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40  Thus were they polluted by their actions, ♦︎
   and in their wanton deeds went whoring after other gods.
41  Therefore was the wrath of the Lord
      kindled against his people, ♦︎
   and he abhorred his inheritance.
42  He gave them over to the hand of the nations, ♦︎
   and those who hated them ruled over them.
43  So their enemies oppressed them ♦︎
   and put them in subjection under their hand.
44  Many a time did he deliver them,
      but they rebelled through their own devices ♦︎
   and were brought down through their wickedness.
45  Nevertheless, he saw their adversity, ♦︎
   when he heard their lamentation.
46  He remembered his covenant with them ♦︎
   and relented according to the greatness of his faithful love.
47  He made them also to be pitied ♦︎
   by all who had taken them captive.
48  Save us, O Lord our God,
      and gather us from among the nations, ♦︎
   that we may give thanks to your holy name
      and glory in your praise.

Idolatry Has Brought Ruin on Israel

10Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. ²Thus 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.
³ For the customs of the peoples are false:
a tree from the forest is cut down,
   and worked with an axe by the hands of an artisan;
⁴ people deck it with silver and gold;
   they fasten it with hammer and nails
   so that it cannot move.
⁵ Their idols^* 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.

⁶ There is none like you, O Lord;
   you are great, and your name is great in might.
⁷ Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?
   For that is your due;
among all the wise ones of the nations
   and in all their kingdoms
   there is no one like you.
⁸ They are both stupid and foolish;
   the instruction given by idols
   is no better than wood!^*
9 Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,
   and gold from Uphaz.
They are the work of the artisan and of the hands of the goldsmith;
   their clothing is blue and purple;
   they are all the product of skilled workers.
¹⁰ But the Lord is the true God;
   he is the living God and the everlasting King.
At his wrath the earth quakes,
   and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

11 Thus shall you say to them: The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.^*

¹² It is he who made the earth by his power,
   who established the world by his wisdom,
   and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
¹³ When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
   and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightnings for the rain,
   and he brings out the wind from his storehouses.
¹⁴ Everyone is stupid and without knowledge;
   goldsmiths are all put to shame by their idols;
for their images are false,
   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 the Lord,^* the portion of Jacob,
   for he is the one who formed all things,
and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
   the Lord of hosts is his name.

19 For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. ²⁰To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. ²¹To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. ²²To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I might by any means save some. ²³I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.