Jeremiah 10

1 Hear ye the word which Jehovah speaks to you, O house of Israel.

Hear you the word of the Lord, which he has spoken to you, O house of Israel.

2 Thus says Jehovah: Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the nations are dismayed at them.

Thus says the Lord, Learn you not the ways of the heathen, and be not alarmed at the signs of the sky; for they are alarmed at them, [falling] on their faces.

3 For the customs of the peoples are vanity. For a man cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.

For the customs of the nations are vain; it is a tree cut out of the forest, the work of the carpenter, or a molten image.

4 They deck it with silver and with gold. They fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it not move.

[They are] beautified with silver and gold, they fix them with hammers and nails;

5 They are like a palm tree, of turned work, and do not speak. They must be carried, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor is it in them to do good.

they will set them up that they may not move; it is wrought silver, they will not walk, it is forged silver They must certainly be borne, for they can’t ride [of themselves]. Fear them not; for they can’t do any evil, and there is no good in them.

6 There is none like thee, O Jehovah. Thou are great, and thy name is great in might.

7 Who should not fear thee, O King of the nations? For to thee it appertains, inasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal estate, there is none like thee.

8 But they are together brutish and foolish, the instruction of idols! It is but a block of wood.

9 There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artificer and of the hands of the goldsmith, blue and purple for their clothing. They are all the work of skilful men.

10 But Jehovah is the true God. He is the living God, and an everlasting King. At his wrath the earth trembles, and the nations are not able to abide his indignation.

11 Thus ye shall say to them: The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.

Thus shall you say to them, Let the gods which have not made heaven and earth perish from off the earth, and from under this sky.

12 He has made the earth by his power. He has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding he has stretched out the heavens.

It is the Lord that made the earth by his strength, who set up the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the sky,

13 When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasuries.

and set abundance of waters in the sky, and brought up clouds from the ends of the earth; he made lightnings for the rain, and brought forth light out of his treasures.

14 Every man has become brutish, without knowledge. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image. For his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

Every man is deprived of knowledge, every goldsmith is confounded because of his graven images; for he has cast false gods, there is no breath in them.

15 They are vanity, a work of delusion. In the time of their visitation they shall perish.

They are vain works, wrought in mockery; in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

16 The portion of Jacob is not like these. For he is the former of all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance. Jehovah of hosts is his name.

Such is not the portion of Jacob; for he that formed all things, he is his inheritance; the Lord is his name.

17 Gather up thy wares out of the land, O thou who abides in the siege.

He has gathered your substance from without the lodged in choice [vessels].

18 For thus says Jehovah, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and will distress them, that they may feel it.

For thus says the Lord, Behold, I [will] overthrow the inhabitants of this land with affliction, that your plague may be discovered.

19 Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is grievous, but I said, Truly this is my grief, and I must bear it.

Alas for your ruin! your plague is grievous: and I said, Surely this is your wound, and it has overtaken you.

20 My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken. My sons have gone forth from me, and they are not. There is none to spread my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.

Your tabernacle is in a ruinous state, it has perished; and all your curtains have been torn asunder: my children and my cattle are no more: there is no more any place for my tabernacle, [nor] place for my curtains.

21 For the shepherds have become brutish, and have not inquired of Jehovah. Therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks are scattered.

For the shepherds have become foolish, and have not sought the Lord; therefore the whole pasture has failed, and [the sheep] have been scattered.

22 The voice of news. Behold, it comes, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling-place of jackals.

Behold, there comes a sound of a noise, and a great earthquake from the land of the north, to make the cities of Juda a desolation, and a resting-place for ostriches.

23 O Jehovah, I know that the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man who walks to direct his steps.

I know, O Lord, that man's way is not his own; neither shall a man go, and direct his going.

24 O Jehovah, correct me, but in measure, not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.

Chasten us, O Lord, but with judgement; and not in wrath, lest you make us few.

25 Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name. For they have devoured Jacob. Yea, they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.

Pour out your wrath upon the nations that have not known you, and upon the families that have not called upon your name: for they have devoured Jacob, and consumed him, and have made his pasture desolate.