“Learn not the way of the nations,
    nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens
    because the nations are dismayed at them,
^3 (A)for the customs of the peoples are vanity.^[a]
(B)A tree from the forest is cut down
    and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
^4 (C)They decorate it with silver and gold;
    ^(D)they fasten it with hammer and nails
    so that it cannot move.
⁵ Their idols^[b] are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
    and ^(E)they cannot speak;
^(F)they have to be carried,
    for they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
    ^(G)for they cannot do evil,
    neither is it in them to do good.”

^6 (H)There is none like you, O Lord;
    you are great, and your name is great in might.
^7 (I)Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?
    For this is your due;
for among all the wise ones of the nations
    and in all their kingdoms
    there is none like you.
^8 (J)They are both ^(K)stupid and foolish;
    the instruction of idols is but wood!
^9 (L)Beaten silver is brought from ^(M)Tarshish,
    and gold from ^(N)Uphaz.
^(O)They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;
    their clothing is violet and purple;
    ^(P)they are all the work of skilled men.
^10 (Q)But the Lord is the true God;
    ^(R)he is the living God and the everlasting King.
At his wrath the earth quakes,
    and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

^12 (U)It is he who ^(V)made the earth by his power,
    ^(W)who established the world by his wisdom,
    and ^(X)by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
^13 (Y)When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
    ^(Z)and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
^(AA)He makes lightning ^(AB)for the rain,
    ^(AC)and he brings forth the wind ^(AD)from his storehouses.
^14 (AE)Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
    ^(AF)every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false,
    ^(AG)and there is no breath in them.
¹⁵ They are worthless, a work of delusion;
    at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
¹⁶ Not like these is he who is ^(AH)the portion of Jacob,
    for he is the one who formed all things,
^(AI)and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
    ^(AJ)the Lord of hosts is his name.

^17 (AK)Gather up your bundle from the ground,
    O you who dwell under siege!
¹⁸ For thus says the Lord:
^(AL)“Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land
    at this time,
^(AM)and I will bring distress on them,
    that they may feel it.”

¹⁹ Woe is me because of my hurt!
    ^(AN)My wound is grievous.
But I said, “Truly this is an affliction,
    and I must bear it.”
^20 (AO)My tent is destroyed,
    and all my cords are broken;
my children have gone from me,
    ^(AP)and they are not;
there is no one to spread my tent again
    and ^(AQ)to set up my curtains.
^21 (AR)For the shepherds ^(AS)are stupid
    and do not inquire of the Lord;
therefore they have not prospered,
    ^(AT)and all their flock is scattered.

²² A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!—
    ^(AU)a great commotion out of the north country
to make ^(AV)the cities of Judah a desolation,
    ^(AW)a lair of jackals.

^23 (AX)I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself,
    that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
^24 (AY)Correct me, O Lord, but in justice;
    not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.

^25 (AZ)Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not,
    and on the peoples that call not on your name,
^(BA)for they have devoured Jacob;
    they have devoured him and consumed him,
    and have laid waste his habitation.

^2 (B)“Judah mourns,
    and ^(C)her gates languish;
her people lament on the ground,
    and ^(D)the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
³ Her nobles send their servants for water;
    they come to the cisterns;
they find no water;
    they return with their vessels empty;
they are ^(E)ashamed and confounded
    and ^(F)cover their heads.
⁴ Because of the ground that is dismayed,
    since there is ^(G)no rain on the land,
the farmers are ashamed;
    they cover their heads.
⁵ Even ^(H)the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn
    because there is no grass.
^6 (I)The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;
    they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
    because there is no vegetation.

⁷ “Though our iniquities testify against us,
    act, O Lord, ^(J)for your name's sake;
^(K)for our backslidings are many;
    ^(L)we have sinned against you.
^8 (M)O you hope of Israel,
    its savior in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the land,
    like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?
⁹ Why should you be like a man confused,
    ^(N)like a mighty warrior who cannot save?
Yet ^(O)you, O Lord, are in the midst of us,
    and ^(P)we are called by your name;
    ^(Q)do not leave us.”

¹⁰ Thus says the Lord concerning this people:
“They have loved to wander thus;
    they have not restrained their feet;
^(R)therefore the Lord does not accept them;
    ^(S)now he will remember their iniquity
    and punish their sins.”

¹⁷ “You shall say to them this word:
^(AF)‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day,
    and let them not cease,
for the virgin ^(AG)daughter of my people is shattered with a great wound,
    ^(AH)with a very grievous blow.
^18 (AI)If I go out into the field,
    behold, those pierced by the sword!
^(AJ)And if I enter the city,
    behold, the diseases of famine!
^(AK)For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land
    and have no knowledge.’”

^19 (AL)Have you utterly rejected Judah?
    Does your soul loathe Zion?
Why have you struck us down
    ^(AM)so that there is no healing for us?
^(AN)We looked for peace, but no good came;
    ^(AO)for a time of healing, but behold, terror.
^20 (AP)We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord,
    and the iniquity of our fathers,
    ^(AQ)for we have sinned against you.
²¹ Do not spurn us, ^(AR)for your name's sake;
    do not dishonor your glorious throne;
    ^(AS)remember and do not break your covenant with us.
²² Are there any among ^(AT)the false gods of the nations ^(AU)that can bring rain?
    Or can the heavens give showers?
Are you not he, O Lord our God?
    We set our hope on you,
    ^(AV)for you do all these things.

^(BA)“‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence,
    and those who are for the sword, to the sword;
those who are for famine, to famine,
    and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’

^5 (BG)“Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,
    ^(BH)or who will grieve for you?
Who will turn aside
    to ask about your welfare?
^6 (BI)You have rejected me, declares the Lord;
    ^(BJ)you keep going backward,
so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you—
    ^(BK)I am weary of relenting.
^7 (BL)I have winnowed them with ^(BM)a winnowing fork
    in the gates of the land;
I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people;
    ^(BN)they did not turn from their ways.
⁸ I have made their widows more in number
    than ^(BO)the sand of the seas;
I have brought against the mothers of young men
    a destroyer at noonday;
I have made anguish and terror
    fall upon them suddenly.
^9 (BP)She who bore seven has grown feeble;
    ^(BQ)she has fainted away;
^(BR)her sun went down while it was yet day;
    she has been shamed and disgraced.
And the rest of them I will give to the sword
    before their enemies,
declares the Lord.”

^15 (BZ)O Lord, you know;
    ^(CA)remember me and visit me,
    ^(CB)(CC)and take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance take me not away;
    ^(CD)know that ^(CE)for your sake I bear reproach.
¹⁶ Your words were found, ^(CF)and I ate them,
    and ^(CG)your words became to me a joy
    and the delight of my heart,
^(CH)for I am called by your name,
    O Lord, God of hosts.
^17 (CI)I did not sit in the company of revelers,
    nor did I rejoice;
^(CJ)I sat alone, because your hand was upon me,
    for you had filled me with indignation.
¹⁸ Why is my pain unceasing,
    ^(CK)my wound incurable,
    refusing to be healed?
Will you be to me ^(CL)like a deceitful brook,
    like waters that fail?

¹⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord:
^(CM)“If you return, I will restore you,
    and you shall ^(CN)stand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
    you shall be as my mouth.
They shall turn to you,
    but you shall not turn to them.
^20 (CO)And I will make you to this people
    a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
    ^(CP)but they shall not prevail over you,
^(CQ)for I am with you
    to save you and deliver you,
declares the Lord.
^21 (CR)I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
    and redeem you from the grasp of ^(CS)the ruthless.”