The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 Listen to the Message that God is sending your way, House of Israel.
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Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.
2 Listen most carefully: "Don't take the godless nations as your models. Don't be impressed by their glamour and glitz, no matter how much they're impressed.
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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,
3 The religion of these peoples is nothing but smoke. An idol is nothing but a tree chopped down, then shaped by a woodsman's ax.
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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.
4 They trim it with tinsel and balls, use hammer and nails to keep it upright.
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They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move.
5 It's like a scarecrow in a cabbage patch - can't talk! Dead wood that has to be carried - can't walk! Don't be impressed by such stuff. It's useless for either good or evil."
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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, neither is it in them to do good."
6 All this is nothing compared to you, O God. You're wondrously great, famously great.
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There is none like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is great in might.
7 Who can fail to be impressed by you, King of the nations? It's your very nature to be worshiped! Look far and wide among the elite of the nations. The best they can come up with is nothing compared to you.
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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.
8 Stupidly, they line them up - a lineup of sticks, good for nothing but making smoke.
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They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction of idols is but wood!
9 Gilded with silver foil from Tarshish, covered with gold from Uphaz, Hung with violet and purple fabrics - no matter how fancy the sticks, they're still sticks.
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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.
10 But God is the real thing - the living God, the eternal King. When he's angry, Earth shakes. Yes, and the godless nations quake.
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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 stick gods who made nothing, neither sky nor earth, Will come to nothing on the earth and under the sky.'"
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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 it is God whose power made the earth, whose wisdom gave shape to the world, who crafted the cosmos.
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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 He thunders, and rain pours down. He sends the clouds soaring. He embellishes the storm with lightnings, launches wind from his warehouse.
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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 lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
14 Stick-god worshipers looking mighty foolish, god-makers embarrassed by their handmade gods! Their gods are frauds - dead sticks,
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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.
15 deadwood gods, tasteless jokes. When the fires of judgment come, they'll be ashes.
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They are worthless, a work of delusion; at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
16 But the Portion-of-Jacob is the real thing. He put the whole universe together And pays special attention to Israel. His name? God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
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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.
17 Grab your bags, all you who are under attack.
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Gather up your bundle from the ground, O you who dwell under siege!
18 God has given notice: "Attention! I'm evicting Everyone who lives here, And right now - yes, right now! I'm going to press them to the limit, squeeze the life right out of them."
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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."
19 But it's a black day for me! Hopelessly wounded, I said, "Why, oh why did I think I could bear it?"
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Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is grievous. But I said, "Truly this is an affliction, and I must bear it."
20 My house is ruined - the roof caved in. Our children are gone - we'll never see them again. No one left to help in rebuilding, no one to make a new start!
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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.
21 It's because our leaders are stupid. They never asked God for counsel, And so nothing worked right. The people are scattered all over.
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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 But listen! Something's coming! A big commotion from the northern borders! Judah's towns about to be smashed, left to all the stray dogs and cats!
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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.
23 I know, God, that mere mortals can't run their own lives, That men and women don't have what it takes to take charge of life.
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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.
24 So correct us, God, as you see best. Don't lose your temper. That would be the end of us.
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Correct me, O LORD, but in justice; not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.
25 Vent your anger on the godless nations, who refuse to acknowledge you, And on the people who won't pray to you - The very ones who've made hash out of Jacob, yes, made hash And devoured him whole, people and pastures alike.
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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.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.