¹Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you , house of Israel !

²The LORD says ,

“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 .

³For 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 axe .

⁴They deck it with silver and with gold .

They fasten it with nails and with hammers ,

so that it can ’t move .

⁵They are like a palm tree , of turned work ,

and don’t speak .

They must be carried ,

because they can ’t move.

Don’t be afraid of them ;

for they can ’t do evil ,

neither is it in them to do good .”

⁶There is no one like you , LORD .

You are great ,

and your name is great in might .

⁷Who shouldn’t fear you ,

King of the nations ?

For it belongs to you .

Because amongst all the wise men of the nations ,

and in all their royal estate ,

there is no one like you .

⁸But they are together brutish and foolish ,

instructed by idols !

It is just wood .

⁹There is silver beaten into plates , which is brought from Tarshish ,

and gold from Uphaz,

the work of the engraver and of the hands of the goldsmith .

Their clothing is blue and purple .

They are all the work of skilful men .

¹⁰But the LORD is the true God .

He is the living God ,

and an everlasting King .

At his wrath , the earth trembles.

The nations aren’t able to withstand his indignation .

¹¹“You shall say this to them: ‘The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth, and from under the heavens .’”

¹²God 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 .

¹³When he utters his voice ,

the waters in the heavens roar ,

and he causes the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth .

He makes lightnings for the rain ,

and brings the wind out of his treasuries.

¹⁴Every man has become brutish and without knowledge .

Every goldsmith is disappointed by his engraved image ;

for his molten image is falsehood ,

and there is no breath in them .

¹⁵They are vanity , a work of delusion .

In the time of their visitation they will perish.

¹⁶The portion of Jacob is not like these ;

for he is the maker of all things ;

and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance .

The LORD of Armies is his name .

¹⁷Gather up your wares out of the land,

you who live under siege .

¹⁸For the LORD says ,

“Behold , I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time ,

and will distress them , that they may feel it .”

¹⁹Woe is me because of my injury !

My wound is serious ;

but I said,

“Truly this is my grief , and I must bear it .”

²⁰My tent has been destroyed ,

and all my cords are broken .

My children have gone away from me , and they are no more .

There is no one to spread my tent any more ,

to set up my curtains .

²¹For the shepherds have become brutish ,

and have not enquired of the LORD .

Therefore they have not prospered ,

and all their flocks have scattered .

²²The 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 .

²³LORD , I know that the way of man is not in himself .

It is not in man who walks to direct his steps .

²⁴LORD , correct me , but gently;

not in your anger,

lest you reduce me to nothing .

²⁵Pour 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 , consumed him ,

and have laid waste his habitation .