Jeremiah 10
10
1Listen to the message that the Lord has spoken to you, nation of Israel. 2This is what the Lord says:
Don’t learn the practices of the nations.
Don’t be frightened by the signs in the sky
because the nations are frightened by them.
3The religion of the people is worthless.
Woodcutters cut down trees from the forest.
The hands of craftsmen prepare them with axes.
4Craftsmen decorate them with silver and gold
and fasten them ⌞together⌟ with hammers and nails
so that they won’t fall over.
5These trees are like scarecrows in cucumber gardens.
They aren’t able to speak.
They have to be carried, because they can’t walk.
Don’t be afraid of them.
They can’t harm you.
They can’t do you any good either.
6No one is like you, O Lord.
You are great.
Your name is powerful.
7Everyone fears you, O King of the Nations.
This is what you deserve.
No one is like you among all the wise people in the nations
or in all their kingdoms.
8They are complete idiots.
They learn nonsense from wooden idols.
9Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz.
Craftsmen and goldsmiths shape these metals.
The clothing for the idols is blue and purple,
all made by skilled workers.
10But the Lord is the only God.
He is the living God and eternal king.
The earth trembles when he is angry.
The nations can’t endure his fury.
11Tell them this: These gods will disappear from the earth
and from under heaven because they didn’t make heaven and earth.
12The Lord made the earth by his power.
He set up the world by his skill.
He stretched out the world by his understanding.
13He speaks, and the water in the sky produces a storm.
He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning flash with the rain.
He brings wind out of his storehouses.
14Everyone is stupid and ignorant.
Metalsmiths are put to shame by their idols.
Their statues are false ⌞gods⌟.
They can’t breathe.
15They are worthless jokes.
When they are punished, they disappear.
16Jacob’s God isn’t like them.
He made everything,
and Israel is the tribe that belongs to him.
His name is the Lord of Armies.
17Pick up your bags. You are being blockaded.
18This is what the Lord says:
I am going to throw out those who live in the land at this time
and cause trouble for them so that they will feel it.
19Oh, I’m wounded!
My wound is serious.
Then I thought that this is my punishment, and I will bear it.
20My tent is destroyed, and all my ropes are broken.
My children have left me and have disappeared.
There’s no one to set up my tent again
or put up my tent curtains.
21The shepherds are foolish.
They don’t look to the Lord for help.
That is why they won’t succeed,
and all their flocks will be scattered.
22The report has arrived.
A tremendous uproar is coming from the land of the north.
Its army will destroy Judah’s cities
and make them homes for jackals.
23O Lord, I know that the way humans act is not under their control.
Humans do not direct their steps as they walk.
24Correct me, O Lord, but please be fair.
Don’t correct me when you’re angry.
Otherwise, you’ll reduce me to nothing.
25Pour out your fury on the nations who don’t know you
and on people who don’t worship you.
They have devoured the descendants of Jacob.
They have devoured them completely.
They have destroyed their homes.
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Jeremiah 10: GW
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 10
10
Idolatry and True Worship
1People of Israel, listen to the message that the LORD has for you. 2He says,
“Do not follow the ways of other nations;
do not be disturbed by unusual sights in the sky,
even though other nations are terrified.
3The religion of these people is worthless.
A tree is cut down in the forest;
it is carved by the tools of the woodcarver,
4and decorated with silver and gold.
It is fastened down with nails
to keep it from falling over.
5Such idols are like scarecrows in a field of melons;
they cannot speak;
they have to be carried
because they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them:
they can cause you no harm,
and they can do you no good.”
6 LORD, there is no one like you;
you are mighty,
and your name is great and powerful.
7 #
Rev 15.4
Who would not honour you, the king of all nations?
You deserve to be honoured.
There is no one like you
among all the wise men of the nations
or among any of their kings.
8All of them are stupid and foolish.
What can they learn from wooden idols?#10.8 What can… idols?; or What their idols teach is worthless.
9Their idols are covered with silver from Spain
and with gold from Uphaz,
all the work of artists;
they are dressed in violet and purple cloth
woven by skilled weavers.
10But you, LORD, are the true God,
you are the living God
and the eternal king.
When you are angry, the world trembles;
the nations cannot endure your anger.
11(You people must tell them that the gods who did not make the earth and the sky will be destroyed. They will no longer exist anywhere on earth.)
A Hymn of Praise to God
12The LORD made the earth by his power;
by his wisdom he created the world
and stretched out the heavens.
13At his command the waters above the sky#10.13 waters above the sky: See Gen 1.6–8. roar;
he brings clouds from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning flash in the rain
and sends the wind from his storeroom.
14At the sight of this, people feel stupid and senseless;
those who make idols are disillusioned,
because the gods they make are false and lifeless.
15They are worthless and should be despised;
they will be destroyed when the LORD comes to deal with them.
16The God of Jacob is not like them;
he is the one who made everything,
and he has chosen Israel to be his very own people.
The LORD Almighty is his name.
The Coming Exile
17People of Jerusalem, you are under siege! Gather up your belongings. 18The LORD is going to throw you out of this land; he is going to crush you until not one of you is left. The LORD has spoken.
19The people of Jerusalem cried out,
“How badly we are hurt!
Our wounds will not heal.
And we thought this was something we could endure!
20Our tents are ruined;
the ropes that held them have broken.
Our children have all gone away;
there is no one left to put up our tents again;
there is no one to hang their curtains.”
21I answered, “Our leaders are stupid;
they do not ask the LORD for guidance.
This is why they have failed,
and our people have been scattered.
22Listen! News has come!
There is a great commotion in a nation to the north;
its army will turn the cities of Judah into a desert,
a place where jackals live.”
23 LORD, I know that no one is the master of his own destiny;
no person has control over his own life.
24Correct your people, LORD;
but do not be too hard on us
or punish us when you are angry;
that would be the end of us.
25Turn your anger on the nations that do not worship you
and on the people who reject you.
They have killed your people;
they have destroyed us completely
and left our country in ruins.
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.