Idolatry and True Worship
1 People of Israel, listen to the message that the Lord has for you. 2 He says,
“Do not follow the ways of other nations;
do not be disturbed by unusual sights in the sky,
even though other nations are terrified.
3 The religion of these people is worthless.
A tree is cut down in the forest;
it is carved by the tools of the woodworker
4 and decorated with silver and gold.
It is fastened down with nails
to keep it from falling over.
5 Such idols are like scarecrows in a field of melons;
they cannot speak;
they have to be carried
because they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them:
they can cause you no harm,
and they can do you no good.”
6 Lord, there is no one like you;
you are mighty,
and your name is great and powerful.
7 Who would not honor you, the king of all nations?
You deserve to be honored.
There is no one like you
among all the wise men of the nations
or among any of their kings.
8 All of them are stupid and foolish.
What can they learn from wooden idols?
9 Their idols are covered with silver from Spain
and with gold from Uphaz,
all the work of artists;
they are dressed in violet and purple cloth
woven by skilled weavers.
10 But you, Lord, are the true God,
you are the living God
and the eternal king.
When you are angry, the world trembles;
the nations cannot endure your anger.
( 11 You people must tell them that the gods who did not make the earth and the sky will be destroyed. They will no longer exist anywhere on earth.)
A Hymn of Praise to God
12 The Lord made the earth by his power;
by his wisdom he created the world
and stretched out the heavens.
13 At his command the waters above the sky roar;
he brings clouds from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning flash in the rain
and sends the wind from his storeroom.
14 At the sight of this, people feel stupid and senseless;
those who make idols are disillusioned,
because the gods they make are false and lifeless.
15 They are worthless and should be despised;
they will be destroyed when the Lord comes to deal with them.
16 The God of Jacob is not like them;
he is the one who made everything,
and he has chosen Israel to be his very own people.
The Lord Almighty is his name.
The Coming Exile
17 People of Jerusalem, you are under siege! Gather up your belongings. 18 The Lord is going to throw you out of this land; he is going to crush you until not one of you is left. The Lord has spoken.
19 The people of Jerusalem cried out,
“How badly we are hurt!
Our wounds will not heal.
And we thought this was something we could endure!
20 Our tents are ruined;
the ropes that held them have broken.
Our children have all gone away;
there is no one left to put up our tents again;
there is no one to hang their curtains.”
21 I answered, “Our leaders are stupid;
they do not ask the Lord for guidance.
This is why they have failed,
and our people have been scattered.
22 Listen! News has come!
There is a great commotion in a nation to the north;
its army will turn the cities of Judah into a desert,
a place where jackals live.”
23 Lord, I know that none of us are in charge of our own destiny;
none of us have control over our own life.
24 Correct your people, Lord,
but do not be too hard on us
or punish us when you are angry;
that would be the end of us.
25 Turn your anger on the nations that do not worship you
and on the people who reject you.
They have killed your people;
they have destroyed us completely
and left our country in ruins.
1 Heare ye the worde of the Lord that he speaketh vnto you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus saith the Lord, Learne not the way of the heathen, and be not afraid for the signes of heauen, though the heathen be afraid of such. 3 For the customes of the people are vaine: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest (which is the worke of the handes of the carpenter) with the axe, 4 And another decketh it with siluer, and with golde: they fasten it with nailes, and hammers, that it fall not. 5 The idoles stande vp as the palme tree, but speake not: they are borne because they cannot go feare them not, for they cannot do euill, neither can they do good. 6 There is none like vnto thee, O Lord: thou art great, and thy name is great in power. 7 Who would not feare thee, O King of nations? for to thee appertaineth the dominion: for among all the wise men of the Gentiles, and in al their kingdomes there is none like thee. 8 But, altogether they dote, and are foolish: for the stocke is a doctrine of vanitie. 9 Siluer plates are brought from Tarshish, and golde from Vphaz, for the worke of the workeman, and the handes of the founder: the blewe silke, and the purple is their clothing: all these things are made by cunning men. 10 But the Lord is the God of trueth: he is the liuing God, and an euerlasting King: at his anger the earth shall tremble, and the nations cannot abide his wrath. 11 (Thus shall you say vnto them, The gods that haue not made the heauens and the earth, shall perish from the earth, and from vnder these heauens) 12 He hath made the earth by his power, and established the worlde by his wisedome, and hath stretched out the heauen by his discretion. 13 Hee giueth by his voyce the multitude of waters in the heauen, and he causeth the cloudes to ascend from the endes of the earth: he turneth lightnings to rayne, and bringeth forth the winde out of his treasures. 14 Euery man is a beast by his owne knowledge: euery founder is confounded by the grauen image: for his melting is but falsehood, and there is no breath therein. 15 They are vanitie, and the worke of errours: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. 16 The portion of Iaakob is not like them: for he is the maker of all things, and Israel is the rodde of his inheritance: the Lord of hostes is his Name. 17 Gather vp thy wares out of the land, O thou that dwellest in the strong place. 18 For thus sayth the Lord, Beholde, at this time I will throwe as with a sling the inhabitants of the lande, and will trouble them, and they shall finde it so. 19 Wo is me for my destruction, and my grieuous plague: but I thought, Yet it is my sorow, and I will beare it. 20 My tabernacle is destroyed, and all my coardes are broken: my children are gone from me, and are not: there is none to spread out my tent any more, and to set vp my curtaines. 21 For the Pastours are become beasts, and haue not sought the Lord: therefore haue they none vnderstanding: and all the flockes of their pastures are scattered. 22 Beholde, the noyse of the brute is come, and a great commotion out of the North countrey to make the cities of Iudah desolate, and a denne of dragons. 23 O Lord, I knowe, that the way of man is not in himselfe, neyther is it in man to walke and to direct his steps. 24 O Lord, correct mee, but with iudgement, not in thine anger, least thou bring mee to nothing. 25 Powre out thy wrath vpon the heathen, that knowe thee not, and vpon the families that call not on thy Name: for they haue eaten vp Iaakob and deuoured him and consumed him, and haue made his habitation desolate.