MLV(i)
2 Jehovah says thus: Learn not the way of the nations and do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the nations are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the peoples are vanity.
For a man cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe. 4 They deck it with silver and with gold. They fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it not move. 5 They are like a palm tree, of turned work and do not speak. They must be carried, because they cannot go. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor is it in them to do good.
6 There is none like you, O Jehovah. You are great and your name is great in might. 7 Who should not fear you, O King of the nations? For to you it is befitting, inasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations and in all their royal estate, there is none like you.
8 But they are together stupid and foolish, the instruction of idols! It is but a block of wood. 9 There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith, blue and purple for their clothing. They are all the work of skillful men.
10 But Jehovah 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 Thus you* will say to them: The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.
12 He has made the earth by his power. He has established the world by his wisdom and by his understanding he has stretched out the heavens. 13 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 Every man has become stupid, without knowledge. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image. For his molten image is falsehood and there is no breath in them. 15 They are vanity, a work of delusion. In the time of their visitation they will perish.
16 The portion of Jacob is not like these. For he is the former of all things and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance. Jehovah of hosts is his name.
For a man cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe. 4 They deck it with silver and with gold. They fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it not move. 5 They are like a palm tree, of turned work and do not speak. They must be carried, because they cannot go. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor is it in them to do good.
6 There is none like you, O Jehovah. You are great and your name is great in might. 7 Who should not fear you, O King of the nations? For to you it is befitting, inasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations and in all their royal estate, there is none like you.
8 But they are together stupid and foolish, the instruction of idols! It is but a block of wood. 9 There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith, blue and purple for their clothing. They are all the work of skillful men.
10 But Jehovah 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 Thus you* will say to them: The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.
12 He has made the earth by his power. He has established the world by his wisdom and by his understanding he has stretched out the heavens. 13 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 Every man has become stupid, without knowledge. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image. For his molten image is falsehood and there is no breath in them. 15 They are vanity, a work of delusion. In the time of their visitation they will perish.
16 The portion of Jacob is not like these. For he is the former of all things and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance. Jehovah of hosts is his name.