Jeremiah 10:3–11

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.