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A Satire on Idolatry

¹ Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, house of Israel.² This is what the LORD says:

"^(C1)Do not learn the way of the nations,
And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens,
Although the nations are terrified by them;

³ For the customs of the peoples are ^(C1)futile;
For ^(C2)it is wood cut from the forest,
The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.

⁴ "They ^(C1)decorate the idol with silver and gold;
They ^(C2)fasten it with nails and hammers
So that it will not totter.

⁵ "They are like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
And they ^(C1)cannot speak;
They must be ^(C2)carried,
Because they cannot walk!
Do not fear them,
For they ^(C3)can do no harm,
Nor can they do any good."

^6 (C1)There is none like You, LORD;
You are ^(C2)great, and Your name is great in might.

^7 (C1)Who would not fear You, O ^(C2)King of the nations?
For it is Your due!
For among all the ^(C3)wise men of the nations
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.

⁸ But they are altogether ^(C1)stupid and foolish;
The instruction from idols is nothing but wood!

⁹ Beaten ^(C1)silver is brought from ^(C2)Tarshish,
And ^(C3)gold from Uphaz,
The work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith;
Their clothing is of violet and purple;
They are all the ^(C4)work of skilled people.

¹⁰ But the LORD is the ^(C1)true God;
He is the ^(C2)living God and the ^(C3)everlasting King.
The ^(C4)earth quakes at His wrath,
And the nations cannot ^(C5)endure His indignation.

^11 (F1)This is what you shall say to them: "The ^(C1)gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will ^(C2)perish from the earth and from under these heavens."

¹² It is ^(C1)He who made the earth by His power,
Who ^(C2)established the world by His wisdom;
And by His understanding He has ^(C3)stretched out the heavens.

¹³ When He utters His ^(C1)voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens,
And He makes the ^(C2)clouds ascend from the end of the earth;
He makes lightning for the rain,
And brings out the ^(C3)wind from His storehouses.

¹⁴ Every person is ^(C1)stupid, devoid of knowledge;
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
For his cast metal images are deceitful,
And there is no breath in them.

¹⁵ They are ^(C1)worthless, a work of mockery;
At the ^(C2)time of their punishment they will perish.

¹⁶ The ^(C1)Portion of Jacob is not like these;
For He is the ^(F1)(C2)Maker of everything,
And ^(C3)Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;
The ^(C4)LORD of armies is His name.

^17 (C1)Pick up your bundle from the ground,
You who live under siege!

¹⁸ For this is what the LORD says:
"Behold, I am ^(C1)slinging out the inhabitants of the land
At this time,
And I will cause them distress,
So that they may ^(F1)be found."

^19 (C1)Woe to me, because of my ^(F1)injury!
My ^(C2)wound is incurable.
But I said, "This certainly is a sickness,
And I ^(C3)must endure it."

²⁰ My ^(C1)tent is destroyed,
And all my ropes are broken.
My ^(C2)sons have gone from me and are no more.
There is ^(C3)no one to stretch out my tent again
Or to set up my curtains.

²¹ For the shepherds have become stupid
And ^(C1)have not sought the LORD.
Therefore they have not prospered,
And ^(C2)all their flock is scattered.

²² The sound of a ^(C1)report! Behold, it is coming—
A great roar ^(C2)from the land of the north—
To ^(C3)make the cities of Judah
A desolation, a haunt of jackals.

²³ I know, LORD, that ^(C1)a person's way is not in himself,
^(C2)Nor is it in a person who walks to direct his steps.

^24 (C1)Correct me, LORD, but with justice;
Not with Your anger, or You will ^(F1)bring me to nothing.

^25 (C1)Pour out Your wrath on the nations that ^(C2)do not know You,
And on the families who ^(C3)do not call upon Your name;
For they have devoured Jacob;
They have ^(C4)devoured him and consumed him,
And have laid waste his ^(F1)settlement.