⁴ In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the people of Israel shall come, they and the people of Judah together; they shall come weeping as they seek the Lord their God.^{(A) 5} They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, and they shall come and join themselves to the Lord by an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.

Israel’s Futile Idolatry

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.^{(A) 29} Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.^{(B) 30} For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

The Woes of the Wicked

⁶ Shall not everyone taunt such people and, with mocking riddles, say about them,

¹² The blacksmith works it with a tool over the coals, shaping it with hammers and forging it with his strong arm; he becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint.^{(A) 13} The carpenter stretches a line, marks it out with a stylus, fashions it with planes, and marks it with a compass; he makes it in human form, with human beauty, to be set up in a shrine.^{(B) 14} He cuts down cedars or chooses a holm tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. ¹⁵ Then it can be used as fuel. Part of it he takes and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it, makes it a carved image and bows down before it.^{(C) 16} Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he roasts meat, eats it,^[a] and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Ah, I am warm^[b] by the fire!” ¹⁷ The rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, bows down to it and worships it; he prays to it and says, “Save me, for you are my god!”^(D)