1. Put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of thy mourning, and affliction: and put on the beauty, and honour of that everlasting glory which thou hast from God.
2. God will clothe thee with the double garment of justice, and will set a crown on thy head of everlasting honour.
3. For God will shew His brightness in thee, to every one under heaven.
4. For thy name shall be named to thee by God for ever: the peace of justice, and honour of piety.
5. Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand on high: and look about towards the east, and behold thy children gathered together from the rising to the setting sun, by the word of the Holy One rejoicing in the remembrance of God.
6. For they went out from thee on foot, led by the enemies: but the Lord will bring them to thee exalted with honour as children of the kingdom.
7. For God hath appointed to bring down every high mountain, and the everlasting rocks, and to fill up the valleys to make them even with the ground: that Israel may walk diligently to the honour of God.
2. God will clothe thee with the double garment of justice, and will set a crown on thy head of everlasting honour.
3. For God will shew His brightness in thee, to every one under heaven.
4. For thy name shall be named to thee by God for ever: the peace of justice, and honour of piety.
5. Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand on high: and look about towards the east, and behold thy children gathered together from the rising to the setting sun, by the word of the Holy One rejoicing in the remembrance of God.
6. For they went out from thee on foot, led by the enemies: but the Lord will bring them to thee exalted with honour as children of the kingdom.
7. For God hath appointed to bring down every high mountain, and the everlasting rocks, and to fill up the valleys to make them even with the ground: that Israel may walk diligently to the honour of God.
8. Moreover the woods, and every sweet-smelling tree have overshadowed Israel by the commandment of God.
9. For God will bring Israel with joy in the light of His majesty, with mercy, and justice, that cometh from Him.
9. For God will bring Israel with joy in the light of His majesty, with mercy, and justice, that cometh from Him.
23. The gold with which they are overlaid to adorn them, if no one removes the tarnish from it, they will not make it shine; for they felt nothing even when they were being cast. 24. These idols were bought at the highest price, yet there is no breath of life in them. 25. Having no feet, they are carried upon shoulders, thus showing men their shameful helplessness. May those who serve them be put to shame with them! 26. If they fall to the ground, they will not rise of themselves; and if anyone sets them upright, they will not move of themselves; and if they lean, they will not straighten themselves. Offerings are placed before them as before the dead. 27. The priests sell the victims offered to them and make a profit of them; their wives preserve them with salt, and give nothing either to the poor or to the infirm. 28. Women in childbed or in a state of impurity touch their sacrifices. Knowing, therefore, from these things that they are not gods, fear them not.
29. And why call them gods? For women come to bring offerings to these gods of silver, gold, and wood. 30. And in their temples the priests sit, their tunics rent, their heads and faces shaven, and their heads uncovered. 31. They roar and cry out before their gods, as at a funeral feast. 32. Their priests take off their garments, and clothe their wives and children with them. 33. Whether one do them evil or good, they can render neither in return; they are unable to set up a king or cast him down. 34. Neither can they give riches, nor even a piece of money. If anyone, having made them a vow, fail to fulfil it, they make no demand. 35. They will not save a man from death, nor deliver the weak from the hand of the mighty. 36. They will not restore sight to the blind, nor deliver him who is in distress. 37. They will have no pity on the widow, nor do good to the orphan. 38. These wooden idols, covered with gold and silver, are like rocks broken off from the mountain, and those who serve them shall be put to shame. 39. How can one believe or say that they are gods?
40. The Chaldeans themselves dishonour them, when, seeing a man who cannot speak, they bring him before Bel, asking that the mute man speak, as though the god could hear anything. 41. And although they are aware of this, they cannot abandon these idols; for they have no feeling. 42. The women, with a cord about them, go and sit by the roads, burning coarse meal; 43. and when one of them, drawn aside by some passer-by, has slept with him, she reproaches her neighbour for not having been deemed worthy of the same honour, and for not having seen her rush cord broken. 44. All that is done in regard to idols is falsehood. How, then, can one believe or say that they are gods?
45. They have been fashioned by craftsmen and goldsmiths; they can be no other than their makers wish them to be. 46. And the makers who fashioned them have not long to live: how, then, could their works endure? 47. They have left nothing but falsehood and disgrace to posterity. 48. Should war, or any other calamity, befall them, the priests take counsel together as to where they shall hide themselves with their gods: 49. how, then, can one fail to understand that those are not gods, who cannot save themselves from war or from another calamity?
45. They have been fashioned by craftsmen and goldsmiths; they can be no other than their makers wish them to be. 46. And the makers who fashioned them have not long to live: how, then, could their works endure? 47. They have left nothing but falsehood and disgrace to posterity. 48. Should war, or any other calamity, befall them, the priests take counsel together as to where they shall hide themselves with their gods: 49. how, then, can one fail to understand that those are not gods, who cannot save themselves from war or from another calamity?
50. These idols of wood, overlaid with gold and silver, shall later be acknowledged to be nothing but falsehood; it shall be evident to all nations and to all kings that they are not gods, but works made by the hands of men, and that there is no divine work in them. 51. To whom, then, would it not be evident that they are not gods?
52. They shall never establish a king over a country, nor give rain to men. 53. They shall not know how to judge their own affairs, nor shall they protect against injustice, since they can do nothing, being like crows that hover between heaven and Thy earth. 54. And when fire falls upon the house of these gods of wood, overlaid with gold and silver, their priests shall flee and be saved; but they themselves shall be consumed like beams amid the flames. 55. They shall withstand neither a king nor an enemy army. How can one admit or suppose that they are gods?
52. They shall never establish a king over a country, nor give rain to men. 53. They shall not know how to judge their own affairs, nor shall they protect against injustice, since they can do nothing, being like crows that hover between heaven and Thy earth. 54. And when fire falls upon the house of these gods of wood, overlaid with gold and silver, their priests shall flee and be saved; but they themselves shall be consumed like beams amid the flames. 55. They shall withstand neither a king nor an enemy army. How can one admit or suppose that they are gods?
56. These gods of wood, covered with silver and gold, shall not escape robbers and brigands. 57. Men more powerful than they shall take away the silver and gold, and go off with the rich garments with which they have been covered, and these gods shall not be able to help themselves. 58. Therefore it is better to be a king displaying his strength, or a useful vessel in a house, which its master makes use of, than to be these false gods; or a door to a house, which guards what is within it, than to be these false gods; or again a wooden pillar in a king’s house, than to be these false gods. 59. The sun, the light, and the stars, which are bright and sent for the use of men, obey God. 60. Likewise, when the lightning appears, it is fair to behold; the wind also blows over all the land; 61. and the clouds, when God commands them to travel over the whole earth, do what they are commanded. 62. Fire likewise, when it is sent from above to consume the mountains and forests, does what it has been commanded. But idols are not comparable, either in beauty or in power, to any of these things. 63. Therefore one ought neither to think nor to say that they are gods, since they can neither discern what is right nor do good to men. 64. Knowing, then, that they are not gods, fear them not.
65. They are unable to curse or bless kings. 66. They show no signs in the heavens to the nations; they shine not like the sun, nor give light like the moon. 67. The beasts are better than they, for by fleeing they can find shelter and be of service to themselves. 68. Thus it is in no way evident to us that they are gods; fear them not, therefore.
69. As a scarecrow in a cucumber field preserves nothing, so are their gods of wood, overlaid with gold and silver. 70. Like a thornbush in a garden, on which all the birds perch, or like a dead man cast into a dark place, such are their gods of wood, overlaid with gold and silver. 71. The purple and scarlet themselves, which decay upon them, show that they are not gods. They themselves will in the end be devoured and become a disgrace in the land. 72. Better is the just man who has no idols; he shall not have to fear shame.
69. As a scarecrow in a cucumber field preserves nothing, so are their gods of wood, overlaid with gold and silver. 70. Like a thornbush in a garden, on which all the birds perch, or like a dead man cast into a dark place, such are their gods of wood, overlaid with gold and silver. 71. The purple and scarlet themselves, which decay upon them, show that they are not gods. They themselves will in the end be devoured and become a disgrace in the land. 72. Better is the just man who has no idols; he shall not have to fear shame.