Study Desk

Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, house of Israel.

This is what the LORD says: "^(C1)Do not learn the way of the nations, And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens, Although the nations are terrified by them;

For the customs of the peoples are ^(C1)futile; For ^(C2)it is wood cut from the forest, The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.

-"They ^(C1)decorate the idol with silver and gold; They ^(C2)fasten it with nails and hammers So that it will not totter.

-"They are like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, And they ^(C1)cannot speak; They must be ^(C2)carried, Because they cannot walk! Do not fear them, For they ^(C3)can do no harm, Nor can they do any good."

^(C1)There is none like You, LORD; You are ^(C2)great, and Your name is great in might.

^(C1)Who would not fear You, O ^(C2)King of the nations? For it is Your due! For among all the ^(C3)wise men of the nations And in all their kingdoms, There is none like You.

But they are altogether ^(C1)stupid and foolish; The instruction from idols is nothing but wood!

Beaten ^(C1)silver is brought from ^(C2)Tarshish, And ^(C3)gold from Uphaz, The work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith; Their clothing is of violet and purple; They are all the ^(C4)work of skilled people.

But the LORD is the ^(C1)true God; He is the ^(C2)living God and the ^(C3)everlasting King. The ^(C4)earth quakes at His wrath, And the nations cannot ^(C5)endure His indignation.

^(F1)This is what you shall say to them: "The ^(C1)gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will ^(C2)perish from the earth and from under these heavens."

It is ^(C1)He who made the earth by His power, Who ^(C2)established the world by His wisdom; And by His understanding He has ^(C3)stretched out the heavens.

When He utters His ^(C1)voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens, And He makes the ^(C2)clouds ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain, And brings out the ^(C3)wind from His storehouses.

Every person is ^(C1)stupid, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, For his cast metal images are deceitful, And there is no breath in them.

They are ^(C1)worthless, a work of mockery; At the ^(C2)time of their punishment they will perish.

The ^(C1)Portion of Jacob is not like these; For He is the ^(F1)(C2)Maker of everything, And ^(C3)Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; The ^(C4)LORD of armies is His name.

^(C1)Pick up your bundle from the ground, You who live under siege!

For this is what the LORD says: "Behold, I am ^(C1)slinging out the inhabitants of the land At this time, And I will cause them distress, So that they may ^(F1)be found."

^(C1)Woe to me, because of my ^(F1)injury! My ^(C2)wound is incurable. But I said, "This certainly is a sickness, And I ^(C3)must endure it."

My ^(C1)tent is destroyed, And all my ropes are broken. My ^(C2)sons have gone from me and are no more. There is ^(C3)no one to stretch out my tent again Or to set up my curtains.

For the shepherds have become stupid And ^(C1)have not sought the LORD. Therefore they have not prospered, And ^(C2)all their flock is scattered.

The sound of a ^(C1)report! Behold, it is coming— A great roar ^(C2)from the land of the north— To ^(C3)make the cities of Judah A desolation, a haunt of jackals.

I know, LORD, that ^(C1)a person's way is not in himself, ^(C2)Nor is it in a person who walks to direct his steps.

^(C1)Correct me, LORD, but with justice; Not with Your anger, or You will ^(F1)bring me to nothing.

^(C1)Pour out Your wrath on the nations that ^(C2)do not know You, And on the families who ^(C3)do not call upon Your name; For they have devoured Jacob; They have ^(C4)devoured him and consumed him, And have laid waste his ^(F1)settlement.