Hear ye the word of the Lord that he speaketh unto you, O house of Israel.
2 Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not afraid for the [a]signs of heaven, though the heathen be afraid of such.
3 For the [b]customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest (which is the work of the hands of the carpenter) with the axe,
4 And another decketh it [c]with silver, and with gold: they fasten it with nails and hammers that it fall not.
5 The idols stand up as the palm tree, but speak not: they are borne because they cannot go: fear them not, for they cannot do evil, neither can they do good.
6 There is none like unto thee, O Lord: [d]thou art great, and thy Name is great in power.
7 Who would not fear thee, O king of nations? for to thee appertaineth the dominion: for among all the wise men of the Gentiles, and in all their kingdoms there is none like thee.
8 But altogether they dote, and are foolish: for the stock is a [e]doctrine of vanity.
9 Silver plates are brought from Tarshish, and gold [f]from Uphaz, for the work of the workman, and the hands of the founder: the blue silk, and the purple is their clothing: all these things are made by cunning men.
10 But the Lord is the God of truth: he is the living God, and an everlasting King: at his anger the earth shall tremble, and the nations cannot abide his wrath.
11 (Thus shall you say unto them, The gods [g]that have not made the heavens and the earth, shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.)
12 He hath made the earth by his power, and established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his discretion.
13 He giveth by his voice the multitude of waters in the heaven, and he causeth the clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth: he turneth lightnings to rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
14 Every man is a [h]beast by his own knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his melting is but falsehood, and there is no breath therein.
15 They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
16 The [i]portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the maker of all things, and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his Name.
17 ¶ [j]Gather up thy wares out of the land, O thou that dwellest in the strong place.
18 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, at this time I will throw as with a sling the inhabitants of the land, and will trouble them, and they shall find it so.
19 Woe is me for my destruction, and my grievous plague: but I thought, Yet it [k]is my sorrow, and I will bear it.
20 [l]My Tabernacle is destroyed, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone from me, and are not: there is none to spread out my tent anymore, and to set up my curtains.
21 For the Pastors [m]are become beasts, and have not sought the Lord: therefore have they none understanding: and all the flocks of their pastures are scattered.
22 Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the [n]North country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.
23 O Lord, I know that [o]the way of man is not in himself, neither is it in man to walk and to direct his steps.
24 O Lord, correct me, but with [p]judgment, not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
25 Pour out [q]thy wrath upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy Name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.