Jeremiah 10
10
False Gods Contrasted with the Creator
1Hear the word that the Lord has spoken to#10:1 Or against you, house of Israel. 2This is what the Lord says:
Do not learn the way of the nations#Jr 2:23,36
or be terrified by signs in the heavens,
although the nations are terrified by them,
3for the customs of the peoples are worthless.
Someone cuts down a tree from the forest;
it is worked by the hands of a craftsman with a chisel.
4He decorates it with silver and gold.#Is 40:19
It is fastened with hammer and nails,#Is 41:7
so it won’t totter.
5Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch,
their idols cannot speak.#Ps 115:5; 1Co 12:2
They must be carried#Ps 115:7; Is 46:7 because they cannot walk.
Do not fear them for they can do no harm#Is 41:23–24 —
and they cannot do any good.#Is 44:9–20
6 Lord, there is no one like you.#Ex 15:11; 2Sm 7:22; 1Kg 8:23
You are great;
your name is great in power.#Ps 76:1; 86:10; Mal 1:11
7Who should not fear you,
King of the nations?#Ps 22:28; 47:7–8; Jr 8:19
It is what you deserve.
For among all the wise people of the nations
and among all their kingdoms,
there is no one like you.
8They are both stupid and foolish,
instructed by worthless idols
made of wood!
9Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish#Ezk 27:12,25; 38:13
and gold from Uphaz.#10:9 Or Ophir#Dn 10:5
The work of a craftsman
and of a goldsmith’s hands
is clothed in blue and purple,
all the work of skilled artisans.
10But the Lord is the true God;#2Ch 15:3
he is the living God#Dt 5:26; 1Sm 17:26,36; 2Kg 19:4,16 and eternal King.#Ex 15:18; Ps 10:16; 29:10
The earth quakes at his wrath,#2Sm 22:8; Ps 18:7; Is 13:13
and the nations cannot endure his fury.
11You are to say this to them: “The gods that did not make the heavens#Ps 96:5 and the earth will perish from the earth#Is 2:18 and from under these heavens.”#10:11 This is the only Aramaic v. in Jr.
12He made the earth by his power,
established the world#Jb 38:4; Ps 93:1; 96:10 by his wisdom,#Pr 3:19–20; 8:22–29
and spread out the heavens by his understanding.#Jb 9:8; Ps 104:2; Is 45:12
13When he thunders,#10:13 Lit At his giving of the voice
the waters in the heavens are in turmoil,#Jr 5:22; 31:35
and he causes the clouds to rise
from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
and brings the wind from his storehouses.#Jb 38:25–30,34–38; Ps 135:7
14Everyone is stupid and ignorant.
Every goldsmith is put to shame
by his carved image,#Is 40:18–31; 46:1–7
for his cast images are a lie;#Is 41:29
there is no breath in them.#Hab 2:19
15They are worthless, a work to be mocked.
At the time of their punishment
they will be destroyed.#Jr 8:12; 51:18
16Jacob’s Portion#10:16 = the Lord is not like these
because he is the one who formed all things.#Gn 2:7–8,19; Ps 94:9; 95:5
Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;#Dt 4:20; 32:8–9; Ps 74:2
the Lord of Armies is his name.#Jr 51:15–19
Exile after the Siege
17Gather up your belongings#10:17 Lit bundle from the ground,#Ezk 12:3
you who live under siege.
18For this is what the Lord says:
Look, I am flinging away#1Sm 25:29
the land’s residents at this time
and bringing them such distress
that they will feel it.
Jeremiah Grieves
19Woe to me because of my brokenness —
I am severely wounded!#Jr 14:17; 30:12; Nah 3:19
I exclaimed, “This is my intense suffering,
but I must bear it.”
20My tent is destroyed;#Jr 4:20
all my tent cords are snapped.
My sons have departed from me and are no more.
I have no one to pitch my tent again
or to hang up my curtains.
21For the shepherds are stupid:
They don’t seek the Lord.#2Ch 16:12; Is 9:13; 31:1
Therefore they have not prospered,
and their whole flock is scattered.
22Listen! A noise — it is coming —
a great commotion#Jr 4:29; 6:22–23 from the land to the north.
The cities of Judah will be made desolate,
a jackals’ den.#Jr 9:11
23I know, Lord,
that a person’s way of life is not his own;
no one who walks determines his own steps.#Ps 37:23; Pr 3:5–6; 16:9
24Discipline me, Lord, but with justice —
not in your anger,#Ps 6:1; 38:1
or you will reduce me to nothing.
25Pour out your wrath on the nations
that don’t recognize you
and on the families
that don’t call on your name,
for they have consumed Jacob;
they have consumed him and finished him off
and made his homeland desolate.#Ps 79:6–7
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 10: CSB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Jeremiah 10
10
The Lord and the Idols
1Family of Israel, listen to what the Lord says to you. 2This is what he says:
“Don’t live like the people from other nations.
Don’t be afraid of special signs in the sky,
even though the other nations are afraid of them.
3The customs of other people are worth nothing.
Their idols are nothing but wood from the forest.
They are made by a worker with his chisel.
4They decorate their idols with silver and gold.
With hammers and nails they fasten them down.
That keeps them from falling over.
5Their idols are like scarecrows in melon fields.
They cannot talk.
They cannot walk.
They must be carried.
Do not be afraid of those idols.
They can’t hurt you.
And they can’t help you either!”
6Lord, there is no one like you.
You are great.
Your name is great and powerful.
7Everyone should respect you, King of all nations.
You deserve their respect.
There are many wise men among the nations.
And there are wise men in all the kingdoms.
But none of them are as wise as you.
8Those wise men are stupid and foolish.
Their teachings come from worthless wooden idols.
9They use silver from Tarshish
and gold from Uphaz.
Their idols are made by craftsmen and goldsmiths.
They put blue and purple clothes on the idols.
All these things are made by skilled workers.
10But the Lord is the only true God.
He is the only living God, King forever.
The earth shakes when he is angry.
The nations cannot stand up to his anger.
11“Tell them this message: ‘These false gods did not make heaven and earth. But they will be destroyed and disappear from heaven and earth.’”
12God made the earth by his power.
He used his wisdom to build the world.
He used his understanding to stretch out the skies.
13When he thunders, the waters in the skies roar.
He makes clouds rise in the sky all over the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain.
He brings out the wind from his storehouses.
14People are so stupid and know so little.
Goldsmiths are made ashamed by their idols.
Those statues are only false gods.
They have no breath in them.
15They are worth nothing.
People make fun of them.
When they are judged, they will be destroyed.
16But God, who is Jacob’s Portion, is not like the idols.
God made everything.
And he made Israel to be his special people.
The Lord of heaven’s armies is his name.
Destruction Is Coming
17Get everything you own and prepare to leave.
You people of Judah are trapped in the city by your enemies.
18This is what the Lord says:
“At this time I will throw out the people of Judah who live in this land.
I will bring pain and trouble to them.
And they will really feel it.”
19How terrible it will be for me because of my injury.
I am injured and cannot be healed.
Yet I told myself,
“This is my sickness; I must suffer through it.”
20My tent is ruined.
All its ropes are broken.
My children have gone away and left me.
No one is left to put up my tent.
No one is left to set up a shelter for me.
21The shepherds are stupid.
They don’t ask the Lord.
So they do not have success.
Their flocks are scattered and lost.
22Listen! The news is coming.
The loud noise is coming from the north.
It will make the towns of Judah an empty desert.
They will become a home for wild dogs!
Jeremiah’s Prayer
23Lord, I know that a person’s life doesn’t really belong to him.
No one can control his own life.
24Lord, correct me, but be fair.
Don’t punish me in anger.
If you do, you will destroy me.
25Pour out your anger on other nations.
They do not know you.
They do not pray to you.
Those nations have destroyed Jacob’s family.
They have eaten him up.
They destroyed his homeland.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.