Jeremiah 10–11

10Hear the word that Yahweh speaks to you, O house of Israel. ²Thus says Yahweh:

“You must not learn the way of the nations,

and you must not be dismayed by the signs of the heavens,

for the nations are dismayed by them.

³For the statutes of the peoples are vanity,

for it is a tree cut down from the forest,

the work of the hands of a craftsman with the tool.

⁴He decorates it with silver and gold,

they strengthen it with nails and hammers,

so that it does not stagger.

⁵They are like scarecrows^a in a cucumber field,

they cannot speak.

Indeed, they must be carried,

for they cannot march.

You must not be afraid of them,

for they cannot do evil;

furthermore, to do good is not in them.”

⁶There is none like you, O Yahweh,

you are great and your name is great in might.

⁷Who would not revere you, O king of the nations?

For you it is fitting.

For among all the wise men of the nations,

and in all their kingdoms,^b

there is none like you.

⁸At the same time^c they are stupid and foolish,

in the instruction of idols, it is wood.

⁹Silver beaten from Tarshish is brought,

and gold from Uphaz,

the work of the craftsman and the hands of the goldsmith.

Blue and purple are their clothing,

all of them are the work of skillful people.

¹⁰But Yahweh is the true God,

he is the living God,

and an everlasting king.^d

Because of his wrath the earth quakes,

and the nations cannot endure his anger.

¹¹“Thus^e you shall say to them,

‘Gods who did not make the heavens and the earth

will perish from the earth and from under these heavens.

¹²He is the maker of the earth by his power,

who created the world by his wisdom,

and by his understanding he stretched out heaven.

¹³When he utters his voice^f there is a noise of water in the heavens,

and he causes the mist to rise from the ends^g of the earth.

He makes lightning for the rain,

and he causes the wind to go out from his storehouses.

¹⁴Everyone^h is stupid, without knowledge,ⁱ

every goldsmith is ashamed by his divine image,

for his cast image is an illusion,

and there is no breath in them.

¹⁵They are vanity, a work of mockery,

at the time of their punishment, they will perish.

¹⁶The portion of Jacob is not like these,

for he is the creator of everything,

and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance,

Yahweh of hosts is his name.

¹⁷Gather your bundle from the ground,

you who live under the siege.’ ”

¹⁸For thus says Yahweh,

“Look, I am about to sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time,

and I will bring distress to them, so that they may feel it.”

The Nation Accepts Its Judgment

¹⁹Woe to me, because of my wound.

My wound is incurable.

But I said, “Surely this is my sickness,

and I must bear it.”

²⁰My tent is devastated,

and all my tent cords are torn.

My children have gone out from me,

and they are not.

There is no one who pitches my tent again,

or one who puts up my tent curtains.

²¹For the shepherds have become stupid,

they do not seek Yahweh.

Therefore^j they do not have insight,

and all of their flock are scattered.

²²Listen, news:^k

Look, it is coming,

a great roar from the land of the north,

to make the cities of Judah a desolation,

a lair of jackals.

²³I know, O Yahweh, that to the human is not his own way,

nor to a person is the walking and the directing of his own step.

²⁴Chastise^l me, O Yahweh, but in moderation,

not in your anger, lest you eradicate me.

²⁵Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you,

and on the peoples that do not call on your name,

for they have devoured Jacob,

they have devoured and consumed him,

and they have caused his settlement to be desolate.

The Broken Covenant

11The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,^{a 2}“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the people^b of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ³and say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: “The man is cursed who does not obey the words of this covenant, ⁴which I commanded your ancestors^c in the day of my bringing them from the land of Egypt, from the furnace of iron, saying,^d ‘Listen to my voice and do according to all that I command you, so will you be my people, and I will be your God.’^{e 5}in order to keep the oath that I swore to your ancestors,^f to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.” ’ ” Then I answered and said, “Let it be so,^g O Yahweh.”

⁶And Yahweh said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying,^h ‘Hear the words of this covenant and do them, ⁷for I solemnly admonished your ancestorsⁱ in the day of my leading them out from the land of Egypt and up to this day, admonishing persistently,^j saying,^k “Obey my voice.” ⁸But they did not obey and they did not incline their ear. Instead each one walked in the stubbornness of his^l evil heart. Therefore, I brought on them all the words of this covenant which I commanded them^m to do, and they did not do it.’ ”ⁿ

⁹And Yahweh said to me, “A conspiracy is found among the people^o of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰They have turned back to the iniquities of their former ancestors,^p who refused to obey my words, and they have gone after other gods, to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made^q with their ancestors.”^r

¹¹Therefore^s thus says Yahweh, “I am about to bring on them disaster from which they will not be able to escape. Though they cry out to me, yet I will not listen to them. ¹²Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they are making smoke offerings, but they will certainly not save them in the time of their trouble. ¹³For the number of your towns are your gods, O Judah, and the number of the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful things, to make smoke offerings to Baal. ¹⁴Therefore you must not pray for this people, and you must not lift up for them a cry of entreaty, or a prayer, for I will not listen in the time of their calling to me, in the time of their trouble.

¹⁵What rights has my beloved in my house^t

when she has done many wicked things?^u

Can the flesh of holiness pass over you?

For you engage in your wickedness,^v then you exult.

¹⁶Yahweh called your name, ‘A leafy olive tree, beautiful with fine fruit.’^w

With the sound of a great storm he will set fire to it,

and its branches will be good for nothing.

¹⁷And Yahweh of hosts, the one who planted you,

has spoken evil against you,

because of the evil of the house of Israel and the house of Judah,

that they have done to themselves,

to provoke me to anger by making smoke offerings to Baal.”

A Warning for the People of Anathoth

¹⁸Moreover, Yahweh let it be made known to me, and I knew.

Then you showed me their deeds.

¹⁹And I was like a gentle ram-lamb that is brought to slaughter,

and I did not know that they planned plans against me, saying,

“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,

and let us cut him off from the land of the living,

so that his name will no longer be remembered.”

²⁰But O Yahweh of hosts, who judges in righteousness,

who tests the inmost being,^x and the mind,^y

let me see your retribution upon them,

for to you I have revealed my legal case.

²¹Therefore^z thus says Yahweh concerning the people^a of Anathoth who seek your life, saying,^b “You shall not prophesy in the name of Yahweh or^c you will die by our hand.” ²²Therefore^d thus says Yahweh of hosts: “Look, I am about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword. Their sons and their daughters will die by the famine. ²³And a remnant will not be left for them, for I will bring disaster to the people^e of Anathoth, the year of their punishment.”