1Hear ye the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning you, O house of Israel:

2Thus hath said the Lord, Do not habituate yourselves on the way of the nations, and at the signs of the heavens be ye not dismayed; although the nations should be dismayed at them.

3For the statutes of these people concern what is vanity; for it is but a tree which a man hath cut out of a forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

4With silver and with gold do they ornament it; with nails and with hammers do they fasten it, that it move not from its place.

5As a wrought-out palm-like column are they, and cannot speak; they must needs be borne, because they cannot step along. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do any harm, so also to do any good is not in them.

6Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord: thou [alone] art great, and great is thy name in might.

7Who would not fear thee, O King of the nations? for to thee doth it appertain; because among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, [they say] there is none like unto thee.

8But at once shall they be shown to be brutish and foolish: it is a doctrine of vanities, it concerneth but wood.

9The beaten out silver is brought from Tharshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the goldsmith: blue and purple is their clothing; the work of skilful men are they all.

10But the Lord God is the truth, he is the living God, and the everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall quake, and nations cannot endure his indignation.

11Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, shall perish away from the earth, and from under these heavens.

12He made the earth by his power, he established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding he stretched out the heavens.

13At the sound when he giveth a multitude of waters in the heavens, and causeth clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth; when he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures:

14Then standeth every man as brutish without knowledge; ashamed is every goldsmith because of the graven image; for falsehood is his molten work, and there is no breath therein.

15They are vanity, the work of deception; in the time of their punishment shall they vanish.

16Not like these is the portion of Jacob; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: The Lord of hosts is his name.

17Gather up thy wares from the ground, O inhabitress of the beleaguered city.

18For thus hath said the Lord, Behold, I will cast forth as with a sling the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I will enclose them, in order that they may find them.

19Woe is me for my breach! my wound is painful; but I thought, This is but pain, and I shall be able to bear it.

20[But now] my tent is laid waste, and all my cords are torn asunder; my children are gone away from me, and they are not [here]; there is no one to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.

21For the shepherds were brutish, and the Lord had they not sought; therefore have they not prospered, and all their flocks are scattered.

22Behold, the noise of the report is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to render the cities of Judah desolate, a dwelling for monsters.

23I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in his own power: it is not in man that passeth away to direct his own steps.

24Correct me, O Lord, but with justice; not in thy anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.

25Pour out thy fury over the nations that know thee not, and over the families that have not called on thy name; for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his dwelling desolate.