The Book of Jeremiah
10: 1Hear ye the word which Jehovah speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: 10:2thus
saith Jehovah, Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs
of heaven; for the nations are dismayed at them. 10:3For the customs of the peoples
are vanity; for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the
workman with the axe. 10:4They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it
with nails and with hammers, that it move not. 10:5They are like a palm-tree, of
turned work, and speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go.
Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.
10:6There is none like unto thee, O Jehovah; thou art great, and thy name is great in
might. 10:7Who should not fear thee, O King of the nations? for to thee doth it
appertain; forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their
royal estate, there is none like unto thee. 10:8But they are together brutish and
foolish: the instruction of idols! it is but a stock. 10:9There is silver beaten into
plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the
artificer and of the hands of the goldsmith; blue and purple for their clothing; they
are all the work of skilful men. 10:10But Jehovah is the true God; he is the living
God, and an everlasting King: at his wrath the earth trembleth, and the nations are
not able to abide his indignation. 10:11Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that
have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and
from under the heavens. 10:12He hath made the earth by his power, he hath
established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding hath he stretched
out the heavens: 10:13when he uttereth his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the
heavens, and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he
maketh lightnings for the rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasuries.
10:14Every man is become brutish and is without knowledge; every goldsmith is put
to shame by his graven image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no
breath in them. 10:15They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their
visitation they shall perish. 10:16The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the
former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Jehovah of hosts is
his name. 10:17Gather up thy wares out of the land, O thou that abidest in the siege.
10:18For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at
this time, and will distress them, that they may feel it. 10:19Woe is me because of my
hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is my grief, and I must bear it.
10:20My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth
from me, and they are not: there is none to spread my tent any more, and to set up
my curtains. 10:21For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not inquired of
Jehovah: therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks are scattered.
10:22The voice of tidings, behold, it cometh, and a great commotion out of the north
country, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling-place of jackals. 10:23O
Jehovah, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that
walketh to direct his steps. 10:24O Jehovah, correct me, but in measure: not in thine
anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. 10:25Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that
know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have
devoured Jacob, yea, they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid
waste his habitation.