Common English Bible CEB
New Revised Standard NRS
1 Listen to the word that the LORD has spoken to you, people of Israel!
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Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.
2 The LORD proclaims: Don't follow the ways of the nations or be troubled by signs in the sky, even though the nations are troubled by them.
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Thus says the Lord: Do not learn the way of the nations, or be dismayed at the signs of the heavens; for the nations are dismayed at them.
3 The rituals of the nations are hollow: a tree from the forest is chopped down and shaped by the craftsman's tools.
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For the customs of the peoples are false: a tree from the forest is cut down, and worked with an ax by the hands of an artisan;
4 It's overlaid with silver and gold, and fastened securely with hammer and nails so it won't fall over.
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people deck it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move.
5 They are no different than a scarecrow in a cucumber patch: they can't speak; they must be carried because they can't walk. Don't be afraid of them, because they can't do harm or good.
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Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor is it in them to do good.
6 LORD, no one is like you! You are great, and great is your mighty name.
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There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is great in might.
7 Who wouldn't fear you, king of the nations? That is your due; among all the wise of the nations and in all their countries, there is no one like you!
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Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For that is your due; among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is no one like you.
8 But they are both foolish and silly; they offer nothing because they are mere wood.
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They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction given by idols is no better than wood!
9 Covered with silver from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, they are the work of a craftsman and the hands of a goldsmith. Clothed in blue and purple, all of them nothing more than the work of artisans.
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Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. They are the work of the artisan and of the hands of the goldsmith; their clothing is blue and purple; they are all the product of skilled workers.
10 But the LORD is the true God! He's the living God and the everlasting king! When he's angry, the earth quakes; the nations can't endure his rage.
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But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation.
11 Tell them this: The gods who didn't make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.
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Thus shall you say to them: The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.
12 But God made the earth by his might; he shaped the world by his wisdom, crafted the skies by his knowledge.
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It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
13 At the sound of his voice, the heavenly waters roar. He raises the clouds from the ends of the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain, the wind from his treasuries.
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When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for the rain, and he brings out the wind from his storehouses.
14 Everyone is too foolish to understand; every goldsmith is dishonored by his idols, for their images are shams; they aren't alive.
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Everyone is stupid and without knowledge; goldsmiths are all put to shame by their idols; for their images are false, and there is no breath in them.
15 They are a delusion, a charade; at the appointed time they will vanish!
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They are worthless, a work of delusion; at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
16 Jacob's portion is utterly different because God has formed all things, including Israel, his very own people— the LORD of heavenly forces is his name!
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Not like these is the Lord, the portion of Jacob, for he is the one who formed all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; the Lord of hosts is his name.
17 Pack your bags and get ready to leave, you who live under siege.
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Gather up your bundle from the ground, O you who live under siege!
18 The LORD proclaims: I'm going to eject those who live in the land at this time; I will badger them until they leave.
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For thus says the Lord: I am going to sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I will bring distress on them, so that they shall feel it.
19 How terrible for me, due to my injury; my wound is terrible. Yet I said to myself: This is my sickness, and I must bear it.
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Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is severe. But I said, "Truly this is my punishment, and I must bear it."
20 But now my tent is destroyed; all its ropes are cut, and my children are gone for good. There's no one left to set up my tent frame and to attach the fabric.
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My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken; my children have gone from me, and they are no more; there is no one to spread my tent again, and to set up my curtains.
21 The shepherd kings have lost their senses and don't seek answers from the LORD. That is why they have failed and their flock is scattered.
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For the shepherds are stupid, and do not inquire of the Lord; therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.
22 Listen! The sound is getting louder, a mighty uproar from the land of the north; it will reduce the towns of Judah to ruins, a den for wild dogs.
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Hear, a noise! Listen, it is coming— a great commotion from the land of the north to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a lair of jackals.
23 I know, LORD, that our lives are not our own, that we're not able to direct our paths.
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I know, O Lord, that the way of human beings is not in their control, that mortals as they walk cannot direct their steps.
24 So correct me, LORD, but with justice, not in your anger, or else you will reduce me to nothing.
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Correct me, O Lord, but in just measure; not in your anger, or you will bring me to nothing.
25 Pour out your wrath on the nations that ignore you and on the people who don't call on you, since they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him completely and ruined his country.
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Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you, and on the peoples that do not call on your name; for they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.