metalworkers make the idols. They put blue and purple clothes on them. “Wise men” make these “gods.”
10. But the Lord is the only true God. He is the only God who is alive. He is the King who rules forever. The earth shakes when he is angry. The people of the nations cannot stop his anger.
11. The Lord says, “Tell them this message: ‘These false gods did not make heaven and earth. They will be destroyed and disappear from heaven and earth.’”
12. God is the one who used his power and made the earth. He used his wisdom and built the world. With his understanding he stretched the sky over the earth.
13. God causes the loud thunder, and he causes great floods of water to fall from the sky. He makes clouds rise in the sky every place on earth. He sends lightning with the rain. He brings out the wind from his storehouses.
14. People are so stupid! Metalworkers are fooled by the idols that they themselves made. These statues are nothing but lies. They are stupid.
15. These idols are worth nothing. They are something to make fun of. In the time of judgment they will be destroyed.
16. But Jacob’s God is not like the idols. He made everything, and Israel is the family that God chose to be his own people. His name is Lord All-Powerful.
17. Get everything you own and prepare to leave. People of Judah, you are trapped in the city, and the enemy is all around it.
18. This is what the Lord says: “This time, I will throw the people of Judah out of this country. I will bring pain and trouble to them. I will do this so that they will learn their lesson.”
19. I am hurt badly. I am injured and I cannot be healed. But I told myself, “This is my sickness; I must suffer through it.”
20. My tent is ruined. All its ropes are broken. My children left me. They are gone. No one is left to put up my tent. No one is left to fix a shelter for me.
21. The shepherds are stupid. They don’t try to find the Lord. They are not wise, so their flocks are scattered and lost.
22. Listen! A loud noise! The noise is coming from the north. It will destroy the cities of Judah. Judah will become an empty desert. It will be a home for jackals.
23. Lord, I know that our lives do not belong to us. We have no control over what happens.
24. So correct us, Lord! But please be fair. Don’t punish us in anger, or you will destroy us!