Jeremiah 10
1 Hear ye the word, O house of Israel, That Jehovah hath spoken for you.
Listen to the word that the Lord has spoken concerning you, O house of Israel.
2 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.
Thus says the Lord: “Do not choose to learn according to the ways of the Gentiles. And do not be willing to dread the signs of heaven, which the Gentiles fear.
3 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,
For the laws of the people are empty. For the work of the hand of the craftsman has cut a tree from the forest with an axe.
4 With silver and with gold they beautify it, With nails and with hammers they fix it, And it doth not stumble.
He has adorned it with silver and gold. He has put it together with nail and hammer, so that it will not fall apart.
5 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.
They have been fabricated in the likeness of a palm tree, and they will not speak. They must be carried to be moved, because they do not have the ability to walk. Therefore, do not be willing to fear them, for they can do neither evil nor good.”
6 Because there is none like Thee, O Jehovah, Great [art] Thou, and great Thy name in might.
O Lord, there is nothing similar to you. You are great, and your name is great in strength.
7 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.
Who will not fear you, O King of the nations? For honor is yours. Among all the wise of the nations, and within all their kingdoms, there is nothing similar to you.
8 And in one they are brutish and foolish, An instruction of vanities [is] the tree itself.
Together, they will all be proven to be unwise and foolish. The doctrine of their vanity is made of wood.
9 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.
Rolled silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. It is the work of a craftsman, and of the hand of a coppersmith. Hyacinth and purple is their clothing. All these things are the work of artists.
10 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.
But the Lord is the true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King. Before his indignation, the earth will shake. And the Gentiles will not be able to withstand his threats.
11 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.
“And so, you shall speak to them in this way: The gods that have not made heaven and earth, let them perish from the earth and from among those places which are under heaven.
12 The maker of the earth by His power, The establisher of the world by His wisdom, Who, by His understanding, stretched forth the heavens,
He made the earth by his power, he prepared the world in his wisdom, and he stretched out the heavens with his understanding.
13 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.
At his voice, he grants a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he lifts up the clouds from the ends of the earth. He causes the lightning with the rain, and he leads forth the wind from his storehouses.
14 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.
Every man has become a fool concerning knowledge; every artist has been confounded by his graven image. For what he has formed is false, and there is no spirit in these things.
15 Vanity [are] they, work of erring ones, In the time of their inspection they perish.
These things are empty, and they are a work deserving of ridicule. In the time of their visitation, they will perish.
16 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.
Jacob’s portion is not like their portion. For his portion is from the One who formed all things. And Israel is the staff of his inheritance. The Lord of hosts is his name.
17 Gather from the land thy merchandise, O dweller in the bulwark,
Gather your shame from the earth, you who are living under siege.”
18 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.
For thus says the Lord: “Behold, in this turn, I will cast the inhabitants of the land far away. And I will afflict them no matter where they may be found.”
19 Woe to me for my breaking, Grievious hath been my smiting, And I said, Only, this [is] my sickness, and I bear it.
Woe to me, concerning my destruction! My wound is very grievous. And yet I said: Clearly, this infirmity is mine, and I will carry it.
20 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.
My tent has been destroyed. All my cords have been broken. My sons have gone away from me; they did not remain. There is no one to stretch out my tent any more, nor to set up my curtains.
21 For the shepherds have become brutish, And Jehovah they have not sought, Therefore they have not acted wisely, And all their flock is scattered.
For the pastors have acted foolishly, and they have not sought the Lord. Because of this, they have not understood, and all their flock has been dispersed.
22 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.
Behold, the sound of a voice approaches, a great commotion from the land of the north: so that he may make the cities of Judah into a wilderness and into a dwelling place for serpents.
23 I have known, O Jehovah, that not of man [is] his way, Not of man the going and establishing of his step.
I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not his own. Neither is it given to man to walk and to direct his own steps.
24 Chastise me, O Jehovah, only in judgment, Not in Thine anger, lest Thou make me small.
Correct me, O Lord, yet truly, do so with judgment, and not in your fury. Otherwise, you will reduce me to nothing.
25 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!
Pour out your indignation upon the nations that have not known you, and upon the provinces that have not invoked your name. For they have fed upon Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and they have utterly destroyed his honor.
