Jeremiah 10
1 Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.
Listen to the word that the Lord has spoken concerning you, O house of Israel.
2 This is what the LORD says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by the signs in the heavens, though the nations themselves are terrified by them.
Thus says the Lord: “Do not choose to learn according to the ways of the Gentiles. And do not be willing to dread the signs of heaven, which the Gentiles fear.
3 For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman.
For the laws of the people are empty. For the work of the hand of the craftsman has cut a tree from the forest with an axe.
4 They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter.
He has adorned it with silver and gold. He has put it together with nail and hammer, so that it will not fall apart.
5 Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, and neither can they do any good.”
They have been fabricated in the likeness of a palm tree, and they will not speak. They must be carried to be moved, because they do not have the ability to walk. Therefore, do not be willing to fear them, for they can do neither evil nor good.”
6 There is none like You, O LORD. You are great, and Your name is mighty in power.
O Lord, there is nothing similar to you. You are great, and your name is great in strength.
7 Who would not fear You, O King of nations? This is Your due. For among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You.
Who will not fear you, O King of the nations? For honor is yours. Among all the wise of the nations, and within all their kingdoms, there is nothing similar to you.
8 But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!
Together, they will all be proven to be unwise and foolish. The doctrine of their vanity is made of wood.
9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz— the work of a craftsman from the hands of a goldsmith. Their clothes are blue and purple, all fashioned by skilled workers.
Rolled silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. It is the work of a craftsman, and of the hand of a coppersmith. Hyacinth and purple is their clothing. All these things are the work of artists.
10 But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.
But the Lord is the true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King. Before his indignation, the earth will shake. And the Gentiles will not be able to withstand his threats.
11 Thus you are to tell them: “These gods, who have made neither the heavens nor the earth, will perish from this earth and from under these heavens.”
“And so, you shall speak to them in this way: The gods that have not made heaven and earth, let them perish from the earth and from among those places which are under heaven.
12 The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
He made the earth by his power, he prepared the world in his wisdom, and he stretched out the heavens with his understanding.
13 When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.
At his voice, he grants a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he lifts up the clouds from the ends of the earth. He causes the lightning with the rain, and he leads forth the wind from his storehouses.
14 Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
Every man has become a fool concerning knowledge; every artist has been confounded by his graven image. For what he has formed is false, and there is no spirit in these things.
15 They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish.
These things are empty, and they are a work deserving of ridicule. In the time of their visitation, they will perish.
16 The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance— the LORD of Hosts is His name.
Jacob’s portion is not like their portion. For his portion is from the One who formed all things. And Israel is the staff of his inheritance. The Lord of hosts is his name.
17 Gather up your belongings from this land, you who live under siege.
Gather your shame from the earth, you who are living under siege.”
18 For this is what the LORD says: “Behold, at this time I will sling out the inhabitants of the land and bring distress upon them so that they may be captured.”
For thus says the Lord: “Behold, in this turn, I will cast the inhabitants of the land far away. And I will afflict them no matter where they may be found.”
19 Woe to me because of my brokenness; my wound is grievous! But I said, “This is truly my sickness, and I must bear it.”
Woe to me, concerning my destruction! My wound is very grievous. And yet I said: Clearly, this infirmity is mine, and I will carry it.
20 My tent is destroyed, and all its ropes are snapped. My sons have departed from me and are no more. I have no one left to pitch my tent or set up my curtains.
My tent has been destroyed. All my cords have been broken. My sons have gone away from me; they did not remain. There is no one to stretch out my tent any more, nor to set up my curtains.
21 For the shepherds have become senseless; they do not seek the LORD. Therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.
For the pastors have acted foolishly, and they have not sought the Lord. Because of this, they have not understood, and all their flock has been dispersed.
22 Listen! The sound of a report is coming— a great commotion from the land to the north. The cities of Judah will be made a desolation, a haunt for jackals.
Behold, the sound of a voice approaches, a great commotion from the land of the north: so that he may make the cities of Judah into a wilderness and into a dwelling place for serpents.
23 I know, O LORD, that a man’s way is not his own; no one who walks directs his own steps.
I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not his own. Neither is it given to man to walk and to direct his own steps.
24 Correct me, O LORD, but only with justice— not in Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing.
Correct me, O Lord, yet truly, do so with judgment, and not in your fury. Otherwise, you will reduce me to nothing.
25 Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You, and on the families that do not call on Your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have consumed him and finished him off; they have devastated his homeland.
Pour out your indignation upon the nations that have not known you, and upon the provinces that have not invoked your name. For they have fed upon Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and they have utterly destroyed his honor.
