Jeremiah 10–11

Chapter 10

A Satire on Idolatry

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

²Thus says the Lord,

“^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 customs of the peoples are ^1adelusion;

Because ^bit is wood cut from the forest,

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

⁴“They ^adecorate it with silver and with gold;

They ^bfasten 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 walk!

Do not fear them,

For they ^ccan do no harm,

Nor can they do any good.”

^6aThere is none like You, O Lord;

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 ^astupid and foolish

In their discipline of ¹delusion—²their idol is wood!

⁹Beaten ^asilver is brought from ^bTarshish,

And ^cgold from Uphaz,

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

Violet and purple are their clothing;

They are all the ^dwork of skilled men.

¹⁰But the Lord 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 the ²heavens.”

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 utters 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 ^astupid, devoid of knowledge;

Every goldsmith is put to shame by his ¹idols;

For his molten images are deceitful,

And there is no breath in them.

¹⁵They are ^aworthless, 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;

The ^dLord of hosts is His name.

^17aPick up your bundle from the ground,

You who dwell under siege!

¹⁸For thus says the Lord,

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

At this time,

And will cause them distress,

That they may ¹be found.”

^19aWoe is me, because of my ¹injury!

My ^bwound is incurable.

But I said, “Truly this is a sickness,

And I ^cmust bear it.”

²⁰My ^atent is destroyed,

And all my ropes are broken;

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 stupid

And ^ahave not sought the Lord;

Therefore they have not prospered,

And ^ball their flock is scattered.

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

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

To ^cmake the cities of Judah

A desolation, a haunt of jackals.

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

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

^24aCorrect me, O Lord, but with justice;

Not with Your anger, or You will 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 laid waste his ¹habitation.

Chapter 11

The Broken Covenant

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

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

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

⁴which I commanded your forefathers 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 confirm the ^aoath which I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.” ’ ” Then I said, “^bAmen, O Lord.”

⁶And the Lord said to me, “^aProclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, ‘^bHear the words of this covenant and ^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, ^1cwarning persistently, saying, “^dListen to My voice.”

⁸‘Yet they ^adid not obey 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 the Lord 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 gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have ^dbroken My covenant which I made with their fathers.”

¹¹Therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold I am ^abringing disaster on them which they will ^bnot be able to escape; though 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 disaster.

¹³“For your gods are ^1aas many as your cities, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the ^bshameful thing, altars to ^cburn incense to Baal.

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

¹⁵“What right has My ^abeloved in My house

When ^bshe has done many vile deeds?

Can the sacrificial flesh take away from you your disaster,

¹So that you can rejoice?”

¹⁶The Lord 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 branches are worthless.

¹⁷The Lord of hosts, who ^aplanted you, has ^bpronounced 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 by ^2coffering up sacrifices to Baal.

Plots against Jeremiah

¹⁸Moreover, the Lord ^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 plots against me, saying,

“Let us destroy the tree with its ¹fruit,

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

That his ^ename be remembered no more.”

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

Who ^btries the ¹feelings and the heart,

Let me see Your vengeance on them,

For to You have I ²committed my cause.

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

²²therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, I am about to ^apunish them! The ^byoung 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 disaster on the men of Anathoth—^cthe year of their punishment.”