Jeremiah 10
10
False Gods Contrasted with the Creator
1Hear the word that the Lord has spoken to # 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
6Yahweh, 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 # Or Ophir # Dn 10:5
from the hands of a goldsmith,
the work of a craftsman.
Their clothing is blue and purple,
all the work of skilled artisans.
10But Yahweh 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 rage.
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.” # This is the only Aram 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, # 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 # = 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
Yahweh of Hosts is His name. # Jr 51:15-19
Exile After the Siege
17Gather up your belongings # Lit bundle from the ground, # Ezk 12:3
you who live under siege.
18For this is what the Lord says:
Look, I am slinging out # 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 man’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: HCSB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 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.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
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.