Jeremiah 10–11

Idolatry and True Worship

10People of Israel, listen to the message that the Lord has for you. ²He says,

“Do not follow the ways of other nations;

do not be disturbed by unusual sights in the sky,

even though other nations are terrified.

³The religion of these people is worthless.

A tree is cut down in the forest;

it is carved by the tools of the woodcarver,

⁴and decorated with silver and gold.

It is fastened down with nails

to keep it from falling over.

⁵Such idols are like scarecrows in a field of melons;

they cannot speak;

they have to be carried

because they cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of them:

they can cause you no harm,

and they can do you no good.”

⁶Lord, there is no one like you;

you are mighty,

and your name is great and powerful.

^7*Who would not honour you, the king of all nations?

You deserve to be honoured.

There is no one like you

among all the wise men of the nations

or among any of their kings.

⁸All of them are stupid and foolish.

What can they learn from wooden idols?^k

⁹Their idols are covered with silver from Spain

and with gold from Uphaz,

all the work of artists;

they are dressed in violet and purple cloth

woven by skilled weavers.

¹⁰But you, Lord, are the true God,

you are the living God

and the eternal king.

When you are angry, the world trembles;

the nations cannot endure your anger.

¹¹(You people must tell them that the gods who did not make the earth and the sky will be destroyed. They will no longer exist anywhere on earth.)

A Hymn of Praise to God

¹²The Lord made the earth by his power;

by his wisdom he created the world

and stretched out the heavens.

¹³At his command the waters above the sky^l roar;

he brings clouds from the ends of the earth.

He makes lightning flash in the rain

and sends the wind from his storeroom.

¹⁴At the sight of this, people feel stupid and senseless;

those who make idols are disillusioned,

because the gods they make are false and lifeless.

¹⁵They are worthless and should be despised;

they will be destroyed when the Lord comes to deal with them.

¹⁶The God of Jacob is not like them;

he is the one who made everything,

and he has chosen Israel to be his very own people.

The Lord Almighty is his name.

The Coming Exile

¹⁷People of Jerusalem, you are under siege! Gather up your belongings. ¹⁸The Lord is going to throw you out of this land; he is going to crush you until not one of you is left. The Lord has spoken.

¹⁹The people of Jerusalem cried out,

“How badly we are hurt!

Our wounds will not heal.

And we thought this was something we could endure!

²⁰Our tents are ruined;

the ropes that held them have broken.

Our children have all gone away;

there is no one left to put up our tents again;

there is no one to hang their curtains.”

²¹I answered, “Our leaders are stupid;

they do not ask the Lord for guidance.

This is why they have failed,

and our people have been scattered.

²²Listen! News has come!

There is a great commotion in a nation to the north;

its army will turn the cities of Judah into a desert,

a place where jackals live.”

²³Lord, I know that no one is the master of his own destiny;

no person has control over his own life.

²⁴Correct your people, Lord;

but do not be too hard on us

or punish us when you are angry;

that would be the end of us.

²⁵Turn your anger on the nations that do not worship you

and on the people who reject you.

They have killed your people;

they have destroyed us completely and left our country in ruins.

Jeremiah and the Covenant

11The Lord said to me, ²“Listen to the terms of the covenant. Tell the people of Judah and of Jerusalem ³that I, the Lord God of Israel, have placed a curse on everyone who does not obey the terms of this covenant. ⁴It is the covenant I made with their ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, the land that was like a blazing furnace to them. I told them to obey me and to do everything that I had commanded. I told them that if they obeyed, they would be my people and I would be their God. ⁵Then I would keep the promise I made to their ancestors that I would give them the rich and fertile land which they now have.”

I said, “Yes, Lord.”

⁶Then the Lord said to me, “Go to the cities of Judah and to the streets of Jerusalem. Proclaim my message there and tell the people to listen to the terms of the covenant and to obey them. ⁷When I brought their ancestors out of Egypt, I solemnly warned them to obey me, and I have kept on warning the people until this day. ⁸But they did not listen or obey. Instead, everyone continued to be as stubborn and evil as ever. I had commanded them to keep the covenant, but they refused. So I brought on them all the punishments described in it.”

⁹Then the Lord said to me, “The people of Judah and of Jerusalem are plotting against me. ¹⁰They have gone back to the sins of their ancestors, who refused to do what I said; they have worshipped other gods. Both Israel and Judah have broken the covenant that I made with their ancestors. ¹¹So now, I, the Lord, warn them that I am going to bring destruction on them, and they will not escape. And when they cry out to me for help, I will not listen to them. ¹²Then the people of Judah and of Jerusalem will go to the gods to whom they offer sacrifices and will cry out to them for help. But those gods will not be able to save them when this destruction comes. ¹³The people of Judah have as many gods as they have cities, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem have set up as many altars for sacrifices to that disgusting god Baal as there are streets in the city. ¹⁴Jeremiah, don’t pray to me or plead with me on behalf of these people. When they are in trouble and call to me for help, I will not listen to them.”

¹⁵The Lord says, “The people I love are doing evil things. What right have they to be in my Temple? Do they think they can prevent disaster by making promises^m and by offering animal sacrifices? Will that make them happy? ¹⁶I once called them a leafy olive tree, full of beautiful fruit; but now, with a roar like thunder I will set its leaves on fire and break its branches.

¹⁷“I, the Lord Almighty, planted Israel and Judah; but now I threaten them with disaster. They have brought this on themselves because they have done wrong; they have made me angry by offering sacrifices to Baal.”

A Plot against Jeremiah’s Life

¹⁸The Lord informed me of the plots that my enemies were making against me. ¹⁹I was like a trusting lamb taken out to be killed, and I did not know that it was against me that they were planning evil things. They were saying, “Let’s chop down the tree while it is still healthy;ⁿ let’s kill him so that no one will remember him any more.”

²⁰Then I prayed, “Almighty Lord, you are a just judge; you test people’s thoughts and feelings. I have placed my cause in your hands; so let me watch you take revenge on these people.”

²¹The people of Anathoth wanted me killed, and they told me that they would kill me if I kept on proclaiming the Lord’s message. ²²So the Lord Almighty said, “I will punish them! Their young men will be killed in war; their children will die of starvation. ²³I have set a time for bringing disaster on the people of Anathoth, and when that time comes, none of them will survive.”