Jeremiah 10

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

²Thus says the Lord: Learn not the way of the nations , nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them ,

³for the customs of the peoples are vanity . A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman .

⁴They decorate it with silver and gold ; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move .

⁵Their idols 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 , neither 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 this is your due ; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you.

⁸They are both stupid and foolish ; the instruction of idols is but wood !

⁹Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish , and gold from Uphaz . They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith ; their clothing is violet and purple ; they are all the work of skilled men .

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 .

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 .

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 he brings forth the wind from his storehouses .

¹⁴Every man is stupid and without knowledge ; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols , for his 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 .

¹⁶Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob , for he is the one who formed all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance ; the Lord of hosts is his name .

¹⁷Gather up your bundle from the ground , O you who dwell under siege !

¹⁸For thus says the Lord: Behold , I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land at this time , and I will bring distress on them, that they may feel it.

¹⁹Woe is me because of my hurt ! My wound is grievous . But I said , Truly this is an affliction , and I must bear it.

²⁰My tent is destroyed , and all my cords are broken ; my children have gone from me, and they are not ; 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 .

²²A voice , a rumor ! Behold , it comes !— a great commotion out of the north country to make the cities of Judah a desolation , a lair of jackals .

²³I know , O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps .

²⁴Correct me, O Lord, but in justice ; not in your anger , lest you bring me to nothing .

²⁵Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not , and on the peoples that call not on your name , for they have devoured Jacob ; they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation .