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.”