1 ARST You people of Israel, listen to what Yahweh says: BSB BSB: Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.
3 ARST The customs of the people of other nations are worthless. For example, they cut down a tree in the forest. Then a skilled worker cuts a section of it and uses his chisel to carve an idol from that section. BSB BSB: For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman.
4 ARST Then people decorate the idol with silver and gold. Then they fasten it securely with nails in order that it will not topple over. BSB BSB: They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter.
5 ARST Then the idol stands there like a scarecrow in a field of cucumbers. It cannot speak, and people must carry it, because it cannot walk. Do not be afraid of idols, because they cannot harm anyone, and they cannot do anything good to help anyone.” BSB BSB: Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, and neither can they do any good.”
6 ARST Yahweh, there is no one like you. You are great, and you are very powerful. BSB BSB: There is none like You, O LORD. You are great, and Your name is mighty in power.
7 ARST You are the king of all the nations! Everyone should revere you, because that is what you deserve. Among all the wise people on the earth and in all the kingdoms where they live, there is no one like you. BSB BSB: Who would not fear You, O King of nations? This is Your due. For among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You.
8 ARST Those people who think that they are very wise are stupid and foolish. The idols that they worship are only made of wood! Those idols certainly cannot teach them anything. BSB BSB: But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!
9 ARST People hammer silver from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz into sheets, and then they give those sheets of silver and gold to skilled workers to cover the idols. Then they put on those idols expensive purple robes that are made by skilled workers. BSB BSB: Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz—the work of a craftsman from the hands of a goldsmith. Their clothes are blue and purple, all fashioned by skilled workers.
10 ARST But Yahweh is the only true God; he is the all- powerful God, the king who rules forever. When he is angry, all the earth shakes; and the people of the nations cannot endure what he does when he is angry with them. BSB BSB: But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.
11 ARST You Israelite people, tell this to those people:“Those idols did not make the sky and the earth, and they will disappear from the earth.” BSB BSB: Thus you are to tell them: “These gods, who have made neither the heavens nor the earth, will perish from this earth and from under these heavens.”
12 ARST But Yahweh made the earth by his power; he made firm ground to stand on by his wisdom and stretched out the sky by his understanding. BSB BSB: The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
13 ARST When he speaks loudly, there is thunder in the sky; he causes clouds to form over every part of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and releases the winds from his storehouses. BSB BSB: When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.
14 ARST People are as senseless as animals and know nothing of what God desires! those who make idols are always disappointed because their idols do nothing for them. The images that they make are not real gods; they are lifeless. BSB BSB: Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
15 ARST Idols are worthless; they are just objects that make a mockery of the true God; there will be a time when they all will be destroyed. BSB BSB: They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish.
16 ARST But the God whom we Israelites worship is not like those idols; he is the one who created everything that exists; we, the tribe of Israel, belong to him; he is the commander of the angel armies. BSB BSB: The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance—the LORD of Hosts is His name.
17 ARST Yahweh says this to the people of Jerusalem:“The army of your enemies surrounds your city, so gather up your possessions and prepare to leave the city. BSB BSB: Gather up your belongings from this land, you who live under siege.
18 ARST I will soon throw you out of this land and cause you to experience great troubles, with the result that you will begin to think of me again.” BSB BSB: For this is what the LORD says: “Behold, at this time I will sling out the inhabitants of the land and bring distress upon them so that they may be captured.”
19 ARST The people replied,“It is as though we have been badly wounded, and we are very grieved; It is as though we have a very serious illness, and we must endure the pain. BSB BSB: Woe to me because of my brokenness; my wound is grievous! But I said, “This is truly my sickness, and I must bear it.”
20 ARST It is as though our great tent is destroyed; the ropes that held it up have been cut; our children have gone away from us and will not return; there are no people left to rebuild our great tent. BSB BSB: My tent is destroyed, and all its ropes are snapped. My sons have departed from me and are no more. I have no one left to pitch my tent or set up my curtains.
21 ARST Our leaders have become just like animals; they no longer ask Yahweh to guide them, so they will no longer prosper, and all those over whom they rule will be scattered. BSB BSB: For the shepherds have become senseless; they do not seek the LORD. Therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.
22 ARST Listen! Our enemies’ armies in the north are making a very great noise as they march toward us. The towns in Judah will be destroyed, and they will become a place where jackals live.” BSB BSB: Listen! The sound of a report is coming—a great commotion from the land to the north. It will make the cities of Judah a desolation, a haunt for jackals.
23 ARST Yahweh, I know that no person controls what will happen to him; no one is able to direct the events that he will experience. BSB BSB: I know, O LORD, that a man’s way is not his own; no one who walks directs his own steps.
24 ARST So correct us, but do it gently. Do not correct us when you are angry, because we would die if you did that. BSB BSB: Correct me, O LORD, but only with justice—not in Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing.
25 ARST Punish all the nations whose people do not acknowledge that you are God; punish all the nations whose people do not worship you, because they are completely destroying us people of Israel and they are causing our land to soon be only a desert. BSB BSB: Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You, and on the families that do not call on Your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have consumed him and finished him off; they have devastated his homeland.
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