Jeremiah 10
1 The hous of Israel, here ye the word which the Lord spak on you.
You people of Israel, listen to what Yahweh says:
2 The Lord seith these thingis, Nyle ye lerne aftir the weies of hethene men, and nyle ye drede of the signes of heuene, whiche signes hethene men dreden.
“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.
3 For the lawis of puplis ben veyn, for whi the werk of hondis of a crafti man hath kit doun with an axe a tre of the forest.
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.
4 He made it fair with siluer and gold; with naylis and hameris he ioynede it togidere, that it be not loosid.
[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.
5 Idols ben maad in the licnesse of a palm tree, and schulen not speke; tho schulen be takun and be borun, for tho moun not go; therfor nyle ye drede tho, for tho moun nether do yuel, nethir wel.
[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].”
6 Lord, noon is lijk thee; thou art greet, and thi name is greet in strengthe.
Yahweh, there is no one like you. You [MTY] are great, and you are very powerful.
7 A! thou king of folkis, who schal not drede thee? for whi onour is thin among alle wise men of hethene men, and in alle the rewmes of hem noon is lijk thee.
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?)
8 Thei schulen be preued, vnwise and foolis togidere; the techyng of her vanyte is a tre.
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.
9 Siluer wlappid is brouyt fro Tharsis, and gold fro Ophaz; it is the werk of a crafti man, and of the hond of a worchere in metel; iacynct and purpur ben the clothing of tho; alle these thingis ben the werk of werk men.
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.
10 Forsothe the Lord is veri God; he is God lyuynge, and a kyng euerlastynge; the erthe schal be mouyd togidere of his indignacioun, and hethene men schulen not suffre the manaassing of hym.
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].
11 Therfor thus ye schulen seie to hem, Goddis that maden not heuene and erthe, perische fro erthe, and fro these thingis that ben vndur heuene.
[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.”
12 He is God, that makith the erthe in his strengthe, makith redi the world in his wisdom, and stretchith forth heuenes bi his prudence.
But [Yahweh] made the earth by his power; he established it [firmly] by his wisdom and stretched out the sky by his understanding.
13 At his vois he yyueth the multitude of watris in heuene, and he reisith mystis fro the endis of erthe; he makith leitis into reyn, and ledith out wynd of his tresouris.
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.
14 Ech man is maad a fool of kunnyng, ech crafti man is schent in a grauun ymage; for whi that that he wellide togidere is fals, and no spirit is in tho.
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.
15 Tho ben veyn, and a werk worthi of scorn; tho schulen perische in the tyme of her visitacioun.
Idols are worthless; they deserve to be ridiculed; there will be a time when they [all] will be destroyed.
16 The part of Jacob is not lijk these, for he that formede alle thingis is God of Jacob, and Israel is the yerde of his eritage; the Lord of oostis is name to hym.
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.
17 Thou that dwellist in bisegyng, gadere fro the lond thi schenschipe;
[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.
18 for the Lord seith these thingis, Lo! Y schal caste awei fer the dwelleris of the loond in this while; and Y schal yyue tribulacioun to hem, so that thei be not foundun.
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).”
19 Wo to me on my sorewe, my wounde is ful yuel; forsothe Y seide, Pleynli this is my sikenesse, and Y schal bere it.
[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.
20 My tabernacle is distried, alle my roopis ben brokun; my sones yeden out fro me, and ben not; noon is that schal stretche forth more my tente, and schal reyse my skynnes.
[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.
21 For the scheepherdis diden folili, and souyten not the Lord; therfor thei vndurstoden not, and alle the flok of hem is scaterid.
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.
22 Lo! the vois of hering cometh, and a greet mouynge togidere fro the lond of the north, that it sette the citees of Juda in to wildirnesse, and a dwellynge place of dragouns.
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.”
23 Lord, Y woot, that the weie of a man is not of hym, nether it is of a man that he go, and dresse hise steppis.
Yahweh, I know that no person controls what will happen to him; no one is able to direct the events that he will experience.
24 Lord, chastise thou me; netheles in doom and not in thi strong veniaunce, lest perauenture thou dryue me to nouyt.
[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.
25 Schede out thin indignacioun on hethene men that knewen not thee, and on prouynces that clepiden not thi name to help; for thei eeten Jacob, and deuouriden hym, and wastiden hym, and destrieden the onour of hym.
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.
