The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah

⭑ Catholic Public Domain :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 10 -

Listen to the word that the Lord has spoken concerning you, O house of Israel.

Thus says the Lord: “Do not choose to learn according to the ways of the Gentiles. And do not be willing to dread the signs of heaven, which the Gentiles fear.(a)

For the laws of the people are empty. For the work of the hand of the craftsman has cut a tree from the forest with an axe.

He has adorned it with silver and gold. He has put it together with nail and hammer, so that it will not fall apart.

They have been fabricated in the likeness of a palm tree, and they will not speak. They must be carried to be moved, because they do not have the ability to walk. Therefore, do not be willing to fear them, for they can do neither evil nor good.”

O Lord, there is nothing similar to you. You are great, and your name is great in strength.

Who will not fear you, O King of the nations? For honor is yours. Among all the wise of the nations, and within all their kingdoms, there is nothing similar to you.

Together, they will all be proven to be unwise and foolish. The doctrine of their vanity is made of wood.

Rolled silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. It is the work of a craftsman, and of the hand of a coppersmith. Hyacinth and purple is their clothing. All these things are the work of artists.

But the Lord is the true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King. Before his indignation, the earth will shake. And the Gentiles will not be able to withstand his threats.

“And so, you shall speak to them in this way: The gods that have not made heaven and earth, let them perish from the earth and from among those places which are under heaven.

He made the earth by his power, he prepared the world in his wisdom, and he stretched out the heavens with his understanding.

At his voice, he grants a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he lifts up the clouds from the ends of the earth. He causes the lightning with the rain, and he leads forth the wind from his storehouses.

Every man has become a fool concerning knowledge; every artist has been confounded by his graven image. For what he has formed is false, and there is no spirit in these things.

These things are empty, and they are a work deserving of ridicule. In the time of their visitation, they will perish.

Jacob’s portion is not like their portion. For his portion is from the One who formed all things. And Israel is the staff of his inheritance. The Lord of hosts is his name.

The Coming Captivity of Judah

Gather your shame from the earth, you who are living under siege.”

For thus says the Lord: “Behold, in this turn, I will cast the inhabitants of the land far away. And I will afflict them no matter where they may be found.”

Woe to me, concerning my destruction! My wound is very grievous. And yet I said: Clearly, this infirmity is mine, and I will carry it.

My tent has been destroyed. All my cords have been broken. My sons have gone away from me; they did not remain. There is no one to stretch out my tent any more, nor to set up my curtains.

For the pastors have acted foolishly, and they have not sought the Lord. Because of this, they have not understood, and all their flock has been dispersed.

Behold, the sound of a voice approaches, a great commotion from the land of the north: so that he may make the cities of Judah into a wilderness and into a dwelling place for serpents.

I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not his own. Neither is it given to man to walk and to direct his own steps.(b)

Correct me, O Lord, yet truly, do so with judgment, and not in your fury. Otherwise, you will reduce me to nothing.

Pour out your indignation upon the nations that have not known you, and upon the provinces that have not invoked your name. For they have fed upon Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and they have utterly destroyed his honor.

Footnotes

(a)10:2 In a Christian interpretation of the Old Testament, Gentiles refers to non-believers, not merely to non-Jews.(Conte)

(b)10:23 The way of a man is not his:The meaning is, that notwithstanding man’s free will, yet he can do no good without God’s help, nor evil without his permission. So that, in the present case, all the evils which Nabuchodonosor was about to bring upon Jerusalem, could not have come but by the will of God.(Challoner)

Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, house of Israel!

The LORD says, “Don’t learn the way of the nations, and don’t be dismayed at the signs of the sky; for the nations are dismayed at them.

For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the ax.

They deck it with silver and with gold. They fasten it with nails and with hammers, so that it can’t move.

They are like a palm tree, of turned work, and don’t speak. They must be carried, because they can’t move. Don’t be afraid of them; for they can’t do evil, neither is it in them to do good.”

There is no one like you, LORD. You are great, and your name is great in might.

Who shouldn’t fear you, King of the nations? For it belongs to you. Because among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal estate, there is no one like you.

But they are together brutish and foolish, instructed by idols! It is just wood.

There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the engraver and of the hands of the goldsmith. Their clothing is blue and purple. They are all the work of skillful men.

But the LORD is the true God. He is the living God, and an everlasting King. At his wrath, the earth trembles. The nations aren’t able to withstand his indignation.

“You shall say this to them: ‘The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.’”

God has made the earth by his power. He has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens.

When he utters his voice, the waters in the heavens roar, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for the rain, and brings the wind out of his treasuries.

Every man has become brutish and without knowledge. Every goldsmith is disappointed by his engraved image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

They are vanity, a work of delusion. In the time of their visitation they will perish.

The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the maker of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance. The LORD of Armies is his name.

The Coming Captivity of Judah

Gather up your wares out of the land, you who live under siege.

For the LORD says, “Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and will distress them, that they may feel it.”

Woe is me because of my injury! My wound is serious; but I said, “Truly this is my grief, and I must bear it.”

My tent has been destroyed, and all my cords are broken. My children have gone away from me, and they are no more. There is no one to spread my tent any more, to set up my curtains.

For the shepherds have become brutish, and have not inquired of the LORD. Therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks have scattered.

The voice of news, behold, it comes, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling place of jackals.

LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man who walks to direct his steps.

LORD, correct me, but gently; not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing.

Pour out your wrath on the nations that don’t know you, and on the families that don’t call on your name; for they have devoured Jacob. Yes, they have devoured him, consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.