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Thus says the Lord:

Do not learn the ways of the nations,
    and have no fear of the signs in the heavens,[a]
    even though the nations fear them.(A)
For the carvings of the nations are nonentities,
    wood cut from the forest,
Fashioned by artisans with the adze,(B)
    adorned with silver and gold.
With nails and hammers they are fastened,
    so they do not fall.(C)
Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they,
    they cannot speak;
They must be carried about,
    for they cannot walk.
Do not fear them, they can do no harm,
    neither can they do good.(D)
No one is like you, Lord,
    you are great,
    great and mighty is your name.(E)
Who would not fear you,
    King of the nations,
    for it is your due!
Among all the wisest of the nations,
    and in all their domains,
    there is none like you.(F)
One and all they are stupid and senseless,
    the instruction from nonentities—only wood!
Silver plates brought from Tarshish,
    and gold from Ophir,
The work of the artisan
    and the handiwork of the smelter,
Clothed with violet and purple—
    all of them the work of skilled workers.
10 The Lord is truly God,
    he is the living God, the eternal King,
Before whose anger the earth quakes,
    whose wrath the nations cannot endure.(G)

11 Thus shall you say of them: The gods that did not make heaven and earth—let these perish from earth and from beneath heaven![b](H)

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Footnotes

  1. 10:2 Signs in the heavens: phenomena in the sky, such as eclipses or comets, used to predict disasters.
  2. 10:11 This verse is in Aramaic.