Jeremiah 10

1 Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, house of Israel!

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

2 The LORD says, “Do not learn the way of the nations, and do not be dismayed at the signs of the sky; 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 cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the ax.

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, so that it cannot move.

[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 do not speak. They must be carried, because they cannot move. Do not be 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 no one like you, LORD. You are great, and your name is great in might.

7 Who should not fear you, King of the nations? For it belongs to you. Because among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal estate, there is no one like you.

8 But they are together brutish and foolish, instructed by idols! It is just wood.

9 There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the engraver and of the hands of the goldsmith. Their clothing is blue and purple. They are all the work of skillful men.

10 But the LORD is the true God. He is the living God, and an everlasting King. At his wrath, the earth trembles. The nations are not able to withstand his indignation.

11 “You shall say this to them: ‘The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth will 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 God has made the earth by his power. He has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has 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 utters his voice, the waters in the heavens roar, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for the rain, and brings 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 has become brutish and without knowledge. Every goldsmith is disappointed by his engraved 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 will 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 maker of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance. The LORD of Armies 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 your wares out of the land, you who live under siege.

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

18 For the LORD says, “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 because of my injury! My wound is serious; 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 has been destroyed, and all my cords are broken. My children have gone away from me, and they are no more. There is no one to spread my tent any more, 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 have become brutish, and have not inquired of the LORD. Therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks have 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 news, behold, it comes, 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 LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man who walks 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 LORD, correct me, but gently; not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing.

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

25 Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you, and on the families that do not call on your name; for they have devoured Jacob. Yes, they have devoured him, 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.