Jeremiah 10:3–25

^3ffor the customs of the peoples are vanity.¹

^gA tree from the forest is cut down

and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.

^4hThey decorate it with silver and gold;

ⁱthey fasten it with hammer and nails

so that it cannot move.

⁵Their idols² are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,

and ^jthey cannot speak;

^kthey have to be carried,

for they cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of them,

^lfor they cannot do evil,

neither is it in them to do good.”

^6mThere is none like you, O Lord;

you are great, and your name is great in might.

⁷ⁿWho would not fear you, O King of the nations?

For this is your due;

for among all the wise ones of the nations

and in all their kingdoms

there is none like you.

^8oThey are both ^pstupid and foolish;

the instruction of idols is but wood!

^9qBeaten silver is brought from ^rTarshish,

and gold from ^sUphaz.

^qThey are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;

their clothing is violet and purple;

^tthey are all the work of skilled men.

^10uBut the Lord is the true God;

^vhe is the living God and the everlasting King.

At his wrath the earth quakes,

and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

¹¹Thus shall you say to them: ^w“The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth ^xshall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”³

^12yIt is he who ^zmade the earth by his power,

^zwho established the world by his wisdom,

and ^aby his understanding stretched out the heavens.

^13bWhen he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,

^cand he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.

^cHe makes lightning ^dfor the rain,

^cand he brings forth the wind ^efrom his storehouses.

^14fEvery man is stupid and without knowledge;

^gevery goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,

for his images are false,

^hand there is no breath in them.

¹⁵They are worthless, a work of delusion;

at the time of their punishment they shall perish.

¹⁶Not like these is he who is ⁱthe portion of Jacob,

for he is the one who formed all things,

^jand Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;

^kthe Lord of hosts is his name.

^17lGather up your bundle from the ground,

O you who dwell under siege!

¹⁸For thus says the Lord:

^m“Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land

at this time,

ⁿand I will bring distress on them,

that they may feel it.”

¹⁹Woe is me because of my hurt!

^oMy wound is grievous.

But I said, “Truly this is an affliction,

and I must bear it.”

^20pMy tent is destroyed,

and all my cords are broken;

my children have gone from me,

^qand they are not;

there is no one to spread my tent again

and ^pto set up my curtains.

^21rFor the shepherds ^sare stupid

and do not inquire of the Lord;

therefore they have not prospered,

^tand all their flock is scattered.

²²A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!—

^ua great commotion out of the north country

to make ^vthe cities of Judah a desolation,

^va lair of jackals.

^23wI know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself,

that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.

^24xCorrect me, O Lord, but in justice;

not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.

^25yPour out your wrath on the nations that know you not,

and on the peoples that call not on your name,

^zfor they have devoured Jacob;

they have devoured him and consumed him,

and have laid waste his habitation.