Warning Against Idolatry and Pagan Ways

1

Hear the word ADONAI speaks to you, house of Isra'el!

2

Here is what ADONAI says: "Don't learn the way of the Goyim, don't be frightened by astrological signs, even if the Goyim are afraid of them;

3

for the customs of the peoples are nothing. They cut down a tree in the forest; a craftsman works it with his axe;

4

they deck it with silver and gold. They fix it with hammer and nails, so that it won't move.

5

Like a scarecrow in a cucumber patch, it cannot speak. It has to be carried, because it cannot walk. Do not be afraid of it it can do nothing bad; likewise it is unable to do anything good!"

6

There is no one like you, ADONAI! You are great, and your name is great and mighty.

7

Who would not fear you, king of the nations? For it is your due! - since among all the wise of the nations and among all their royalty, there is no one like you.

8

One and all they are boorish and stupid; the teaching of their nothings is a piece of wood!

9

Silver is beaten into plates, then imported from Tarshish. Gold from Ufaz is worked by a craftsman and shaped by the hands of a goldsmith. They are clothed in blue and purple, all the work of skillful men.

10

But ADONAI, God, is the true God, the living God, the everlasting king. At his anger, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his fury.

11

"This is what you must say to them: 'The gods that did not make heaven and earth will perish from earth and from under heaven.'"

12

God made the earth by his power, established the world by his wisdom spread out the sky by his understanding.

13

When he thunders, the waters in heaven roar, he raises clouds from the ends of the earth, he makes the lightning flash in the rain and brings the wind out from his storehouses.

14

At this, everyone is proved stupid, ignorant, every goldsmith put to shame by his idol! The figures he casts are a fraud; there is no breath in them;

15

they are nothings, ridiculous objects; when the day for their punishment comes, they will perish.

16

Ya'akov's portion is not like these, for he is the one who formed all things. Isra'el is the tribe he claims as his heritage; ADONAI-Tzva'ot is his name.

Reading Style

Typeface

Font Size 19px

Reading Width 45 chars

Options