“Don’t ·live like the people from [^Llearn the way/path of] other nations,
    and don’t be ·afraid of [terrified by] special signs in the ·sky [heavens; ^Castrology],
    even though the other nations are ·afraid [terrified] of them.
³ The ·customs [statutes; ordinances; requirements] of other people are ·worth nothing [meaningless; useless; ^La breath].
    ·Their idols are just wood cut from the forest [^LA tree from the forest is cut down],
    shaped by a ·worker [craftsman] with his ·chisel [or ax; or adze; or blade].
⁴ They decorate their idols with silver and gold.
    With hammers and nails they fasten them down
    so they ·won’t fall over [can’t move].
⁵ Their idols are like scarecrows in ·melon [or cucumber] fields;
    they cannot talk.
Since they cannot walk,
    they must be carried.
Do not be afraid of those idols,
    because they can’t hurt you,
and they ·can’t help you either [have no power to do good; Is. 40:18–20; 41:7, 29; 44:6–23; 46:5–7].”

⁶ Lord, there is no one like you.
    You are great,
    and your name is great and powerful.
⁷ ·Everyone should respect [^LWho does not fear…?] you, King of the nations;
    ·you deserve respect [for it is your due].
Of all the wise people among the nations
    and in all the kingdoms,
    ·none of them is as wise as you [^Lthere is none like you].
⁸ Those wise people are stupid and foolish.
    Their ·teachings [instructions] come from ·worthless [meaningless; useless] ·wooden idols [^Lpieces of wood].
⁹ Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish [^CTarshish may have been in Spain (Tartessus) or an island in the eastern Mediterranean; Jonah 1:3]
    and gold from Uphaz [^Chigh quality],
so the idols are made by craftsmen and ·goldsmiths [smelters].
    They put blue and purple clothes on the idols.
    All these things are made by skilled workers.
¹⁰ But the Lord is the only true God.
    He is the only living God, the King forever.
The earth ·shakes [trembles] when he is angry,
    and the nations cannot ·stand up to [endure] his anger.

¹² God made the earth by his power.
    He used his wisdom to ·build [^Lestablish] the world
    and his understanding to stretch out the ·skies [heavens].
¹³ When he ·thunders [^Lgives forth his voice], the waters in the ·skies [heavens] ·roar [are in tumult].
    He makes ·clouds [or mist] rise ·in the sky all over the earth [^Lfrom the ends of the earth].
He sends lightning with the rain
    and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

¹⁴ People are so stupid and know so little.
    ·Goldsmiths [Smelters] are ·made ashamed [humiliated] by their idols,
because those ·statues are only false gods [^Limages are false].
    They have no breath in them.
¹⁵ They are ·worth nothing [useless; meaningless; ^La breath]; ·people make fun of them [laughable; a derision].
    When they are judged, they will ·be destroyed [perish].
¹⁶ But Jacob’s [^Canother name for Israel] Portion [^Creferring to the Lord; God gives himself to Israel] is not like ·the idols [^Lthese].
    He ·made [^Lformed] everything,
and ·he chose Israel to be his special people [^LIsrael is the tribe of his inheritance].
    The Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts] is his name.

¹⁹ ·How terrible it will be for me [Woe to me] because of my ·injury [fracture].
    My wound ·cannot be healed [is severe].
Yet I told myself,
    “This is my ·sickness [or punishment]; I must ·suffer through [endure] it.”
²⁰ My tent is ·ruined [destroyed; desolated],
    and all its ropes are broken.
My children have gone away and left me.
    No one is left to ·put up [stretch out] my tent again
    or to set up ·a shelter for me [^Lmy curtains].
²¹ The shepherds are stupid
    and don’t ·ask the Lord for advice [^Lseek the Lord].
So they do not have success,
    and all their flocks are scattered.
²² Listen! The news is coming.
    A ·loud noise [great commotion] comes from the north [^Cthe Babylonian army]
to make the towns of Judah an ·empty desert [desolation]
    and a ·home [haunt] for wild dogs [jackals]!