Jeremiah 10

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

Hear ye the word, O house of Israel, That Jehovah hath spoken for you.

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 said Jehovah: Unto the way of the nations accustom not yourselves, And by the signs of the heavens be not affrighted, For the nations are affrighted by them.

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 statutes of the peoples are vanity, For a tree from a forest hath one cut, Work of the hands of an artificer, with an axe,

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

With silver and with gold they beautify it, With nails and with hammers they fix it, And it doth not stumble.

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.

As a palm they [are] stiff, and they speak not, They are surely borne, for they step not, Be not afraid of them, for they do no evil, Yea, also to do good is not in them.

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

Because there is none like Thee, O Jehovah, Great [art] Thou, and great Thy name 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.

Who doth not fear Thee, king of the nations? For to Thee it is becoming, For among all the wise of the nations, And in all their kingdom there is none like Thee.

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

And in one they are brutish and foolish, An instruction of vanities [is] the tree itself.

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.

Spread-out silver from Tarshish is brought, And gold from Uphaz, Work of an artisan, and of the hands of a refiner, Blue and purple [is] their clothing, Work of the skilful — all of them.

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.

And Jehovah [is] a God of truth, He [is] a living God, and a king age-during, From His wrath shake doth the earth, And nations endure not 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 do ye say to them, The gods Who the heavens and earth have not made, They do perish from the earth, And from under these heavens.

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;

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 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;

At the voice He giveth forth, A multitude of waters [is] in the heavens, And He causeth vapours to come up from the end of the earth, Lightnings for rain He hath made, And bringeth out wind from 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.

Brutish is every man by knowledge, Put to shame is every refiner by a graven image, For false [is] his molten image. And there is no breath in them.

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

Vanity [are] they, work of erring ones, In the time of their inspection they 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.

Not like these [is] the Portion of Jacob, For framer of all things [is] He, And Israel [is] the rod of His inheritance, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name.

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

Gather from the land thy merchandise, O dweller in the bulwark,

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

Woe to me for my breaking, Grievious hath been my smiting, And I said, Only, this [is] my sickness, and I bear it.

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.

My tent hath 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 any more my tent, And raising up 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 brutish, And Jehovah they have not sought, Therefore they have not acted wisely, And all their flock is 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.

A voice of a report, lo, it hath come, Even a great shaking from the north country, To make the cities of Judah a desolation, A habitation of dragons.

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 have known, O Jehovah, that not of man [is] his way, Not of man the going and establishing of his step.

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

Chastise me, O Jehovah, only in judgment, Not in Thine anger, lest Thou make me small.

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 Thy fury on the nations that have not known Thee, And on the families that have not called in Thy name, For they have eaten up Jacob, Yea, they have eaten him up, yea, they consume him, And his habitation they have made desolate!