Jeremiah 10
10
The Folly of Idolatry. 1Hear the word the Lord speaks to you, house of Israel. 2Thus says the Lord:
Do not learn the ways of the nations,
and have no fear of the signs in the heavens,#Signs in the heavens: phenomena in the sky, such as eclipses or comets, used to predict disasters.
even though the nations fear them.#Bar 6:6.
3For the carvings of the nations are nonentities,
wood cut from the forest,
Fashioned by artisans with the adze,#Wis 13:11; Is 44:9.
4adorned with silver and gold.
With nails and hammers they are fastened,
so they do not fall.#Is 40:19; 41:7.
5Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they,
they cannot speak;
They must be carried about,
for they cannot walk.
Do not fear them, they can do no harm,
neither can they do good.#Ps 115:4–8; Bar 6:15.
6No one is like you, Lord,
you are great,
great and mighty is your name.#Ps 86:8–10.
7Who would not fear you,
King of the nations,
for it is your due!
Among all the wisest of the nations,
and in all their domains,
there is none like you.#Jer 5:22; Ps 47:2, 8.
8One and all they are stupid and senseless,
the instruction from nonentities—only wood!
9Silver plates brought from Tarshish,
and gold from Ophir,
The work of the artisan
and the handiwork of the smelter,
Clothed with violet and purple—
all of them the work of skilled workers.
10The Lord is truly God,
he is the living God, the eternal King,
Before whose anger the earth quakes,
whose wrath the nations cannot endure.#Ps 10:16.
11Thus shall you say of them: The gods that did not make heaven and earth—let these perish from earth and from beneath heaven!#This verse is in Aramaic. #Ps 96:5.
12The one who made the earth by his power,
established the world by his wisdom,
and by his skill stretched out the heavens.#Ps 104:5.
13When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar,
and he brings up clouds from the end of the earth,
Makes lightning flash in the rain,
and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
14Everyone is too stupid to know;
every artisan is put to shame by his idol:
He has molded a fraud,
without breath of life.#Rom 1:22–23.
15They are nothing, objects of ridicule;
they will perish in their time of punishment.
16Jacob’s portion is nothing like them:
for he is the maker of everything!
Israel is his very own tribe,
Lord of hosts is his name.#Ps 33:12; Jer 31:35.
Abandonment of Judah
17Gather up your bundle from the land,
City living under siege!
18For thus says the Lord:
Now, at this time
I will sling away the inhabitants of the land;
I will hem them in,
that they may be taken.
19Woe is me! I am undone,
my wound is beyond healing.
Yet I had thought:
if I make light of my sickness, I can bear it.
20My tent is ruined,
all its cords are severed.
My children have left me, they are no more:
no one to pitch my tent,
no one to raise its curtains.#Jer 4:20.
21How stupid are the shepherds!
The Lord they have not sought;
For this reason they have failed,
and all their flocks scattered.#Jer 23:1; Ez 34:5–6.
22Listen! a rumor! here it comes,
a great commotion from the land of the north:
To make the cities of Judah a desolation,
the haunt of jackals.
Prayer of Jeremiah
23I know, Lord,
that no one chooses their way,
Nor determines their course
nor directs their own step.
24Correct me, Lord, but with equity,
not in anger, lest you diminish me.
25Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you,
on the tribes that do not call your name;
For they have utterly devoured Jacob,
and laid waste his home.#Ps 79:6–7.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
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.
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