Jeremiah 10
1 Give ear to the word which the Lord says to you, O people of Israel:
Listen to the message the Lord is sending to you, people of Israel.
2 This is what the Lord has said: Do not go in the way of the nations; have no fear of the signs of heaven, for the nations go in fear of them.
This is what the Lord says: Don't adopt the practices of other nations. Don't be terrified as they are by signs in the heavens that they interpret as predicting disaster.
3 For that which is feared by the people is foolish: it is the work of the hands of the workman; for a tree is cut down by him out of the woods with his axe.
The religious beliefs of the peoples are pointless. They chop down a tree in the forest and a craftsman carves the wood with a tool to make an idol.
4 They make it beautiful with silver and gold; they make it strong with nails and hammers, so that it may not be moved.
They decorate it with silver and gold, and nail it down with a hammer so it won't fall over.
5 It is like a pillar in a garden of plants, and has no voice: it has to be lifted, for it has no power of walking. Have no fear of it; for it has no power of doing evil and it is not able to do any good.
Just like a scarecrow in a field of cucumbers, their idols can't speak. They have to be carried around because they can't walk. You don't have to be afraid of them because they can't hurt you—and they can't do you any good either.
6 There is no one like you, O Lord; you are great and your name is great in power.
There's no one like you, Lord! You are so great! You are incredibly powerful!
7 Who would not have fear of you, O King of the nations? for it is your right: for among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.
Everyone should respect you, King of the nations. This is how you should be treated. There's no one like you among all the wise men of every nation and kingdom.
8 But they are together like beasts and foolish: the teaching of false gods is wood.
Yet these “wise men” are completely foolish and stupid, because they think they can be taught by useless idols made of wood!
9 Silver hammered into plates is sent from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the expert workman and of the hands of the gold-worker; blue and purple is their clothing, all the work of expert men.
Sheets of hammered silver are shipped in from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, to be used by craftsmen and metalworkers. These idols are dressed in clothes of blue and purple made by experts.
10 But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and an eternal king: when he is angry, the earth is shaking with fear, and the nations give way before his wrath.
But the Lord is the only true God. He is the living God and eternal King. The earth shakes when he is angry; the nations can't withstand his fury.
11 This is what you are to say to them: The gods who have not made the heavens and the earth will be cut off from the earth and from under the heavens.
This is what you are to tell the nations: “These gods, who didn't make either the heavens or the earth, will be wiped out from this earth and from under these heavens.”
12 He has made the earth by his power, he has made the world strong in its place by his wisdom, and by his wise design the heavens have been stretched out.
It was God who made the earth by his power. He created the world by his wisdom and by his understanding he put the heavens in place.
13 At the sound of his voice there is a massing of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mists go up from the ends of the earth; he makes the thunder-flames for the rain, and sends out the wind from his store-houses.
The waters of the heavens rain down with a roar at his command. He makes the clouds to rise all over the earth. He makes lightning to accompany rain, and sends the wind from his storehouses.
14 Then every man becomes like a beast without knowledge; every gold-worker is put to shame by the image he has made: for his metal image is deceit, and there is no breath in them.
Everyone is stupid; they don't know anything. Every metalworker is embarrassed by the idols they make. For their images made of molten metal are fraudulent—they're not alive!
15 They are nothing, a work of error: in the time of their punishment, destruction will overtake them.
They are useless, an object to be laughed at. They will be destroyed at the time of their punishment.
16 The heritage of Jacob is not like these; for the maker of all things is his heritage: the Lord of armies is his name.
The God of Jacob is not like these idols, for he is the Creator of everything, and Israel is the tribe that belongs to him. The Lord Almighty is his name.
17 Get your goods together and go out of the land, O you who are shut up in the walled town.
You people living in Jerusalem under siege, get all your things together ready to leave,
18 For the Lord has said, I will send the people in flight like a stone from the land at this time, troubling them so that they will be conscious of it.
because this is what the Lord says: Look! Right now I'm about to throw out the people living in this country, bringing them trouble they will really feel.
19 Sorrow is mine for I am wounded! my wound may not be made well; and I said, Cruel is my disease, I may not be free from it.
The people of Jerusalem responded, “We're suffering terribly because we've been badly hurt—our injuries are really serious. We thought it wouldn't be that bad and that we could bear it.
20 My tent is pulled down and all my cords are broken: my children have gone from me, and they are not: no longer is there anyone to give help in stretching out my tent and hanging up my curtains.
Our tents have been destroyed; all our ropes have been broken. Our children have been taken from us and are no more. We don't have anyone left to put up our tents or hang our curtains.”
21 For the keepers of the sheep have become like beasts, not looking to the Lord for directions: so they have not done wisely and all their flocks have been put to flight.
The “shepherds” have become stupid—they don't ask the Lord for advice. That's why they have failed, and all their flock has been scattered.
22 News is going about, see, it is coming, a great shaking is coming from the north country, so that the towns of Judah may be made waste and become the living-place of jackals.
Listen to the news that an noisy army is invading from a country to the north. The towns of Judah will be knocked down, they will be places where only jackals live.
23 O Lord, I am conscious that a man's way is not in himself: man has no power of guiding his steps.
I realize, Lord, that people don't control their own lives—no one really knows how to choose their way.
24 O Lord, put me right, but with wise purpose; not in your wrath, or you will make me small.
Please discipline me fairly, Lord—not while you're angry, otherwise you'll kill me!
25 Let your wrath be let loose on the nations which have no knowledge of you, and on the families who give no worship to your name: for they have made a meal of Jacob, truly they have made a meal of him and put an end to him and made his fields a waste.
Pour out your fury on the nations that don't recognize you as God, and on their families that don't worship you. For they have completely destroyed the Israelites, wiping us out. They have devastated our country.
