Good News Translation GNT
World English Bible WEB
1 People of Israel, listen to the message that the Lord has for you.
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Hear you the word which Yahweh speaks to you, house of Israel:
2 He says, "Do not follow the ways of other nations; do not be disturbed by unusual sights in the sky, even though other nations are terrified.
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thus says Yahweh, "Don't learn the way of the nations, and don't be dismayed at the signs of the sky; for the nations are dismayed at them.
3 The religion of these people is worthless. A tree is cut down in the forest; it is carved by the tools of the woodworker
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For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the ax.
4 and decorated with silver and gold. It is fastened down with nails to keep it from falling over.
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They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it not move.
5 Such idols are like scarecrows in a field of melons; they cannot speak; they have to be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them: they can cause you no harm, and they can do you no good."
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They are like a palm tree, of turned work, and don't speak: they must be carried, because they can't go. Don't be afraid of them; for they can't do evil, neither is it in them to do good.
6 Lord, there is no one like you; you are mighty, and your name is great and powerful.
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There is none like you, Yahweh; you are great, and your name is great in might.
7 Who would not honor you, the king of all nations? You deserve to be honored. There is no one like you among all the wise men of the nations or among any of their kings.
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Who should not fear you, King of the nations? for to you does it appertain; because among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal estate, there is none like you.
8 All of them are stupid and foolish. What can they learn from wooden idols?
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But they are together brutish and foolish: the instruction of idols! it is but a stock.
9 Their idols are covered with silver from Spain and with gold from Uphaz, all the work of artists; they are dressed in violet and purple cloth woven by skilled weavers.
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There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artificer and of the hands of the goldsmith; blue and purple for their clothing; they are all the work of skillful men.
10 But you, Lord, are the true God, you are the living God and the eternal king. When you are angry, the world trembles; the nations cannot endure your anger.
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But Yahweh is the true God; he is the living God, and an everlasting King: at his wrath the earth trembles, and the nations are not able to abide his indignation.
11 (You people must tell them that the gods who did not make the earth and the sky will be destroyed. They will no longer exist anywhere on earth.)
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Thus shall you say to them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.
12 The Lord made the earth by his power; by his wisdom he created the world and stretched out the heavens.
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He has made the earth by his power, he has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens:
13 At his command the waters above the sky roar; he brings clouds from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning flash in the rain and sends the wind from his storeroom.
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when he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightnings for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasuries.
14 At the sight of this, people feel stupid and senseless; those who make idols are disillusioned, because the gods they make are false and lifeless.
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Every man is become brutish [and is] without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his engraved image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
15 They are worthless and should be despised; they will be destroyed when the Lord comes to deal with them.
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They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
16 The God of Jacob is not like them; he is the one who made everything, and he has chosen Israel to be his very own people. The Lord Almighty is his name.
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The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Hosts is his name.
17 People of Jerusalem, you are under siege! Gather up your belongings.
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Gather up your wares out of the land, you who abide in the siege.
18 The Lord is going to throw you out of this land; he is going to crush you until not one of you is left. The Lord has spoken.
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For thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and will distress them, that they may feel [it].
19 The people of Jerusalem cried out, "How badly we are hurt! Our wounds will not heal. And we thought this was something we could endure!
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Woe is me because of my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is [my] grief, and I must bear it.
20 Our tents are ruined; the ropes that held them have broken. Our children have all gone away; there is no one left to put up our tents again; there is no one to hang their curtains."
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My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth from me, and they are no more: there is none to spread my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
21 I answered, "Our leaders are stupid; they do not ask the Lord for guidance. This is why they have failed, and our people have been scattered.
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For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not inquired of Yahweh: therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks are scattered.
22 Listen! News has come! There is a great commotion in a nation to the north; its army will turn the cities of Judah into a desert, a place where jackals live."
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The voice of news, behold, it comes, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling-place of jackals.
23 Lord, I know that none of us are in charge of our own destiny; none of us have control over our own life.
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Yahweh, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
24 Correct your people, Lord, but do not be too hard on us or punish us when you are angry; that would be the end of us.
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Yahweh, correct me, but in measure: not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.
25 Turn your anger on the nations that do not worship you and on the people who reject you. They have killed your people; they have destroyed us completely and left our country in ruins.
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Pour out your wrath on the nations that don't know you, and on the families that don't call on your name: for they have devoured Jacob, yes, they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
The World English Bible is in the public domain.