The Darby Translation DBY
GOD'S WORD Translation GW
1 Hear the word that Jehovah speaketh unto you, house of Israel.
1
Listen to the message that the LORD has spoken to you, nation of Israel.
2 Thus saith Jehovah: Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of the heavens; for the nations are dismayed at them.
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This is what the LORD says: Don't learn the practices of the nations. Don't be frightened by the signs in the sky because the nations are frightened by them.
3 For the statutes of the peoples are vanity; for [it is] a tree cut out of the forest, worked with a chisel by the hands of the artizan;
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The religion of the people is worthless. Woodcutters cut down trees from the forest. The hands of craftsmen prepare them with axes.
4 they deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
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Craftsmen decorate them with silver and gold and fasten them [together] with hammers and nails so that they won't fall over.
5 They are as a palm-column of turned work, and they speak not; they are carried, for they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
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These trees are like scarecrows in cucumber gardens. They aren't able to speak. They have to be carried, because they can't walk. Don't be afraid of them. They can't harm you. They can't do you any good either.
6 There is none like unto thee, Jehovah; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
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No one is like you, O LORD. You are great. Your name is powerful.
7 Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? For to thee doth it appertain; for among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.
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Everyone fears you, O King of the Nations. This is what you deserve. No one is like you among all the wise people in the nations or in all their kingdoms.
8 But they are one and all senseless and foolish; the teaching of vanities is a stock.
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They are complete idiots. They learn nonsense from wooden idols.
9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artizan and of the hands of the founder; blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of skilful [men].
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Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. Craftsmen and goldsmiths shape these metals. The clothing for the idols is blue and purple, all made by skilled workers.
10 But Jehovah Elohim is truth; he is the living God, and the King of eternity. At his wrath the earth trembleth, and the nations cannot abide his indignation.
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But the LORD is the only God. He is the living God and eternal king. The earth trembles when he is angry. The nations can't endure his fury.
11 Thus shall ye say unto them: The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.
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Tell them this: These gods will disappear from the earth and from under heaven because they didn't make heaven and earth.
12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
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The LORD made the earth by his power. He set up the world by his skill. He stretched out the world by his understanding.
13 When he uttereth his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the end of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasuries.
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He speaks, and the water in the sky produces a storm. He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning flash with the rain. He brings wind out of his storehouses.
14 Every man is become brutish, bereft of knowledge; every founder is put to shame by the graven image, for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
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Everyone is stupid and ignorant. Metalsmiths are put to shame by their idols. Their statues are false [gods]. They can't breathe.
15 They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
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They are worthless jokes. When they are punished, they disappear.
16 The portion of Jacob is not like them; for it is he that hath formed all [things], and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: Jehovah of hosts is his name.
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Jacob's God isn't like them. He made everything, and Israel is the tribe that belongs to him. His name is the LORD of Armies.
17 Gather up thy baggage out of the land, O inhabitress of the fortress.
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Pick up your bags. You are being blockaded.
18 For thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will this time sling out the inhabitants of the land, and will distress them, that they may be found.
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This is what the LORD says: I am going to throw out those who live in the land at this time and cause trouble for them so that they will feel it.
19 Woe is me, for my wound! My stroke is hard to heal, and I had said, Yea, this is [my] grief, and I will bear it.
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Oh, I'm wounded! My wound is serious. Then I thought that this is my punishment, and I will bear it.
20 My tent is despoiled, and all my cords are broken; my children are gone forth from me, and they are not; there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
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My tent is destroyed, and all my ropes are broken. My children have left me and have disappeared. There's no one to set up my tent again or put up my tent curtains.
21 For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not sought Jehovah; therefore have they not acted wisely, and all their flock is scattered.
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The shepherds are foolish. They don't look to the LORD for help. That is why they won't succeed, and all their flocks will be scattered.
22 The voice of a rumour! Behold, it cometh, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling-place of jackals.
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The report has arrived. A tremendous uproar is coming from the land of the north. Its army will destroy Judah's cities and make them homes for jackals.
23 I know, Jehovah, that the way of man is not his own; it is not in a man that walketh to direct his steps.
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O LORD, I know that the way humans act is not under their control. Humans do not direct their steps as they walk.
24 Jehovah, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
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Correct me, O LORD, but please be fair. Don't correct me when you're angry. Otherwise, you'll reduce me to nothing.
25 Pour out thy fury upon the nations that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name; for they have eaten up Jacob, yea, they have eaten him up and consumed him, and have laid waste his dwelling-place.
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Pour out your fury on the nations who don't know you and on people who don't worship you. They have devoured the descendants of Jacob. They have devoured them completely. They have destroyed their homes.
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.