Jeremiah 10
1 Hear ye the word of the Lord, which
he has spoken to you, O house of Israel.
2 Thus saith the Lord, Learn ye not
the ways of the heathen, and be not alarmed at the signs of the sky; for they
are alarmed at them, falling on their faces.
3 For the customs of the nations are
vain; it is a tree cut out of the forest, the work of the carpenter, or a
molten image. 4 They are beautified with silver and gold, they fix
them with hammers and nails; 5 they
will set them up that they may not move; it is wrought silver, they will not
walk, 9 it is forged silver
brought from Tharsis, gold will come from Mophaz, and
the work of goldsmiths: they are all the works of
craftsmen, they will clothe themselves with blue and scarlet.
9a They must certainly be borne, for
they cannot ride of themselves. Fear them not; for
they cannot do any evil, and there is no good in them.
11 Thus shall ye say to them, Let the
gods which have not made heaven and earth perish from off the earth, and from
under this sky. 12 It is the Lord
that made the earth by his strength, who set up the world by his wisdom, and
by his understanding stretched out the sky,
13 and set abundance of waters in the
sky, and brought up clouds from the ends of the earth; he made lightnings for
the rain, and brought forth light out of his treasures.
14 Every man is deprived of
knowledge, every goldsmith is confounded because of his graven images; for he
has cast false gods, there is no breath in them.
15 They are vain works, wrought in
mockery; in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
16 Such is not the portion of Jacob;
for he that formed all things, he is his inheritance; the Lord is his name.
17 He has gathered thy substance from
without that lodged in choice vessels.
18 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I
will overthrow the inhabitants of this land with
affliction, that thy plague may be discovered.
19 Alas for thy ruin! thy plague is
grievous: and I said, Surely this is thy wound, and it has overtaken thee.
20 Thy tabernacle is in a ruinous
state, it has perished; and all thy curtains have been torn asunder: my
children and my cattle are no more: there is no more any place for my
tabernacle, nor place for my curtains.
21 For the shepherds have become
foolish, and have not sought the Lord; therefore the whole pasture has failed,
and the sheep have been scattered.
22 Behold, there comes a sound of a
noise, and a great earthquake from the land of the north, to make the cities
of Juda a desolation, and a resting-place for ostriches.
23 I know, O Lord, that man's way is
not his own; neither shall a man go, and direct his going.
24 Chasten us, O Lord, but with
judgment; and not in wrath, lest thou make us few.
25 Pour out thy wrath upon the
nations that have not known thee, and upon the families that have not called
upon thy name: for they have devoured Jacob, and consumed him, and have made
his pasture desolate.