Daily Bread

“Do not learn the ways of the nations^(B)
    or be terrified by signs^(C) in the heavens,
    though the nations are terrified by them.
³ For the practices of the peoples are worthless;
    they cut a tree out of the forest,
    and a craftsman^(D) shapes it with his chisel.^(E)
4 They adorn it with silver^(F) and gold;
    they fasten it with hammer and nails
    so it will not totter.^(G)
5 Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
    their idols cannot speak;^(H)
they must be carried
    because they cannot walk.^(I)
Do not fear them;
    they can do no harm^(J)
    nor can they do any good.”^(K)

⁶ No one is like you,^(L) Lord;
    you are great,^(M)
    and your name is mighty in power.
⁷ Who should not fear^(N) you,
    King of the nations?^(O)
    This is your due.
Among all the wise leaders of the nations
    and in all their kingdoms,
    there is no one like you.

⁸ They are all senseless^(P) and foolish;^(Q)
    they are taught by worthless wooden idols.^(R)
9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish^(S)
    and gold from Uphaz.
What the craftsman and goldsmith have made^(T)
    is then dressed in blue and purple—
    all made by skilled workers.
¹⁰ But the Lord is the true God;
    he is the living God,^(U) the eternal King.^(V)
When he is angry,^(W) the earth trembles;^(X)
    the nations cannot endure his wrath.^(Y)

¹² But God made^(AA) the earth^(AB) by his power;
    he founded the world by his wisdom^(AC)
    and stretched out the heavens^(AD) by his understanding.
¹³ When he thunders,^(AE) the waters in the heavens roar;
    he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning^(AF) with the rain^(AG)
    and brings out the wind from his storehouses.^(AH)

¹⁴ Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
    every goldsmith is shamed^(AI) by his idols.
The images he makes are a fraud;^(AJ)
    they have no breath in them.
¹⁵ They are worthless,^(AK) the objects of mockery;
    when their judgment comes, they will perish.
¹⁶ He who is the Portion^(AL) of Jacob is not like these,
    for he is the Maker of all things,^(AM)
including Israel, the people of his inheritance^(AN)—
    the Lord Almighty is his name.^(AO)

¹⁹ Woe to me because of my injury!
    My wound^(AS) is incurable!
Yet I said to myself,
    “This is my sickness, and I must endure^(AT) it.”
²⁰ My tent^(AU) is destroyed;
    all its ropes are snapped.
My children are gone from me and are no more;^(AV)
    no one is left now to pitch my tent
    or to set up my shelter.
²¹ The shepherds^(AW) are senseless^(AX)
    and do not inquire of the Lord;^(AY)
so they do not prosper^(AZ)
    and all their flock is scattered.^(BA)
22 Listen! The report is coming—
    a great commotion from the land of the north!^(BB)
It will make the towns of Judah desolate,^(BC)
    a haunt of jackals.^(BD)