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| 1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: |
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| 2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. |
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| 3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. |
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| 4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
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| 5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. |
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| 6 Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. |
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| 7 Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee. |
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| 8 But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities. |
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| 9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men. |
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| 10 But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. |
At his wrath – The word of the Lord to the nations assembled before him for judgment. D12
The earth – The present organization of society. C229; D46; A323
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| 11 Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens. |
The gods – Mighty ones; a general name, often and properly applied to our Heavenly Father, as well as to Jesus, angels and men. R338:2, R421:3
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| 12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion. |
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| 13 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. |
Uttereth his voice – God makes use of different agencies to do his service. These are sometimes animate, sometimes inanimate. R5385:3
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| 14 Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. |
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| 15 They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. |
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| 16 The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name. |
Is the rod – A symbol of authority. R4058:4
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| 17 Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress. |
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| 18 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so. |
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| 19 Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it. |
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| 20 My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains. |
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| 21 For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered. |
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| 22 Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons. |
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| 23 O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. |
Not in himself – It is not in the power of man to direct his own steps, but the child of God has learned where to seek counsel. R1753:1
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| 24 O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. |
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| 25 Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate. |
Eaten up Jacob – Natural Israel. A300
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