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Idolatry Has Brought Ruin on Israel

10 Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord:

Do not learn the way of the nations
    or be dismayed at the signs of the heavens,
    for the nations are dismayed at them.(A)
For the customs of the peoples are false:
a tree from the forest is cut down
    and worked with an ax by the hands of an artisan;(B)
they deck it with silver and gold;
    they fasten it with hammers and nails
    so that it cannot move.(C)
Their idols[a] are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
    and they cannot speak;
they have to be carried,
    for they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
    for they cannot do evil,
    nor is it in them to do good.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 10.5 Heb They

Idolatry Brings Destruction

10 Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O Israel! This is what the Lord says:

“Do not act like the other nations,
    who try to read their future in the stars.
Do not be afraid of their predictions,
    even though other nations are terrified by them.
Their ways are futile and foolish.
    They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol.
They decorate it with gold and silver
    and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails
    so it won’t fall over.
Their gods are like
    helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field!
They cannot speak,
    and they need to be carried because they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of such gods,
    for they can neither harm you nor do you any good.”

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