JeremiahChapter 10

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¹House of Israel, hear the word the LORD speaks to you. ²This is what the LORD says:
"Do not learn the ways of the nations.
Do not be terrified by signs in the sky,
even though the nations are terrified by them. ³For the customs of the peoples are worthless.
They cut down a tree from the forest.
A craftsman shapes it with a chisel. ⁴They decorate it with silver and gold.
They fasten it with hammer and nails
so it will not fall over. ⁵Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field.
They cannot speak.
They must be carried, because they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them.
They cannot do any harm,
and they cannot do any good either." ⁶No one is like you, LORD.
You are great,
and your name is great in power. ⁷Who would not fear you, King of the nations?
You deserve it.
Among all the wise men of the nations
and in all their kingdoms,
there is no one like you. ⁸But they are all without sense and foolish.
They are taught by worthless idols made of wood! ⁹Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish,
and gold from Uphaz.
A craftsman and a goldsmith make the idols.
They dress them in blue and purple cloth.
Skilled workers make them all. ¹⁰But the LORD is the true God.
He is the living God and the King who lives forever.
When he is angry, the earth shakes.
The nations cannot stand up under his anger. ¹¹So tell them this: "These gods did not make the heavens or the earth. They will perish from the earth and from under the heavens."a ¹²The LORD made the earth by his power.
He set the world in place by his wisdom.
He stretched out the heavens by his understanding. ¹³When he thunders, the waters in the sky roar.
He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain.
He brings out the wind from his storehouses. ¹⁴Every person is foolish and has no knowledge.
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols.
For the images he makes from melted metal are a lie.
There is no breath in them. ¹⁵They are worthless, something to make fun of.
When the time comes to punish them, they will perish. ¹⁶The God who belongs to Jacob is not like these.
For he is the Maker of all things.
Israel is the tribe that belongs to him.
The LORD of Hosts is his name.b ¹⁷Pick up your bags and leave the land,
you who live in a city under attack. ¹⁸For this is what the LORD says:
"Look, this time I will throw out the people who live in the land,
like stones from a sling.
I will bring trouble on them
so that they will be captured." ¹⁹How terrible for me because I am hurt!
My wound is very bad!
But I said, "This is truly my sickness,
and I must put up with it." ²⁰My tent is torn down.
All its ropes are snapped.
My children have left me and are gone.
No one is left to set up my tent
or hang my curtains. ²¹For the shepherds have no sense.
They do not seek the LORD.
So they have not done well,
and all their flock is scattered. ²²Listen! The news is coming.
There is a great noise from the land to the north.
It will make the cities of Judah a wasteland,
a home for jackals. ²³LORD, I know that a person's life is not his own.
No one who walks can direct his own steps. ²⁴Correct me, LORD, but only with justice.
Do not do it in your anger,
or you will turn me into nothing. ²⁵Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you,
and on the families that do not call on your name.
For they have eaten up Jacob.
They have swallowed him up and finished him off.
They have ruined his homeland.