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10 Hear the word which Yahweh speaks to you, house of Israel! Yahweh says,

“Don’t learn the way of the nations,
    and don’t be dismayed at the signs of the sky;
    for the nations are dismayed at them.
For the customs of the peoples are vanity;
    for one cuts a tree out of the forest,
    the work of the hands of the workman with the ax.
They deck it with silver and with gold.
    They fasten it with nails and with hammers,
    so that it can’t move.
They are like a palm tree, of turned work,
    and don’t speak.
They must be carried,
    because they can’t move.
Don’t be afraid of them;
    for they can’t do evil,
    neither is it in them to do good.”

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10 Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.

Thus says the Lord: Learn not the way of the [heathen] nations and be not dismayed at the signs of the heavens, though they are dismayed at them,

For the customs and ordinances of the peoples are false, empty, and futile; it is but a tree which one cuts out of the forest [to make for himself a god], the work of the hands of the craftsman with the ax or other tool.

They deck [the idol] with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers so it will not fall apart or move around.

[Their idols] are like pillars of turned work [as upright and stationary and immobile as a palm tree], like scarecrows in a cucumber field; they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it possible for them to do good [and it is not in them].

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