Jeremiah 10

English Standard Version

“Learn not the way of the nations,
    nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens
    because the nations are dismayed at them,
^3 (A)for the customs of the peoples are vanity.^[a]
(B)A tree from the forest is cut down
    and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
^4 (C)They decorate it with silver and gold;
    ^(D)they fasten it with hammer and nails
    so that it cannot move.
⁵ Their idols^[b] are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
    and ^(E)they cannot speak;
^(F)they have to be carried,
    for they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
    ^(G)for they cannot do evil,
    neither is it in them to do good.”

^6 (H)There is none like you, O Lord;
    you are great, and your name is great in might.
^7 (I)Who 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.
^8 (J)They are both ^(K)stupid and foolish;
    the instruction of idols is but wood!
^9 (L)Beaten silver is brought from ^(M)Tarshish,
    and gold from ^(N)Uphaz.
^(O)They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;
    their clothing is violet and purple;
    ^(P)they are all the work of skilled men.
^10 (Q)But the Lord is the true God;
    ^(R)he is the living God and the everlasting King.
At his wrath the earth quakes,
    and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

^12 (U)It is he who ^(V)made the earth by his power,
    ^(W)who established the world by his wisdom,
    and ^(X)by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
^13 (Y)When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
    ^(Z)and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
^(AA)He makes lightning ^(AB)for the rain,
    ^(AC)and he brings forth the wind ^(AD)from his storehouses.
^14 (AE)Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
    ^(AF)every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false,
    ^(AG)and there is no breath in them.
¹⁵ They are worthless, a work of delusion;
    at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
¹⁶ Not like these is he who is ^(AH)the portion of Jacob,
    for he is the one who formed all things,
^(AI)and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
    ^(AJ)the Lord of hosts is his name.

^17 (AK)Gather up your bundle from the ground,
    O you who dwell under siege!
¹⁸ For thus says the Lord:
^(AL)“Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land
    at this time,
^(AM)and I will bring distress on them,
    that they may feel it.”

¹⁹ Woe is me because of my hurt!
    ^(AN)My wound is grievous.
But I said, “Truly this is an affliction,
    and I must bear it.”
^20 (AO)My tent is destroyed,
    and all my cords are broken;
my children have gone from me,
    ^(AP)and they are not;
there is no one to spread my tent again
    and ^(AQ)to set up my curtains.
^21 (AR)For the shepherds ^(AS)are stupid
    and do not inquire of the Lord;
therefore they have not prospered,
    ^(AT)and all their flock is scattered.

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

^23 (AX)I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself,
    that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
^24 (AY)Correct me, O Lord, but in justice;
    not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.

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