Consequently ¹  God sends on them a deluding influence ²  so that they will believe what is false.

They are worthless, mere objects to be mocked. ¹  When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.

They are worthless, objects to be ridiculed. When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.

Look, all of them are nothing, ¹  their accomplishments are nonexistent; their metal images lack any real substance. ² 

Men are nothing but a mere breath; human beings are unreliable. ¹  When they are weighed in the scales, all of them together are lighter than air. ² 

We know our noisy worship of false gods on the hills and mountains did not help us. ¹  We know that the Lord our God is the only one who can deliver Israel. ² 

The people of those nations ¹  are both stupid and foolish. Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless! ² 

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is useless; you are still in your sins.

For the appeal we make ¹  does not come ²  from error or impurity or with deceit,

For the religion ¹  of these people is worthless. They cut down a tree in the forest, and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools. ² 

You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside ¹  the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires,

You were complacent in your evil deeds; ¹  you thought, ²  ‘No one sees me.’ Your self-professed ³  wisdom and knowledge lead you astray, when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’ ⁴ 

From earliest times our worship of that shameful god, Baal, has taken away ¹  all that our ancestors ²  worked for. It has taken away our flocks and our herds, and even our sons and daughters.

Yet my people have forgotten me and offered sacrifices to worthless idols! This makes them stumble along in the way they live and leave the old reliable path of their fathers. ¹  They have left them to walk in bypaths, in roads that are not smooth and level. ² 

נ (Nun) Your prophets saw visions for you that were worthless lies. ¹  They failed to expose your sin so as to restore your fortunes. ²  They saw oracles for you that were worthless ³  lies.

They see delusion and their omens are a lie. ¹  They say, “the Lord declares,” though the Lord has not sent them; ²  yet they expect their word to be confirmed. ³ 

“‘Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you have spoken false words and forecast delusion, look, ¹  I am against you, ²  declares the sovereign Lord.

Therefore you will no longer see false visions and practice divination. I will rescue my people from your power, and you ¹  will know that I am the Lord.’”

For the household gods ¹  have spoken wickedness, the soothsayers have seen a lie, and as for the dreamers, they have disclosed emptiness and give comfort in vain. Therefore the people set out like sheep and become scattered because they have no shepherd. ² 

My hand will be against the prophets who see delusion and announce lying omens. They will not be included in the council ¹  of my people, nor be written in the registry ²  of the house of Israel, nor enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.