Jeremiæ 10
1 Audite verbum, quod locutus est Dominus super vos domus Israel.
Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.
2 Haec dicit Dominus: Iuxta vias Gentium nolite discere: et a signis caeli nolite metuere, quae timent Gentes:
This is what the LORD says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by the signs in the heavens, though the nations themselves are terrified by them.
3 quia leges populorum vanae sunt: quia lignum de saltu praecidit opus manus artificis in ascia.
For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman.
4 Argento, et auro decoravit illud: clavis et malleis compegit, ut non dissolvatur.
They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter.
5 In similitudinem palmae fabricata sunt, et non loquentur: portata tollentur, quia incedere non valent. nolite ergo timere ea, quia nec male possunt facere, nec bene.
Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, and neither can they do any good.”
6 Non est similis tui Domine: magnus es tu, et magnum nomen tuum in fortitudine.
There is none like You, O LORD. You are great, and Your name is mighty in power.
7 Quis non timebit te o rex Gentium? tuum est enim decus: inter cunctos sapientes Gentium, et in universis regnis eorum nullus est similis tui.
Who would not fear You, O King of nations? This is Your due. For among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You.
8 Pariter insipientes et fatui probabuntur: doctrina vanitatis eorum lignum est.
But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!
9 Argentum involutum de Tharsis affertur, et aurum de Ophaz: opus artificis, et manus aerarii, hyacinthus et purpura indumentum eorum. opus artificum universa haec.
Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz— the work of a craftsman from the hands of a goldsmith. Their clothes are blue and purple, all fashioned by skilled workers.
10 Dominus autem Deus verus est: ipse Deus vivens, et rex sempiternus. ab indignatione eius commovebitur terra: et non sustinebunt Gentes comminationem eius.
But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at His wrath, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.
11 Sic ergo dicetis eis: Dii, qui caelos et terram non fecerunt, pereant de terra, et de his, quae sub caelo sunt.
Thus you are to tell them: “These gods, who have made neither the heavens nor the earth, will perish from this earth and from under these heavens.”
12 Qui facit terram in fortitudine sua, praeparat orbem in sapientia sua, et prudentia sua extendit caelos.
The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
13 Ad vocem suam dat multitudinem aquarum in caelo, et elevat nebulas ab extremitatibus terrae: fulgura in pluviam facit, et educit ventum de thesauris suis.
When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.
14 Stultus factus est omnis homo a scientia, confusus est artifex omnis in sculptili: quoniam falsum est quod conflavit, et non est spiritus in eis.
Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
15 Vana sunt, et opus risu dignum: in tempore visitationis suae peribunt.
They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish.
16 Non est his similis pars Iacob: qui enim formavit omnia, ipse est: et Israel virga hereditatis eius: Dominus exercituum nomen illi.
The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance— the LORD of Hosts is His name.
17 Congrega de terra confusionem tuam, quae habitas in obsidione:
Gather up your belongings from this land, you who live under siege.
18 quia haec dicit Dominus: Ecce ego longe proiiciam habitatores terrae in hac vice: et tribulabo eos ita ut non inveniantur.
For this is what the LORD says: “Behold, at this time I will sling out the inhabitants of the land and bring distress upon them so that they may be captured.”
19 Vae mihi super contritione mea, pessima plaga mea. Ego autem dixi: Plane haec infirmitas mea est, et portabo illam.
Woe to me because of my brokenness; my wound is grievous! But I said, “This is truly my sickness, and I must bear it.”
20 Tabernaculum meum vastatum est, omnes funiculi mei dirupti sunt, filii mei exierunt a me, et non subsistunt: non est qui extendat ultra tentorium meum, et erigat pelles meas.
My tent is destroyed, and all its ropes are snapped. My sons have departed from me and are no more. I have no one left to pitch my tent or set up my curtains.
21 Quia stulte egerunt pastores, et Dominum non quaesierunt: propterea non intellexerunt, et omnis grex eorum dispersus est.
For the shepherds have become senseless; they do not seek the LORD. Therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.
22 Vox auditionis ecce venit, et commotio magna de terra Aquilonis: ut ponat civitates Iuda solitudinem, et habitaculum draconum.
Listen! The sound of a report is coming— a great commotion from the land to the north. The cities of Judah will be made a desolation, a haunt for jackals.
23 Scio Domine quia non est hominis via eius: nec viri est ut ambulet, et dirigat gressus suos.
I know, O LORD, that a man’s way is not his own; no one who walks directs his own steps.
24 Corripe me Domine, verumtamen in iudicio: et non in furore tuo, ne forte ad nihilum redigas me.
Correct me, O LORD, but only with justice— not in Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing.
25 Effunde indignationem tuam super Gentes, quae non cognoverunt te, et super provincias, quae nomen tuum non invocaverunt: quia comederunt Iacob, et devoraverunt eum, et consumpserunt illum, et decus eius dissipaverunt.
Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You, and on the families that do not call on Your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have consumed him and finished him off; they have devastated his homeland.
