Jeremiah 10:1–11:23
Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
Learn not the way of the heathen,
And abe not dismayed at the signs of heaven;
For the heathen are dismayed at them.
3 For the †ccustoms of the people are vain:
For done cutteth a tree out of the forest,
The work of the hands of the workman, ewith the axe.
4 fThey deck it with silver and with gold;
gThey fasten it with nails and with hammers, ghthat it move not.
5 They are iupright as kthe palm tree, lbut speak not:
mThey must needs be borne, because they cannot go.
Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil,
nNeither also is it in them to do good.
6 Forasmuch as there is onone like unto thee, O Lord;
oThou art great, and thy name is great in might.
7 pWho would not fear thee, qO King of nations? for ||to thee doth it appertain:
Forasmuch as among all rthe wise men of the nations, and sin all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.
8 But they are †altogether tbrutish and ufoolish:
vThe stock is a doctrine of vanities.
9 Silver wspread into plates is brought from xTarshish,
And gold from yUphaz, the work of wthe workman, and of the hands of wthe founder:
zBlue and apurple is their clothing:
bThey are all the work of cunning men.
10 But the Lord is the †true God,
He is cthe living God, and an †everlasting king:
At his wrath the earth shall tremble,
And the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
11 †Thus shall ye say unto them, dThe gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even ethey shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.
12 fgHe hath made the earth by his power,
hHe hath established the world by his wisdom,
And ihath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
13 iiWhen he kuttereth his voice, there is a ||multitude of waters in the heavens,
And kkhe causeth lthe vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth;
llHe maketh lightnings ||with rain,
And kkbringeth forth the wind out of mhis treasures.
14 Every man n||is brutish in his knowledge:
Every founder ois confounded by the graven image:
For his molten image pis falsehood, and qthere is no breath in them.
15 rThey are vanity, and the work of errors:
In the time of stheir visitation ethey shall perish.
16 tThe portion of Jacob is not like them:
For he is the former of all things;
And uIsrael is the rod of his inheritance:
vThe Lord of hosts is his name.
17 wGather up thy wares out of the land,
O †inhabitant of xthe fortress.
Behold, yI will sling out the inhabitants of the land yyat this once,
And will zdistress them, athat they may find it so.
19 bWoe is me for my hurt! cmy wound is grievous:
dBut I said, Truly this is a grief, and eI must bear it.
20 fMy tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken:
My children are gone forth of me, and ffthey are not:
There is none to stretch forth my tent any more,
And to set up fmy curtains.
21 For gthe pastors hare become brutish,
And have not sought the Lord:
Therefore they shall not iprosper,
And all their flocks shall be scattered.
22 Behold, the noise of the kbruit is come,
And a great commotion out of lthe north country,
To make the mcities of Judah desolate,
And ma den of dragons.
23 O Lord, I know that nthe way of man is not in himself:
It is not in man that walketh oto direct his steps.
24 O Lord, pcorrect me, but with judgment;
Not in thine anger, lest thou †bring me to nothing.
25 qPour out thy fury upon the heathen rthat know thee not,
And upon the families that call not on thy name:
For they have seaten up Jacob, and sdevoured him, and consumed him,
And have made his thabitation desolate.
11 *The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 aHear ye the words of athis covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 3 And say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel; bCursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, 4 Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, cfrom the iron furnace, dsaying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: dso shall ye be my people, and I will be your God: 5 That I may perform ethe oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them fa land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I, and said, †So be it, O Lord. 6 Then the Lord said unto me, Proclaim all these words ffin the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, aHear ye the words of this covenant, and bgdo them. 7 For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, hrising early and protesting, dsaying, Obey my voice. 8 iYet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but kwalked every one in the ||imagination of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them all athe words of this covenant, gwhich I commanded them to do; but they did them not. 9 And the Lord said unto me, lA conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They are turned back to mthe iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah nhave broken my covenant which I made with their fathers. 11 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able †to escape; and othough they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them. 12 Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at all in the time of their †trouble. 13 pFor according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that †shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal. 14 qTherefore pray not thou for this people, qneither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for oI will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their †trouble.
15 r†What hath smy beloved to do in mine house, seeing tshe hath wrought lewdness with many, and uthe holy flesh is passed from thee? ||when thou doest evil, vthen thou rejoicest. 16 The Lord called thy name, wA green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great xtumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and ythe branches of it are broken. 17 For the Lord of hosts, zthat planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves ato provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal. 18 And the Lord hath given me knowledge of it, and I know it: then thou shewedst me their doings. 19 But I was blike a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter; and I knew not that cthey had devised devices against me, dsaying, eLet us destroy †gthe tree with the fruit thereof, and hlet us cut him off from ithe land of the living, jthat his name may be no more remembered. 20 But, O Lord of hosts, that judgest righteously, kthat ltriest the reins and mthe heart, nlet me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause.
21 Therefore thus saith the Lord of the men of oAnathoth, pthat seek thy life, saying, qProphesy not in the name of the Lord, rthat thou die not by our hand: 22 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will †punish them: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine: 23 And there shall be no remnant of them: for sI will bring evil upon the men of oAnathoth, even stthe year of their visitation.