The Lord, not Idols, is the Only Worthy Object of Worship

10:1 You people of Israel,1 listen to what the Lord has to say to you.

10:2 The Lord says,

“Do not start following pagan religious practices.2

Do not be in awe of signs that occur3 in the sky

even though the nations hold them in awe.

10:3 For the religion4 of these people is worthless.

They cut down a tree in the forest,

and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools.5

10:4 He decorates it with overlays of silver and gold.

He uses hammer and nails to fasten it6 together

so that it will not fall over.

10:5 Such idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field.

They cannot talk.

They must be carried

because they cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of them

because they cannot hurt you.

And they do not have any power to help you.”7

10:6 I said,8

“There is no one like you, Lord.9

You are great.

And you are renowned for your power.10

10:7 Everyone should revere you, O King of all nations,11

because you deserve to be revered.12

For there is no one like you

among any of the wise people of the nations nor among any of their kings.13

10:8 The people of those nations14 are both stupid and foolish.

Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless!15

10:9 Hammered-out silver is brought from Tarshish16

and gold is brought from Uphaz17 to cover those idols.18

They are the handiwork of carpenters and goldsmiths.19

They are clothed in blue and purple clothes.20

They are all made by skillful workers.21

10:10 The Lord is the only true God.

He is the living God and the everlasting King.

When he shows his anger the earth shakes.

None of the nations can stand up to his fury.

10:11 You people of Israel should tell those nations this:

‘These gods did not make heaven and earth.

They will disappear22 from the earth and from under the heavens.’23

10:12 The Lord is the one who24 by his power made the earth.

He is the one who by his wisdom established the world.

And by his understanding he spread out the skies.

10:13 When his voice thunders,25 the heavenly ocean roars.

He makes the clouds rise from the far-off horizons.26

He makes the lightning flash out in the midst of the rain.

He unleashes the wind from the places where he stores it.27

10:14 All these idolaters28 will prove to be stupid and ignorant.

Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made.

For the image he forges is merely a sham.29

There is no breath in any of those idols.30

10:15 They are worthless, mere objects to be mocked.31

When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.

10:16 The Lord, who is the inheritance32 of Jacob’s descendants,33 is not like them.

He is the one who created everything.

And the people of Israel are those he claims as his own.34

He is known as the Lord who rules over all.”35