Jeremiah 10

1 Hear ye the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning you, O house of Israel.

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

2 Thus saith the Lord: Learn not according to the ways of the Gentiles: and be not afraid of the signs of heaven, which the heathens fear:

Thus says the Lord, Learn you 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 laws of the people are vain: for the works of the hand of the workman hath cut a tree out of the forest with an 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 He hath decked it with silver and gold: he hath put it together with nails and hammers, that it may not fall asunder.

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

5 They are framed after the likeness of a palm tree, and shall not speak: they must be carried to be removed, because they cannot go. Therefore, fear them not, for they can neither do evil nor 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 can’t ride [of themselves]. Fear them not; for they can’t do any evil, and there is no good in them.

6 There is none like to thee, O Lord: thou art great and great is thy name in might.

7 Who shall fear thee, O king of nations? for thine is the glory: among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms there is none like unto thee.

8 They shall all proved together to be senseless and foolish: the doctrine of their vanity is wood.

9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tharsis, and gold from Ophaz: the work of the artificer, and of the hand of the coppersmith: violet and purple is their clothing: all these things are the work of artificers.

10 But the Lord is the true God: he is the living God, and the everlasting king, at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his threatening.

11 Thus then shall you say to them: The gods that have not made heaven and earth, let them perish from the earth, and from among those places that are under heaven.

Thus shall you 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 that maketh the earth by his power, that prepareth the world by his wisdom, and stretcheth out the heavens by his knowledge.

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 At his voice he giveth a multitude of waters in the heaven, and lifteth up the clouds from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings for rain, and bringeth for the wind out of his treasures.

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 a fool for knowledge every artist is confounded in his graven idol: for what he hath cast is false, and there is no spirit 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 vain things and a ridiculous work: 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 it is he who formed all things: and Israel is the rod 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 shame out of the land, thou that dwellest in a siege.

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

18 For thus saith the Lord: Behold I will cast away far off the inhabitants of the land at this time: and I will afflict them, so that they may be found.

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

19 Woe is me for my destruction, my wound is very grievous. But I said: Truly this is my own evil, and I will bear it.

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

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

Your tabernacle is in a ruinous state, it has perished; and all your 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 Because the pastors have done foolishly, and have not sought the Lord: therefore have they not understood, and all their flock is 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 Behold the sound of a noise cometh, a great commotion out of the land of the north: to make the cities of Juda a desert, and a dwelling for dragons.

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 I know, O Lord, that the way of a man is not his: neither is it in a man to walk, and 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 Correct me, O Lord, but yet with judgement: and not in fury, lest thou bring me to nothing.

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

25 Pour out thy indignation upon the nations that have not known thee, and upon the provinces that have not called upon thy name: because they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have destroyed his glory.

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