Jeremiah 10

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

Hear ye the word of the Lord, which he has spoken to you, O house of Israel.

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

Thus saith the Lord, Learn ye not the ways of the heathen, and be not alarmed at the signs of the sky; for they are alarmed at them, [falling] on their faces.

3 For the customs of the peoples are vanity: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.

For the customs of the nations are vain; it is a tree cut out of the forest, the work of the carpenter, or a molten image.

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

[They are] beautified with silver and gold, they fix them with hammers and nails;

5 They are like a palm tree, of turned work, and speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.

they will set them up that they may not move; it is wrought silver, they will not walk, it is forged silver They must certainly be borne, for they cannot ride [of themselves]. Fear them not; for they cannot do any evil, and there is no good in them.

6 There is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.

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

8 But they are together brutish and foolish: the instruction of idols, it is but a stock.

9 There is silver beaten into plates which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artificer and of the hands of the goldsmith; blue and purple for their clothing; they are all the work of cunning men.

10 But the LORD 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 unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.

Thus shall ye say to them, Let the gods which have not made heaven and earth perish from off the earth, and from under this sky.

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

It is the Lord that made the earth by his strength, who set up the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the sky,

13 when he uttereth his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasuries.

and set abundance of waters in the sky, and brought up clouds from the ends of the earth; he made lightnings for the rain, and brought forth light out of his treasures.

14 Every man is become brutish [and is] without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

Every man is deprived of knowledge, every goldsmith is confounded because of his graven images; for he has cast false gods, there is no breath in them.

15 They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

They are vain works, wrought in mockery; in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

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

Such is not the portion of Jacob; for he that formed all things, he is his inheritance; the Lord is his name.

17 Gather up thy wares out of the land, O thou that abidest in the siege.

He has gathered thy substance from without the lodged in choice [vessels].

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

For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I [will] overthrow the inhabitants of this land with affliction, that thy plague may be discovered.

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

Alas for thy ruin! thy plague is grievous: and I said, Surely this is thy wound, and it has overtaken thee.

20 My tent is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.

Thy tabernacle is in a ruinous state, it has perished; and all thy curtains have been torn asunder: my children and my cattle are no more: there is no more any place for my tabernacle, [nor] place for my curtains.

21 For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not inquired of the LORD: therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks are scattered.

For the shepherds have become foolish, and have not sought the Lord; therefore the whole pasture has failed, and [the sheep] have been scattered.

22 The voice of a rumour, behold it cometh, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling place of jackals.

Behold, there comes a sound of a noise, and a great earthquake from the land of the north, to make the cities of Juda a desolation, and a resting-place for ostriches.

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 Lord, that man's way is not his own; neither shall a man go, and direct his going.

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

Chasten us, O Lord, but with judgment; and not in wrath, lest thou make us few.

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 devoured Jacob, yea, they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.

Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that have not known thee, and upon the families that have not called upon thy name: for they have devoured Jacob, and consumed him, and have made his pasture desolate.