1 Hear ye the Davar which Hashem speaketh unto you, O Bais Yisroel.
2 Thus saith Hashem, Learn not the Derech HaGoyim, and be not in awe of the otot HaShomayim; though the Goyim are in awe of them.
3 For the [religious] chukkot (customs, statutes) of the nations are vain delusions; for one cutteth etz out of the ya'ar (forest), the ma'aseh (handiwork) of the hands of the charash (workman, artisan), with the axe.
4 They deck it with kesef and with zahav; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it topple not.