“ Come together, you people of the nations who escaped from Babylon. Gather together and come into court. Only people who do not know anything would carry around gods that are made out of wood. They pray to false gods that can’t save them.

“你们从列国逃脱的人，要一同聚集前来。那些抬着雕刻木偶、祷告不能救人之神的，毫无知识。

“你们从列国逃脱的人，要一同聚集前来。那些抬着雕刻的木偶、祈求不能救人之神明的，毫无知识。

“你们从列国逃脱的人，要一同聚集前来。那些抬着雕刻的木偶、祈求不能救人之神明的，毫无知识。

“列国的流亡者啊，你们要聚集到这里来。那些抬着木头神像、向不能救人的神明祷告的人真愚昧！

“列国逃脱的人哪！你们要来集合，一同近前来。那些抬着木头做的偶像，向不能拯救人的神祈求的，真是无知。

“从列国逃脱的人哪，聚集而来，一同近前吧——他们抬着木头雕刻的偶像，向不能拯救人的神祷告，真是无知

你們從列國逃脫的人，要一同聚集前來。那些擡着雕刻木偶、禱告不能救人之神的，毫無知識。

「你們從列國逃脫的人，要一同聚集前來。那些抬着雕刻的木偶、祈求不能救人之神明的，毫無知識。

「你們從列國逃脫的人，要一同聚集前來。那些抬着雕刻的木偶、祈求不能救人之神明的，毫無知識。

「列國的流亡者啊，你們要聚集到這裡來。那些抬著木頭神像、向不能救人的神明禱告的人真愚昧！

“列國逃脫的人哪！你們要來集合，一同近前來。那些抬著木頭做的偶像，向不能拯救人的神祈求的，真是無知。

『列國逃脫的人哪，集合攏來，一同走近前哦！那些抬着木頭雕像的、直禱告那不能救人之神的、毫無知識。

「從列國逃脫的人哪，聚集而來，一同近前吧——他們抬著木頭雕刻的偶像，向不能拯救人的神禱告，真是無知

列邦免難之民、其集而至、惟彼舁其木偶、禱於不能施救之神者、悉屬無知、

列國流離之民、當大和會、群聽斯言、木偶之上帝、不能救民、凡輦斯像而禱之者、其愚甚矣。

爾自列邦得脫者、俱集而至、同就以聽斯言、惟彼攜其木偶、禱不能施救之神者、悉屬無知、

“ Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save.

“ Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save.

“ Gather together and come, you fugitives from surrounding nations. What fools they are who carry around their wooden idols and pray to gods that cannot save!

“ Come, gather together, and approach, you fugitives of the nations. Those who carry their wooden idols and pray to a god who cannot save have no knowledge.

“ Gather yourselves and come; Come together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge, Who carry around their wooden idol And pray to a god who cannot save.

“ Assemble yourselves and come; Draw near together, You who have escaped from the nations. They have no knowledge, Who carry the wood of their carved image, And pray to a god that cannot save.

Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that carry the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.

“ Come, gather together, and draw near, you fugitives of the nations. Those who carry their wooden idols, and pray to a god who cannot save, have no knowledge.

Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye[ that are] escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god[ that] cannot save.

Gather together and come! Approach together, you refugees from the nations! Those who carry wooden idols know nothing, those who pray to a god that cannot deliver.

“ Assemble yourselves and come. Draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. Those have no knowledge who carry the wood of their engraved image, and pray to a god that can’t save.

All the nations are gathering together. All of them are coming. Which one of their gods said ahead of time that the people of Israel would return? Which of them told us anything at all about the past? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right. Then others will hear them. And they will say,“ What they said is true.”

The statues of their gods can’t speak. They are like scarecrows in a field of cucumbers. Their statues have to be carried around because they can’t walk. So do not be afraid of their gods. They can’t do you any harm. And they can’t do you any good either.”

From the rest of the wood he makes a statue. It becomes his god. He bows down and worships it. He prays to it. He says,“ Save me! You are my god!”People like that don’t even know what they are doing. Their eyes are shut so that they can’t see the truth. Their minds are closed so that they can’t understand it.No one even stops to think about this. No one has any sense or understanding. If anyone did, they would say,“ I used half of the wood for fuel. I even baked bread over the fire. I cooked meat. Then I ate it. Should I now make a statue of a god out of the wood that’s left over? Should I bow down to a block of wood? The Lord would hate that.”That’s as foolish as eating ashes! The mind of someone like that has led him astray. He can’t save himself. He can’t bring himself to say,“ This thing I’m holding in my right hand isn’t really a god at all.”

Those who make statues of gods will be like them. So will all those who trust in them.

The gods named Bel and Nebo are brought down in shame. The statues of them are being carried away on the backs of animals. They used to be carried around by the people who worshiped them. But now they’ve become a heavy load for tired animals.

“ People of Judah, run away from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of the sins of its people. It is time for me to pay them back. I will punish them for what they have done.Babylon was like a gold cup in my hand. That city made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank its wine. So now they have gone crazy.Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Weep for it! Get healing lotion for its pain. Perhaps it can be healed.“ The nations say,‘ We would have healed Babylon. But it can’t be healed. So let’s leave it. Let’s each go to our own land. Babylon’s sins reach all the way to the skies. They rise up as high as the heavens.’

The people on the islands have seen that king coming. And it has made them afraid. People tremble with fear from one end of the earth to the other. They come and gather together.They help one another. They say to one another,“ Be strong!”

Listen to those who have escaped. Listen to those who have returned from Babylon. They are announcing in Zion how I have paid Babylon back. I have paid it back for destroying my temple.

The Lord says to the nations and their gods,“ State your case.” Jacob’s King says to them,“ Prove your case to me.

Some people trust in statues of gods. They say to them,‘ You are our gods.’ But they will be dishonored. They will be put to shame.“ Israel, listen to me! You can hear, but you do not understand. Look to me! You can see, but you do not know what you are seeing.

You say to a piece of wood,‘ You are my father.’ You say to a stone,‘ You are my mother.’ You have turned your backs to me. You refuse to look at me. But when you are in trouble, you say,‘ Come and save us!’Then where are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them come when you are in trouble! Let them save you if they can! Judah, you have as many gods as you have towns.

The Lord is the God of Israel. He said to me,“ Take this cup from my hand. It is filled with the wine of my great anger. Make all the nations to which I send you drink it.When they drink it, they will not even be able to walk straight. It will drive them out of their minds. I am going to send war against them.”So I took the cup from the Lord’ s hand. I made all the nations to which he sent me drink from it.He sent me to Judah’s kings and officials. He told me to go to Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. He wanted me to tell them they would be destroyed. Then people would be shocked because of them. They would make fun of them. They would use their name in a curse. And that’s how things still are today.Here is a list of the other kings and nations he sent me to. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt his attendants, his officials, all his peopleall the people from other lands who lived there all the kings of Uz the Philistine kings of Ashkelon, Gaza and Ekron the Philistines still living in AshdodEdom, Moab, Ammonall the kings of Tyre and Sidon the kings of the islands and other lands along the Mediterranean SeaDedan, Teman, Buz all the other places far away in the eastall the kings of Arabia all the other kings of people who live in the desertall the kings of Zimri, Elam and Mediaall the kings in the north, near and far So he sent me to all the kingdoms on the face of the earth, one after the other. They will all drink from the cup of the Lord’ s anger. After they drink, the king of Babylon will drink from it too.The Lord says,“ Tell them,‘ The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says,“ Drink from this cup. Get drunk and throw up. Fall down and do not get up again. I am going to send war against you.” ’But they might refuse to take the cup from your hand. They might not want to drink from it. Then tell them,‘ The Lord who rules over all says,“ You must drink from it!I am beginning to bring trouble on the city where I have put my Name. You might think you will not be punished. But you will certainly be punished. I am sending war against everyone who lives on earth,” announces the Lord who rules over all.’

So I told you those things long ago. Before they happened I announced them to you. I did it so you would not be able to say,‘ My statues of gods did them. My wooden and metal gods made them happen.’You have heard me tell you these things. Think about all of them. Won’t you admit they have taken place?“ From now on I will tell you about new things that will happen. I have not made them known to you before.These things are taking place right now. They did not happen long ago. You have not heard of them before today. So you can’t say,‘ Oh, yes. I already knew about them.’

“ No one has any sense. No one knows anything. Everyone who works with gold is put to shame by his wooden gods. His metal gods are fakes. They can’t even breathe.They are worthless, and people make fun of them. When I judge them, they will be destroyed.

All of them are foolish. They don’t have any sense. They think they are taught by worthless wooden gods.

They knew God. But they didn’t honor him as God. They didn’t thank him. Their thinking became worthless. Their foolish hearts became dark.They claimed to be wise. But they made fools of themselves.They would rather have statues of gods than the glorious God who lives forever. Their statues of gods are made to look like people, birds, animals and reptiles.

He planned to bring both Jews and Gentiles back to God as one body. He planned to do this through the cross. On that cross, Christ put to death their hatred toward one another.

So they prepared the bull they had been given. They prayed to Baal from morning until noon.“ Baal! Answer us!” they shouted. But there wasn’t any reply. No one answered. Then they danced around the altar they had made.At noon Elijah began to tease them.“ Shout louder!” he said.“ I’m sure Baal is a god! Perhaps he has too much to think about. Or maybe he has gone to the toilet. Or perhaps he’s away on a trip. Maybe he’s sleeping. You might have to wake him up.”So they shouted louder. They cut themselves with swords and spears until their blood flowed. That’s what they usually did when things really looked hopeless.It was now past noon. The prophets of Baal continued to prophesy with all their might. They did it until the time came to offer the evening sacrifice. But there wasn’t any reply. No one answered. No one paid any attention.

All the nations have drunk the strong wine of her terrible sins. The kings of the earth took part in her evil ways. The traders of the world grew rich from her great wealth.”Then I heard another voice from heaven. It said,“‘ Come out of her, my people.’( Jeremiah 51:45) Then you will not take part in her sins. You will not suffer from any of her plagues.Her sins are piled up to heaven. God has remembered her crimes.Do to her as she has done to others. Pay her back double for what she has done. Pour her a double dose of what she has poured for others.Give her as much pain and suffering as the glory and wealth she gave herself. She brags to herself,‘ I rule on a throne like a queen. I am not a widow. I will never mourn.’( Isaiah 47:7, 8)But she will be plagued by death, sadness and hunger. In a single day she will suffer all these plagues. She will be burned up by fire. That’s because the Lord God who judges her is mighty.“ The kings of the earth who committed terrible sins with her will weep. They will mourn because they used to share her riches. They will see the smoke rising as she burns.They will be terrified by her suffering. They will stand far away from her. And they will cry out,“‘ How terrible! How terrible it is for you, great city! How terrible for you, mighty city of Babylon! In just one hour you have been destroyed!’“ The traders of the world will weep and mourn over her. No one buys what they sell anymore.Here is what they had for sale.“ Gold, silver, jewels, pearls. Fine linen, purple, silk, bright red cloth. Every kind of citron wood. All sorts of things made out of ivory, valuable wood, bronze, iron, marble.Cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense. Wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat. Cattle, sheep, horses, carriages, and human beings sold as slaves.“ The merchants will say,‘ The pleasure you longed for has left you. All your riches and glory have disappeared forever.’The traders who sold these things became rich because of Babylon. When she suffers, they will stand far away. Her suffering will terrify them. They will weep and mourn.They will cry out,“‘ How terrible! How terrible it is for you, great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and bright red! How terrible for you, great city, gleaming with gold, jewels and pearls!In just one hour your great wealth has been destroyed!’“ Every sea captain and all who travel by ship will stand far away. So will the sailors and all who earn their living from the sea.They will see the smoke rising as Babylon burns. They will ask,‘ Was there ever a city like this great city?’

Before you believed in Christ, you were separated from him. You were not considered to be citizens of Israel. You were not included in what the covenants promised. You were without hope and without God in the world.

“ If someone carves a statue of a god, what is it worth? What value is there in a god that teaches lies? The one who trusts in this kind of god worships his own creation. He makes statues of gods that can’t speak.How terrible it will be for the Babylonians! They say to a wooden god,‘ Come to life!’ They say to a stone god,‘ Wake up!’ Can those gods give advice? They are covered with gold and silver. They can’t even breathe.”The Lord is in his holy temple. Let the whole earth be silent in front of him.

No one has any sense or knows anything at all. Everyone who works with gold is put to shame by his gods. The metal gods he has made are fakes. They can’t even breathe.

Some people pour out gold from their bags. They weigh out silver on the scales. They hire someone who works with gold to make it into a god. They bow down to it and worship it.They lift it up on their shoulders and carry it. They set it up in its place, and there it stands. It can’t move from that spot. Someone might cry out to it. But it does not answer. It can’t save them from their troubles.

At that time Israel’s king will be beautiful and glorious. He will be called The Branch of the Lord. The fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of those who are still left alive in Israel.