Jeremiah 10

God and Idols

10:12–16pp—Jer 51:15–19

10Hear what the Lord says to you, people of Israel. ²This is what the Lord says:

“Do not learn the ways of the nationsⁿ

or be terrified by signs^o in the heavens,

though the nations are terrified by them.

³For the practices of the peoples are worthless;

they cut a tree out of the forest,

and a craftsman^p shapes it with his chisel.^q

⁴They adorn it with silver^r and gold;

they fasten it with hammer and nails

so it will not totter.^s

⁵Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,

their idols cannot speak;^t

they must be carried

because they cannot walk.^u

Do not fear them;

they can do no harm^v

nor can they do any good.”^w

⁶No one is like you,^x Lord;

you are great,^y

and your name is mighty in power.

⁷Who should not fear^z you,

King of the nations?^a

This is your due.

Among all the wise leaders of the nations

and in all their kingdoms,

there is no one like you.

⁸They are all senseless^b and foolish;^c

they are taught by worthless wooden idols.^d

⁹Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish^e

and gold from Uphaz.

What the craftsman and goldsmith have made^f

is then dressed in blue and purple—

all made by skilled workers.

¹⁰But the Lord is the true God;

he is the living God,^g the eternal King.^h

When he is angry,ⁱ the earth trembles;^j

the nations cannot endure his wrath.^k

¹¹“Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish^l from the earth and from under the heavens.’ ”^a

¹²But God made^m the earthⁿ by his power;

he founded the world by his wisdom^o

and stretched out the heavens^p by his understanding.

¹³When he thunders,^q the waters in the heavens roar;

he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.

He sends lightning^r with the rain^s

and brings out the wind from his storehouses.^t

¹⁴Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;

every goldsmith is shamed^u by his idols.

The images he makes are a fraud;^v

they have no breath in them.

¹⁵They are worthless,^w the objects of mockery;

when their judgment comes, they will perish.

¹⁶He who is the Portion^x of Jacob is not like these,

for he is the Maker of all things,^y

including Israel, the people of his inheritance^z—

the Lord Almighty is his name.^a

Coming Destruction

¹⁷Gather up your belongings^b to leave the land,

you who live under siege.

¹⁸For this is what the Lord says:

“At this time I will hurl^c out

those who live in this land;

I will bring distress^d on them

so that they may be captured.”

¹⁹Woe to me because of my injury!

My wound^e is incurable!

Yet I said to myself,

“This is my sickness, and I must endure^f it.”

²⁰My tent^g is destroyed;

all its ropes are snapped.

My children are gone from me and are no more;^h

no one is left now to pitch my tent

or to set up my shelter.

²¹The shepherdsⁱ are senseless^j

and do not inquire of the Lord;^k

so they do not prosper^l

and all their flock is scattered.^m

²²Listen! The report is coming—

a great commotion from the land of the north!ⁿ

It will make the towns of Judah desolate,^o

a haunt of jackals.^p

Jeremiah’s Prayer

²³Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own;

it is not for them to direct their steps.^q

²⁴Discipline me, Lord, but only in due measure—

not in your anger,^r

or you will reduce me to nothing.^s

²⁵Pour out your wrath on the nations^t

that do not acknowledge you,

on the peoples who do not call on your name.^u

For they have devoured^v Jacob;

they have devoured him completely

and destroyed his homeland.^w