Jeremias 10

¹ Listen house of Israel, Hear the word Jehovah speaks to you.

² This is what Jehovah says: »Do not learn the practices of the nations. Do not be frightened by the signs in the sky because they frighten the nations.«

³ The people’s customs are erroneous and empty. It is wood cut from the forest. It is the work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.

⁴ »They decorate it with silver and with gold. They fasten it with nails and with hammers so that it will not tip over.

⁵ »They are like scarecrows in cucumber fields. They cannot speak. They must be carried, for they cannot walk! Do not fear them! For they can do no harm and they can do no good.«

⁶ There is none like you, O Jehovah. You are great and your name is powerful.

⁷ Who would not respect you, O King of the nations? It is your right! There is none like you among all the wise men of the nations.

⁸ They are very stupid and foolish. They teach vanity to a tree. Their idol is wood!

⁹ Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. It is the work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith. Violet and purple are their clothing. They are all the work of skilled men.

¹⁰ Jehovah is the true faithfulright God! He is the living God and the everlasting king. The earth quakes at his wrath. The nations cannot endure his indignation.

¹¹ You will say to the idolaters: »The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.«

¹² He who made the earth by his power, and established the world by his wisdom; also stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

¹³ He speaks, and the water in the sky produces a storm. He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning flash with the rain. He brings wind out of his storehouses.

¹⁴ Every man is stupid lacking knowledge. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. His molten images are deceitful. There is no breath in them.

¹⁵ They are worthless, a work of mockery. In the time of their punishment they will perish.

¹⁶ Jacob’s share is not like this. For he made everything! Israel is the tribe of his inheritance. Jehovah of Hosts is his name.

¹⁷ Pick up your bundle from the ground, you who dwell under siege!

¹⁸ Jehovah says: »I am evicting the inhabitants of the land at this time. I will cause them distress that they may be found.«

¹⁹ Oh, I am wounded! My wound is serious. Then I thought that this is my punishment, and I will bear it.

²⁰ My tent is destroyed. All the ropes are broken. My children have left me and have disappeared. There is no one to set up my tent again or put up my tent curtains.

²¹ The shepherds are foolish. They do not look to Jehovah for help. That is why they will not succeed and all their flocks will be scattered.

²² The report has arrived. Listen! An incredible uproar is coming from the land of the north. Its army will destroy Judah's cities and make them homes for jackals.

²³ O Jehovah, I know that humans are not able to govern their own lives. Humans cannot administer their own steps.

²⁴ Correct me, O Jehovah but please be fair. Do not correct me when you are angry. Otherwise, you will reduce me to nothing.

²⁵ Pour out your fury on the nations who do not know you and on people who do not worship you. They have devoured the descendants of Jacob. They have devoured them completely. They have destroyed their homes.