^x“Learn not the way of the nations,

nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens

because the nations are dismayed at them,

3  for the customs of the peoples are vanity.¹

A tree from the forest is cut down

and worked with an axe by the hands of a ^ycraftsman.

4  They decorate it with silver and gold;

they fasten it with hammer and nails

so that it cannot move.

5  Their idols² are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,

and ^zthey cannot speak;

^athey have to be carried,

for they cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of them,

for ^bthey cannot do evil,

neither is it in them to do good.”

6  There is none like you, O Lord;

you are great, and your name is great in might.

7  ^cWho would not fear you, O King of the nations?

For this is your due;

for among all the wise ones of the nations

and in all their kingdoms

there is none like you.

8  They are both stupid and foolish;

the instruction of idols is but wood!

9  Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,

and gold from Uphaz.

They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;

their clothing is violet and purple;

they are all the work of skilled men.

10  But the Lord is the true God;

he is the living God and the everlasting King.

At his wrath the earth ^dquakes,

and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

12  ^eIt is he who made the earth by his power,

who established the world ^fby his wisdom,

and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

13  When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,

and ^ghe makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.

He makes lightning for the rain,

and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

14  Every man is stupid and without knowledge;

every goldsmith is ^hput to shame by his idols,

for his images are false,

and ⁱthere is no breath in them.

15  They are worthless, a work of delusion;

at the time of their punishment they shall perish.

16  Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,

for he is the one who formed all things,

and Israel is the ^jtribe of his inheritance;

^kthe Lord of hosts is his name.

17  Gather up your bundle from the ground,

O you who dwell under siege!

18  For thus says the Lord:

“Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land

at this time,

and I will bring distress on them,

that they may feel it.”

19  Woe is me because of my hurt!

^lMy wound is grievous.

But I said, “Truly this is an affliction,

and I must bear it.”

20  ^mMy tent is destroyed,

and all my cords are broken;

my children have gone from me,

and ⁿthey are not;

there is no one to spread my tent again

and to set up my curtains.

21  For the ^oshepherds are stupid

and do not inquire of the Lord;

therefore they have not prospered,

and all their flock is scattered.

22  A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!—

a great commotion out of the ^pnorth country

to make the cities of Judah a desolation,

a lair of ^qjackals.

23  I know, O Lord, that ^rthe way of man is not in himself,

that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.

24  ^sCorrect me, O Lord, but in justice;

not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.

25  ^tPour out your wrath ^uon the nations that know you not,

and on the peoples that call not on your name,

^vfor they have devoured Jacob;

they have devoured him and consumed him,

and have laid waste his habitation.