Jeremiah 10
1 You people of Israel, listen to what Yahweh says:
Heare ye the worde of the Lord that he speaketh vnto you, O house of Israel.
2 “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.
Thus saith the Lord, Learne not the way of the heathen, and be not afraid for the signes of heauen, though the heathen be afraid of such.
3 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.
For the customes of the people are vaine: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest (which is the worke of the handes of the carpenter) with the axe,
4 [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.
And another decketh it with siluer, and with golde: they fasten it with nailes, and hammers, that it fall not.
5 [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].”
The idoles stande vp as the palme tree, but speake not: they are borne because they cannot go feare them not, for they cannot do euill, neither can they do good.
6 Yahweh, there is no one like you. You [MTY] are great, and you are very powerful.
There is none like vnto thee, O Lord: thou art great, and thy name is great in power.
7 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?)
Who would not feare thee, O King of nations? for to thee appertaineth the dominion: for among all the wise men of the Gentiles, and in al their kingdomes there is none like thee.
8 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.
But, altogether they dote, and are foolish: for the stocke is a doctrine of vanitie.
9 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.
Siluer plates are brought from Tarshish, and golde from Vphaz, for the worke of the workeman, and the handes of the founder: the blewe silke, and the purple is their clothing: all these things are made by cunning men.
10 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].
But the Lord is the God of trueth: he is the liuing God, and an euerlasting King: at his anger the earth shall tremble, and the nations cannot abide his wrath.
11 [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.”
(Thus shall you say vnto them, The gods that haue not made the heauens and the earth, shall perish from the earth, and from vnder these heauens)
12 But [Yahweh] made the earth by his power; he established it [firmly] by his wisdom and stretched out the sky by his understanding.
He hath made the earth by his power, and established the worlde by his wisedome, and hath stretched out the heauen by his discretion.
13 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.
Hee giueth by his voyce the multitude of waters in the heauen, and he causeth the cloudes to ascend from the endes of the earth: he turneth lightnings to rayne, and bringeth forth the winde out of his treasures.
14 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.
Euery man is a beast by his owne knowledge: euery founder is confounded by the grauen image: for his melting is but falsehood, and there is no breath therein.
15 Idols are worthless; they deserve to be ridiculed; there will be a time when they [all] will be destroyed.
They are vanitie, and the worke of errours: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
16 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.
The portion of Iaakob is not like them: for he is the maker of all things, and Israel is the rodde of his inheritance: the Lord of hostes is his Name.
17 [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.
Gather vp thy wares out of the land, O thou that dwellest in the strong place.
18 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).”
For thus sayth the Lord, Beholde, at this time I will throwe as with a sling the inhabitants of the lande, and will trouble them, and they shall finde it so.
19 [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.
Wo is me for my destruction, and my grieuous plague: but I thought, Yet it is my sorow, and I will beare it.
20 [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.
My tabernacle is destroyed, and all my coardes are broken: my children are gone from me, and are not: there is none to spread out my tent any more, and to set vp my curtaines.
21 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.
For the Pastours are become beasts, and haue not sought the Lord: therefore haue they none vnderstanding: and all the flockes of their pastures are scattered.
22 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.”
Beholde, the noyse of the brute is come, and a great commotion out of the North countrey to make the cities of Iudah desolate, and a denne of dragons.
23 Yahweh, I know that no person controls what will happen to him; no one is able to direct the events that he will experience.
O Lord, I knowe, that the way of man is not in himselfe, neyther is it in man to walke and to direct his steps.
24 [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.
O Lord, correct mee, but with iudgement, not in thine anger, least thou bring mee to nothing.
25 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.
Powre out thy wrath vpon the heathen, that knowe thee not, and vpon the families that call not on thy Name: for they haue eaten vp Iaakob and deuoured him and consumed him, and haue made his habitation desolate.
