Jeremiah 10

1 Hear the word that Jehovah speaketh unto you, house of Israel.

Give ear to the word which the Lord says to you, O people of Israel:

2 Thus saith Jehovah: Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of the heavens; for the nations are dismayed at them.

This is what the Lord has said: Do not go in the way of the nations; have no fear of the signs of heaven, for the nations go in fear of them.

3 For the statutes of the peoples are vanity; for [it is] a tree cut out of the forest, worked with a chisel by the hands of the artizan;

For that which is feared by the people is foolish: it is the work of the hands of the workman; for a tree is cut down by him out of the woods with his axe.

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

They make it beautiful with silver and gold; they make it strong with nails and hammers, so that it may not be moved.

5 They are as a palm-column of turned work, and they speak not; they are carried, for they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

It is like a pillar in a garden of plants, and has no voice: it has to be lifted, for it has no power of walking. Have no fear of it; for it has no power of doing evil and it is not able to do any good.

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

There is no one like you, O Lord; you are great and your name is great in power.

7 Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? For to thee doth it appertain; for among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.

Who would not have fear of you, O King of the nations? for it is your right: for among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.

8 But they are one and all senseless and foolish; the teaching of vanities is a stock.

But they are together like beasts and foolish: the teaching of false gods is wood.

9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artizan and of the hands of the founder; blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of skilful [men].

Silver hammered into plates is sent from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the expert workman and of the hands of the gold-worker; blue and purple is their clothing, all the work of expert men.

10 But Jehovah Elohim is truth; he is the living God, and the King of eternity. At his wrath the earth trembleth, and the nations cannot abide his indignation.

But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and an eternal king: when he is angry, the earth is shaking with fear, and the nations give way before his wrath.

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.

This is what you are to say to them: The gods who have not made the heavens and the earth will be cut off from the earth and from under the heavens.

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

He has made the earth by his power, he has made the world strong in its place by his wisdom, and by his wise design the heavens have been stretched out.

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

At the sound of his voice there is a massing of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mists go up from the ends of the earth; he makes the thunder-flames for the rain, and sends out the wind from his store-houses.

14 Every man is become brutish, bereft of knowledge; every founder is put to shame by the graven image, for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

Then every man becomes like a beast without knowledge; every gold-worker is put to shame by the image he has made: for his metal image is deceit, and 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 nothing, a work of error: in the time of their punishment, destruction will overtake them.

16 The portion of Jacob is not like them; for it is he that hath formed all [things], and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: Jehovah of hosts is his name.

The heritage of Jacob is not like these; for the maker of all things is his heritage: the Lord of armies is his name.

17 Gather up thy baggage out of the land, O inhabitress of the fortress.

Get your goods together and go out of the land, O you who are shut up in the walled town.

18 For thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will this time sling out the inhabitants of the land, and will distress them, that they may be found.

For the Lord has said, I will send the people in flight like a stone from the land at this time, troubling them so that they will be conscious of it.

19 Woe is me, for my wound! My stroke is hard to heal, and I had said, Yea, this is [my] grief, and I will bear it.

Sorrow is mine for I am wounded! my wound may not be made well; and I said, Cruel is my disease, I may not be free from it.

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

My tent is pulled down and all my cords are broken: my children have gone from me, and they are not: no longer is there anyone to give help in stretching out my tent and hanging up my curtains.

21 For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not sought Jehovah; therefore have they not acted wisely, and all their flock is scattered.

For the keepers of the sheep have become like beasts, not looking to the Lord for directions: so they have not done wisely and all their flocks have been put to flight.

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.

News is going about, see, it is coming, a great shaking is coming from the north country, so that the towns of Judah may be made waste and become the living-place of jackals.

23 I know, Jehovah, that the way of man is not his own; it is not in a man that walketh to direct his steps.

O Lord, I am conscious that a man's way is not in himself: man has no power of guiding his steps.

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

O Lord, put me right, but with wise purpose; not in your wrath, or you will make me small.

25 Pour out thy fury upon the nations that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name; for they have eaten up Jacob, yea, they have eaten him up and consumed him, and have laid waste his dwelling-place.

Let your wrath be let loose on the nations which have no knowledge of you, and on the families who give no worship to your name: for they have made a meal of Jacob, truly they have made a meal of him and put an end to him and made his fields a waste.