Jeremiah 10

A Satire on Idolatry

1 Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, house of Israel. 2This is what the Lord says:

“ ^aDo not learn the way of the nations,
And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens,
Although the nations are terrified by them;
3 For the customs of the peoples are ^bfutile;
For ^cit is wood cut from the forest,
The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.
4 “They ^ddecorate the idol with silver and gold;
They ^efasten it with nails and hammers
So that it will not totter.
5 “They are like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
And they ^fcannot speak;
They must be ^gcarried,
Because they cannot walk!
Do not fear them,
For they ^hcan do no harm,
Nor can they do any good.”

6 ⁱThere is none like You, Lord;
You are ^jgreat, and Your name is great in might.
7 ^kWho would not fear You, O ^lKing of the nations?
For it is Your due!
For among all the ^mwise men of the nations
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.
8 But they are altogether ⁿstupid and foolish;
The instruction from idols is nothing but wood!
9 Beaten ^osilver is brought from ^pTarshish,
And ^qgold from Uphaz,
The work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith;
Their clothing is of violet and purple;
They are all the ^rwork of skilled people.
10 But the Lord is the ^strue God;
He is the ^tliving God and the ^ueverlasting King.
The ^vearth quakes at His wrath,
And the nations cannot ^wendure His indignation.
11 ▼

▼This verse is in Aram

This is what you shall say to them: “The ^ygods that did not make the heavens and the earth will ^zperish from the earth and from under these heavens.”

12 It is ^aaHe who made the earth by His power,
Who ^abestablished the world by His wisdom;
And by His understanding He has ^acstretched out the heavens.
13 When He utters His ^advoice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens,
And He makes the ^aeclouds ascend from the end of the earth;
He makes lightning for the rain,
And brings out the ^afwind from His storehouses.
14 Every person is ^agstupid, devoid of knowledge;
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
For his cast metal images are deceitful,
And there is no breath in them.
15 They are ^ahworthless, a work of mockery;
At the ^aitime of their punishment they will perish.
16 The ^ajPortion of Jacob is not like these;
For He is the ▼

▼Lit Fashioner

, ^alMaker of everything,
And ^amIsrael is the tribe of His inheritance;
The ^anLord of armies is His name.

17 ^aoPick up your bundle from the ground,
You who live under siege!
18 For this is what the Lord says:
“Behold, I am ^apslinging out the inhabitants of the land
At this time,
And I will cause them distress,
So that they may ▼

▼Lit find

be found.”

19 ^arWoe to me, because of my ▼

▼Lit breaking

injury!
My ^atwound is incurable.
But I said, “This certainly is a sickness,
And I ^aumust endure it.”
20 My ^avtent is destroyed,
And all my ropes are broken.
My ^awsons have gone from me and are no more.
There is ^axno one to stretch out my tent again
Or to set up my curtains.
21 For the shepherds have become stupid
And ^ayhave not sought the Lord.
Therefore they have not prospered,
And ^azall their flock is scattered.
22 The sound of a ^bareport! Behold, it is coming--
A great roar ^bbfrom the land of the north--
To ^bcmake the cities of Judah
A desolation, a haunt of jackals.

23 I know, Lord, that ^bda person’s way is not in himself,
^beNor is it in a person who walks to direct his steps.
24 ^bfCorrect me, Lord, but with justice;
Not with Your anger, or You will ▼

▼Lit diminish me

bring me to nothing.
25 ^bhPour out Your wrath on the nations that ^bido not know You,
And on the families who ^bjdo not call upon Your name;
For they have devoured Jacob;
They have ^bkdevoured him and consumed him,
And have laid waste his ▼

▼Or pasture

settlement.