Jeremiah 10

New American Standard Bible

A Satire on Idolatry

10 Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, house of Israel. ²This is what the Lord says:

“^(A)Do not learn the way of the nations,
And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens,
Although the nations are terrified by them;
³For the customs of the peoples are ^(B)futile;
For ^(C)it is wood cut from the forest,
The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.
⁴They ^(D)decorate the idol with silver and gold;
They ^(E)fasten it with nails and hammers
So that it will not totter.
⁵They are like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
And they ^(F)cannot speak;
They must be ^(G)carried,
Because they cannot walk!
Do not fear them,
For they ^(H)can do no harm,
Nor can they do any good.”

⁶^(I)There is none like You, Lord;
You are ^(J)great, and Your name is great in might.
⁷^(K)Who would not fear You, O ^(L)King of the nations?
For it is Your due!
For among all the ^(M)wise men of the nations
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.
⁸But they are altogether ^(N)stupid and foolish;
The instruction from idols is nothing but wood!
⁹Beaten ^(O)silver is brought from ^(P)Tarshish,
And ^(Q)gold from Uphaz,
The work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith;
Their clothing is of violet and purple;
They are all the ^(R)work of skilled people.
¹⁰But the Lord is the ^(S)true God;
He is the ^(T)living God and the ^(U)everlasting King.
The ^(V)earth quakes at His wrath,
And the nations cannot ^(W)endure His indignation.

¹¹^[a]This is what you shall say to them: “The ^(X)gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will ^(Y)perish from the earth and from under these heavens.”

¹²It is ^(Z)He who made the earth by His power,
Who ^(AA)established the world by His wisdom;
And by His understanding He has ^(AB)stretched out the heavens.
¹³When He utters His ^(AC)voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens,
And He makes the ^(AD)clouds ascend from the end of the earth;
He makes lightning for the rain,
And brings out the ^(AE)wind from His storehouses.
¹⁴Every person is ^(AF)stupid, devoid of knowledge;
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
For his cast metal images are deceitful,
And there is no breath in them.
¹⁵They are ^(AG)worthless, a work of mockery;
At the ^(AH)time of their punishment they will perish.
¹⁶The ^(AI)Portion of Jacob is not like these;
For He is the ^[b]^(AJ)Maker of everything,
And ^(AK)Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;
The ^(AL)Lord of armies is His name.

¹⁷^(AM)Pick up your bundle from the ground,
You who live under siege!
¹⁸For this is what the Lord says:
“Behold, I am ^(AN)slinging out the inhabitants of the land
At this time,
And I will cause them distress,
So that they may ^[c]be found.”

¹⁹^(AO)Woe to me, because of my ^[d]injury!
My ^(AP)wound is incurable.
But I said, “This certainly is a sickness,
And I ^(AQ)must endure it.”
²⁰My ^(AR)tent is destroyed,
And all my ropes are broken.
My ^(AS)sons have gone from me and are no more.
There is ^(AT)no one to stretch out my tent again
Or to set up my curtains.
²¹For the shepherds have become stupid
And ^(AU)have not sought the Lord.
Therefore they have not prospered,
And ^(AV)all their flock is scattered.
²²The sound of a ^(AW)report! Behold, it is coming—
A great roar ^(AX)from the land of the north—
To ^(AY)make the cities of Judah
A desolation, a haunt of jackals.

²³I know, Lord, that ^(AZ)a person’s way is not in himself,
^(BA)Nor is it in a person who walks to direct his steps.
²⁴^(BB)Correct me, Lord, but with justice;
Not with Your anger, or You will ^[e]bring me to nothing.
²⁵^(BC)Pour out Your wrath on the nations that ^(BD)do not know You,
And on the families who ^(BE)do not call upon Your name;
For they have devoured Jacob;
They have ^(BF)devoured him and consumed him,
And have laid waste his ^[f]settlement.