Jeremiah 10

1Hear the word that Yahweh has spoken to you, house of Israel.

2Thus says Yahweh: Do not learn the practices of the nations, and do not be terrified at the signs of the heavens, for the nations are terrified at them.

3For the customs of the nations are futile, for one hews a tree from the forest—the handiwork of a craftsman's hands with the axe.

4They adorn it with silver and gold; they secure it with nails and hammers, so that it does not totter.

5They resemble a turned palm tree but do not speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they cannot harm, nor is there power in them to do good.

6No one is like you, Yahweh; you are great, and your name is great in might.

7Who does not fear you, king of the nations? For it befits you alone, because among all the wise of the nations and in all their kingdoms, none compares to you.

8Altogether they are brutish and foolish; the discipline of vanities is wood.

9Silver beaten from Tarshish is brought, and gold from Uphaz—the craft of the artisan and the hands of the goldsmith; blue and purple clothe them; all are the work of the wise.

10Yahweh is a faithful God; he is the living God and eternal king—from his wrath the earth quakes, and nations cannot endure his indignation.

11Say to them thus: The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.

12He formed the earth by his power, founded the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding spread out the heavens.

13When he raises his voice, waters roar in the heavens, and he brings clouds up from the earth's borders; he makes lightnings for the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses.

14Every human is brutish, lacking knowledge; every founder stands ashamed before his carved image, for his molten image is a lie, and no breath is in them.

15They are utter vanities, the products of delusion; they will perish when the time of their reckoning arrives.

16Jacob's portion is not like these, for he fashions all things; Israel is the tribe of his inheritance—Yahweh of Hosts is his name.

17Gather your wares from the land, dweller in the fortress.

18For this is what Yahweh says: “Look, I will hurl the land’s inhabitants away at this moment and afflict them so they may find it.”

19Woe to me because of my affliction! Grief is my wound, but I said, "Surely this is grief, and I will bear it."

20My tent lies ruined, and all my cords have snapped; my children have gone from me, and they are no more—there is none left to stretch it again or to raise my curtains.

21For the shepherds have become senseless and have not sought Yahweh; therefore they have not succeeded, and all their flocks are scattered.

22Behold, the sound of a report comes—a great commotion from the land of the north to make Judah's cities a desolation, a lair for jackals.

23I know, Yahweh, that man's way does not belong to him and no one walking can order his steps.

24Yahweh, discipline me, but with justice—not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing.

25Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the families that do not call on your name, for they have devoured Jacob, devoured him and consumed him, and devastated his dwelling.