The coastlands saw [it] and feared, The ends of the earth were afraid; They drew near and came.

Everyone helped his neighbor, And said to his brother, "Be of good courage!"

" Present your case," says the LORD. "Bring forth your strong [reasons,"] says the King of Jacob.

Let all the nations be gathered together, And let the people be assembled. Who among them can declare this, And show us former things? Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified; Or let them hear and say, "[It is] truth."

In that day the Branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious; And the fruit of the earth [shall be] excellent and appealing For those of Israel who have escaped.

For thus says the LORD God of Israel to me: "Take this wine cup of fury from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it.

Then I took the cup from the LORD's hand, and made all the nations drink, to whom the LORD had sent me:

Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes, and all his people;

Edom, Moab, and the people of Ammon;

Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all [who are] in the farthest corners;

all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes;

" Therefore you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Drink, be drunk, and vomit! Fall and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you." '

"For behold, I begin to bring calamity on the city which is called by My name, and should you be utterly unpunished? You shall not be unpunished, for I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth," says the LORD of hosts.'

The voice of those who flee and escape from the land of Babylon Declares in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, The vengeance of His temple.

Flee from the midst of Babylon, And every one save his life! Do not be cut off in her iniquity, For this [is] the time of the LORD's vengeance; He shall recompense her.

Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed. Wail for her! Take balm for her pain; Perhaps she may be healed.

that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

"For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury."

"For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

"In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, 'I sit [as] queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.'

" The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning,

"And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore:

"and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.

"The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,

'For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.' Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance

They shall be turned back, They shall be greatly ashamed, Who trust in carved images, Who say to the molded images, 'You [are] our gods.'

" Hear, you deaf; And look, you blind, that you may see.

And the rest of it he makes into a god, His carved image. He falls down before it and worships [it,] Prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you [are] my god!"

And no one considers in his heart, Nor [is there] knowledge nor understanding to say, "I have burned half of it in the fire, Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals; I have roasted meat and eaten [it;] And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?"

They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it And set it in its place, and it stands; From its place it shall not move. Though [one] cries out to it, yet it cannot answer Nor save him out of his trouble.

They are created now and not from the beginning; And before this day you have not heard them, Lest you should say, 'Of course I knew them.'

So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared [it,] and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, "O Baal, hear us!" But [there was] no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made.

So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them.

Those who make them are like them; [So is] everyone who trusts in them.

Saying to a tree, 'You [are] my father,' And to a stone, 'You gave birth to me.' For they have turned [their] back to Me, and not [their] face. But in the time of their trouble They will say, 'Arise and save us.'

But where [are] your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, If they can save you in the time of your trouble; For [according to] the number of your cities Are your gods, O Judah.

But they are altogether dull-hearted and foolish; A wooden idol [is] a worthless doctrine.

Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge; Every metalsmith is put to shame by an image; For his molded image [is] falsehood, And [there is] no breath in them.

Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge; Every metalsmith is put to shame by the carved image; For his molded image [is] falsehood, And [there is] no breath in them.

They [are] futile, a work of errors; In the time of their punishment they shall perish.

" What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it, The molded image, a teacher of lies, That the maker of its mold should trust in it, To make mute idols?

But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him."

because, although they knew God, they did not glorify [Him] as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man -- and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.