The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 10 Idols and the Lord

 The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 10

Idols and the Lord

1 Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.

2 Thus says the Lord: Do not learn the way of the nations, nor be dismayed by the signs of the heavens, for the nations are dismayed by them.

3 For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for they cut down a tree from the forest, the work of the hands of the craftsman with an axe.

4 They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers so that it will not topple.

5 They are like a palm tree, a carved work, but they cannot speak; they must be carried, because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do harm, nor can they do good.

6 There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is great in might.

7 Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this belongs only to you; for among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.

8 But they have all become brutish and foolish; the teaching of worthless idols is wood.

9 They bring silver from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman and the hands of the goldsmith; they make their garments of blue and purple; they are all the work of wise men.

10 But the Lord God is the truth; he is the living God and the eternal King; at his wrath the earth trembles, and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

11 Thus you shall say to them: The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.

12 He made the earth by his power; he established the world by his wisdom; and by his understanding he stretched out the heavens.

13 When he utters his voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens, and the vapors ascend from the ends of the earth; he makes lightning for the rain, and brings forth the wind from his treasuries.

14 Every man is brutish and without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols; for his molten images are false, and there is no breath in them.

15 They are worthless, a work of deceit; in the time of their punishment they shall perish.

16 Jacob’s portion is not like these, for he is the maker of all things, and Israel is the rod of his inheritance; the Lord of hosts is his name.

17 Gather your merchandise from the land, you who inhabit the stronghold.

18 For thus says the Lord: Behold, this time I will hurl away the inhabitants of the land as with a sling, and I will distress them, that they may feel it, saying:

19 Woe is me, because of my brokenness! My wound causes me great pain; and I had said: Surely this is an illness that I can endure.

20 My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken; my children have gone from me, and are no more; there is no one left to pitch my tent or to raise my curtains.

21 For the shepherds have become brutish, and have not sought the Lord; therefore they have not prospered, and all their livestock are scattered.

22 Behold, a voice of fame comes, a great tumult from the land of the north, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling place for dragons.

23 I know, O Lord, that a person’s life is not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps.

24 Correct me, O Lord, but only in moderation, not in your anger, or you will reduce me to nothing.

25 Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the generations that do not call on your name; for they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him and consumed him, and laid waste his dwelling place.