10 Hear the Word of the LORD that He speaks to you, O House of Israel!

² Thus says the LORD: “Do not learn the way of the heathen, and do not be afraid of the signs of Heaven, though the heathen are afraid of such.

³ “For the customs of the people are frivolous. For one cuts a tree out of the forest (which is the work of the hands of the carpenter) with the axe,

⁴ “and another decorates it with silver and with gold. They fasten it with nails and hammers, so that it does not fall.

⁵ “They stand up, as the palm tree, but do not speak. They are carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them! For they cannot do evil, nor can they do good.”

⁶ There is no one like You, O LORD! You are great, and Your Name great in power!

⁷ Who would not fear You, O King of Nations? It befits You. For among all the wise men of the Gentiles, and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like You.

⁸ But altogether they dote and are foolish. Their wood is a doctrine of vanity.

⁹ Silver plates are brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman and the hands of the metalsmith, the blue silk and the purple their clothing. All these things are made by cunning men.

¹⁰ But the LORD, the God of Truth, He is the living God, and an everlasting King. At His anger the Earth shall tremble. And the nations cannot abide His wrath.

¹¹ “Thus shall you say to them: ‘The gods that have not made the heavens and the Earth shall perish from the Earth, and from under these heavens.

¹² ‘He has made the Earth by His power, and established the world by His wisdom, and has stretched out the heaven by His discretion.

¹³ ‘He gives, by voice, the multitude of waters in the heaven, and He causes the clouds to ascend from the ends of the Earth. He turns lightnings to rain and brings forth the wind out of His treasures.’”

¹⁴ Every man is a beast by knowledge. Every metalsmith is confounded by the molten image. For his idol is but falsehood and there is no breath in it.

¹⁵ They are vanity, the work of errors. At the time of their reckoning they shall perish.

¹⁶ The portion of Jacob is not like them. For He is the maker of all things, and Israel is the rod of His inheritance. The LORD of Hosts is His Name.

¹⁷ Gather up your wares out of the land, O you who dwells in the strong place.

¹⁸ For thus says the LORD: “Behold, at this time I will throw as with a sling the inhabitants of the land and will trouble them. And they shall find it so.”

¹⁹ Woe is me for my destruction and my grievous plague! But I thought, “Still, it is my sorrow and I will bear it.”

²⁰ My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken. My children have gone from me and are no more. There is no one to spread out my tent anymore, and to set up my curtains.

²¹ For the shepherds have become beasts and have not sought the LORD. Therefore, have they no understanding. And all the flocks of their pastures are scattered.

²² Behold, the noise of the report has come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, a den of dragons.

²³ O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself, nor is it in man to walk and to direct his steps.

²⁴ O LORD, correct me, but with judgment, not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing.

²⁵ Pour out Your wrath upon the heathen who do not know You, and upon the families that do not call on Your Name. For they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.

14 The Word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought.

² “Judah has mourned, and its gates are desolate. They have been brought to heaviness, to the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.

³ “And their nobles have sent their inferiors to the water, who came to the wells and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty. They were ashamed and confounded and covered their heads.

⁴ “For the ground was destroyed because there was no rain on the Earth. The plowmen were ashamed, covering their heads.

⁵ “Yea, the deer also calved in the field, and left it, because there was no grass.

⁶ “And the wild donkeys stood in the high places and drew in their wind like dragons. Their eyes failed because there was no grass.”

⁷ O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, deal with us according to Your Name. For our rebellions are many. We sinned against You.

⁸ O, You Hope of Israel, its Savior in the time of trouble! Why are You as a stranger in the land, as one who passes through, to tarry for a night?

⁹ Why are You as a man astonished, and as a strong man who cannot help? Yet You, O LORD, are in the midst of us. And Your Name has called upon us. Do not forsake us.

¹⁰ Thus says the LORD to this people: “Thus have they delighted in wandering. They have not refrained their feet.” Therefore, the LORD has no delight in them. He will now remember their iniquity and visit their sins.

¹¹ Then said the LORD to me, “You shall not pray to do this people good.

¹² “When they fast, I will not hear their cry. And when they offer Burnt Offering, and an oblation, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.”

¹³ Then I answered, “Ah, LORD God, behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall famine come upon you. But I will give you assured peace in this place.’”

¹⁴ Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets prophesy lies in My Name. I have not sent them, nor did I Command them, nor did I speak to them. They prophesy to you a false vision, and divination, and vanity, and deceitfulness of their own heart.”

¹⁵ Therefore thus says the LORD: “Concerning the prophets that prophesy in My Name whom I have not sent, yet they say, ‘Sword and famine shall not be in this land,’ by sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.

¹⁶ “And the people to whom these prophets prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, because of the famine and the sword, and there shall be no one to bury them and their wives and their sons and their daughters. For I will pour their wickedness upon them.

¹⁷ “Therefore, you shall say this Word to them, ‘Let my eyes drop down tears night and day without ceasing. For the virgin daughter of my people is destroyed with a great destruction, with a very grievous plague.

¹⁸ ‘For if I go into the field, behold the slain with the sword. And if I enter into the city, also behold those who are sick from hunger. Moreover, the Prophet and the priest go wandering into a land that they do not know.’”

¹⁹ Have You utterly rejected Judah? Or has Your Soul abhorred Zion? Why have You stricken us, so that we cannot be healed? We looked for peace and there is no good, and for the time of health and behold trouble.

²⁰ We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers. For we have sinned against You.

²¹ Do not abhor. For Your Name’s sake, do not cast down the throne of Your Glory. Remember. Do not break Your Covenant with us.

²² Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can give rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Is it not You, O LORD our God? Therefore, we will wait upon You. For You have made all these things.

15 Then the LORD said to me, “Even though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My affection could not be toward this people. Cast them out of My sight and let them depart.

² “And if they say to you, ‘Where shall we go?’ then tell them, ‘Thus says the LORD: ‘Such as are appointed to death, to death. And such as are for the sword, to the sword. And such as are for the famine, to the famine. And such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.’

³ “And I will appoint over them four kinds—” says the LORD, “the sword to slay and the dogs to tear in pieces and the birds of the sky and the beasts of the Earth—to devour and to destroy.

⁴ “I will also scatter them in all kingdoms of the Earth, because of Manasseh—the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah—for that which he did in Jerusalem.

⁵ “Who shall then have pity upon you, O Jerusalem? Or who shall be sorry for you? Or who shall go to pray for your peace?

⁶ “You have forsaken Me,” says the LORD, “gone backward. Therefore, I will stretch out My Hand against you, and destroy you. I am weary with pity.

⁷ “And I will scatter them with the fan in the gates of the Earth. I have wasted, destroyed My people. They would not repent from their ways.

⁸ “Their widows are increased by Me above the sand of the sea. I have brought upon them, against the assembly of the young men, a destroyer at noon. I have caused him to fall upon them and the city, suddenly and speedily.

⁹ “She who has borne seven has been made weak. Her heart has failed. The Sun has failed her while it was day. She has been confounded and ashamed. And I will deliver their residue to the sword, before their enemies,” says the LORD.

¹⁰ Woe is me, my mother, that you have borne me, a contentious man, and a man who strives with the whole Earth! I have neither lent with usury, nor have men lent to me with usury. Everyone curses me.

¹¹ The LORD said, “Surely your remnant shall have wealth. Surely I will cause your enemy to enjoin you in the time of trouble, and in the time of affliction.

¹² “Shall the iron break the iron, and the bronze, from the North?

¹³ “I will give your substance and your treasures to be plundered without payment because of all your sins within all your borders.

¹⁴ “And I will make you go with your enemies into a land that you do not know. For a fire is kindled in My anger, which shall burn you.”

¹⁵ O LORD, You know. Remember me and visit me and avenge me on my persecutors. Do not take me away in the continuance of Your anger! Know that for Your sake I have suffered rebuke.

¹⁶ Your Words were found and I ate them. And Your Word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart! For Your Name is called upon me, O LORD, God of Hosts!

¹⁷ I did not sit in the assembly of the mockers, nor did I rejoice, but sat alone, because of Your plague. For You have filled me with indignation.

¹⁸ Why is my heaviness continual and my plague desperate and cannot be healed? Are You as a liar to me, as waters that fail?

¹⁹ Therefore thus says the LORD: “If you return, then I will bring you back. And you shall stand before Me. And if you take out the precious from the vile, you shall be according to My Word. Let them return to you, but do not return to them.

²⁰ “And I will make you a strong brazen wall to this people. And they shall fight against you. But they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you, to save you, and to deliver you,” says the LORD.

²¹ “And I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked. And I will redeem you out of the hand of the tyrants.”