Idols and the True God

10 Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.

2 Thus says the Lord:

a“Do not learn the way of the Gentiles;

Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven,

For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.

3 For the customs of the peoples are 1futile;

For bone cuts a tree from the forest,

The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.

4 They decorate it with silver and gold;

They cfasten it with nails and hammers

So that it will not topple.

5 They are upright, like a palm tree,

And dthey cannot speak;

They must be ecarried,

Because they cannot go by themselves.

Do not be afraid of them,

For fthey cannot do evil,

Nor can they do any good.”

6 Inasmuch as there is none glike You, O Lord

(You are great, and Your name is great in might),

7 hWho would not fear You, O King of the nations?

For this is Your rightful due.

For iamong all the wise men of the nations,

And in all their kingdoms,

There is none like You.

8 But they are altogether jdull-hearted and foolish;

A wooden idol is a 2worthless doctrine.

9 Silver is beaten into plates;

It is brought from Tarshish,

And kgold from Uphaz,

The work of the craftsman

And of the hands of the metalsmith;

Blue and purple are their clothing;

They are all lthe work of skillful men.

10 But the Lord is the true God;

He is mthe living God and the neverlasting King.

At His wrath the earth will tremble,

And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.

11 Thus you shall say to them: o“The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth pshall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.”

12 He qhas made the earth by His power,

He has restablished the world by His wisdom,

And shas stretched out the heavens at His discretion.

13 tWhen He utters His voice,

There is a 3multitude of waters in the heavens:

u“And He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.

He makes lightning for the rain,

He brings the wind out of His treasuries.”

14 vEveryone is wdull-hearted, without knowledge;

xEvery metalsmith is put to shame by an image;

yFor his molded image is falsehood,

And there is no breath in them.

15 They are futile, a work of errors;

In the time of their punishment they shall perish.

16 zThe Portion of Jacob is not like them,

For He is the Maker of all things,

And aIsrael is the tribe of His inheritance;

bThe Lord of hosts is His name.