Jeremiah 10
1 Hear ye the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning you, O house of Israel.
You people of Israel, listen to what Yahweh says:
2 Thus saith the Lord: Learn not according to the ways of the Gentiles: and be not afraid of the signs of heaven, which the heathens fear:
“Do not act like the people of [other] nations act, and do not be terrified by strange/unusual things that you see in the sky, even though they cause the [people of other] nations to be terrified.
3 For the laws of the people are vain: for the works of the hand of the workman hath cut a tree out of the forest with an axe.
The customs of the people [of other nations] are worthless. [For example], they cut down a tree in the forest. Then a [skilled] worker/craftsman [cuts a section of it and] uses his chisel to carve an idol from that section.
4 He hath decked it with silver and gold: he hath put it together with nails and hammers, that it may not fall asunder.
[Then] people decorate the idol with silver and gold. [Then] they fasten it securely with nails in order that it will not topple/fall over.
5 They are framed after the likeness of a palm tree, and shall not speak: they must be carried to be removed, because they cannot go. Therefore, fear them not, for they can neither do evil nor good.
[Then] the idol [stands there] like [SIM] a scarecrow in a field of cucumbers/melons! It cannot speak, and people must carry it, because it cannot walk. Do not be afraid of idols, because they cannot harm [anyone], and they cannot do [anything] good [to help anyone].”
6 There is none like to thee, O Lord: thou art great and great is thy name in might.
Yahweh, there is no one like you. You [MTY] are great, and you are very powerful.
7 Who shall fear thee, O king of nations? for thine is the glory: among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms there is none like unto thee.
You are the king of all the nations! Everyone should [RHQ] revere you, because that is what you deserve. Among all the wise people on the earth and in all the kingdoms where they live, (there is no one like you./who can compare with you?)
8 They shall all proved together to be senseless and foolish: the doctrine of their vanity is wood.
Those people who [think that they are] very wise [IRO] are stupid and foolish [DOU]. The idols that they worship are only made of wood! Those idols certainly cannot teach them anything.
9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tharsis, and gold from Ophaz: the work of the artificer, and of the hand of the coppersmith: violet and purple is their clothing: all these things are the work of artificers.
People hammer into thin sheets silver from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, and then they give those sheets of silver and gold to skilled workers/craftsmen to cover the idols. Then they put on those idols expensive purple robes that are made by skilled workers.
10 But the Lord is the true God: he is the living God, and the everlasting king, at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his threatening.
But Yahweh is the [only] true God; he is the all-powerful God, the king [who rules] forever. When he is angry, [all] the earth shakes/quakes; and [the people of] the nations cannot endure [what he does] when he is angry [with them].
11 Thus then shall you say to them: The gods that have not made heaven and earth, let them perish from the earth, and from among those places that are under heaven.
[You Israeli people], tell this to those people: “Those idols did not make the sky and the earth, and they will disappear from the earth.”
12 He that maketh the earth by his power, that prepareth the world by his wisdom, and stretcheth out the heavens by his knowledge.
But [Yahweh] made the earth by his power; he established it [firmly] by his wisdom and stretched out the sky by his understanding.
13 At his voice he giveth a multitude of waters in the heaven, and lifteth up the clouds from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings for rain, and bringeth for the wind out of his treasures.
When he speaks [loudly], there is thunder in the sky; he causes clouds to form over every part of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and releases the winds from his storehouses.
14 Every man is become a fool for knowledge every artist is confounded in his graven idol: for what he hath cast is false, and there is no spirit in them.
People are senseless and know very little [HYP]; those who make idols are always disappointed because their idols do nothing for them. The images/statues that they make are not real [gods]; they are lifeless.
15 They are vain things and a ridiculous work: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
Idols are worthless; they deserve to be ridiculed; there will be a time when they [all] will be destroyed.
16 The portion of Jacob is not like these: for it is he who formed all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his name.
But the God whom we Israelis worship is not like those idols; he is the one who created everything [that exists]; we, the tribe/people of Israel, belong to him; he is the Commander of the armies of angels.
17 Gather up thy shame out of the land, thou that dwellest in a siege.
[Yahweh says this to the people of Jerusalem]: “The army of your enemies surrounds your city, so gather up your possessions [and prepare] to leave the city.
18 For thus saith the Lord: Behold I will cast away far off the inhabitants of the land at this time: and I will afflict them, so that they may be found.
I will soon throw you out of this land and cause you to experience great troubles, with the result that you will have severe pain (OR, none of you will be left here).”
19 Woe is me for my destruction, my wound is very grievous. But I said: Truly this is my own evil, and I will bear it.
[The people replied, “It is as though] we have been [badly] wounded, and we are very grieved; [It is as though] we have a very serious illness, and we must endure the pain.
20 My tabernacle is laid waste, all my cords are broken: my children are gone out from me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
[It is as though] our [great] tent is destroyed; the ropes [that held it up] have been cut; our children have gone away from us and will not return; there are no people left to rebuild our great tent.
21 Because the pastors have done foolishly, and have not sought the Lord: therefore have they not understood, and all their flock is scattered.
Our leaders [MET] no [longer] have any sense; they no [longer] ask Yahweh [to (guide them/tell them what to do)], so they will no [longer] prosper, and all those over whom they rule [MET] will be scattered.
22 Behold the sound of a noise cometh, a great commotion out of the land of the north: to make the cities of Juda a desert, and a dwelling for dragons.
Listen! [Our enemies’ armies] in the north are making a [very] big noise/commotion [as they march toward us]. The towns in Judah will be destroyed, [and they will become] a place where jackals/wolves live.”
23 I know, O Lord, that the way of a man is not his: neither is it in a man to walk, and to direct his steps.
Yahweh, I know that no person controls what will happen to him; no one is able to direct the events that he will experience.
24 Correct me, O Lord, but yet with judgement: and not in fury, lest thou bring me to nothing.
[So] correct/discipline us, but do it gently. Do not correct/punish us when you are angry, because we would die if you did that.
25 Pour out thy indignation upon the nations that have not known thee, and upon the provinces that have not called upon thy name: because they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have destroyed his glory.
Punish [MTY] [all] the nations whose people do not acknowledge/say that you are God; punish all the nations whose people do not worship you, because they are completely destroying [DOU] [us people of] Israel and they are causing our land to soon be only a desert.
