With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships it. He prays to it, saying, ‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’

“As for you, son of man, take one branch, and write on it, ‘For Judah, and for the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another branch and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the branch of Ephraim and all the house of Israel associated with him.’

But if the ministry that produced death – carved in letters on stone tablets ¹  – came with glory, so that the Israelites ²  could not keep their eyes fixed on the face of Moses because of the glory of his face ³  (a glory ⁴  which was made ineffective), ⁵ 

The Annals of the Prophets include his prayer, give an account of how the Lord responded to it, record all his sins and unfaithful acts, and identify the sites where he built high places and erected Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself. ¹ 

Its length is to be a foot and a half ¹  and its width a foot and a half; it will be square. Its height is to be three feet, ²  with its horns of one piece with it. ³ 

So I made an ark of acacia ¹  wood and carved out two stone tablets just like the first ones. Then I went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hands.

I grabbed hold of my concubine and carved her up and sent the pieces ¹  throughout the territory occupied by Israel, ²  because they committed such an unthinkable atrocity ³  in Israel.

On these frames and joints were ornamental lions, bulls, and cherubs. Under the lions and bulls were decorative wreaths. ¹ 

All who worship idols are ashamed, those who boast about worthless idols. All the gods bow down before him. ¹ 

Do not let truth and mercy ¹  leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. ² 

They have burned the gods of the nations, ¹  for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them. ² 

In this way ¹  I will pass sentence ²  on the people of Jerusalem and Judah ³  because of all their wickedness. For they rejected me and offered sacrifices to other gods, worshiping what they made with their own hands.” ⁴ 

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 

A drought will come upon her land; her rivers and canals will be dried up. ¹  All of this will happen because her land is filled with idols. ²  Her people act like madmen because of ³  those idols they fear. ⁴ 

All idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made. For the image he forges is merely a sham. There is no breath in any of those idols.

“So the time will certainly come ¹  when I will punish the idols of Babylon. Her whole land will be put to shame. All her mortally wounded will collapse in her midst. ² 

Yes, but the time will certainly come,” ¹  says the Lord, ²  “when I will punish her idols. Throughout her land the mortally wounded will groan.

ז (Zayin) Her consecrated ones ¹  were brighter than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies more ruddy than corals, their hair ²  like lapis lazuli. ³ 

So I went in and looked. I noticed every figure ¹  of creeping thing and beast – detestable images ²  – and every idol of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall all around. ³ 

Its boughs were strong, fit ¹  for rulers’ scepters; it reached up into the clouds. It stood out because of its height and its many branches. ²