Jeremiah 10
1 Listen to the message the Lord is sending to you, people of Israel.
[Audite verbum quod locutus est Dominus super vos, domus Israël.
2 This is what the Lord says: Don't adopt the practices of other nations. Don't be terrified as they are by signs in the heavens that they interpret as predicting disaster.
Hæc dicit Dominus: Juxta vias gentium nolite discere, et a signis cæli nolite metuere, quæ timent gentes,
3 The religious beliefs of the peoples are pointless. They chop down a tree in the forest and a craftsman carves the wood with a tool to make an idol.
quia leges populorum vanæ sunt. Quia lignum de saltu præcidit opus manus artificis in ascia:
4 They decorate it with silver and gold, and nail it down with a hammer so it won't fall over.
argento et auro decoravit illud: clavis et malleis compegit, ut non dissolvatur:
5 Just like a scarecrow in a field of cucumbers, their idols can't speak. They have to be carried around because they can't walk. You don't have to be afraid of them because they can't hurt you—and they can't do you any good either.
in similitudinem palmæ fabricata sunt, et non loquentur: portata tollentur, quia incedere non valent. Nolite ergo timere ea, quia nec male possunt facere, nec bene.
6 There's no one like you, Lord! You are so great! You are incredibly powerful!
Non est similis tui, Domine: magnus es tu, et magnum nomen tuum in fortitudine.
7 Everyone should respect you, King of the nations. This is how you should be treated. There's no one like you among all the wise men of every nation and kingdom.
Quis non timebit te, o Rex gentium? tuum est enim decus: inter cunctos sapientes gentium, et in universis regnis eorum, nullus est similis tui.
8 Yet these “wise men” are completely foolish and stupid, because they think they can be taught by useless idols made of wood!
Pariter insipientes et fatui probabuntur: doctrina vanitatis eorum lignum est.
9 Sheets of hammered silver are shipped in from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, to be used by craftsmen and metalworkers. These idols are dressed in clothes of blue and purple made by experts.
Argentum involutum de Tharsis affertur, et aurum de Ophaz: opus artificis et manus ærarii. Hyacinthus et purpura indumentum eorum: opus artificum universa hæc.
10 But the Lord is the only true God. He is the living God and eternal King. The earth shakes when he is angry; the nations can't withstand his fury.
Dominus autem Deus verus est, ipse Deus vivens, et rex sempiternus. Ab indignatione ejus commovebitur terra, et non sustinebunt gentes comminationem ejus.
11 This is what you are to tell the nations: “These gods, who didn't make either the heavens or the earth, will be wiped out from this earth and from under these heavens.”
Sic ergo dicetis eis: Dii qui cælos et terram non fecerunt, pereant de terra et de his quæ sub cælo sunt!
12 It was God who made the earth by his power. He created the world by his wisdom and by his understanding he put the heavens in place.
Qui facit terram in fortitudine sua, præparat orbem in sapientia sua, et prudentia sua extendit cælos:
13 The waters of the heavens rain down with a roar at his command. He makes the clouds to rise all over the earth. He makes lightning to accompany rain, and sends the wind from his storehouses.
ad vocem suam dat multitudinem aquarum in cælo, et elevat nebulas ab extremitatibus terræ: fulgura in pluviam facit, et educit ventum de thesauris suis.
14 Everyone is stupid; they don't know anything. Every metalworker is embarrassed by the idols they make. For their images made of molten metal are fraudulent—they're not alive!
Stultus factus est omnis homo a scientia: confusus est artifex omnis in sculptili, quoniam falsum est quod conflavit, et non est spiritus in eis.
15 They are useless, an object to be laughed at. They will be destroyed at the time of their punishment.
Vana sunt, et opus risu dignum: in tempore visitationis suæ peribunt.
16 The God of Jacob is not like these idols, for he is the Creator of everything, and Israel is the tribe that belongs to him. The Lord Almighty is his name.
Non est his similis pars Jacob: qui enim formavit omnia, ipse est, et Israël virga hæreditatis ejus: Dominus exercituum nomen illi.
17 You people living in Jerusalem under siege, get all your things together ready to leave,
Congrega de terra confusionem tuam, quæ habitas in obsidione:
18 because this is what the Lord says: Look! Right now I'm about to throw out the people living in this country, bringing them trouble they will really feel.
quia hæc dicit Dominus: Ecce ego longe projiciam habitatores terræ in hac vice, et tribulabo eos ita ut inveniantur.
19 The people of Jerusalem responded, “We're suffering terribly because we've been badly hurt—our injuries are really serious. We thought it wouldn't be that bad and that we could bear it.
Væ mihi super contritione mea: pessima plaga mea. Ego autem dixi: Plane hæc infirmitas mea est, et portabo illam.
20 Our tents have been destroyed; all our ropes have been broken. Our children have been taken from us and are no more. We don't have anyone left to put up our tents or hang our curtains.”
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.
21 The “shepherds” have become stupid—they don't ask the Lord for advice. That's why they have failed, and all their flock has been scattered.
Quia stulte egerunt pastores, et Dominum non quæsierunt: propterea non intellexerunt, et omnis grex eorum dispersus est.
22 Listen to the news that an noisy army is invading from a country to the north. The towns of Judah will be knocked down, they will be places where only jackals live.
Vox auditionis ecce venit, et commotio magna de terra aquilonis: ut ponat civitates Juda solitudinem, et habitaculum draconum.
23 I realize, Lord, that people don't control their own lives—no one really knows how to choose their way.
Scio, Domine, quia non est hominis via ejus, nec viri est ut ambulet, et dirigat gressus suos.
24 Please discipline me fairly, Lord—not while you're angry, otherwise you'll kill me!
Corripe me, Domine, verumtamen in judicio, et non in furore tuo, ne forte ad nihilum redigas me.
25 Pour out your fury on the nations that don't recognize you as God, and on their families that don't worship you. For they have completely destroyed the Israelites, wiping us out. They have devastated our country.
Effunde indignationem tuam super gentes quæ non cognoverunt te, et super provincias quæ nomen tuum non invocaverunt: quia comederunt Jacob, et devoraverunt eum, et consumpserunt illum, et decus ejus dissipaverunt.]
