A Satire on Idolatry
10 Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, house of Israel. 2 This is what the Lord says:
“(A)Do not learn the way of the nations,
And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens,
Although the nations are terrified by them;
3 For the customs of the peoples are (B)futile;
For (C)it is wood cut from the forest,
The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.
4 They (D)decorate the idol with silver and gold;
They (E)fasten it with nails and hammers
So that it will not totter.
5 They are like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
And they (F)cannot speak;
They must be (G)carried,
Because they cannot walk!
Do not fear them,
For they (H)can do no harm,
Nor can they do any good.”
6 (I)There is none like You, Lord;
You are (J)great, and Your name is great in might.
7 (K)Who would not fear You, O (L)King of the nations?
For it is Your due!
For among all the (M)wise men of the nations
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.
8 But they are altogether (N)stupid and foolish;
The instruction from idols is nothing but wood!
9 Beaten (O)silver is brought from (P)Tarshish,
And (Q)gold from Uphaz,
The work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith;
Their clothing is of violet and purple;
They are all the (R)work of skilled people.
10 But the Lord is the (S)true God;
He is the (T)living God and the (U)everlasting King.
The (V)earth quakes at His wrath,
And the nations cannot (W)endure His indignation.
11 This is what you shall say to them: “The (X)gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will (Y)perish from the earth and from under these heavens.”
12 It is (Z)He who made the earth by His power,
Who (AA)established the world by His wisdom;
And by His understanding He has (AB)stretched out the heavens.
13 When He utters His (AC)voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens,
And He makes the (AD)clouds ascend from the end of the earth;
He makes lightning for the rain,
And brings out the (AE)wind from His storehouses.
14 Every person is (AF)stupid, devoid of knowledge;
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
For his cast metal images are deceitful,
And there is no breath in them.
15 They are (AG)worthless, a work of mockery;
At the (AH)time of their punishment they will perish.
16 The (AI)Portion of Jacob is not like these;
For He is the (AJ)Maker of everything,
And (AK)Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;
The (AL)Lord of armies is His name.
17 (AM)Pick up your bundle from the ground,
You who live under siege!
18 For this is what the Lord says:
“Behold, I am (AN)slinging out the inhabitants of the land
At this time,
And I will cause them distress,
So that they may be found.”
19 (AO)Woe to me, because of my injury!
My (AP)wound is incurable.
But I said, “This certainly is a sickness,
And I (AQ)must endure it.”
20 My (AR)tent is destroyed,
And all my ropes are broken.
My (AS)sons have gone from me and are no more.
There is (AT)no one to stretch out my tent again
Or to set up my curtains.
21 For the shepherds have become stupid
And (AU)have not sought the Lord.
Therefore they have not prospered,
And (AV)all their flock is scattered.
22 The sound of a (AW)report! Behold, it is coming—
A great roar (AX)from the land of the north—
To (AY)make the cities of Judah
A desolation, a haunt of jackals.
23 I know, Lord, that (AZ)a person’s way is not in himself,
(BA)Nor is it in a person who walks to direct his steps.
24 (BB)Correct me, Lord, but with justice;
Not with Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing.
25 (BC)Pour out Your wrath on the nations that (BD)do not know You,
And on the families who (BE)do not call upon Your name;
For they have devoured Jacob;
They have (BF)devoured him and consumed him,
And have laid waste his settlement.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 10:11
- Jeremiah 10:16
- Jeremiah 10:18
- Jeremiah 10:19
- Jeremiah 10:24
- Jeremiah 10:25
Cross references
- Jeremiah 10:2 : Lev 18:3; 20:23; Deut 12:30
- Jeremiah 10:3 : Jer 14:22
- Jeremiah 10:3 : Is 44:9-20
- Jeremiah 10:4 : Is 40:19
- Jeremiah 10:4 : Is 40:20; 41:7
- Jeremiah 10:5 : Ps 115:5; Is 46:7; Jer 10:14; 1 Cor 12:2
- Jeremiah 10:5 : Ps 115:7; Is 46:1, 7
- Jeremiah 10:5 : Is 41:23, 24
- Jeremiah 10:6 : Ex 15:11; Deut 33:26; Ps 86:8, 10; Jer 10:16
- Jeremiah 10:6 : Ps 48:1; 96:4; Is 12:6; Jer 32:18
- Jeremiah 10:7 : Rev 15:4
- Jeremiah 10:7 : Ps 22:28
- Jeremiah 10:7 : Dan 2:27, 28; 1 Cor 1:19, 20
- Jeremiah 10:8 : Jer 4:22; 5:4; 10:14
- Jeremiah 10:9 : Is 40:19
- Jeremiah 10:9 : Ps 72:10; Is 23:6
- Jeremiah 10:9 : Dan 10:5
- Jeremiah 10:9 : Ps 115:4
- Jeremiah 10:10 : Is 65:16
- Jeremiah 10:10 : Jer 4:2
- Jeremiah 10:10 : Ps 10:16; 29:10
- Jeremiah 10:10 : Jer 4:24; 50:46
- Jeremiah 10:10 : Ps 76:7
- Jeremiah 10:11 : Ps 96:5
- Jeremiah 10:11 : Is 2:18; Zeph 2:11
- Jeremiah 10:12 : Gen 1:1, 6; Job 38:4-7; Ps 136:5; 148:4, 5; Jer 51:15, 19
- Jeremiah 10:12 : Ps 78:69; Is 45:18
- Jeremiah 10:12 : Job 9:8; Is 40:22
- Jeremiah 10:13 : Ps 29:3-9
- Jeremiah 10:13 : Job 36:27-29
- Jeremiah 10:13 : Ps 135:7
- Jeremiah 10:14 : Jer 10:8; 51:17, 18
- Jeremiah 10:15 : Is 41:24; Jer 8:19; 14:22
- Jeremiah 10:15 : Jer 8:12; 51:18
- Jeremiah 10:16 : Ps 16:5; 73:26; 119:57; Jer 51:19; Lam 3:24
- Jeremiah 10:16 : Is 45:7; Jer 10:12
- Jeremiah 10:16 : Deut 32:9; Ps 74:2
- Jeremiah 10:16 : Jer 31:35; 32:18
- Jeremiah 10:17 : Ezek 12:3-12
- Jeremiah 10:18 : 1 Sam 25:29
- Jeremiah 10:19 : Jer 4:31
- Jeremiah 10:19 : Jer 14:17
- Jeremiah 10:19 : Mic 7:9
- Jeremiah 10:20 : Jer 4:20; Lam 2:4
- Jeremiah 10:20 : Jer 31:15; Lam 1:5
- Jeremiah 10:20 : Is 51:18
- Jeremiah 10:21 : Jer 2:8
- Jeremiah 10:21 : Jer 23:2
- Jeremiah 10:22 : Jer 4:15
- Jeremiah 10:22 : Jer 1:14; 25:9
- Jeremiah 10:22 : Jer 9:11; 49:33
- Jeremiah 10:23 : Prov 16:1; 20:24
- Jeremiah 10:23 : Is 26:7
- Jeremiah 10:24 : Ps 6:1; 38:1
- Jeremiah 10:25 : Ps 79:6, 7; Zeph 3:8
- Jeremiah 10:25 : Job 18:21; 1 Thess 4:5; 2 Thess 1:8
- Jeremiah 10:25 : Zeph 1:6
- Jeremiah 10:25 : Jer 8:16; 50:7, 17
