Jeremiah 10

1 Give ear to the word which the Lord says to you, O people of Israel:

Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, house 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.

The LORD says, “Don’t learn the way of the nations, and don’t be dismayed at the signs of the sky; for the nations are dismayed at them.

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.

For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.

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 deck it with silver and with gold. They fasten it with nails and with hammers, so that it can’t move.

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.

They are like a palm tree, of turned work, and don’t speak. They must be carried, because they can’t move. Don’t be afraid of them; for they can’t do evil, neither is it in them to do good.”

6 There is no one like you, O Lord; you are great and your name is great in power.

There is no one like you, LORD. You are great, and your name is great in might.

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.

Who shouldn’t fear you, King of the nations? For it belongs to you. Because amongst all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal estate, there is no one like you.

8 But they are together like beasts and foolish: the teaching of false gods is wood.

But they are together brutish and foolish, instructed by idols! It is just 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.

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

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 true God. He is the living God, and an everlasting King. At his wrath, the earth trembles. The nations aren’t able to withstand his indignation.

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.

“You shall say this to them: ‘The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth, and from under the 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.

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

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.

When he utters his voice, the waters in the heavens roar, and he causes the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for the rain, and brings the wind out of his treasuries.

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.

Every man has become brutish and without knowledge. Every goldsmith is disappointed by his engraved image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

15 They are nothing, a work of error: in the time of their punishment, destruction will overtake them.

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

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 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 Armies is his name.

17 Get your goods together and go out of the land, O you who are shut up in the walled town.

Gather up your wares out of the land, you who live under siege.

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.

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

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.

Woe is me because of my injury! My wound is serious; but I said, “Truly this is my grief, and I must 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.

My tent has been destroyed, and all my cords are broken. My children have gone away from me, and they are no more. There is no one to spread my tent any more, to set up my 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.

For the shepherds have become brutish, and have not enquired of the LORD. Therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks have 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.

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.

23 O Lord, I am conscious that a man's way is not in himself: man has no power of guiding his steps.

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

24 O Lord, put me right, but with wise purpose; not in your wrath, or you will make me small.

LORD, correct me, but gently; not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing.

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 wrath on the nations that don’t know you, and on the families that don’t call on your name; for they have devoured Jacob. Yes, they have devoured him, consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.