JEREMIAH 10 (NIV)
- Hear what the Lord says to you, O house of Israel.
- This is what the Lord says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them.
- For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
- They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter.
- Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good."
- No one is like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is mighty in power.
- Who should not revere you, O king of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.
- They are senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols.
- Hammered silver is brought them from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. What the craftsman and goldsmith have made is then dressed in blue and purple - all made by skilled workers.
- But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath.
- "Tell them this: 'These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.'"
- But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
- When the thunders, the waters in the heaven roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
- Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. His images are a fraud; they have no breath in them.
- They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish.
- He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the tribe of his inheritance - the Lord Almighty is his name.
- Gather up your belongings to leave the land, you who live under siege.
- For this is what the Lord says: "At this time I will hurl out those who live in this land; I will bring distress on them so that they may be captured."
- Woe to me because of my injury! My wound is incurable! Yet I said to myself, "This is my sickness, and I must endure it."
- My tent is destroyed; all its ropes are snapped. My sons are gone from me and are no more; no one is left now to pitch my tent or set up my shelter.
- The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of the Lord; so they do not prosper and all their flock is scattered.
- Listen! The report is coming - a great commotion from the land of the north! It will make the towns of Judah desolate, a haunt of jackals.
- I know, O Lord, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.
- Correct me, Lord, but only with justice - not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing.
- Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the peoples who do not call on your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him completely and destroyed his homeland.