Jeremiah 10

1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel;

Hear you the word of the Lord, which he has spoken to you, O house of Israel.

2 thus saith the LORD: Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the nations are dismayed at them.

Thus says the Lord, Learn you not the ways of the heathen, and be not alarmed at the signs of the sky; for they are alarmed at them, [falling] on their faces.

3 For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for it is but a tree which one cutteth out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.

For the customs of the nations are vain; it is a tree cut out of the forest, the work of the carpenter, or a molten image.

4 They deck it with silver and with gold, they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

[They are] beautified with silver and gold, they fix them with hammers and nails;

5 They are like a pillar in a garden of cucumbers, and speak not; they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.

they will set them up that they may not move; it is wrought silver, they will not walk, it is forged silver They must certainly be borne, for they can’t ride [of themselves]. Fear them not; for they can’t do any evil, and there is no good in them.

6 There is none like unto Thee, O LORD; Thou art great, and Thy name is great in might.

7 Who would not fear Thee, O king of the nations? For it befitteth Thee; forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royalty, there is none like unto Thee.

8 But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the vanities by which they are instructed are but a stock;

9 Silver beaten into plates which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; blue and purple is their clothing; they are all the work of skilful men.

10 But the LORD God is the true God, He is the living God, and the everlasting King; at His wrath the earth trembleth, and the nations are not able to abide His indignation.

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

Thus shall you say to them, Let the gods which have not made heaven and earth perish from off the earth, and from under this sky.

12 He that hath made the earth by His power, that hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by His understanding;

It is the Lord that made the earth by his strength, who set up the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the sky,

13 At the sound of His giving a multitude of waters in the heavens, when He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; when He maketh lightnings with the rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of His treasuries;

and set abundance of waters in the sky, and brought up clouds from the ends of the earth; he made lightnings for the rain, and brought forth light out of his treasures.

14 Every man is proved to be brutish, without knowledge, every goldsmith is put to shame by the graven image, his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

Every man is deprived of knowledge, every goldsmith is confounded because of his graven images; for he has cast false gods, there is no breath in them.

15 They are vanity, a work of delusion; in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

They are vain works, wrought in mockery; in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

16 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.

Such is not the portion of Jacob; for he that formed all things, he is his inheritance; the Lord is his name.

17 Gather up thy wares from the ground, O thou that abidest in the siege.

He has gathered your substance from without the lodged in choice [vessels].

18 For thus saith the LORD: Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and will distress them, that they may feel it.

For thus says the Lord, Behold, I [will] overthrow the inhabitants of this land with affliction, that your plague may be discovered.

19 Woe is me for my hurt! My wound is grievous; but I said: 'This is but a sickness, and I must bear it.'

Alas for your ruin! your plague is grievous: and I said, Surely this is your wound, and it has overtaken you.

20 My tent is spoiled, and all my cords are broken; my children are gone forth of me, and they are not; there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.

Your tabernacle is in a ruinous state, it has perished; and all your curtains have been torn asunder: my children and my cattle are no more: there is no more any place for my tabernacle, [nor] place for my curtains.

21 For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not inquired of the LORD; therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks are scattered.

For the shepherds have become foolish, and have not sought the Lord; therefore the whole pasture has failed, and [the sheep] have been scattered.

22 Hark! a report, behold, it cometh, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, a dwelling-place of jackals.

Behold, there comes a sound of a noise, and a great earthquake from the land of the north, to make the cities of Juda a desolation, and a resting-place for ostriches.

23 O LORD, I know that man's way is not his own; it is not in man to direct his steps as he walketh.

I know, O Lord, that man's way is not his own; neither shall a man go, and direct his going.

24 O LORD, correct me, but in measure; not in Thine anger, lest Thou diminish me.

Chasten us, O Lord, but with judgement; and not in wrath, lest you make us few.

25 Pour out Thy wrath upon the nations that know Thee not, and upon the families that call not on Thy name; for they have devoured Jacob, yea, they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.

Pour out your wrath upon the nations that have not known you, and upon the families that have not called upon your name: for they have devoured Jacob, and consumed him, and have made his pasture desolate.