Jeremiah 10

1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh to you, O house of Israel:

Hear ye the word which Jehovah speaketh to you, O house of Israel!

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

Thus saith Jehovah: Conform ye not to the way of the heathen, And be not dismayed at the signs of the heavens, Because the heathen are dismayed at them!

3 For the customs of the people [are] vain: for [one] cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.

The customs of the nations are vanity. For a tree of the wood is cut down, It is wrought by the hands of the artificer with the axe,

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

It is decked with silver and gold, And with nails and with hammers is it fastened, That it may not totter.

5 They [are] upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also [is it] in them to do good.

They are like a turned palm-tree pillar, and cannot speak; They must be borne by men, for they cannot walk. Be not afraid of them, for they cannot hurt, Nor is it in their power to do good.

6 Forasmuch as [there is] none like to thee, O LORD; thou [art] great, and thy name [is] great in might.

There is none like thee, O Jehovah! Thou art great, And great is thy name by mighty deeds.

7 Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise [men] of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, [there is] none like to thee.

Who shall not fear thee, O king of nations, For to thee doth it belong! For among all the wise men of the nations, And in all their kingdoms, there is none like thee.

8 But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock [is] a doctrine of vanities.

They are all brutish and without understanding; A doctrine of vanities is the stock.

9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple [is] their clothing: they [are] all the work of skillful [men].

Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, And gold from Uphaz, The work of the artificer and the founder; Blue and purple is their clothing; The work of the skilful is it all.

10 But the LORD [is] the true God, he [is] the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.

But Jehovah is the true God, He is the living God, and an everlasting king; At his wrath the earth trembleth, And the nations are not able to abide his indignation.

11 Thus shall ye say to them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, [even] they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.

[[Thus shall ye say to them: The gods, that have not made the heavens and the earth, Shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.]]

12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.

He made the earth by his power; He established the world by his wisdom, And by his understanding he spread out the heavens.

13 When he uttereth his voice, [there is] a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.

When he uttereth his voice there is an abundance of water in the heavens; He causeth clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth; He maketh lightnings with rain; He bringeth the wind from his storehouses.

14 Every man is brutish in [his] knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image [is] falsehood, and [there is] no breath in them.

Brutish is every one who hath not this knowledge; By his image is every founder put to shame, For his molten-work is deceit; There is no breath in it.

15 They [are] vanity, [and] the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

They are vanity, deceptive work; In the time of their punishment shall they perish.

16 The portion of Jacob [is] not like them: for he [is] the former of all [things]; and Israel [is] the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts [is] his name.

Not like them is He who is the portion of Jacob; He is the former of all things, And Israel is his allotted inheritance; Jehovah of hosts is his name.

17 Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress.

Gather up thy goods out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress!

18 For thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them that they may find [it so].

For thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will sling forth the inhabitants of the land at this time; I will distress them, so that they shall be taken.

19 Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this [is] a grief, and I must bear it.

“Ah me! my wound!” [[saith the daughter of Zion; ]] “My bruise is deadly; Yet I say, This is my affliction, and I must bear it!

20 My tabernacle is laid waste, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone from me, and they [are] not: [there is] none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.

My tent is torn down, And all my cords broken. My children are gone forth from me, and are no more; There is none to stretch forth my tent any more, Or to set up my curtains.

21 For the pastors have become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.

For the shepherds have become brutish; They have not sought Jehovah; Therefore have they not prospered, And all their flock is dispersed.”

22 Behold, the sound of the noise is come, and a great commotion from the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, [and] a den of dragons.

[[Hark!]] the sound of tiding! Behold it cometh, And a great tumult from the land of the North, To make the cities of Judah desolate, A dwelling-place for jackals.

23 O LORD, I know that the way of man [is] not in himself: [it is] not in man that walketh to direct his steps.

“I know, O Jehovah, that the way of a man is not within his power, That it is not within the power of a man that walketh to establish his steps.

24 O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thy anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.

Chasten me, O Jehovah, but in measure; Not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing!

25 Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.

Pour out thy wrath on the nations which acknowledge thee not, And on the kingdoms which call not on thy name! For they have devoured Jacob; They have devoured and consumed him, And laid waste his dwelling-place.”