Jeremiah 10–11

Idolatry Has Brought Ruin on Israel

¹⁰Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. ²Thus says the Lord:

Do not learn the way of the nations

or be dismayed at the signs of the heavens,

for the nations are dismayed at them.^*

³For the customs of the peoples are false:

a tree from the forest is cut down

and worked with an ax by the hands of an artisan;^*

⁴they deck it with silver and gold;

they fasten it with hammers and nails

so that it cannot move.^*

⁵Their idolsⁿ are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,

and they cannot speak;

they have to be carried,

for they cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of them,

for they cannot do evil,

nor is it in them to do good.^*

⁶There is none like you, O Lord;

you are great, and your name is great in might.^*

⁷Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?

For that is your due;

among all the wise ones of the nations

and in all their kingdoms

there is no one like you.^*

⁸They are both stupid and foolish;

the instruction given by idols

is no better than wood!^o*

⁹Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish

and gold from Uphaz.

They are the work of the artisan and of the hands of the goldsmith;

their clothing is blue and purple;

they are all the product of skilled workers.^*

¹⁰But the Lord is the true God;

he is the living God and the everlasting King.

At his wrath the earth quakes,

and the nations cannot endure his indignation.^p*

¹¹Thus shall you say to them: The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.^q*

¹²It is he who made the earth by his power,

who established the world by his wisdom

and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.^*

¹³When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,

and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.

He makes lightning for the rain

and brings out the wind from his storehouses.^*

¹⁴Everyone is stupid and without knowledge;

goldsmiths are all put to shame by their idols,

for their images are false,

and there is no breath in them.^*

¹⁵They are worthless, a work of delusion;

at the time of their punishment they shall perish.

¹⁶The portion of Jacob is not like these,

for he is the one who formed all things,

and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;

the Lord of hosts is his name.^*

The Coming Exile

¹⁷Gather up your bundle from the ground,

O you who live under siege!

¹⁸For thus says the Lord:

I am going to sling out the inhabitants of the land

at this time,

and I will bring distress on them,

so that they shall feel it.

¹⁹Woe is me because of my hurt!

My wound is severe.

But I said, “Truly this is my punishment,

and I must bear it.”^*

²⁰My tent is destroyed,

and all my cords are broken;

my children have gone from me,

and they are no more;

there is no one to spread my tent again

and to set up my curtains.^*

²¹For the shepherds are stupid

and do not inquire of the Lord;

therefore they have not prospered,

and all their flock is scattered.^*

²²Hear, a noise! Listen, it is coming—

a great commotion from the land of the north

to make the cities of Judah a desolation,

a lair of jackals.^*

²³I know, O Lord, that the way of humans is not in their control,

that mortals as they walk cannot direct their steps.^*

²⁴Correct me, O Lord, but in just measure;

not in your anger, or you will bring me to nothing.^*

²⁵Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you

and on the peoples that do not call on your name,

for they have devoured Jacob;

they have devoured him and consumed him

and have laid waste his habitation.^*

Israel and Judah Have Broken the Covenant

¹¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Cursed be anyone who does not heed the words of this covenant,^{* 4}which I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron smelter, saying, ‘Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God,^{* 5}that I may perform the oath that I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.’ ” Then I answered, “So be it, Lord.”^*

⁶And the Lord said to me: Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the words of this covenant and do them. ⁷For I solemnly warned your ancestors when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, “Obey my voice.”^{* 8}Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of an evil will. So I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.^*

⁹And the Lord said to me: Conspiracy exists among the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.^{* 10}They have turned back to the iniquities of their ancestors of old, who refused to heed my words; they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant that I made with their ancestors.^{* 11}Therefore, thus says the Lord, assuredly I am going to bring disaster upon them that they cannot escape; though 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 cry out to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they will never save them in the time of their trouble.^{* 13}For your gods have become as many as your towns, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars to shame you have set up, altars to make offerings to Baal.

¹⁴As for you, do not pray for this people or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble.^{* 15}What right has my beloved in my house, when she has done vile deeds? Can vows^r and sacrificial flesh avert your doom? Can you then exult?^{* 16}The Lord once called you, “A green olive tree, fair with goodly fruit,” but with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and its branches will be consumed.^{* 17}The Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.^*

Jeremiah’s Life Threatened

¹⁸It was the Lord who made it known to me, and I knew;

then you showed me their deeds.

¹⁹But I was like a gentle lamb

led to the slaughter.

And I did not know it was against me

that they devised schemes, saying,

“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit;

let us cut him off from the land of the living,

so that his name will no longer be remembered!”^*

²⁰But you, O Lord of hosts, who judge righteously,

who try the heart and the mind,

let me see your retribution upon them,

for to you I have committed my cause.^*

²¹Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the people of Anathoth who seek your life and say, “You shall not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand”^*—²²therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: I am going to punish them; the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, ²³and not even a remnant shall be left of them. For I will bring disaster upon the people of Anathoth, the year of their punishment.^*