Jeremiah 10
1 Hear ye the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning you, O house of Israel:
Hear you the word of the Lord, which he has spoken to you, O house of Israel.
2 Thus hath said the Lord, Do not habituate yourselves on the way of the nations, and at the signs of the heavens be ye not dismayed; although the nations should be 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 statutes of these people concern what is vanity; for it is but a tree which a man hath cut out of a 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 With silver and with gold do they ornament it; with nails and with hammers do they fasten it, that it move not from its place.
[They are] beautified with silver and gold, they fix them with hammers and nails;
5 As a wrought-out palm-like column are they, and cannot speak; they must needs be borne, because they cannot step along. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do any harm, so also to do any good is not in them.
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 Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord: thou [alone] art great, and great is thy name in might.
7 Who would not fear thee, O King of the nations? for to thee doth it appertain; because among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, [they say] there is none like unto thee.
8 But at once shall they be shown to be brutish and foolish: it is a doctrine of vanities, it concerneth but wood.
9 The beaten out silver is brought from Tharshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the goldsmith: blue and purple is their clothing; the work of skilful men are they all.
10 But the Lord God is the truth, he is the living God, and the everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall quake, and nations cannot endure his indignation.
11 Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, shall perish away from the earth, and from under these 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 made the earth by his power, he established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding he stretched out the heavens.
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 when he giveth a multitude of waters in the heavens, and causeth clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth; when he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures:
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 Then standeth every man as brutish without knowledge; ashamed is every goldsmith because of the graven image; for falsehood is his molten work, and there is no breath therein.
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, the work of deception; in the time of their punishment shall they vanish.
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 inhabitress of the beleaguered city.
He has gathered your substance from without the lodged in choice [vessels].
18 For thus hath said the Lord, Behold, I will cast forth as with a sling the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I will enclose them, in order that they may find them.
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 breach! my wound is painful; but I thought, This is but pain, and I shall be able to bear it.
Alas for your ruin! your plague is grievous: and I said, Surely this is your wound, and it has overtaken you.
20 [But now] my tent is laid waste, and all my cords are torn asunder; my children are gone away from me, and they are not [here]; there is no one 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 were brutish, and the Lord had they not sought; therefore have they 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 Behold, the noise of the report is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to render the cities of Judah desolate, a dwelling for monsters.
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 I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in his own power: it is not in man that passeth away to direct his own steps.
I know, O Lord, that man's way is not his own; neither shall a man go, and direct his going.
24 Correct me, O Lord, but with justice; not in thy anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
Chasten us, O Lord, but with judgement; and not in wrath, lest you make us few.
25 Pour out thy fury over the nations that know thee not, and over the families that have not called on thy name; for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his dwelling desolate.
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.
