1 Hear the word which the LORD {YHWH, Divine Speaker} has spoken to you, house {beit: family household} of Israel.
2 Thus says the LORD {YHWH, Divine Instructor}: “You must not learn the way of the nations {derekh hagoyim: cultural practices}, nor be terrified by the signs of the heavens, for the nations are terrified by them.”
3 For the statutes {chukot: ritual ordinances} of the peoples are vanity; for it is a tree from the forest, cut down—the work of hands of a craftsman {charash: skilled artisan} with the axe.
4 They adorn it with silver and with gold; with nails {masmerot: iron spikes} and with hammers they secure it so that it does not totter {yafik: rock slightly}.
5 Like a scarecrow {tomer: upright post} in a cucumber field {miqshah: garden patch}, they are, and they do not speak; they must be carried, for they do not walk. Do not fear them, for they cannot do evil nor can they do good.
6 There is none like You, LORD {YHWH, Incomparable Majesty}; You are great, and great is Your name in might {bigvurah: strength}.
7 Who would not fear You {YHWH, Universal Sovereign}, O King of the nations {melek hagoyim: sovereign over peoples}? For it is fitting to You; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You.
8 But altogether they are brutish and they are foolish; the instruction of vanities {havalim: worthless idols} is wood {etz: mere timber}.
9 Sheets of silver {meruqqa: beaten thin} arrive from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz; they are fashioned by the craftsman and by the hands of the goldsmith. Blue and purple are their robes—the handiwork of wise artisans {khakhamim: learned craftsmen}, all of them.
10 But the LORD God {YHWH Elohim, True Sovereign} is God in truth; He is the living God and the everlasting King. When His anger rises, the earth trembles, and the nations cannot endure His indignation {za’mo: outburst of wrath}.
11 Thus you shall say to them: “The gods {elahayya: false deities} who did not make the heavens {shemayya: celestial realms} and the earth—these shall perish from the earth and from beneath these heavens.”
12 He {YHWH, Universe Creator} formed the earth by His power, set the world firm by His wisdom, and by His understanding {tevunah: skillful insight} spread out the heavens.
13 When He {YHWH, Divine Speaker} sends out His voice, the waters in the heavens surge; He causes the vapors to rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings out the wind from His storehouses {otsrot: hidden reserves}.
14 Every man has become foolish and without knowledge {da'at: lacking insight}; every smith is put to shame because of the carved idol, for its molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath {ruach: animating force} in them.
15 They are vanity {hevel: empty futility}, the work of delusion; at the time of their visitation they will perish {yōḇēdû: be utterly destroyed}.
16 Not like these is the portion of Jacob, for He is the Maker of all things, and Israel is the tribe {shevet: ruling branch} of His inheritance. The LORD of hosts {YHWH Tzvaot, Supreme Commander} is His name.
17 Gather your bundle {kina'atekh: gathered belongings} from the land, O resident of the fortress {matzor: stronghold under siege}.
18 For thus says the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge}: Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land at this very time, and I will bring distress upon them so that they may find it {yimtze'u: experience the consequence}.
19 Woe is me for my breaking {shivri: personal rupture}! My wound is grievous {nachlah: severe pain}. Yet I said, "Surely this is my sickness, and I will bear it."
20 My tent has been plundered {shudad: violently looted} and all my cords are torn apart; my sons have left me and they are no more. There is no one left to stretch out my tent again or to set up my curtains {yeriotai: tent cloths}.
21 For the shepherds have become senseless, and they have not sought the LORD {YHWH, Judge of Shepherds}; therefore they have not prospered {hiskilu: found success}, and all their flock is scattered.
22 A voice of rumor—behold, it comes! And a great commotion {raash: violent uproar} from the land of the north, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling place of jackals {tannim: wild desert creatures}.
23 I know, O LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Guide}, that a man’s way is not in his own control; nor is it in the one who walks to direct his steps {tsa’ado: pathway of life}.
24 Discipline me, LORD {YHWH, Righteous Corrector}, but only with justice {mishpat: rightful judgment}; do not discipline me in Your anger, lest You diminish me.
25 Pour out Your {YHWH, Righteous Judge} wrath {khamah: divine anger} on the nations who have not known You and on the families who have not called on Your name, for they have eaten Jacob, they have devoured him, they have consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.