1Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel : 2Thus saith the LORD , Learn not the way of the heathen , and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven ; for the heathen are dismayed at them . 3For the customs of the people are vain : for one cutteth a tree out of the forest , the work of the hands of the workman , with the axe . 4They deck it with silver and with gold ; they fasten it with nails and with hammers , that it move not. 5They are upright as the palm tree , but speak not: they must needs be borne , because they cannot go . Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil , neither also is it in them to do good . 6Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD ; thou art great , and thy name is great in might . 7Who would not fear thee, O King of nations ? for to thee doth it appertain : forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations , and in all their kingdoms , there is none like unto thee. 8But they are altogether brutish and foolish : the stock is a doctrine of vanities . 9Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish , and gold from Uphaz , the work of the workman , and of the hands of the founder : blue and purple is their clothing : they are all the work of cunning men . 10But the LORD is the true God , he is the living God , and an everlasting king : at his wrath the earth shall tremble , and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation . 11Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth , even they shall perish from the earth , and from under these heavens . 12He hath made the earth by his power , he hath established the world by his wisdom , and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion . 13When he uttereth his voice , there is a multitude of waters in the heavens , and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth ; he maketh lightnings with rain , and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures . 14Every man is brutish in his knowledge : every founder is confounded by the graven image : for his molten image is falsehood , and there is no breath in them. 15They are vanity , and the work of errors : in the time of their visitation they shall perish . 16The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance : The LORD of hosts is his name .
The Sovereignty of God
17Gather up thy wares out of the land , O inhabitant of the fortress . 18For thus saith the LORD , Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once , and will distress them, that they may find it so . 19Woe is me for my hurt ! my wound is grievous : but I said , Truly this is a grief , and I must bear it. 20My tabernacle is spoiled , and all my cords are broken : my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains . 21For the pastors are become brutish , and have not sought the LORD : therefore they shall not prosper , and all their flocks shall be scattered . 22Behold, the noise of the bruit is come , and a great commotion out of the north country , to make the cities of Judah desolate , and a den of dragons . 23O LORD , I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps . 24O LORD , correct me, but with judgment ; not in thine anger , lest thou bring me to nothing . 25Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name : for they have eaten up Jacob , and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate .