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.