Jeremiah 10

False Gods Contrasted with the Creator

10Hear the word that the Lord has spoken to ^lyou, house of Israel. ²This is what the Lord says:

Do not learn the way of the nations ^m

or be terrified by signs in the heavens,

although the nations are terrified by them,

³for the customs of the peoples are worthless.

Someone cuts down a tree from the forest;

it is worked by the hands of a craftsman with a chisel.

⁴He decorates it with silver and gold. ⁿ

It is fastened with hammer and nails, ^o

so it won’t totter.

⁵Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch,

their idols cannot speak. ^p

They must be carried ^qbecause they cannot walk.

Do not fear them for they can do no harm ^r—

and they cannot do any good. ^s

⁶Yahweh, there is no one like You. ^t

You are great;

Your name is great in power. ^u

⁷Who should not fear You,

King of the nations? ^v

It is what You deserve.

For among all the wise people of the nations

and among all their kingdoms,

there is no one like You.

⁸They are both stupid and foolish,

instructed by worthless idols

made of wood!

⁹Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, ^w

and gold from Uphaz ^xy

from the hands of a goldsmith,

the work of a craftsman.

Their clothing is blue and purple,

all the work of skilled artisans.

¹⁰But Yahweh is the true God; ^z

He is the living God ^aand eternal King. ^b

The earth quakes at His wrath, ^c

and the nations cannot endure His rage.

¹¹You are to say this to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens ^dand the earth will perish from the earth ^eand from under these heavens.” ^f

¹²He made the earth by His power,

established the world ^gby His wisdom, ^h

and spread out the heavens by His understanding. ⁱ

¹³When He thunders, ^j

the waters in the heavens are in turmoil, ^k

and He causes the clouds to rise

from the ends of the earth.

He makes lightning for the rain

and brings the wind from His storehouses. ^l

¹⁴Everyone is stupid and ignorant.

Every goldsmith is put to shame

by his carved image, ^m

for his cast images are a lie; ⁿ

there is no breath in them. ^o

¹⁵They are worthless, a work to be mocked.

At the time of their punishment

they will be destroyed. ^p

¹⁶Jacob’s Portion ^qis not like these

because He is the One who formed all things. ^r

Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; ^s

Yahweh of Hosts is His name. ^t

Exile After the Siege

¹⁷Gather up your belongings ^ufrom the ground, ^v

you who live under siege.

¹⁸For this is what the Lord says:

Look, I am slinging out ^w

the land’s residents at this time

and bringing them such distress

that they will feel it.

Jeremiah Grieves

¹⁹Woe to me because of my brokenness—

I am severely wounded! ^x

I exclaimed, “This is my intense suffering,

but I must bear it.”

²⁰My tent is destroyed; ^y

all my tent cords are snapped.

My sons have departed from me and are no more.

I have no one to pitch my tent again

or to hang up my curtains.

²¹For the shepherds are stupid:

they don’t seek the Lord. ^z

Therefore they have not prospered,

and their whole flock is scattered.

²²Listen! A noise—it is coming—

a great commotion ^afrom the land to the north.

The cities of Judah will be made desolate,

a jackals’ den. ^b

²³I know, Lord,

that a man’s way of life is not his own;

no one who walks determines his own steps. ^c

²⁴Discipline me, Lord, but with justice—

not in Your anger, ^d

or You will reduce me to nothing.

²⁵Pour out Your wrath on the nations

that don’t recognize You

and on the families

that don’t call on Your name,

for they have consumed Jacob;

they have consumed him and finished him off

and made his homeland desolate. ^e