Jeremiah 10
1 Listen to the message the Lord is sending to you, people of Israel.
Hear the word, O house of Israel, That YHWH has spoken for you.
2 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.
Thus said YHWH: “Do not accustom yourselves to the way of the nations, And do not be frightened by the signs of the heavens, For the nations are frightened by them.
3 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.
For the statutes of the peoples are vanity, For one has cut a tree from a forest, Work of the hands of a craftsman, with an axe,
4 They decorate it with silver and gold, and nail it down with a hammer so it won't fall over.
They beautify it with silver and with gold, They fix it with nails and with hammers, And it does not stumble.
5 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.
They [are] stiff as a palm, and they do not speak, They are surely carried, for they do not step, Do not be afraid of them, for they do no evil, Indeed, to do good is also not in them.”
6 There's no one like you, Lord! You are so great! You are incredibly powerful!
Because there is none like You, O YHWH, You [are] great, and Your Name [is] great in might.
7 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.
Who does not fear You, King of the nations? For it is befitting to You, For among all the wise of the nations, And in all their kingdom, there is none like You.
8 Yet these “wise men” are completely foolish and stupid, because they think they can be taught by useless idols made of wood!
And as one they are brutish and foolish, An instruction of vanities [is] the tree itself.
9 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.
Spread-out silver is brought from Tarshish, And gold from Uphaz, Work of an artisan, and of the hands of a refiner, Their clothing [is] blue and purple, Work of the skillful—all of them.
10 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.
And YHWH [is] a God of truth, He [is] a living God, and a perpetual King, The earth shakes from His wrath, And nations do not endure His indignation.
11 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.”
Thus you say to them, “The gods who have not made the heavens and earth, They perish from the earth, And from under these heavens.”
12 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.
The Maker of the earth by His power, The Establisher of the world by His wisdom, Who, by His understanding, stretched forth the heavens—
13 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.
When He gives forth His voice, A multitude of waters [is] in the heavens, And He causes vapors to come up from the end of the earth, He has made lightnings for rain, And brings out wind from His treasures.
14 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!
Every man is brutish by knowledge, Every refiner is put to shame by a carved image, For his molten image [is] false. And there is no breath in them.
15 They are useless, an object to be laughed at. They will be destroyed at the time of their punishment.
They [are] vanity, work of erring ones, They perish in the time of their inspection.
16 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.
The Portion of Jacob [is] not like these, For He [is] the Framer of all things, And Israel [is] the rod of His inheritance, YHWH of Hosts [is] His Name.
17 You people living in Jerusalem under siege, get all your things together ready to leave,
Gather your merchandise from the land, O dweller in the bulwark,
18 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.
For thus said YHWH: “Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land at this time, And have been an adversary to them, So that they are found out.”
19 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.
Woe to me for my breaking, My striking has been grievous, And I said, “Surely this [is] my sickness, and I bear it.”
20 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.”
My tent has been spoiled, And all my cords have been broken, My sons have gone out from me, and they are not, There is none stretching out my tent anymore, And raising up my curtains.
21 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.
For the shepherds have become brutish, And they have not sought YHWH, Therefore they have not acted wisely, And all their flock is scattered.
22 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.
A voice of a report, behold, it has come, Even a great shaking from the north country, To make the cities of Judah a desolation, A habitation of dragons.
23 I realize, Lord, that people don't control their own lives—no one really knows how to choose their way.
I have known, O YHWH, that not of man [is] his way, Not of man [is] the going and establishing of his step.
24 Please discipline me fairly, Lord—not while you're angry, otherwise you'll kill me!
Discipline me, O YHWH, only in judgment, Not in Your anger, lest You make me small.
25 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.
Pour out Your fury on the nations that have not known You, And on the families that have not called on Your Name, For they have eaten up Jacob, Indeed, they have eaten him up, indeed, they consume him, And they have made his habitation desolate!
