And turn not aside after vain things which shall never profit you, nor deliver you, because they are vain.

And do not go from the right way turning to those false gods in which there is no profit and no salvation, for they are false.

And do not choose to turn aside after vanities, which will never benefit you, nor rescue you, since they are empty.

After vain things - That is, idols; which he calls here התהו hattohu, the same expression found Genesis 1:2. The earth was תהו tohu; it was waste, empty, and formless: so idols; they are confusion, and things of naught, for an idol is nothing in the world, it is not the representative of any intelligent being.

And turn ye not aside,.... From his worship: for then; if they turned aside from that:
should ye go after vain things; idols, which are vanity, and less than vanity:
which cannot profit nor deliver; neither bestow good things on their votaries, nor deliver them from evils, or from the hands of their enemies
for they are vain; empty, useless, and unprofitable; an idol is nothing in the world, 1-Corinthians 8:4.

Turn aside - After idols; as they had often done before; and, notwithstanding this warning, did afterwards. Vain things - So idols are called, Deuteronomy 32:21; Jeremiah 2:5, and so they are, being mere nothings, having no power in them; no influence upon us, nor use or benefit to us.