Jeremiah

CHAPTER 10

The Folly of Idolatry.

Do not learn the ways of the nations,

and have no fear of the signs in the heavens,^*

even though the nations fear them.^a

wood cut from the forest,

Fashioned by artisans with the adze,^b

With nails and hammers they are fastened,

so they do not fall.^c

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.^d

you are great,

great and mighty is your name.^e

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.^f

the instruction from nonentities—only wood!

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.

he is the living God, the eternal King,

Before whose anger the earth quakes,

whose wrath the nations cannot endure.^g

established the world by his wisdom,

and by his skill stretched out the heavens.ⁱ

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.

every artisan is put to shame by his idol:

He has molded a fraud,

without breath of life.^j

they will perish in their time of punishment.

for he is the maker of everything!

Israel is his very own tribe,

LORD of hosts is his name.^k

Abandonment of Judah

City living under siege!

Now, at this time

I will sling away the inhabitants of the land;

I will hem them in,

that they may be taken.

my wound is beyond healing.

Yet I had thought:

if I make light of my sickness, I can bear it.

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.^l

The LORD they have not sought;

For this reason they have failed,

and all their flocks scattered.^m

a great commotion from the land of the north:

To make the cities of Judah a desolation,

the haunt of jackals.

Prayer of Jeremiah

that no one chooses their way,

Nor determines their course

nor directs their own step.

not in anger, lest you diminish me.

on the tribes that do not call your name;

For they have utterly devoured Jacob,

and laid waste his home.ⁿ

* [10:2] Signs in the heavens: phenomena in the sky, such as eclipses or comets, used to predict disasters.

* [10:11] This verse is in Aramaic.

a. [10:2] Bar 6:6.

b. [10:3] Wis 13:11; Is 44:9.

c. [10:4] Is 40:19; 41:7.

d. [10:5] Ps 115:4–8; Bar 6:15.

e. [10:6] Ps 86:8–10.

f. [10:7] Jer 5:22; Ps 47:2, 8.

g. [10:10] Ps 10:16.

h. [10:11] Ps 96:5.

i. [10:12] Ps 104:5.

j. [10:14] Rom 1:22–23.

k. [10:16] Ps 33:12; Jer 31:35.

l. [10:20] Jer 4:20.

m. [10:21] Jer 23:1; Ez 34:5–6.

n. [10:25] Ps 79:6–7.