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¹ Hear the Word which Jehovah speaks to you, O house of Israel.² So says Jehovah, Do not learn the way of the nations; and do not be terrified at the signs of the heavens; for the nations were terrified at them.³ For the ordinances of the people are vanity. For one cuts a tree out of the forest with the axe, the work of the hands of the craftsman.⁴ They adorn it with silver and with gold; they make them strong with nails and hammers, so that it will not wobble.⁵ They are like a rounded post, and they cannot speak; carrying they must be carried, because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil nor good; it is not with them.⁶ There is none like You, O Jehovah; You are great, and Your name is great in might.⁷ Who would not fear You, O King of nations? For it is fitting to You, because there is none like You among all the wise of the nations, and in all their kingdoms.⁸ But they are at once foolish and animal like; their tree is an instruction of vanities.⁹ Silver beaten into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman and the hands of the goldsmith. Violet and purple is their clothing; they are all the works of skillful ones.¹⁰ But Jehovah is the true God, He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to stand His indignation.¹¹ So you shall say to them, The gods who have not made the heavens and the earth, they shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.¹² It is He who made the earth by His power, who established the world by His wisdom, and who stretched out the heavens by His understanding.¹³ When He utters His voice, there is a noise of waters in the heavens. He causes the vapors to go up from the ends of the earth; He makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind out of His storehouses.¹⁴ Every man is stupid from lack of knowledge; every refiner is put to shame by the carved image. For his molten image is a lie and no breath is in them.¹⁵ They are vanity, the work of delusion. In the time of their judgment they shall perish.¹⁶ The Portion of Jacob is not like these. For He is the Former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; Jehovah of Hosts is His name.

¹⁷ Gather up your bundle from the ground, you who live under the siege.¹⁸ For so says Jehovah, Behold, I will sling out those living in the land at this time, and I will distress them so that they may find Me .¹⁹ Woe to me for my breaking! My wound is grievous. But I said, Truly this is a malady, and I must bear it.²⁰ My tent is ravaged, and all my cords are broken. My sons went away from me and they are not. There is no stretching out my tent any more, or setting up my curtains.²¹ For the pastors have become stupid, and they have not sought Jehovah. Therefore, they shall not be blessed, and all their flock shall be scattered.²² Behold, the sound of report! It comes, and a great commotion from the land of the north, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a den of jackals.²³ O Jehovah, I know that his way does not belong to man; it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.²⁴ O Jehovah, correct me, only with judgment, not in Your anger, that You do not bring me to nothing.²⁵ Pour out Your fury on the nations who do not know You, and on the families who do not call on Your name. For they have eaten up Jacob. Yea, they have devoured him and have destroyed him, and they have made his dwelling place desolate.