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- ¶ HEAR the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel:
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- Thus says the LORD, Learn not the way of the Gentiles and be not afraid of the signs of heaven;
for the Gentiles are dismayed at them.
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- For the gods of the Gentiles are nothing;
they are cut from a tree in the forest, the work of the hands of a carpenter, things made with a plane.
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- They are decked with silver and with gold;
men fasten them with hammers and nails, so that they may not fall apart.
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- They are set up straight as palm trees, but they do not speak;
they must be carried, for they cannot walk. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither can they do good.
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- There is no one like unto thee, O LORD;
thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
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- Who would not revere thee, O King of nations?
For to thee belongs the kingdom; for among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like thee.
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- But altogether the vain doctrines of wooden image worship shall be utterly destroyed and consumed.
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- Fine silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Ophir;
they are the work of the carpenter and of the hands of the silversmith; blue and purple is their clothing; they are woven by cunning men.
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- But the LORD is the true God;
he is the living God and the everlasting King; at his anger the earth trembles, and the nations shall not be able to endure his indignation.
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- Thus shall you say to them: The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.
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- The LORD has made the earth by his power;
he has established the world by his wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens by his intelligence.
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- He causes the sound of roaring of waters that are in the heavens, and he causes the clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth;
he makes lightnings for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasure house.
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- Every man has acted foolishly because of lack of knowledge;
all those who work in gold are ashamed because of the graven images which they made; for molten images are falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
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- They are vanity, and the work of vain folly;
in the time when they are visited with punishment, they shall perish.
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- The portion of Jacob is not like them;
for he who has created all things is their portion; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; The LORD of hosts is his name.
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- ¶ Gather up your disgrace from the land, O inhabitant who dwells in distress.
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- For thus says the LORD, Behold, I will perplex the inhabitants of this land at this very time, so that they may seek me and find me.
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- Woe to me for my hurt!
my wound is grievous; but I said, Truly this is my grief and I must bear it.
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- My tabernacle is plundered and all its cords are cut off;
my children have left me, and they are not; there is no one to pitch my tent again and to set up my curtains.
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- For the shepherds have misbehaved, and have not sought the LORD;
and because they did not prosper, all of their flocks have been scattered.
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- Behold, the noise of the report is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate and a den of jackals.
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- I know that the ways of the LORD are not like the ways of men;
he does not walk as a man directing his steps.
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- O LORD, correct me justly, and not in thy anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
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- Pour out thy wrath upon the nations who do not know thee and upon the families that call not on thy name;
for they have devoured Jacob, yea, they have devoured him and consumed him and have made his habitation desolate.
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