Idols and the True God

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

2 Thus says the Lord:

a“Do not learn the way of the Gentiles;

Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven,

For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.

3 For the customs of the peoples are 1futile;

For bone cuts a tree from the forest,

The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.

4 They decorate it with silver and gold;

They cfasten it with nails and hammers

So that it will not topple.

5 They are upright, like a palm tree,

And dthey cannot speak;

They must be ecarried,

Because they cannot go by themselves.

Do not be afraid of them,

For fthey cannot do evil,

Nor can they do any good.”

6 Inasmuch as there is none glike You, O Lord

(You are great, and Your name is great in might),

7 hWho would not fear You, O King of the nations?

For this is Your rightful due.

For iamong all the wise men of the nations,

And in all their kingdoms,

There is none like You.

8 But they are altogether jdull-hearted and foolish;

A wooden idol is a 2worthless doctrine.

9 Silver is beaten into plates;

It is brought from Tarshish,

And kgold from Uphaz,

The work of the craftsman

And of the hands of the metalsmith;

Blue and purple are their clothing;

They are all lthe work of skillful men.

10 But the Lord is the true God;

He is mthe living God and the neverlasting King.

At His wrath the earth will tremble,

And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.

11 Thus you shall say to them: o“The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth pshall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.”

12 He qhas made the earth by His power,

He has restablished the world by His wisdom,

And shas stretched out the heavens at His discretion.

13 tWhen He utters His voice,

There is a 3multitude of waters in the heavens:

u“And He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.

He makes lightning for the rain,

He brings the wind out of His treasuries.”

14 vEveryone is wdull-hearted, without knowledge;

xEvery metalsmith is put to shame by an image;

yFor his molded image is falsehood,

And there is no breath in them.

15 They are futile, a work of errors;

In the time of their punishment they shall perish.

16 zThe Portion of Jacob is not like them,

For He is the Maker of all things,

And aIsrael is the tribe of His inheritance;

bThe Lord of hosts is His name.

The Coming Captivity of Judah

17 cGather up your wares from the land,

O 4inhabitant of the fortress!

18 For thus says the Lord:

“Behold, I will dthrow out at this time

The inhabitants of the land,

And will distress them,

eThat they may find it so.”

19 fWoe is me for my hurt!

My wound is severe.

But I say, g“Truly this is an infirmity,

And hI must bear it.”

20 iMy tent is plundered,

And all my cords are broken;

My children have gone from me,

And they are jno more.

There is no one to pitch my tent anymore,

Or set up my curtains.

21 For the shepherds have become dull-hearted,

And have not sought the Lord;

Therefore they shall not prosper,

And all their flocks shall be kscattered.

22 Behold, the noise of the report has come,

And a great commotion out of the lnorth country,

To make the cities of Judah desolate, a mden of jackals.

23 O Lord, I know the nway of man is not in himself;

It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.

24 O Lord, ocorrect me, but with justice;

Not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing.

25 pPour out Your fury on the Gentiles, qwho do not know You,

And on the families who do not call on Your name;

For they have eaten up Jacob,

rDevoured him and consumed him,

And made his dwelling place desolate.

The Broken Covenant

11 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 3 and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: a“Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant 4 which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, bfrom the iron furnace, saying, c‘Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your God,’ 5 that I may establish the doath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them e‘a land flowing with milk and honey,’ as it is this day.” ’ ”

And I answered and said, 1“So be it, Lord.”

6 Then the Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: ‘Hear the words of this covenant fand do them. 7 For I earnestly exhorted your fathers in the day I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, until this day, grising early and exhorting, saying, “Obey My voice.” 8 hYet they did not obey or incline their ear, but ieveryone 2followed the dictates of his evil heart; therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but which they have not done.’ ”

9 And the Lord said to me, j“A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They have turned back to kthe iniquities of their forefathers who refused to hear 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 which I made with their fathers.”

11 Therefore thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will surely bring calamity on them which they will not be able to 3escape; and lthough they cry out to Me, I will not listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and mcry out to the gods to whom they offer incense, but they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble. 13 For according to the number of your ncities were your gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have set up altars to that shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.

14 “So odo not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry out to Me because of their trouble.

15 “What phas My beloved to do in My house,

Having qdone lewd deeds with many?

And rthe holy flesh has passed from you.

When you do evil, then you srejoice.

16 The Lord called your name,

tGreen Olive Tree, Lovely and of Good Fruit.

With the noise of a great tumult

He has kindled fire on it,

And its branches are broken.

17 “For the Lord of hosts, uwho planted you, has pronounced doom against you for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke Me to anger in offering incense to Baal.”

Jeremiah’s Life Threatened

18 Now the Lord gave me knowledge of it, and I know it; for You showed me their doings. 19 But I was like a docile lamb brought to the slaughter; and I did not know that they had devised schemes against me, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, vand let us cut him off from wthe land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.”

20 But, O Lord of hosts,

You who judge righteously,

xTesting the 4mind and the heart,

Let me see Your yvengeance on them,

For to You I have revealed my cause.

21 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of zAnathoth who seek your life, saying, a‘Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, lest you die by our hand’—22 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall bdie by famine; 23 and there shall be no remnant of them, for I will bring catastrophe on the men of Anathoth, even cthe year of their punishment.’ ”

Jeremiah’s Question

12 Righteous aare You, O Lord, when I plead with You;

Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments.

bWhy does the way of the wicked prosper?

Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?

2 You have planted them, yes, they have taken root;

They grow, yes, they bear fruit.

cYou are near in their mouth

But far from their 1mind.

3 But You, O Lord, dknow me;

You have seen me,

And You have etested my heart toward You.

Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,

And prepare them for fthe day of slaughter.

4 How long will gthe land mourn,

And the herbs of every field wither?

hThe beasts and birds are consumed,

iFor the wickedness of those who dwell there,

Because they said, “He will not see our final end.”

The Lord Answers Jeremiah

5 “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you,

Then how can you contend with horses?

And if in the land of peace,

In which you trusted, they wearied you,

Then how will you do in jthe 2floodplain of the Jordan?

6 For even kyour brothers, the house of your father,

Even they have dealt treacherously with you;

Yes, they have called 3a multitude after you.

lDo not believe them,

Even though they speak 4smooth words to you.

7 “I have forsaken My house, I have left My heritage;

I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies.

8 My heritage is to Me like a lion in the forest;

It cries out against Me;

Therefore I have mhated it.

9 My 5heritage is to Me like a speckled vulture;

The vultures all around are against her.

Come, assemble all the beasts of the field,

nBring them to devour!

10 “Many orulers 6have destroyed pMy vineyard,

They have qtrodden My portion underfoot;

They have made My 7pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.

11 They have made it rdesolate;

Desolate, it mourns to Me;

The whole land is made desolate,

Because sno one takes it to heart.

12 The plunderers have come

On all the desolate heights in the wilderness,

For the sword of the Lord shall devour

From one end of the land to the other end of the land;

No flesh shall have peace.

13 tThey have sown wheat but reaped thorns;

They have 8put themselves to pain but do not profit.

But be ashamed of your harvest

Because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”

14 Thus says the Lord: “Against all My evil neighbors who utouch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit—behold, I will vpluck them out of their land and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. 15 wThen it shall be, after I have plucked them out, that I will return and have compassion on them xand bring them back, everyone to his heritage and everyone to his land. 16 And it shall be, if they will learn carefully the ways of