Jeremiah 10

1 Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.

Hear ye the word which the Lord hath 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 hath said the Lord, Do not habituate yourselves on the way of the nations, and at the signs of the heavens be ye not dismayed; although the nations should be dismayed at them.

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 statutes of these people concern what is vanity; for it is but a tree which a man hath cut out of a forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

4 They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter.

With silver and with gold do they ornament it; with nails and with hammers do they fasten it, that it move not from its place.

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.”

As a wrought-out palm-like column are they, and cannot speak; they must needs be borne, because they cannot step along. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do any harm, so also to do any good is not in them.

6 There is none like You, O LORD. You are great, and Your name is mighty in power.

Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord: thou [alone] art great, and great is thy name in might.

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 would not fear thee, O King of the nations? for to thee doth it appertain; because among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, [they say] there is none like unto thee.

8 But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!

But at once shall they be shown to be brutish and foolish: it is a doctrine of vanities, it concerneth but 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.

The beaten out silver is brought from Tharshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the goldsmith: blue and purple is their clothing; the work of skilful men are they all.

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 God is the truth, he is the living God, and the everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall quake, and nations cannot endure his indignation.

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.”

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

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 established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding he stretched out the heavens.

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 the sound when he giveth a multitude of waters in the heavens, and causeth clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth; when he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures:

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.

Then standeth every man as brutish without knowledge; ashamed is every goldsmith because of the graven image; for falsehood is his molten work, and there is no breath therein.

15 They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish.

They are vanity, the work of deception; in the time of their punishment shall they vanish.

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.

Not like these is the portion of Jacob; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: The Lord of hosts is his name.

17 Gather up your belongings from this land, you who live under siege.

Gather up thy wares from the ground, O inhabitress of the beleaguered city.

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 hath said the Lord, Behold, I will cast forth as with a sling the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I will enclose them, in order that they may find them.

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 is me for my breach! my wound is painful; but I thought, This is but pain, and I shall be able to bear 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.

[But now] my tent is laid waste, and all my cords are torn asunder; my children are gone away from me, and they are not [here]; there is no one to stretch forth my tent any more, and 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 shepherds were brutish, and the Lord had they not sought; therefore have they not prospered, and all their flocks are scattered.

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 noise of the report is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to render the cities of Judah desolate, a dwelling for monsters.

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 in his own power: it is not in man that passeth away 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, but with justice; not in thy anger, lest thou bring 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 thy fury over the nations that know thee not, and over the families that have not called on thy name; for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his dwelling desolate.