English Standard Version ESV
Common English Bible CEB
1 Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.
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Listen to the word that the LORD has spoken to you, people of Israel!
2 Thus says the Lord: “Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them,
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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.
3 for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
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The rituals of the nations are hollow: a tree from the forest is chopped down and shaped by the craftsman's tools.
4 They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move.
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It's overlaid with silver and gold, and fastened securely with hammer and nails so it won't fall over.
5 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, neither is it in them to do good. ”
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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.
6 There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is great in might.
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LORD, no one is like you! You are great, and great is your mighty name.
7 Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you.
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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!
8 They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction of idols is but wood!
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But they are both foolish and silly; they offer nothing because they are mere wood.
9 Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; their clothing is violet and purple; they are all the work of skilled men.
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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.
10 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.
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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.
11 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. ”
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Tell them this: The gods who didn't make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.
12 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.
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But God made the earth by his might; he shaped the world by his wisdom, crafted the skies by his knowledge.
13 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 lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
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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.
14 Every man is stupid and without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false, and there is no breath in them.
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Everyone is too foolish to understand; every goldsmith is dishonored by his idols, for their images are shams; they aren't alive.
15 They are worthless, a work of delusion; at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
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They are a delusion, a charade; at the appointed time they will vanish!
16 Not like these is he who is 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.
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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!
17 Gather up your bundle from the ground, O you who dwell under siege!
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Pack your bags and get ready to leave, you who live under siege.
18 For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I will bring distress on them, that they may feel it. ”
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The LORD proclaims: I'm going to eject those who live in the land at this time; I will badger them until they leave.
19 Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is grievous. But I said, “Truly this is an affliction, and I must bear it. ”
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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.
20 My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken; my children have gone from me, and they are not; there is no one to spread my tent again and to set up my curtains.
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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.
21 For the shepherds are stupid and do not inquire of the Lord; therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.
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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.
22 A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes! — a great commotion out of the north country to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a lair of jackals.
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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.
23 I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
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I know, LORD, that our lives are not our own, that we're not able to direct our paths.
24 Correct me, O Lord, but in justice; not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.
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So correct me, LORD, but with justice, not in your anger, or else you will reduce me to nothing.
25 Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not, and on the peoples that call not on your name, for they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.
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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.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible