Jeremiah 10–11

CHAPTER 10

Yahweh Alone Is the Living God

¹Hear the word which Yahweh speaks to you, O house of Israel.

²Thus says Yahweh,

“^aDo not learn the way of the nations,

And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens

Although the nations are terrified by them;

³For the statutes of the peoples are ^avanity

Because ^bit is wood cut from the forest,

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

⁴“They ^amake it beautiful with silver and with gold;

They ^bstrengthen it with nails and with hammers

So that it will not totter.

⁵“Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they,

And they ^acannot speak;

They must be ^bcarried

Because they cannot take a step!

Do not fear them,

For they ^ccan do no harm,

Nor can they do any good.”

^6aThere is none like You, O Yahweh;

You are ^bgreat, and great is Your name in might.

^7aWho would not fear You, O ^bKing of the nations?

Indeed it is Your due!

For among all the ^cwise men of the nations

And in all their kingdoms,

There is none like You.

⁸But they are altogether ^asenseless and foolish;

They are in a discipline of ¹vanities—it is mere wood!

⁹Beaten ^asilver is brought from ^bTarshish,

And ^cgold from Uphaz,

The work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith;

Blue and purple are their clothing;

They are all the ^dwork of wise craftsmen.

¹⁰But Yahweh is the ^atrue God;

He is the ^bliving God and the ^ceverlasting King.

At His wrath the ^dearth quakes,

And the nations cannot ^eendure His indignation.

¹¹¹Thus you shall say to them, “The ^agods that did not make the heavens and the earth will ^bperish from the earth and from under ²the heavens.”

¹²It is ^aHe who made the earth by His power,

Who ^bestablished the world by His wisdom;

And by His understanding He has ^cstretched out the heavens.

¹³When He gives forth His ^avoice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,

And He causes the ^bclouds to ascend from the end of the earth;

He makes lightning for the rain,

And brings out the ^cwind from His storehouses.

¹⁴Every man is ^asenseless, devoid of knowledge;

Every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven images;

For his molten images are a lie,

And there is no breath in them.

¹⁵They are ^avanity, a work of mockery;

In the ^btime of their punishment they will perish.

¹⁶The ^aportion of Jacob is not like these;

For the ^1bMaker of all is He,

And ^cIsrael is the tribe of His inheritance;

^dYahweh of hosts is His name.

^17aGather up your bundle from the ground,

You who inhabit a land under siege!

¹⁸For thus says Yahweh,

“Behold, I am ^aslinging out the inhabitants of the land

At this time,

And will cause them distress,

That they may find it.”

^19aWoe is me, because of my ¹injury!

My ^bwound is desperately sick.

But I said, “Truly this is a sickness,

And I ^cmust bear it.”

²⁰My ^atent is destroyed,

And all my ropes are torn out;

My ^bsons have gone from me and are no more.

There is ^cno one to stretch out my tent again

Or to set up my curtains.

²¹For the shepherds have become senseless

And ^ahave not sought Yahweh;

Therefore they have not prospered,

And ^ball their flock is scattered.

²²The sound of a ^areport! Behold, it comes—

A great quaking ^bout of the land of the north—

To ^cmake the cities of Judah

A desolation, a haunt of jackals.

²³I know, O Yahweh, that ^aa man’s way is not in himself,

^bNor is it in a man who walks to ¹direct his steps.

^24aDiscipline me, O Yahweh, but with justice;

Not with Your anger, lest You ¹bring me to nothing.

^25aPour out Your wrath on the nations that ^bdo not know You

And on the families that ^cdo not call Your name,

For they have devoured Jacob;

They have ^ddevoured him and consumed him

And have made desolate his ¹abode.

CHAPTER 11

The Broken Covenant

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,

²“^aHear the words of this ^bcovenant, and you shall speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem

³and say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “^aCursed is the man who does not hear the words of this covenant

⁴which I commanded your fathers in the ^aday that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the ^biron furnace, saying, ‘^cListen to My voice, and ¹do according to all which I command you; so you shall be ^dMy people, and I will be your God,’

⁵in order to establish the ^aoath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.” ’ ” Then I answered and said, “^bAmen, O Yahweh.”

⁶And Yahweh said to me, “^aCall out all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, ‘^bHear the words of this covenant so that you will ^cdo them.

⁷‘For I solemnly ^awarned your fathers in the ^bday that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, ^crising up early and warning, saying, “^dListen to My voice.”

⁸‘Yet they ^adid not listen or incline their ear, but walked, each one, in the stubbornness of his evil heart; therefore I brought on them all the ^bwords of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.’”

⁹Then Yahweh said to me, “A ^aconspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁰“They have ^aturned back to the iniquities of their ¹ancestors who ^brefused to hear My words, and they ^chave walked after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have ^dbroken My covenant which I cut with their fathers.”

¹¹Therefore thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am ^abringing calamity on them which they will ^bnot be able to get out of; and they will ^ccry to Me, yet I will not listen to them.

¹²“Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will ^ago and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them in the time of their calamity.

¹³“For your gods are ^athe number of your cities, O Judah; and the number of the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the ^bshameful thing, altars to ^cburn incense to Baal.

¹⁴“But as for you, ^ado not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry of lamentation or prayer for them; for I will ^bnot listen when they call to Me because of their calamity.

¹⁵“What possession has My ^abeloved in My house

When ^bshe has done many schemes of wickedness?

Can the flesh, which is set apart as holy, take away from you your calamity,

¹So that you can exult?”

¹⁶Yahweh called your name,

“A ^agreen olive tree, beautiful in fruit and form”;

With the ^bnoise of a great tumult

He has ^ckindled fire on it,

And its foliage has an evil demise.

¹⁷Yahweh of hosts, who ^aplanted you, has ^bspoken forth evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have ¹done to provoke Me to anger by ^cburning incense to Baal.

Men Seek Jeremiah’s Life

¹⁸Moreover, Yahweh ^amade it known to me, and I knew it;

Then You showed me their deeds.

¹⁹But I was like a gentle ^alamb led to the slaughter;

And I did not know that they had ^bdevised thoughts against me, saying,

“Let us make the tree with its ¹fruit a ruin,

And ^clet us cut him off from the ^dland of the living,

That his ^ename be remembered no more.”

²⁰But, O Yahweh of hosts, who ^ajudges righteously,

Who ^btests the ¹insides and the heart,

Let me see Your vengeance on them,

For to You have I revealed my case.

²¹Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning the men of ^aAnathoth, who ^bseek your life, saying, “^cDo not prophesy in the name of Yahweh, so that you will not ^ddie at our hand”;

²²therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Behold, I am about to ^apunish them! The ^bchoice men will die by the sword; their sons and daughters will die by famine;

²³and a remnant ^awill not be left to them, for I will ^bbring calamity on the men of Anathoth—^cthe year of their punishment.”