16. When he thunders, the waters in the skies roar. He sends clouds all over the earth. He sends lightning with the rain. He brings out the wind from his storehouses.
17. But people are so stupid. They don’t understand what God has done. Skilled workers make statues of false gods. Those statues are only false gods. They show how foolish those workers are. Those statues are not alive.
18. Those idols are worthless. People made them, and they are nothing but a joke. Their time of judgment will come, and those idols will be destroyed.
19. But God, who is Jacob’s Portion, is not like those worthless statues. People didn’t make God; God made his people. He made everything. His name is the Lord All-Powerful.
20. The Lord says, “Babylon, you are my club. I used you to smash nations. I used you to destroy kingdoms.
21. I used you to smash horse and rider. I used you to smash chariot and driver.
22. I used you to smash men and women. I used you to smash men, old and young. I used you to smash young men and young women.
23. I used you to smash shepherds and flocks. I used you to smash farmers and oxen. I used you to smash governors and important officials.
24. But I will repay Babylonia and all the Babylonians for all the evil things they did to Zion. I will pay them back so that you can see it, Judah.” This is what the Lord said.