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Selected Verse: Jeremiah 10:1 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Jer 10:1	Strong Concordance	Hear [08085] ye the word [01697] which the LORD [03068] speaketh [01696] unto you, O house [01004] of Israel [03478]:
	King James	Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
CONTRAST BETWEEN THE IDOLS AND JEHOVAH. THE PROPHET'S LAMENTATION AND PRAYER. (Jer. 10:1-25) Israel--the Jews, the surviving representatives of the nation.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

CONTRAST BETWEEN THE IDOLS AND JEHOVAH. THE PROPHET'S LAMENTATION AND PRAYER. (Jer. 10:1-25)

Israel--the Jews, the surviving representatives of the nation.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
Warning against idolatry by means of a view of the nothingness of the false gods (Jer 10:1-5), and a counter-view of the almighty and everlasting God (Jer 10:6-11) and of His governing care in the natural world. This warning is but a further continuation of the idea of Jer 9:23, that Israel's glory should consist in Jahveh who doth grace, right, and justice upon earth. In order thoroughly to impress this truth on the backsliding and idolatrous people, Jeremiah sets forth the nullity of the gods feared by the heathen, and, by showing how these gods are made of wood, plated with silver and gold, proves that these dead idols, which have neither life nor motion, cannot be objects of fear; whereas Jahveh is God in truth, a living and everlasting God, before whose anger the earth trembles, who has created the earth, and rules it, who in the day of visitation will also annihilate the false gods. (Note: This whole passage is declared by Movers (de utr. rec. Jer. p. 43), de W., Hitz., and Ng. to be spurious and a late interpolation; because, as they allege, it interrupts the continuity, because its matter brings us down to the time of the Babylonian exile, and because the language of it diverges in many respects from Jeremiah's. Against these arguments Kper, Haev., Welte, and others have made a Stand. See my Manual of Introd. 75, 1. - By the exhibition of the coherence of the thought given in the text, we have already disposed of the argument on which most stress is laid by the critics referred to, the alleged interruption of the connection. How little weight this argument is entitled to, may over and above be seen from the fact that Graf holds Jer 9:22-25 to be an interpolation, by reason of the want of connection; in which view neither Movers preceded him, nor has Hitz. or Ng. followed Him. The second reason, that the subject-matter brings us down to the time of the exile, rests upon a misconception of the purpose in displaying the nothingness of the false gods. In this there is presupposed neither a people as yet unspotted by idolatry, nor a people purified therefrom; but, in order to fill the heart with a warmer love for the living God and Lord of the world, Israel's own God, the bias towards the idols, deep-seated in the hearts of the people, is taken to task and attacked in that which lies at its root, namely, the fear of the power of the heathen's gods. Finally, as to the language of the passage, Movers tried to show that the whole not only belonged to the time of the pseudo-Isaiah, but that it was from his hand. Against this Graf has pronounced emphatically, with the remark that the similarity is not greater than is inevitable in the discussion of the same subject; whereas, he says, the diversity in expression is so great, that it does not even give us any reason to suppose that the author of this passage had the pseudo-Isaiah before him when he was writing. This assertion is certainly an exaggeration; but it contains thus much of truth, that along with individual similarities in expression, the diversities are so great as to put out of the question all idea of the passage's having been written by the author of Isa 40-56. In several verses Jeremiah's characteristic mode of expression is unmistakeable. Such are the frequent use of הבל for the idols, Jer 10:3 and Jer 10:15, cf. Jer 8:19; Jer 14:22, and עת פּקדּתם, Jer 10:15, cf. Jer 8:12; Jer 46:21; Jer 50:27, neither of which occurs in the second part of Isaiah; and הובישׁ, Jer 10:14, for which Isaiah uses בּושׁ, Isa 42:17; Isa 44:11. Further, in passages cognate in sense the expression is quite different; cf. Jer 10:4 and Jer 10:9 with Isa 40:19-20; Isa 41:7, where we find ימּוט instead of יפיק, which is not used by Isaiah in the sense of "move;" cf. Jer 10:5 with Isa 46:7 and Isa 41:23; Jer 10:12 with Isa 45:18. Finally, the two common expressions cannot prove anything, because they are found in other books, as שׁבט נחלתו, Jer 10:16 and Isa 63:17, derived from Deu 32:9; or יהוה צבאות , which is used frequently by Amos; cf. Amo 4:13; Amo 5:27, Amo 5:8; Amo 9:6, cf. with Jer 33:2. - Even נסך in the sense of molten image in Jer 10:14, as in Isa 41:29; Isa 48:5, is found also in Dan 11:8; consequently this use of the word is no peculiarity of the second part of Isaiah.) Jer 10:1-2 The nothingness of the false gods. - Jer 10:1. "Hear the word which Jahveh speaketh unto you, house of Israel! Jer 10:2. Thus saith Jahveh: To the ways of the heathen use yourselves not, and at the signs of the heaven be not dismayed, because the heathen are dismayed at them. Jer 10:3. For the ordinances of the peoples are vain. For it is wood, which one hath cut out of the forest, a work of the craftsman's hands with the axe. Jer 10:4. With silver and with gold he decks it, with nails and hammers they fasten it, that it move not. Jer 10:5. As a lathe-wrought pillar are they, and speak not; they are borne, because they cannot walk. Be not afraid of them; for they do not hurt, neither is it in them to do good." This is addressed to the house of Israel, i.e., to the whole covenant people; and "house of Israel" points back to "all the house of Israel" in Jer 9:25. עליכם for אליכם, as frequently in Jeremiah. The way of the heathen is their mode of life, especially their way of worshipping their gods; cf. ἡ ὁδὸς, Act 9:2; Act 19:9. למד c. אל, accustom oneself to a thing, used in Jer 13:21 with the synonymous על, and in Psa 18:35 (Piel) with ל. The signs of heaven are unwonted phenomena in the heavens, eclipses of the sun and moon, comets, and unusual conjunctions of the stars, which were regarded as the precursors of extraordinary and disastrous events. We cannot admit Hitz.'s objection, that these signs in heaven were sent by Jahveh (Joe 3:3-4), and that before these, as heralds of judgment, not only the heathen, but the Jews themselves, had good cause to be dismayed. For the signs that marked the dawning of the day of the Lord are not merely such things as eclipses of sun and moon, and the like. There is still less ground for Ng.'s idea, that the signs of heaven are such as, being permanently there, call forth religious adoration from year to year, the primitive constellations (Job 9:9), the twelve signs of the zodiac; for תּחתּוּ( נחת), to be in fear, consternari, never means, even in Mal 2:5, regular or permanent adoration. "For the heathen," etc., gives the cause of the fear: the heathen are dismayed before these, because in the stars they adored supernatural powers. Jer 10:3-5 The reason of the warning counsel: The ordinances of the peoples, i.e., the religious ideas and customs of the heathen, are vanity. הוּא refers to and is in agreement with the predicate; cf. Ew. 319, c. The vanity of the religious ordinances of the heathen is proved by the vanity of their gods. "For wood, which one has hewn out of the forest," sc. it is, viz., the god. The predicate is omitted, and must be supplied from הבל, a word which is in the plural used directly for the false gods; cf. Jer 8:19; Deu 32:21, etc. With the axe, sc. wrought. מעצד Rashi explains as axe, and suitably; for here it means in any case a carpenter's tool, whereas this is doubtful in Isa 44:12. The images were made of wood, which was covered with silver plating and gold; cf. Isa 30:22; Isa 40:19. This Jeremiah calls adorning them, making them fair with silver and gold. When the images were finished, they were fastened in their places with hammer and nails, that they might not tumble over; cf. Isa 41:7; Isa 40:20. When thus complete, they are like a lathe-wrought pillar. In Jdg 4:5, where alone this word elsewhere occurs. תּמר means palm-tree (=תּמר); here, by a later, derivative usage, = pillar, in support of which we can appeal to the Talmudic תּמּר, columnam facere, and to the O.T. תּימרה, pillar of smoke. מקשׁה is the work of the turning-lathe, Exo 25:18, Exo 25:31, etc. Lifeless and motionless as a turned pillar. (Note: Ew., Hitz., Graf, Ng. follow in the track of Movers, Phniz. i. S. 622, who takes מקשׁה se acc. to Isa 1:8 for a cucumber garden, and, acc. to Epist. Jerem. v. 70, understands by תּמר מקשׁה the figure of Priapus in a cucumber field, serving as a scare-crow. But even if we admit that there is an allusion to the verse before us in the mockery of the gods in the passage of Epist. Jerem. quoted, running literally as follows: ὧσπερ γὰρ ἐν οἰκυηράτῳ προβασκάνιον οὐδὲν φυλάσσον, οὕτως οἱ θεοὶ αὐτῶν εἰσὶ ξύλινοι καὶ περίχρυσοι καὶ περιάργυροι; and if we further admit that the author was led to make his comparison by his understanding מקשׁה in Isa 1:8 of a cucumber garden; - yet his comparison has so little in common with our verse in point of form, that it cannot at all be regarded as a translation of it, or serve as a rule for the interpretation of the phrase in question. And besides it has yet to be proved that the Israelites were in the habit of setting up images of Priapus as scare-crows.) Not to be able to speak is to be without life; not to walk, to take not a single step, i.e., to be without all power of motion; cf. Isa 46:7. The Chald. paraphrases correctly: quia non est in iis spiritus vitalis ad ambulandum. The incorrect form ינּשׂוּא for ינּשׂאוּ is doubtless only a copyist's error, induced by the preceding נשׂוא. They can do neither good nor evil, neither hurt nor help; cf. Isa 41:23. אותם for אתּם, as frequently; see on Jer 1:16. Jer 10:6-9 The almighty power of Jahveh, the living God. - Jer 10:6. "None at all is like Thee, Jahveh; great art Thou, and Thy name is great in might. Jer 10:7. Who would not fear Thee, Thou King of the peoples? To Thee doth it appertain; for among all the wise men of the peoples, and in all their kingdoms, there is none at all like unto Thee. Jer 10:8. But they are all together brutish and foolish; the teaching of the vanities is wood. Jer 10:9. Beaten silver, from Tarshish it is brought, and gold from Uphaz, work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; blue and red purple is their clothing; the work of cunning workmen are they all. Jer 10:10. But Jahveh is God in truth, He is living God and everlasting King; at His wrath the earth trembles, and the peoples abide not His indignation. Jer 10:11. Thus shall ye say unto them: The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens." In this second strophe Jahveh is contrasted, as the only true God and Lord of the world, with the lifeless gods. These there is no need to fear, but it behoves all to fear the almighty God, since in His wrath He can destroy nations. When compared with Psa 86:8, the מן in מאין seems redundant - so much so, that Ven. pronounces it a copyist's error, and Hitz. sets it aside by changing the vowels. The word as it stands contains a double negation, and is usually found only in dependent clauses with a strong negative force: so that there is none. Here it has the same force, but at the beginning of the sentence: none at all is as Thou; cf. Ew. 323, a. Great is Thy name, i.e., the manifestation of Thee in the world, in Thy government of the earth. "In (or with) might" belongs to "great:" great with might, displaying itself in acts of might; cf. Jer 16:21. Who would not fear Thee? a negative setting of the thought: every one must fear Thee. King of the nations; cf. Psa 22:29; Psa 47:8; Psa 96:10. יאתה from יאה, ἁπ. λεγ.. equivalent to נאה (whence נאוה), to be seemly, suitable. Among the wise men of the peoples none is like Thee, so as that any should be able to make head against Thee by any clever stroke; cf. Isa 19:12; Isa 29:14. Nor is there in any kingdom of the peoples any one like Jahveh, i.e., in might. It is not merely earthly kings that are meant, but the gods of the heathen as well. In no heathen kingdom is there any power to be compared with Jahveh. We are led here to think also of the pagan gods by Jer 10:8, where the wisdom and almighty power of the living God are contrasted with foolishness and vanity of the false gods. בּאחת is not: in uno = in una re, sc. idololatria (Rabb.); nor is it, as Hitz. in most strained fashion makes it: by means of one thing, i.e., by (or at) a single word, the word which comes immediately after: it is wood. אחת is unquestionably neuter, and the force of it here is collective, = all together, like the Chald. כחדא. The nominative to "are brutish" is "the peoples." The verb בּער is denom. from בּעיר, to be brutish, occurring elsewhere in the Kal only in Psa 94:8, Ezek. 21:36; in the Niph. Jer 10:14, Jer 10:21, Jer 51:17; Isa 19:11. כּסל as verb is found only here; elsewhere we have כּסיל, foolish, and כּסל, folly (Sol 7:1-13 :25), and, as a verb, the transposed form סכל. The remaining words of the verse make up one clause; the construction is the same as in Jer 10:3, but the sense is not: "a mere vain doctrine is the wood," i.e., the idol is itself but a doctrine of vanities. In this way Ew. takes it, making "wood" the subject of the clause and מוּסר the predicate. מוּסר הבלים is the antithesis to מוּסר יהוה, Deu 11:2; Pro 3:11; Job 5:17. As the latter is the παιδεία of the Lord, so the former is the παιδεία of the false gods (הבלים, cf. Jer 8:19). The παιδεία of Jahveh displayed itself, acc. to Deu 11:2, in deeds of might by means of which Jahveh set His people Israel free from the power of Egypt. Consequently it is the education of Israel by means of acts of love and chastenings, or, taken more generally, the divine leading and guidance of the people. Such a παιδεία the null and void gods could not give to their worshippers. Their παιδεία is wood, i.e., not: wooden, but nothing else than that which the gods themselves are - wood, which, however it be decked up (Jer 10:9), remains a mere lifeless block. So that the thought of Jer 10:8 is this: The heathen, with all their wise men, are brutish; since their gods, from which they should receive wisdom and instruction, are wood. Starting from this, Jer 10:9 continues to this effect: However much this wood be decked out with silver, gold, and purple raiment, it remains but the product of men's hands; by no such process does the wood become a god. The description of the polishing off of the wood into a god is loosely attached to the predicate עץ, by way of an enumeration of the various things made use of therefore. The specification served to make the picture the more graphic; what idols were made of was familiar to everybody. מרקּע, beat out into thin plates for coating over the wooden image; cf. Exo 39:3; Num 17:3. As to תּרשׁישׁ, Tartessus in Spain, the source of the silver, see on Eze 27:12. Gold from Ophir; אוּפז here and Dan 10:5 is only a dialectical variety of אופיר, see on Kg1 9:27. As the blue and red purple, see on Exo 25:4. חכמים, skilful artisans, cf. Isa 40:20. They all, i.e., all the idols. Jer 10:10 Whereas Jahveh is really and truly God. אלהים (standing in apposition), God in truth, "truth" being strongly contrasted with "vanity," and "living God" (cf. Deu 5:23) with the dead gods (Jer 10:5, Jer 10:8); and everlasting King of the whole world (cf. Psa 10:16; Psa 29:10; Exo 15:18), before whose wrath the earth trembles and the peoples quake with terror; cf. Nah 1:5; Joe 2:11; Psa 97:5. לא יכלוּ (written as in Jer 2:13), they hold not, do not hold out, do not endure. Jer 10:11 Jer 10:11 is Chaldee. But it must not be regarded as a gloss that has found its way into the text, on the grounds on which Houb., Ven., Ros., Ew., Hitz., Gr., etc., so regard it, namely, because it is Chaldee, and because there is an immediate connection between Jer 10:10 and Jer 10:12. Both the language in which the verse is written, and the subject-matter of it, are unfavourable to this view. The latter does not bear the character of a gloss; and no copyist would have interpolated a Chaldee verse into the Hebrew text. Besides, the verse is found in the Alexandrian version; and in point of sense it connects very suitably with Jer 10:10 : Jahveh is everlasting King, whereas the gods which have not made heaven and earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens. This the Israelites are to say to the idolaters. ארקא is the harder form for ארעא. The last word, אלּה, is Hebrew; it does not belong to שׁמיּא, but serves to emphasize the subject: the gods - these shall perish. Jeremiah wrote the verse in Chaldee, ut Judaeis suggerat, quomodo Chaldaeis (ad quos non nisi Chaldaice loqui poterant) paucis verbis respondendum sit, as Seb. Schm has remarked. The thought of this verse is a fitting conclusion to the exhortation not to fear the gods of the heathen; it corresponds to the 5th verse, with which the first strophe concludes the warning against idolatry The Israelites are not only not to fear the null and void gods of the heathen, but they are to tell the heathen that their gods will perish from the earth and from under the heavens. Jer 10:12-13 The third strophe. - In it the almighty power of the living God is shown from His providential government of nature, the overthrow of the false gods in the time of judgment is declared, and, finally, the Creator of the universe is set forth as the God of Israel. - Jer 10:12. "That made the earth by His power, that founded the world by His wisdom, and by His understanding stretched out the heavens. Jer 10:13. When He thundering makes the roar of waters in the heavens, He causes clouds to rise from the ends of the earth, makes lightnings for the rain, and brings the wind forth out of His treasuries. Jer 10:14. Brutish becomes every man without knowledge; ashamed is every goldsmith by reason of the image, for falsehood is his molten image, and there is no spirit in them. Jer 10:15. Vanity are they, a work of mockery; in the time of their visitation they perish. Jer 10:16. Not like these is the portion of Jacob: the framer of (the) all is He, and Israel is the stock of His inheritance: Jahveh of hosts is His name." In point of form, "that made the earth," etc., connects with "Jahveh God," Jer 10:10; but in respect of its matter, the description of God as Creator of heaven and earth is led up to by the contrast: The gods which have not made the heaven and the earth shall perish. The subject to עשׂה and the following verbs is not expressed, but may be supplied from the contrasted statement of Jer 10:11, or from the substance of the several statements in Jer 10:12. The connection may be taken thus: The true God is the one making the earth by His power = is He that made, etc. As the creation of the earth is a work of God's almighty power, so the establishing, the founding of it upon the waters (Psa 24:2) is an act of divine wisdom, and the stretching out of the heavens over the earth like a tent (Isa 40:22; Psa 104:2) is a work of intelligent design. On this cf. Isa 42:5; Isa 44:24; Isa 45:18; Isa 51:13. Every thunder-storm bears witness to the wise and almighty government of God, Jer 10:13. The words לקול are difficult. Acc. to Ew. ֗307, b, they stand for לתּתּו קול: when He gives His voice, i.e., when He thunders. In support of this it may be said, that the mention of lightnings, rain, and wind suggests such an interpretation. But the transposition of the words cannot be justified. Hitz. has justly remarked: The putting of the accusative first, taken by itself, might do; but not when it must at the same time be stat. constr., and when its genitive thus separated from it would assume the appearance of being an accusative to תּתּו. Besides, we would expect לתת קולו rather than לתּתּו קול. קול תּתּו cannot grammatically be rendered: the voice which He gives, as Ng. would have it, but: the voice of His giving; and "roar of waters" must be the accusative of the object, governed by תּתּו. Hence we must protest against the explanation of L. de Dieu: ad vocem dationis ejus multitudo aquarum est in caelo, at least if ad vocem dationis is tantamount to simul ac dat. Just as little can לקול taken by itself mean thunder, so that ad vocem should, with Schnur., be interpreted by tonitru est dare ejus multitudinem aquae. The only grammatically feasible explanation is the second of those proposed by L. de Dieu: ad vocem dandi ipsum, i.e., qua dat vel ponit multitudinem aquarum. So Hitz.: at the roar of His giving wealth of waters. Accordingly we expound: at the noise, when He gives the roar of waters in heaven, He raises up clouds from the ends of the earth; taking, as we do, the ויּעלה to be a ו consec. introducing the supplementary clause. The voice or noise with which God gives the roar or the fulness of waters in the heaven, is the sound of the thunder. With this the gathering of the dark thunder-clouds is put into causal connection, as it appears to be to the eye; for during the thunder we see the thunder-clouds gather thicker and darker on the horizon. נשׂיא, the ascended, poetic word for cloud. Lightnings for the rain; i.e., since the rain comes as a consequence of the lightning, for the lightning seems to rend the clouds and let them pour their water out on the earth. Thunder-storms are always accompanied by a strong wind. God causes the wind to go forth from His store-chambers, where He has it also under custody, and blow over the earth. See a like simile of the store-chambers of the snow and hail, Job 38:22. From ויּעלה onwards, this verse is repeated in Psa 135:7. Jer 10:14-15 In presence of such marvels of divine power and wisdom, all men seem brutish and ignorant (away from knowledge = without knowledge), and all makers of idols are put to shame "because of the image" which they make for a god, and which is but a deception, has no breath of life. נסך, prop. drink-offering, libamen, cf. Jer 7:15; here molten image = מסּכה, as in Isa 41:29; Isa 48:5; Dan 11:8. Vanity they are, these idols made by the goldsmith. A work of mockings, i.e., that is exposed to ridicule when the nullity of the things taken to be gods is clearly brought to light. Others: A work which makes mockery of its worshippers, befools and deludes them (Hitz., Ng.). In the time of their visitation, cf. Jer 6:15. Jer 10:16 Quite other is the portion of Jacob, i.e., the God who has fallen to the lot of Jacob (the people of Israel) as inheritance. The expression is formed after Deu 4:19-20, where it is said of sun, moon, and stars that Jahveh has apportioned (חלק) them to the heathen as gods, but has taken Israel that it may be to Him לעם נחלה; accordingly Israel is in Deu 32:9 called חלק יהוה, while in Psa 16:5 David praises Jahveh as מנת־חלקו. For He is the framer הכּל, i.e., of the universe. Israel is the stock of His inheritance, i.e., the race which belongs to Him as a peculiar possession. שׁבט נחלתו is like חבל נחלתו, Deu 32:9; in Psa 74:2 it is said of Mount Zion, and in Isa 63:17 it is used in the plural, 'שׁבטי נ, of the godly servants of the Lord. The name of this God, the framer of the universe, is Jahveh of hosts - the God whom the hosts of heaven, angels and stars, serve, the Lord and Ruler of the whole world; cf. Isa 54:5; Amo 4:13.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

Warning against idolatry by means of a view of the nothingness of the false gods (Jer 10:1-5), and a counter-view of the almighty and everlasting God (Jer 10:6-11) and of His governing care in the natural world. This warning is but a further continuation of the idea of Jer 9:23, that Israel's glory should consist in Jahveh who doth grace, right, and justice upon earth. In order thoroughly to impress this truth on the backsliding and idolatrous people, Jeremiah sets forth the nullity of the gods feared by the heathen, and, by showing how these gods are made of wood, plated with silver and gold, proves that these dead idols, which have neither life nor motion, cannot be objects of fear; whereas Jahveh is God in truth, a living and everlasting God, before whose anger the earth trembles, who has created the earth, and rules it, who in the day of visitation will also annihilate the false gods.

(Note: This whole passage is declared by Movers (de utr. rec. Jer. p. 43), de W., Hitz., and Ng. to be spurious and a late interpolation; because, as they allege, it interrupts the continuity, because its matter brings us down to the time of the Babylonian exile, and because the language of it diverges in many respects from Jeremiah's. Against these arguments Kper, Haev., Welte, and others have made a Stand. See my Manual of Introd. 75, 1. - By the exhibition of the coherence of the thought given in the text, we have already disposed of the argument on which most stress is laid by the critics referred to, the alleged interruption of the connection. How little weight this argument is entitled to, may over and above be seen from the fact that Graf holds Jer 9:22-25 to be an interpolation, by reason of the want of connection; in which view neither Movers preceded him, nor has Hitz. or Ng. followed Him. The second reason, that the subject-matter brings us down to the time of the exile, rests upon a misconception of the purpose in displaying the nothingness of the false gods. In this there is presupposed neither a people as yet unspotted by idolatry, nor a people purified therefrom; but, in order to fill the heart with a warmer love for the living God and Lord of the world, Israel's own God, the bias towards the idols, deep-seated in the hearts of the people, is taken to task and attacked in that which lies at its root, namely, the fear of the power of the heathen's gods. Finally, as to the language of the passage, Movers tried to show that the whole not only belonged to the time of the pseudo-Isaiah, but that it was from his hand. Against this Graf has pronounced emphatically, with the remark that the similarity is not greater than is inevitable in the discussion of the same subject; whereas, he says, the diversity in expression is so great, that it does not even give us any reason to suppose that the author of this passage had the pseudo-Isaiah before him when he was writing. This assertion is certainly an exaggeration; but it contains thus much of truth, that along with individual similarities in expression, the diversities are so great as to put out of the question all idea of the passage's having been written by the author of Isa 40-56. In several verses Jeremiah's characteristic mode of expression is unmistakeable. Such are the frequent use of הבל for the idols, Jer 10:3 and Jer 10:15, cf. Jer 8:19; Jer 14:22, and עת פּקדּתם, Jer 10:15, cf. Jer 8:12; Jer 46:21; Jer 50:27, neither of which occurs in the second part of Isaiah; and הובישׁ, Jer 10:14, for which Isaiah uses בּושׁ, Isa 42:17; Isa 44:11. Further, in passages cognate in sense the expression is quite different; cf. Jer 10:4 and Jer 10:9 with Isa 40:19-20; Isa 41:7, where we find ימּוט instead of יפיק, which is not used by Isaiah in the sense of "move;" cf. Jer 10:5 with Isa 46:7 and Isa 41:23; Jer 10:12 with Isa 45:18. Finally, the two common expressions cannot prove anything, because they are found in other books, as שׁבט נחלתו, Jer 10:16 and Isa 63:17, derived from Deu 32:9; or יהוה צבאות , which is used frequently by Amos; cf. Amo 4:13; Amo 5:27, Amo 5:8; Amo 9:6, cf. with Jer 33:2. - Even נסך in the sense of molten image in Jer 10:14, as in Isa 41:29; Isa 48:5, is found also in Dan 11:8; consequently this use of the word is no peculiarity of the second part of Isaiah.)

Jer 10:1-2

The nothingness of the false gods. - Jer 10:1. "Hear the word which Jahveh speaketh unto you, house of Israel! Jer 10:2. Thus saith Jahveh: To the ways of the heathen use yourselves not, and at the signs of the heaven be not dismayed, because the heathen are dismayed at them. Jer 10:3. For the ordinances of the peoples are vain. For it is wood, which one hath cut out of the forest, a work of the craftsman's hands with the axe. Jer 10:4. With silver and with gold he decks it, with nails and hammers they fasten it, that it move not. Jer 10:5. As a lathe-wrought pillar are they, and speak not; they are borne, because they cannot walk. Be not afraid of them; for they do not hurt, neither is it in them to do good."

This is addressed to the house of Israel, i.e., to the whole covenant people; and "house of Israel" points back to "all the house of Israel" in Jer 9:25. עליכם for אליכם, as frequently in Jeremiah. The way of the heathen is their mode of life, especially their way of worshipping their gods; cf. ἡ ὁδὸς, Act 9:2; Act 19:9. למד c. אל, accustom oneself to a thing, used in Jer 13:21 with the synonymous על, and in Psa 18:35 (Piel) with ל. The signs of heaven are unwonted phenomena in the heavens, eclipses of the sun and moon, comets, and unusual conjunctions of the stars, which were regarded as the precursors of extraordinary and disastrous events. We cannot admit Hitz.'s objection, that these signs in heaven were sent by Jahveh (Joe 3:3-4), and that before these, as heralds of judgment, not only the heathen, but the Jews themselves, had good cause to be dismayed. For the signs that marked the dawning of the day of the Lord are not merely such things as eclipses of sun and moon, and the like. There is still less ground for Ng.'s idea, that the signs of heaven are such as, being permanently there, call forth religious adoration from year to year, the primitive constellations (Job 9:9), the twelve signs of the zodiac; for תּחתּוּ( נחת), to be in fear, consternari, never means, even in Mal 2:5, regular or permanent adoration. "For the heathen," etc., gives the cause of the fear: the heathen are dismayed before these, because in the stars they adored supernatural powers.

Jer 10:3-5

The reason of the warning counsel: The ordinances of the peoples, i.e., the religious ideas and customs of the heathen, are vanity. הוּא refers to and is in agreement with the predicate; cf. Ew. 319, c. The vanity of the religious ordinances of the heathen is proved by the vanity of their gods. "For wood, which one has hewn out of the forest," sc. it is, viz., the god. The predicate is omitted, and must be supplied from הבל, a word which is in the plural used directly for the false gods; cf. Jer 8:19; Deu 32:21, etc. With the axe, sc. wrought. מעצד Rashi explains as axe, and suitably; for here it means in any case a carpenter's tool, whereas this is doubtful in Isa 44:12. The images were made of wood, which was covered with silver plating and gold; cf. Isa 30:22; Isa 40:19. This Jeremiah calls adorning them, making them fair with silver and gold. When the images were finished, they were fastened in their places with hammer and nails, that they might not tumble over; cf. Isa 41:7; Isa 40:20. When thus complete, they are like a lathe-wrought pillar. In Jdg 4:5, where alone this word elsewhere occurs. תּמר means palm-tree (=תּמר); here, by a later, derivative usage, = pillar, in support of which we can appeal to the Talmudic תּמּר, columnam facere, and to the O.T. תּימרה, pillar of smoke. מקשׁה is the work of the turning-lathe, Exo 25:18, Exo 25:31, etc. Lifeless and motionless as a turned pillar.

(Note: Ew., Hitz., Graf, Ng. follow in the track of Movers, Phniz. i. S. 622, who takes מקשׁה se acc. to Isa 1:8 for a cucumber garden, and, acc. to Epist. Jerem. v. 70, understands by תּמר מקשׁה the figure of Priapus in a cucumber field, serving as a scare-crow. But even if we admit that there is an allusion to the verse before us in the mockery of the gods in the passage of Epist. Jerem. quoted, running literally as follows: ὧσπερ γὰρ ἐν οἰκυηράτῳ προβασκάνιον οὐδὲν φυλάσσον, οὕτως οἱ θεοὶ αὐτῶν εἰσὶ ξύλινοι καὶ περίχρυσοι καὶ περιάργυροι; and if we further admit that the author was led to make his comparison by his understanding מקשׁה in Isa 1:8 of a cucumber garden; - yet his comparison has so little in common with our verse in point of form, that it cannot at all be regarded as a translation of it, or serve as a rule for the interpretation of the phrase in question. And besides it has yet to be proved that the Israelites were in the habit of setting up images of Priapus as scare-crows.)

Not to be able to speak is to be without life; not to walk, to take not a single step, i.e., to be without all power of motion; cf. Isa 46:7. The Chald. paraphrases correctly: quia non est in iis spiritus vitalis ad ambulandum. The incorrect form ינּשׂוּא for ינּשׂאוּ is doubtless only a copyist's error, induced by the preceding נשׂוא. They can do neither good nor evil, neither hurt nor help; cf. Isa 41:23. אותם for אתּם, as frequently; see on Jer 1:16.

Jer 10:6-9

The almighty power of Jahveh, the living God. - Jer 10:6. "None at all is like Thee, Jahveh; great art Thou, and Thy name is great in might. Jer 10:7. Who would not fear Thee, Thou King of the peoples? To Thee doth it appertain; for among all the wise men of the peoples, and in all their kingdoms, there is none at all like unto Thee. Jer 10:8. But they are all together brutish and foolish; the teaching of the vanities is wood. Jer 10:9. Beaten silver, from Tarshish it is brought, and gold from Uphaz, work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; blue and red purple is their clothing; the work of cunning workmen are they all. Jer 10:10. But Jahveh is God in truth, He is living God and everlasting King; at His wrath the earth trembles, and the peoples abide not His indignation. Jer 10:11. Thus shall ye say unto them: The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens."

In this second strophe Jahveh is contrasted, as the only true God and Lord of the world, with the lifeless gods. These there is no need to fear, but it behoves all to fear the almighty God, since in His wrath He can destroy nations. When compared with Psa 86:8, the מן in מאין seems redundant - so much so, that Ven. pronounces it a copyist's error, and Hitz. sets it aside by changing the vowels. The word as it stands contains a double negation, and is usually found only in dependent clauses with a strong negative force: so that there is none. Here it has the same force, but at the beginning of the sentence: none at all is as Thou; cf. Ew. 323, a. Great is Thy name, i.e., the manifestation of Thee in the world, in Thy government of the earth. "In (or with) might" belongs to "great:" great with might, displaying itself in acts of might; cf. Jer 16:21. Who would not fear Thee? a negative setting of the thought: every one must fear Thee. King of the nations; cf. Psa 22:29; Psa 47:8; Psa 96:10. יאתה from יאה, ἁπ. λεγ.. equivalent to נאה (whence נאוה), to be seemly, suitable. Among the wise men of the peoples none is like Thee, so as that any should be able to make head against Thee by any clever stroke; cf. Isa 19:12; Isa 29:14. Nor is there in any kingdom of the peoples any one like Jahveh, i.e., in might. It is not merely earthly kings that are meant, but the gods of the heathen as well. In no heathen kingdom is there any power to be compared with Jahveh. We are led here to think also of the pagan gods by Jer 10:8, where the wisdom and almighty power of the living God are contrasted with foolishness and vanity of the false gods. בּאחת is not: in uno = in una re, sc. idololatria (Rabb.); nor is it, as Hitz. in most strained fashion makes it: by means of one thing, i.e., by (or at) a single word, the word which comes immediately after: it is wood. אחת is unquestionably neuter, and the force of it here is collective, = all together, like the Chald. כחדא. The nominative to "are brutish" is "the peoples." The verb בּער is denom. from בּעיר, to be brutish, occurring elsewhere in the Kal only in Psa 94:8, Ezek. 21:36; in the Niph. Jer 10:14, Jer 10:21, Jer 51:17; Isa 19:11. כּסל as verb is found only here; elsewhere we have כּסיל, foolish, and כּסל, folly (Sol 7:1-13 :25), and, as a verb, the transposed form סכל. The remaining words of the verse make up one clause; the construction is the same as in Jer 10:3, but the sense is not: "a mere vain doctrine is the wood," i.e., the idol is itself but a doctrine of vanities. In this way Ew. takes it, making "wood" the subject of the clause and מוּסר the predicate. מוּסר הבלים is the antithesis to מוּסר יהוה, Deu 11:2; Pro 3:11; Job 5:17. As the latter is the παιδεία of the Lord, so the former is the παιδεία of the false gods (הבלים, cf. Jer 8:19). The παιδεία of Jahveh displayed itself, acc. to Deu 11:2, in deeds of might by means of which Jahveh set His people Israel free from the power of Egypt. Consequently it is the education of Israel by means of acts of love and chastenings, or, taken more generally, the divine leading and guidance of the people. Such a παιδεία the null and void gods could not give to their worshippers. Their παιδεία is wood, i.e., not: wooden, but nothing else than that which the gods themselves are - wood, which, however it be decked up (Jer 10:9), remains a mere lifeless block. So that the thought of Jer 10:8 is this: The heathen, with all their wise men, are brutish; since their gods, from which they should receive wisdom and instruction, are wood. Starting from this, Jer 10:9 continues to this effect: However much this wood be decked out with silver, gold, and purple raiment, it remains but the product of men's hands; by no such process does the wood become a god. The description of the polishing off of the wood into a god is loosely attached to the predicate עץ, by way of an enumeration of the various things made use of therefore. The specification served to make the picture the more graphic; what idols were made of was familiar to everybody. מרקּע, beat out into thin plates for coating over the wooden image; cf. Exo 39:3; Num 17:3. As to תּרשׁישׁ, Tartessus in Spain, the source of the silver, see on Eze 27:12. Gold from Ophir; אוּפז here and Dan 10:5 is only a dialectical variety of אופיר, see on Kg1 9:27. As the blue and red purple, see on Exo 25:4. חכמים, skilful artisans, cf. Isa 40:20. They all, i.e., all the idols.

Jer 10:10

Whereas Jahveh is really and truly God. אלהים (standing in apposition), God in truth, "truth" being strongly contrasted with "vanity," and "living God" (cf. Deu 5:23) with the dead gods (Jer 10:5, Jer 10:8); and everlasting King of the whole world (cf. Psa 10:16; Psa 29:10; Exo 15:18), before whose wrath the earth trembles and the peoples quake with terror; cf. Nah 1:5; Joe 2:11; Psa 97:5. לא יכלוּ (written as in Jer 2:13), they hold not, do not hold out, do not endure.

Jer 10:11

Jer 10:11 is Chaldee. But it must not be regarded as a gloss that has found its way into the text, on the grounds on which Houb., Ven., Ros., Ew., Hitz., Gr., etc., so regard it, namely, because it is Chaldee, and because there is an immediate connection between Jer 10:10 and Jer 10:12. Both the language in which the verse is written, and the subject-matter of it, are unfavourable to this view. The latter does not bear the character of a gloss; and no copyist would have interpolated a Chaldee verse into the Hebrew text. Besides, the verse is found in the Alexandrian version; and in point of sense it connects very suitably with Jer 10:10 : Jahveh is everlasting King, whereas the gods which have not made heaven and earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens. This the Israelites are to say to the idolaters. ארקא is the harder form for ארעא. The last word, אלּה, is Hebrew; it does not belong to שׁמיּא, but serves to emphasize the subject: the gods - these shall perish. Jeremiah wrote the verse in Chaldee, ut Judaeis suggerat, quomodo Chaldaeis (ad quos non nisi Chaldaice loqui poterant) paucis verbis respondendum sit, as Seb. Schm has remarked. The thought of this verse is a fitting conclusion to the exhortation not to fear the gods of the heathen; it corresponds to the 5th verse, with which the first strophe concludes the warning against idolatry The Israelites are not only not to fear the null and void gods of the heathen, but they are to tell the heathen that their gods will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.

Jer 10:12-13

The third strophe. - In it the almighty power of the living God is shown from His providential government of nature, the overthrow of the false gods in the time of judgment is declared, and, finally, the Creator of the universe is set forth as the God of Israel. - Jer 10:12. "That made the earth by His power, that founded the world by His wisdom, and by His understanding stretched out the heavens. Jer 10:13. When He thundering makes the roar of waters in the heavens, He causes clouds to rise from the ends of the earth, makes lightnings for the rain, and brings the wind forth out of His treasuries. Jer 10:14. Brutish becomes every man without knowledge; ashamed is every goldsmith by reason of the image, for falsehood is his molten image, and there is no spirit in them. Jer 10:15. Vanity are they, a work of mockery; in the time of their visitation they perish. Jer 10:16. Not like these is the portion of Jacob: the framer of (the) all is He, and Israel is the stock of His inheritance: Jahveh of hosts is His name."

In point of form, "that made the earth," etc., connects with "Jahveh God," Jer 10:10; but in respect of its matter, the description of God as Creator of heaven and earth is led up to by the contrast: The gods which have not made the heaven and the earth shall perish. The subject to עשׂה and the following verbs is not expressed, but may be supplied from the contrasted statement of Jer 10:11, or from the substance of the several statements in Jer 10:12. The connection may be taken thus: The true God is the one making the earth by His power = is He that made, etc. As the creation of the earth is a work of God's almighty power, so the establishing, the founding of it upon the waters (Psa 24:2) is an act of divine wisdom, and the stretching out of the heavens over the earth like a tent (Isa 40:22; Psa 104:2) is a work of intelligent design. On this cf. Isa 42:5; Isa 44:24; Isa 45:18; Isa 51:13. Every thunder-storm bears witness to the wise and almighty government of God, Jer 10:13. The words לקול are difficult. Acc. to Ew. ֗307, b, they stand for לתּתּו קול: when He gives His voice, i.e., when He thunders. In support of this it may be said, that the mention of lightnings, rain, and wind suggests such an interpretation. But the transposition of the words cannot be justified. Hitz. has justly remarked: The putting of the accusative first, taken by itself, might do; but not when it must at the same time be stat. constr., and when its genitive thus separated from it would assume the appearance of being an accusative to תּתּו. Besides, we would expect לתת קולו rather than לתּתּו קול. קול תּתּו cannot grammatically be rendered: the voice which He gives, as Ng. would have it, but: the voice of His giving; and "roar of waters" must be the accusative of the object, governed by תּתּו. Hence we must protest against the explanation of L. de Dieu: ad vocem dationis ejus multitudo aquarum est in caelo, at least if ad vocem dationis is tantamount to simul ac dat. Just as little can לקול taken by itself mean thunder, so that ad vocem should, with Schnur., be interpreted by tonitru est dare ejus multitudinem aquae. The only grammatically feasible explanation is the second of those proposed by L. de Dieu: ad vocem dandi ipsum, i.e., qua dat vel ponit multitudinem aquarum. So Hitz.: at the roar of His giving wealth of waters. Accordingly we expound: at the noise, when He gives the roar of waters in heaven, He raises up clouds from the ends of the earth; taking, as we do, the ויּעלה to be a ו consec. introducing the supplementary clause. The voice or noise with which God gives the roar or the fulness of waters in the heaven, is the sound of the thunder. With this the gathering of the dark thunder-clouds is put into causal connection, as it appears to be to the eye; for during the thunder we see the thunder-clouds gather thicker and darker on the horizon. נשׂיא, the ascended, poetic word for cloud. Lightnings for the rain; i.e., since the rain comes as a consequence of the lightning, for the lightning seems to rend the clouds and let them pour their water out on the earth. Thunder-storms are always accompanied by a strong wind. God causes the wind to go forth from His store-chambers, where He has it also under custody, and blow over the earth. See a like simile of the store-chambers of the snow and hail, Job 38:22. From ויּעלה onwards, this verse is repeated in Psa 135:7.

Jer 10:14-15

In presence of such marvels of divine power and wisdom, all men seem brutish and ignorant (away from knowledge = without knowledge), and all makers of idols are put to shame "because of the image" which they make for a god, and which is but a deception, has no breath of life. נסך, prop. drink-offering, libamen, cf. Jer 7:15; here molten image = מסּכה, as in Isa 41:29; Isa 48:5; Dan 11:8. Vanity they are, these idols made by the goldsmith. A work of mockings, i.e., that is exposed to ridicule when the nullity of the things taken to be gods is clearly brought to light. Others: A work which makes mockery of its worshippers, befools and deludes them (Hitz., Ng.). In the time of their visitation, cf. Jer 6:15.

Jer 10:16

Quite other is the portion of Jacob, i.e., the God who has fallen to the lot of Jacob (the people of Israel) as inheritance. The expression is formed after Deu 4:19-20, where it is said of sun, moon, and stars that Jahveh has apportioned (חלק) them to the heathen as gods, but has taken Israel that it may be to Him לעם נחלה; accordingly Israel is in Deu 32:9 called חלק יהוה, while in Psa 16:5 David praises Jahveh as מנת־חלקו. For He is the framer הכּל, i.e., of the universe. Israel is the stock of His inheritance, i.e., the race which belongs to Him as a peculiar possession. שׁבט נחלתו is like חבל נחלתו, Deu 32:9; in Psa 74:2 it is said of Mount Zion, and in Isa 63:17 it is used in the plural, 'שׁבטי נ, of the godly servants of the Lord. The name of this God, the framer of the universe, is Jahveh of hosts - the God whom the hosts of heaven, angels and stars, serve, the Lord and Ruler of the whole world; cf. Isa 54:5; Amo 4:13.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you - Dr. Dahler supposes this discourse to have been delivered in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim. It contains an invective against idolatry; showing its absurdity, and that the Creator alone should be worshipped by all mankind.

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¹³ For, lo, he that formeth [03335] the mountains [02022], and createth [01254] the wind [07307], and declareth [05046] unto man [0120] what is his thought [07808], that maketh [06213] the morning [07837] darkness [05890], and treadeth [01869] upon the high places [01116] of the earth [0776], The LORD [03068], The God [0430] of hosts [06635], is his name [08034].

⁵ For thy Maker [06213] is thine husband [01166]; the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635] is his name [08034]; and thy Redeemer [01350] the Holy One [06918] of Israel [03478]; The God [0430] of the whole earth [0776] shall he be called [07121].

¹⁷ O LORD [03068], why hast thou made us to err [08582] from thy ways [01870], and hardened [07188] our heart [03820] from thy fear [03374]? Return [07725] for thy servants [05650]' sake, the tribes [07626] of thine inheritance [05159].

² Remember [02142] thy congregation [05712], which thou hast purchased [07069] of old [06924]; the rod [07626] of thine inheritance [05159], which thou hast redeemed [01350]; this mount [02022] Zion [06726], wherein thou hast dwelt [07931].

⁹ For the LORD'S [03068] portion [02506] is his people [05971]; Jacob [03290] is the lot [02256] of his inheritance [05159].

⁵ The LORD [03068] is the portion [04490] of mine inheritance [02506] and of my cup [03563]: thou maintainest [08551] my lot [01486].

⁹ For the LORD'S [03068] portion [02506] is his people [05971]; Jacob [03290] is the lot [02256] of his inheritance [05159].

¹⁹ And lest thou lift up [05375] thine eyes [05869] unto heaven [08064], and when thou seest [07200] the sun [08121], and the moon [03394], and the stars [03556], even all the host [06635] of heaven [08064], shouldest be driven [05080] to worship [07812] them, and serve [05647] them, which the LORD [03068] thy God [0430] hath divided [02505] unto all nations [05971] under the whole heaven [08064].
²⁰ But the LORD [03068] hath taken [03947] you, and brought you forth [03318] out of the iron [01270] furnace [03564], even out of Egypt [04714], to be unto him a people [05971] of inheritance [05159], as ye are this day [03117].

¹⁶ The portion [02506] of Jacob [03290] is not like them: for he is the former [03335] of all things; and Israel [03478] is the rod [07626] of his inheritance [05159]: The LORD [03068] of hosts [06635] is his name [08034].

¹⁵ Were they ashamed [03001] when they had committed [06213] abomination [08441]? nay [01571], they were not at all [0954] ashamed [0954], neither [01571] could [03045] they blush [03637]: therefore they shall fall [05307] among them that fall [05307]: at the time [06256] that I visit [06485] them they shall be cast down [03782], saith [0559] the LORD [03068].

⁸ And shall also carry [0935] captives [07628] into Egypt [04714] their gods [0430], with their princes [05257], and with their precious [02532] vessels [03627] of silver [03701] and of gold [02091]; and he shall continue [05975] more years [08141] than the king [04428] of the north [06828].

⁵ I have even from the beginning [0227] declared [05046] it to thee; before it came to pass [0935] I shewed [08085] it thee: lest thou shouldest say [0559], Mine idol [06090] hath done [06213] them, and my graven image [06459], and my molten image [05262], hath commanded [06680] them.

²⁹ Behold, they are all vanity [0205]; their works [04639] are nothing [0657]: their molten images [05262] are wind [07307] and confusion [08414].

¹⁵ And I will cast you out [07993] of my sight [06440], as I have cast out [07993] all your brethren [0251], even the whole seed [02233] of Ephraim [0669].

¹⁴ Every man [0120] is brutish [01197] in his knowledge [01847]: every founder [06884] is confounded [03001] by the graven image [06459]: for his molten image [05262] is falsehood [08267], and there is no breath [07307] in them.
¹⁵ They are vanity [01892], and the work [04639] of errors [08595]: in the time [06256] of their visitation [06486] they shall perish [06].

⁷ He causeth the vapours [05387] to ascend [05927] from the ends [07097] of the earth [0776]; he maketh [06213] lightnings [01300] for the rain [04306]; he bringeth [03318] the wind [07307] out of his treasuries [0214].

²² Hast thou entered [0935] into the treasures [0214] of the snow [07950]? or hast thou seen [07200] the treasures [0214] of the hail [01259],

¹³ When he uttereth [05414] his voice [06963], there is a multitude [01995] of waters [04325] in the heavens [08064], and he causeth the vapours [05387] to ascend [05927] from the ends [07097] of the earth [0776]; he maketh [06213] lightnings [01300] with rain [04306], and bringeth forth [03318] the wind [07307] out of his treasures [0214].

¹³ And forgettest [07911] the LORD [03068] thy maker [06213], that hath stretched forth [05186] the heavens [08064], and laid the foundations [03245] of the earth [0776]; and hast feared [06342] continually [08548] every day [03117] because [06440] of the fury [02534] of the oppressor [06693], as if [0834] he were ready [03559] to destroy [07843]? and where is the fury [02534] of the oppressor [06693]?

¹⁸ For thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068] that created [01254] the heavens [08064]; God [0430] himself that formed [03335] the earth [0776] and made [06213] it; he hath established [03559] it, he created [01254] it not in vain [08414], he formed [03335] it to be inhabited [03427]: I am the LORD [03068]; and there is none else.

²⁴ Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068], thy redeemer [01350], and he that formed [03335] thee from the womb [0990], I am the LORD [03068] that maketh [06213] all things; that stretcheth forth [05186] the heavens [08064] alone; that spreadeth abroad [07554] the earth [0776] by myself;

⁵ Thus saith [0559] God [0410] the LORD [03068], he that created [01254] the heavens [08064], and stretched them out [05186]; he that spread forth [07554] the earth [0776], and that which cometh out [06631] of it; he that giveth [05414] breath [05397] unto the people [05971] upon it, and spirit [07307] to them that walk [01980] therein:

² Who coverest [05844] thyself with light [0216] as with a garment [08008]: who stretchest out [05186] the heavens [08064] like a curtain [03407]:

²² It is he that sitteth [03427] upon the circle [02329] of the earth [0776], and the inhabitants [03427] thereof are as grasshoppers [02284]; that stretcheth out [05186] the heavens [08064] as a curtain [01852], and spreadeth them out [04969] as a tent [0168] to dwell in [03427]:

² For he hath founded [03245] it upon the seas [03220], and established [03559] it upon the floods [05104].

¹¹ Thus [01836] shall ye say [0560] unto them, The gods [0426] that have not [03809] made [05648] the heavens [08065] and the earth [0778], even they shall perish [07] from the earth [0772], and from under [08460] these [0429] heavens [08065].

¹⁰ But the LORD [03068] is the true [0571] God [0430], he is the living [02416] God [0430], and an everlasting [05769] king [04428]: at his wrath [07110] the earth [0776] shall tremble [07493], and the nations [01471] shall not be able to abide [03557] his indignation [02195].

¹⁵ They are vanity [01892], and the work [04639] of errors [08595]: in the time [06256] of their visitation [06486] they shall perish [06].

¹² He hath made [06213] the earth [0776] by his power [03581], he hath established [03559] the world [08398] by his wisdom [02451], and hath stretched out [05186] the heavens [08064] by his discretion [08394].
¹³ When he uttereth [05414] his voice [06963], there is a multitude [01995] of waters [04325] in the heavens [08064], and he causeth the vapours [05387] to ascend [05927] from the ends [07097] of the earth [0776]; he maketh [06213] lightnings [01300] with rain [04306], and bringeth forth [03318] the wind [07307] out of his treasures [0214].

¹³ For my people [05971] have committed [06213] two [08147] evils [07451]; they have forsaken [05800] me the fountain [04726] of living [02416] waters [04325], and hewed them out [02672] cisterns [0877], broken [07665] cisterns [0877], that can hold [03557] no water [04325].

⁵ The hills [02022] melted [04549] like wax [01749] at the presence [06440] of the LORD [03068], at the presence [06440] of the Lord [0113] of the whole earth [0776].

¹¹ And the LORD [03068] shall utter [05414] his voice [06963] before [06440] his army [02428]: for his camp [04264] is very [03966] great [07227]: for he is strong [06099] that executeth [06213] his word [01697]: for the day [03117] of the LORD [03068] is great [01419] and very [03966] terrible [03372]; and who can abide [03557] it?

⁵ The mountains [02022] quake [07493] at him, and the hills [01389] melt [04127], and the earth [0776] is burned [05375] at his presence [06440], yea, the world [08398], and all that dwell [03427] therein.

¹⁸ The LORD [03068] shall reign [04427] for ever [05769] and ever [05703].

¹⁰ The LORD [03068] sitteth [03427] upon the flood [03999]; yea, the LORD [03068] sitteth [03427] King [04428] for ever [05769].

¹⁶ The LORD [03068] is King [04428] for ever [05769] and ever [05703]: the heathen [01471] are perished [06] out of his land [0776].

⁸ But they are altogether [0259] brutish [01197] and foolish [03688]: the stock [06086] is a doctrine [04148] of vanities [01892].

⁵ They are upright [04749] as the palm tree [08560], but speak [01696] not: they must needs [05375] be borne [05375], because they cannot go [06805]. Be not afraid [03372] of them; for they cannot do evil [07489], neither also is it in them to do good [03190].

²³ And it came to pass, when ye heard [08085] the voice [06963] out of the midst [08432] of the darkness [02822], (for the mountain [02022] did burn [01197] with fire [0784],) that ye came near [07126] unto me, even all the heads [07218] of your tribes [07626], and your elders [02205];

²⁰ He that is so impoverished [05533] [05534] that he hath no oblation [08641] chooseth [0977] a tree [06086] that will not rot [07537]; he seeketh [01245] unto him a cunning [02450] workman [02796] to prepare [03559] a graven image [06459], that shall not be moved [04131].

⁴ And blue [08504], and purple [0713], and scarlet [08438] [08144], and fine linen [08336], and goats [05795]' hair,

²⁷ And Hiram [02438] sent [07971] in the navy [0590] his servants [05650], shipmen [0582] [0591] that had knowledge [03045] of the sea [03220], with the servants [05650] of Solomon [08010].

⁵ Then I lifted up [05375] mine eyes [05869], and looked [07200], and behold a certain [0259] man [0376] clothed [03847] in linen [0906], whose loins [04975] were girded [02296] with fine gold [03800] of Uphaz [0210]:

¹² Tarshish [08659] was thy merchant [05503] by reason of the multitude [07230] of all kind of riches [01952]; with silver [03701], iron [01270], tin [0913], and lead [05777], they traded [05414] in thy fairs [05801].

³ And thou shalt write [03789] Aaron's [0175] name [08034] upon the rod [04294] of Levi [03878]: for one [0259] rod [04294] shall be for the head [07218] of the house [01004] of their fathers [01].

³ And they did beat [07554] the gold [02091] into [0854] thin plates [06341], and cut [07112] it into wires [06616], to work [06213] [08432] it in the blue [08504], and in the purple [0713], and in the scarlet [08144] [08438], and in the fine linen [08336], with cunning [02803] work [04639].

⁹ Silver [03701] spread into plates [07554] is brought [0935] from Tarshish [08659], and gold [02091] from Uphaz [0210], the work [04639] of the workman [02796], and of the hands [03027] of the founder [06884]: blue [08504] and purple [0713] is their clothing [03830]: they are all the work [04639] of cunning [02450] men.

⁸ But they are altogether [0259] brutish [01197] and foolish [03688]: the stock [06086] is a doctrine [04148] of vanities [01892].

² And know [03045] ye this day [03117]: for I speak not with your children [01121] which have not known [03045], and which have not seen [07200] the chastisement [04148] of the LORD [03068] your God [0430], his greatness [01433], his mighty [02389] hand [03027], and his stretched out [05186] arm [02220],

¹⁹ Behold the voice [06963] of the cry [07775] of the daughter [01323] of my people [05971] because of them that dwell in a far [04801] country [0776]: Is not the LORD [03068] in Zion [06726]? is not her king [04428] in her? Why have they provoked me to anger [03707] with their graven images [06456], and with strange [05236] vanities [01892]?

¹⁷ Behold, happy [0835] is the man [0582] whom God [0433] correcteth [03198]: therefore despise [03988] not thou the chastening [04148] of the Almighty [07706]:

¹¹ My son [01121], despise [03988] not the chastening [04148] of the LORD [03068]; neither be weary [06973] of his correction [08433]:

¹ How beautiful [03302] are thy feet [06471] with shoes [05275], O prince's [05081] daughter [01323]! the joints [02542] of thy thighs [03409] are like jewels [02481], the work [04639] of the hands [03027] of a cunning workman [0542].
² Thy navel [08326] is like a round [05469] goblet [0101], which wanteth [02637] not liquor [04197]: thy belly [0990] is like an heap [06194] of wheat [02406] set about [05473] with lilies [07799].
³ Thy two [08147] breasts [07699] are like two [08147] young [06082] roes [06646] that are twins [08380].
⁴ Thy neck [06677] is as a tower [04026] of ivory [08127]; thine eyes [05869] like the fishpools [01295] in Heshbon [02809], by the gate [08179] of Bathrabbim [01337]: thy nose [0639] is as the tower [04026] of Lebanon [03844] which looketh [06822] toward [06440] Damascus [01834].
⁵ Thine head [07218] upon thee is like Carmel [03760], and the hair [01803] of thine head [07218] like purple [0713]; the king [04428] is held [0631] in the galleries [07298].
⁶ How fair [03302] and how pleasant [05276] art thou, O love [0160], for delights [08588]!
⁷ This thy stature [06967] is like [01819] to a palm tree [08558], and thy breasts [07699] to clusters [0811] of grapes.
⁸ I said [0559], I will go up [05927] to the palm tree [08558], I will take hold [0270] of the boughs [05577] thereof: now also thy breasts [07699] shall be as clusters [0811] of the vine [01612], and the smell [07381] of thy nose [0639] like apples [08598];
⁹ And the roof of thy mouth [02441] like the best [02896] wine [03196] for my beloved [01730], that goeth [01980] down sweetly [04339], causing the lips [08193] of those that are asleep [03463] to speak [01680].
¹⁰ I am my beloved's [01730], and his desire [08669] is toward me.
¹¹ Come [03212], my beloved [01730], let us go forth [03318] into the field [07704]; let us lodge [03885] in the villages [03723].
¹² Let us get up early [07925] to the vineyards [03754]; let us see [07200] if the vine [01612] flourish [06524], whether the tender grape [05563] appear [06605], and the pomegranates [07416] bud forth [05132]: there will I give [05414] thee my loves [01730].
¹³ The mandrakes [01736] give [05414] a smell [07381], and at our gates [06607] are all manner of pleasant [04022] fruits, new [02319] and old [03465], which I have laid up [06845] for thee, O my beloved [01730].

¹¹ Surely the princes [08269] of Zoan [06814] are fools [0191], the counsel [06098] of the wise [02450] counsellors [03289] of Pharaoh [06547] is become brutish [01197]: how say [0559] ye unto Pharaoh [06547], I am the son [01121] of the wise [02450], the son [01121] of ancient [06924] kings [04428]?

¹⁷ Every man [0120] is brutish [01197] by his knowledge [01847]; every founder [06884] is confounded [03001] by the graven image [06459]: for his molten image [05262] is falsehood [08267], and there is no breath [07307] in them.

²¹ For the pastors [07462] are become brutish [01197], and have not sought [01875] the LORD [03068]: therefore they shall not prosper [07919], and all their flocks [04830] shall be scattered [06327].

⁸ Understand [0995], ye brutish [01197] among the people [05971]: and ye fools [03684], when will ye be wise [07919]?

⁸ But they are altogether [0259] brutish [01197] and foolish [03688]: the stock [06086] is a doctrine [04148] of vanities [01892].

¹⁴ Therefore, behold, I will proceed [03254] to do a marvellous work [06381] among this people [05971], even a marvellous work [06381] and a wonder [06382]: for the wisdom [02451] of their wise [02450] men shall perish [06], and the understanding [0998] of their prudent [0995] men shall be hid [05641].

¹² Where [0335] are they? where [0645] are thy wise [02450] men? and let them tell [05046] thee now, and let them know [03045] what the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635] hath purposed [03289] upon Egypt [04714].

¹⁰ Say [0559] among the heathen [01471] that the LORD [03068] reigneth [04427]: the world [08398] also shall be established [03559] that it shall not be moved [04131]: he shall judge [01777] the people [05971] righteously [04339].

⁸ God [0430] reigneth [04427] over the heathen [01471]: God [0430] sitteth [03427] upon the throne [03678] of his holiness [06944].

²⁹ All they that be fat [01879] upon earth [0776] shall eat [0398] and worship [07812]: all they that go down [03381] to the dust [06083] shall bow [03766] before [06440] him: and none can keep alive [02421] his own soul [05315].

²¹ Therefore, behold, I will this once [06471] cause them to know [03045], I will cause them to know [03045] mine hand [03027] and my might [01369]; and they shall know [03045] that my name [08034] is The LORD [03068].

⁸ Among the gods [0430] there is none like unto thee, O Lord [0136]; neither are there any works like unto thy works [04639].

⁸ But they are altogether [0259] brutish [01197] and foolish [03688]: the stock [06086] is a doctrine [04148] of vanities [01892].

⁷ Who would not fear [03372] thee, O King [04428] of nations [01471]? for to thee doth it appertain [02969]: forasmuch as among all the wise [02450] men of the nations [01471], and in all their kingdoms [04438], there is none like unto thee.

⁶ Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD [03068]; thou art great [01419], and thy name [08034] is great [01419] in might [01369].

¹⁶ And I will utter [01696] my judgments [04941] against them touching [05921] all their wickedness [07451], who have forsaken [05800] me, and have burned incense [06999] unto other [0312] gods [0430], and worshipped [07812] the works [04639] of their own hands [03027].

²³ Shew [05046] the things that are to come [0857] hereafter [0268], that we may know [03045] that ye are gods [0430]: yea, do good [03190], or do evil [07489], that we may be dismayed [08159], and behold [07200] it together [03162].

⁷ They bear [05375] him upon the shoulder [03802], they carry [05445] him, and set him in his place [03240], and he standeth [05975]; from his place [04725] shall he not remove [04185]: yea, one shall cry [06817] unto him, yet can he not answer [06030], nor save [03467] him out of his trouble [06869].

⁸ And the daughter [01323] of Zion [06726] is left [03498] as a cottage [05521] in a vineyard [03754], as a lodge [04412] in a garden of cucumbers [04750], as a besieged [05341] city [05892].

³¹ And thou shalt make [06213] a candlestick [04501] of pure [02889] gold [02091]: of beaten work [04749] shall the candlestick [04501] be made [06213]: his shaft [03409], and his branches [07070], his bowls [01375], his knops [03730], and his flowers [06525], shall be of the same.

¹⁸ And thou shalt make [06213] two [08147] cherubims [03742] of gold [02091], of beaten work [04749] shalt thou make [06213] them, in the two [08147] ends [07098] of the mercy seat [03727].

⁵ And she dwelt [03427] under the palm tree [08560] of Deborah [01683] between Ramah [07414] and Bethel [01008] in mount [02022] Ephraim [0669]: and the children [01121] of Israel [03478] came up [05927] to her for judgment [04941].

⁷ So the carpenter [02796] encouraged [02388] the goldsmith [06884], and he that smootheth [02505] with the hammer [06360] him that smote [01986] the anvil [06471], saying [0559], It is ready [02896] for the sodering [01694]: and he fastened [02388] it with nails [04548], that it should not be moved [04131].

¹⁹ The workman [02796] melteth [05258] a graven image [06459], and the goldsmith [06884] spreadeth [07554] it over with gold [02091], and casteth [06884] silver [03701] chains [07577].

²² Ye shall defile [02930] also the covering [06826] of thy graven images [06456] of silver [03701], and the ornament [0642] of thy molten images [04541] of gold [02091]: thou shalt cast them away [02219] as a menstruous cloth [01739]; thou shalt say [0559] unto it, Get thee hence [03318].

¹² The smith [01270] [02796] with the tongs [04621] both worketh [06466] in the coals [06352], and fashioneth [03335] it with hammers [04717], and worketh [06466] it with the strength [03581] of his arms [02220]: yea, he is hungry [07457], and his strength [03581] faileth [0369]: he drinketh [08354] no water [04325], and is faint [03286].

²¹ They have moved me to jealousy [07065] with that which is not [03808] God [0410]; they have provoked me to anger [03707] with their vanities [01892]: and I will move them to jealousy [07065] with those which are not a people [05971]; I will provoke them to anger [03707] with a foolish [05036] nation [01471].

³ For the customs [02708] of the people [05971] are vain [01892]: for one cutteth [03772] a tree [06086] out of the forest [03293], the work [04639] of the hands [03027] of the workman [02796], with the axe [04621].
⁴ They deck [03302] it with silver [03701] and with gold [02091]; they fasten [02388] it with nails [04548] and with hammers [04717], that it move [06328] not.
⁵ They are upright [04749] as the palm tree [08560], but speak [01696] not: they must needs [05375] be borne [05375], because they cannot go [06805]. Be not afraid [03372] of them; for they cannot do evil [07489], neither also is it in them to do good [03190].

⁵ My covenant [01285] was with him of life [02416] and peace [07965]; and I gave [05414] them to him for the fear [04172] wherewith he feared [03372] me, and was afraid [02865] before [06440] my name [08034].

⁹ Which maketh [06213] Arcturus [05906], Orion [03685], and Pleiades [03598], and the chambers [02315] of the south [08486].

³ And they have cast [03032] lots [01486] for my people [05971]; and have given [05414] a boy [03206] for an harlot [02181], and sold [04376] a girl [03207] for wine [03196], that they might drink [08354].
⁴ Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre [06865], and Zidon [06721], and all the coasts [01552] of Palestine [06429]? will ye render [07999] me a recompence [01576]? and if ye recompense [01580] me, swiftly [07031] and speedily [04120] will I return [07725] your recompence [01576] upon your own head [07218];

³⁵ Thou hast also given [05414] me the shield [04043] of thy salvation [03468]: and thy right hand [03225] hath holden me up [05582], and thy gentleness [06037] hath made me great [07235].

²¹ What wilt thou say [0559] when he shall punish [06485] thee? for thou hast taught [03925] them to be captains [0441], and as chief [07218] over thee: shall not sorrows [02256] take [0270] thee, as a woman [0802] in travail [03205]?

⁹ But [1161] when [5613] divers [5100] were hardened [4645], and [2532] believed not [544], but spake evil [2551] of that way [3598] before [1799] the multitude [4128], he departed [868] from [575] them [846], and separated [873] the disciples [3101], disputing [1256] daily [2596] [2250] in [1722] the school [4981] of one [5100] Tyrannus [5181].

² And desired [154] of [3844] him [846] letters [1992] to [1519] Damascus [1154] to [4314] the synagogues [4864], that [3704] if [1437] he found [2147] any [5100] of this way [3598], whether [5037] they were [5607] men [435] or [2532] women [1135], he might bring them [71] bound [1210] unto [1519] Jerusalem [2419].

²⁵ Behold, the days [03117] come [0935], saith [05002] the LORD [03068], that I will punish [06485] all them which are circumcised [04135] with the uncircumcised [06190];

⁴ They deck [03302] it with silver [03701] and with gold [02091]; they fasten [02388] it with nails [04548] and with hammers [04717], that it move [06328] not.

² Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068], Learn [03925] not the way [01870] of the heathen [01471], and be not dismayed [02865] at the signs [0226] of heaven [08064]; for the heathen [01471] are dismayed [02865] at them [01992].

¹ Hear [08085] ye the word [01697] which the LORD [03068] speaketh [01696] unto you, O house [01004] of Israel [03478]:

²⁹ Behold, they are all vanity [0205]; their works [04639] are nothing [0657]: their molten images [05262] are wind [07307] and confusion [08414].

² Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068] the maker [06213] thereof, the LORD [03068] that formed [03335] it, to establish [03559] it; the LORD [03068] is his name [08034];

⁶ It is he that buildeth [01129] his stories [04609] in the heaven [08064], and hath founded [03245] his troop [092] in the earth [0776]; he that calleth [07121] for the waters [04325] of the sea [03220], and poureth them out [08210] upon the face [06440] of the earth [0776]: The LORD [03068] is his name [08034].

⁸ Seek him that maketh [06213] the seven stars [03598] and Orion [03685], and turneth [02015] the shadow of death [06757] into the morning [01242], and maketh the day [03117] dark [02821] with night [03915]: that calleth [07121] for the waters [04325] of the sea [03220], and poureth them out [08210] upon the face [06440] of the earth [0776]: The LORD [03068] is his name [08034]:

²⁷ Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity [01540] beyond [01973] Damascus [01834], saith [0559] the LORD [03068], whose name [08034] is The God [0430] of hosts [06635].

⁹ For the LORD'S [03068] portion [02506] is his people [05971]; Jacob [03290] is the lot [02256] of his inheritance [05159].

¹⁹ The workman [02796] melteth [05258] a graven image [06459], and the goldsmith [06884] spreadeth [07554] it over with gold [02091], and casteth [06884] silver [03701] chains [07577].
²⁰ He that is so impoverished [05533] [05534] that he hath no oblation [08641] chooseth [0977] a tree [06086] that will not rot [07537]; he seeketh [01245] unto him a cunning [02450] workman [02796] to prepare [03559] a graven image [06459], that shall not be moved [04131].

⁴ They deck [03302] it with silver [03701] and with gold [02091]; they fasten [02388] it with nails [04548] and with hammers [04717], that it move [06328] not.

¹¹ Behold, all his fellows [02270] shall be ashamed [0954]: and the workmen [02796], they are of men [0120]: let them all be gathered together [06908], let them stand up [05975]; yet they shall fear [06342], and they shall be ashamed [0954] together [03162].

¹⁷ They shall be turned [05472] back [0268], they shall be greatly [01322] ashamed [0954], that trust [0982] in graven images [06459], that say [0559] to the molten images [04541], Ye are our gods [0430].

²⁷ Slay [02717] all her bullocks [06499]; let them go down [03381] to the slaughter [02874]: woe [01945] unto them! for their day [03117] is come [0935], the time [06256] of their visitation [06486].

²¹ Also her hired men [07916] are in the midst [07130] of her like fatted [04770] bullocks [05695]; for they also are turned back [06437], and are fled away [05127] together [03162]: they did not stand [05975], because the day [03117] of their calamity [0343] was come [0935] upon them, and the time [06256] of their visitation [06486].

¹² Were they ashamed [03001] when they had committed [06213] abomination [08441]? nay, they were not at all [0954] ashamed [0954], neither could [03045] they blush [03637]: therefore shall they fall [05307] among them that fall [05307]: in the time [06256] of their visitation [06486] they shall be cast down [03782], saith [0559] the LORD [03068].

¹⁵ They are vanity [01892], and the work [04639] of errors [08595]: in the time [06256] of their visitation [06486] they shall perish [06].

²² Are there [03426] any among the vanities [01892] of the Gentiles [01471] that can cause rain [01652]? or can the heavens [08064] give [05414] showers [07241]? art not thou he, O LORD [03068] our God [0430]? therefore we will wait [06960] upon thee: for thou hast made [06213] all these things.

¹⁵ They are vanity [01892], and the work [04639] of errors [08595]: in the time [06256] of their visitation [06486] they shall perish [06].

²² Speak [01696], Thus saith [05002] the LORD [03068], Even the carcases [05038] of men [0120] shall fall [05307] as dung [01828] upon the open [06440] field [07704], and as the handful [05995] after [0310] the harvestman [07114], and none shall gather [0622] them.
²³ Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068], Let not the wise [02450] man glory [01984] in his wisdom [02451], neither let the mighty [01368] man glory [01984] in his might [01369], let not the rich [06223] man glory [01984] in his riches [06239]:
²⁴ But let him that glorieth [01984] glory [01984] in this, that he understandeth [07919] and knoweth [03045] me, that I am the LORD [03068] which exercise [06213] lovingkindness [02617], judgment [04941], and righteousness [06666], in the earth [0776]: for in these things I delight [02654], saith [05002] the LORD [03068].
²⁵ Behold, the days [03117] come [0935], saith [05002] the LORD [03068], that I will punish [06485] all them which are circumcised [04135] with the uncircumcised [06190];

²³ Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068], Let not the wise [02450] man glory [01984] in his wisdom [02451], neither let the mighty [01368] man glory [01984] in his might [01369], let not the rich [06223] man glory [01984] in his riches [06239]:

⁶ Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD [03068]; thou art great [01419], and thy name [08034] is great [01419] in might [01369].
⁷ Who would not fear [03372] thee, O King [04428] of nations [01471]? for to thee doth it appertain [02969]: forasmuch as among all the wise [02450] men of the nations [01471], and in all their kingdoms [04438], there is none like unto thee.
⁸ But they are altogether [0259] brutish [01197] and foolish [03688]: the stock [06086] is a doctrine [04148] of vanities [01892].
⁹ Silver [03701] spread into plates [07554] is brought [0935] from Tarshish [08659], and gold [02091] from Uphaz [0210], the work [04639] of the workman [02796], and of the hands [03027] of the founder [06884]: blue [08504] and purple [0713] is their clothing [03830]: they are all the work [04639] of cunning [02450] men.
¹⁰ But the LORD [03068] is the true [0571] God [0430], he is the living [02416] God [0430], and an everlasting [05769] king [04428]: at his wrath [07110] the earth [0776] shall tremble [07493], and the nations [01471] shall not be able to abide [03557] his indignation [02195].
¹¹ Thus [01836] shall ye say [0560] unto them, The gods [0426] that have not [03809] made [05648] the heavens [08065] and the earth [0778], even they shall perish [07] from the earth [0772], and from under [08460] these [0429] heavens [08065].

¹ Hear [08085] ye the word [01697] which the LORD [03068] speaketh [01696] unto you, O house [01004] of Israel [03478]:
² Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068], Learn [03925] not the way [01870] of the heathen [01471], and be not dismayed [02865] at the signs [0226] of heaven [08064]; for the heathen [01471] are dismayed [02865] at them [01992].
³ For the customs [02708] of the people [05971] are vain [01892]: for one cutteth [03772] a tree [06086] out of the forest [03293], the work [04639] of the hands [03027] of the workman [02796], with the axe [04621].
⁴ They deck [03302] it with silver [03701] and with gold [02091]; they fasten [02388] it with nails [04548] and with hammers [04717], that it move [06328] not.
⁵ They are upright [04749] as the palm tree [08560], but speak [01696] not: they must needs [05375] be borne [05375], because they cannot go [06805]. Be not afraid [03372] of them; for they cannot do evil [07489], neither also is it in them to do good [03190].