Jeremiah 10
10
1 Listen to the word that the Lord has spoken concerning you, O house of Israel.
2 Thus says the Lord: "Do not choose to learn according to the ways of the Gentiles. And do not be willing to dread the signs of heaven, which the Gentiles fear.
3 For the laws of the people are empty. For the work of the hand of the craftsman has cut a tree from the forest with an axe.
4 He has adorned it with silver and gold. He has put it together with nail and hammer, so that it will not fall apart.
5 They have been fabricated in the likeness of a palm tree, and they will not speak. They must be carried to be moved, because they do not have the ability to walk. Therefore, do not be willing to fear them, for they can do neither evil nor good."
6 O Lord, there is nothing similar to you. You are great, and your name is great in strength.
7 Who will not fear you, O King of the nations? For honor is yours. Among all the wise of the nations, and within all their kingdoms, there is nothing similar to you.
8 Together, they will all be proven to be unwise and foolish. The doctrine of their vanity is made of wood.
9 Rolled silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. It is the work of a craftsman, and of the hand of a coppersmith. Hyacinth and purple is their clothing. All these things are the work of artists.
10 But the Lord is the true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King. Before his indignation, the earth will shake. And the Gentiles will not be able to withstand his threats.
11 "And so, you shall speak to them in this way: The gods that have not made heaven and earth, let them perish from the earth and from among those places which are under heaven.
12 He made the earth by his power, he prepared the world in his wisdom, and he stretched out the heavens with his understanding.
13 At his voice, he grants a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he lifts up the clouds from the ends of the earth. He causes the lightning with the rain, and he leads forth the wind from his storehouses.
14 Every man has become a fool concerning knowledge; every artist has been confounded by his graven image. For what he has formed is false, and there is no spirit in these things.
15 These things are empty, and they are a work deserving of ridicule. In the time of their visitation, they will perish.
16 Jacob's portion is not like their portion. For his portion is from the One who formed all things. And Israel is the staff of his inheritance. The Lord of hosts is his name.
17 Gather your shame from the earth, you who are living under siege."
18 For thus says the Lord: "Behold, in this turn, I will cast the inhabitants of the land far away. And I will afflict them no matter where they may be found."
19 Woe to me, concerning my destruction! My wound is very grievous. And yet I said: Clearly, this infirmity is mine, and I will carry it.
20 My tent has been destroyed. All my cords have been broken. My sons have gone away from me; they did not remain. There is no one to stretch out my tent any more, nor to set up my curtains.
21 For the pastors have acted foolishly, and they have not sought the Lord. Because of this, they have not understood, and all their flock has been dispersed.
22 Behold, the sound of a voice approaches, a great commotion from the land of the north: so that he may make the cities of Judah into a wilderness and into a dwelling place for serpents.
23 I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not his own. Neither is it given to man to walk and to direct his own steps.
24 Correct me, O Lord, yet truly, do so with judgment, and not in your fury. Otherwise, you will reduce me to nothing.
25 Pour out your indignation upon the nations that have not known you, and upon the provinces that have not invoked your name. For they have fed upon Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and they have utterly destroyed his honor.
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Jeremiah 10
10
1Listen to the message the Lord is sending to you, people of Israel. 2This is what the Lord says: Don't adopt the practices of other nations. Don't be terrified as they are by signs in the heavens that they interpret as predicting disaster.
3The religious beliefs of the peoples are pointless. They chop down a tree in the forest and a craftsman carves the wood with a tool to make an idol. 4They decorate it with silver and gold, and nail it down with a hammer so it won't fall over. 5Just like a scarecrow in a field of cucumbers, their idols can't speak. They have to be carried around because they can't walk. You don't have to be afraid of them because they can't hurt you—and they can't do you any good either.
6There's no one like you, Lord! You are so great! You are incredibly powerful! 7Everyone should respect you, King of the nations. This is how you should be treated. There's no one like you among all the wise men of every nation and kingdom. 8Yet these “wise men” are completely foolish and stupid, because they think they can be taught by useless idols made of wood!
9Sheets of hammered silver are shipped in from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, to be used by craftsmen and metal-workers. These idols are dressed in clothes of blue and purple made by experts.
10But the Lord is the only true God. He is the living God and eternal King. The earth shakes when he is angry; the nations can't withstand his fury.
11This is what you are to tell the nations: “These gods, who didn't make either the heavens or the earth, will be wiped out from this earth and from under these heavens.”#10:11. This verse which is addressed to foreign nations is written in Aramaic, the common language of the time.
12It was God who made the earth by his power. He created the world by his wisdom and by his understanding he put the heavens in place. 13The waters of the heavens rain down with a roar at his command. He makes the clouds to rise all over the earth. He makes lightning to accompany rain, and sends the wind from his storehouses.
14Everyone is stupid; they don't know anything. Every metalworker is embarrassed by the idols they make. For their images made of molten metal are fraudulent—they're not alive! 15They are useless, an object to be laughed at. They will be destroyed at the time of their punishment.
16The God of Jacob is not like these idols, for he is the Creator of everything, and Israel is the tribe that belongs to him. The Lord Almighty is his name.
17You people living in Jerusalem#10:17. “People living in Jerusalem”: supplied for clarity. under siege, get all your things together ready to leave, 18because this is what the Lord says: Look! Right now I'm about to throw out the people living in this country, bringing them trouble they will really feel.#10:18. The meaning of the Hebrew of this last clause is uncertain.
19The people of Jerusalem responded,#10:19. “The people of Jerusalem responded”: supplied for clarity. “We're suffering terribly because we've been badly hurt—our injuries are really serious. We thought it wouldn't be that bad and that we could bear it. 20Our tents#10:20. “Tents” are symbolic of the houses in Jerusalem. have been destroyed; all our ropes have been broken. Our children have been taken from us and are no more. We don't have anyone left to put up our tents or hang our curtains.”
21The “shepherds”#10:21. “Shepherds”: referring to the nation's leaders. have become stupid—they don't ask the Lord for advice. That's why they have failed, and all their flock has been scattered.
22Listen to the news that a noisy army is invading from a country to the north. The towns of Judah will be knocked down, they will be places where only jackals live.
23I#10:23. Jeremiah is speaking. realize, Lord, that people don't control their own lives—no one really knows how to choose their way. 24Please discipline me fairly, Lord—not while you're angry, otherwise you'll kill me! 25Pour out your fury on the nations that don't recognize you as God, and on their families that don't worship you. For they have completely destroyed the Israelites, wiping us out. They have devastated our country.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com