Jeremiah 10

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Listen, House of Israel, to the word that Yahweh addresses to you. Yahweh says this:	1 Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.
2 'Do not learn the ways of the nations or take alarm at the heavenly signs, alarmed though the nationsmay be at them.	2 Thus says the LORD: Learn not the customs of the nations, and have no fear of the signs of the heavens, though the nations fear them.
3 Yes, the customs of the peoples are quite futile: wood, nothing more, cut out of a forest, worked with ablade by a carver's hand,	3 For the cult idols of the nations are nothing, wood cut from the forest, Wrought by craftsmen with the adze,
4 then embellished with silver and gold, then fastened with hammer and nails to keep it from moving.	4 adorned with silver and gold. With nails and hammers they are fastened, that they may not totter.
5 Like scarecrows in a melon patch, they cannot talk, they have to be carried, since they cannot walk.Have no fear of them: they can do no harm -- nor any good either!'	5 Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they, they cannot speak; They must be carried about, for they cannot walk. Fear them not, they can do no harm, neither is it in their power to do good.
6 Yahweh, there is no one like you, so great you are, so great your mighty name.	6 No one is like you, O LORD, great are you, great and mighty is your name.
7 Who would not revere you, King of nations? Yes, this is your due. Since of all the wise among thenations, and in al their kingdoms, there is not a single one like you.	7 Who would not fear you, King of the nations, for it is your due! Among all the wisest of the nations, and in all their domain, there is none like you.
8 Al of them are brutish and stupid: the Futile Ones' teaching is but wood,	8 One and all they are dumb and senseless, these idols they teach about are wooden:
9 silver leaf imported from Tarshish and gold from Ophir, the work of carver or goldsmith; then dressed up in violet and purple, all the work of skil ed men.	9 Silver strips brought from Tarshish, and gold from Ophir, The work of the craftsman and the handiwork of the smelter, Clothed with violet and purple- all of them the work of artisans.
10 But Yahweh is the true God. He is the living God, the everlasting King. The earth quakes when he iswrathful, the nations cannot endure his fury.	10 The LORD is true God, he is the living God, the eternal King, Before whose anger the earth quakes, whose wrath the nations cannot endure:
11 'Tell them this, "The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth will vanish from the earth andfrom under these heavens." '	11 Thus shall you say of them: Let the gods that did not make heaven and earth perish from the earth, and from beneath these heavens!
12 By his power he made the earth, by his wisdom set the world firm, but his discernment spread out theheavens.	12 He who made the earth by his power, established the world by his wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by his skill.
13 When he thunders there is a roaring of waters in heaven; he raises clouds from the remotest parts ofthe earth, makes the lightning flash for the downpour, and brings the wind from his storehouse.	13 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar, and he brings up clouds from the end of the earth; He makes the lightning flash in the rain, and releases stormwinds from their chambers.
14 At this al people stand stupefied, uncomprehending, every goldsmith blushes for his idols; hiscastings are but delusion, with no breath in them.	14 Every man is stupid, ignorant; every artisan is put to shame by his idol: He has molded a fraud, without breath of life.
15 They are futile, a laughable production; when the time comes for them to be punished, they wilvanish.	15 Nothingness are they, a ridiculous work; they will perish in their time of punishment.
16 The Heritage of Jacob is not like these, for he is the maker of everything, and Israel is the tribe that ishis heritage. His name is Yahweh Sabaoth.	16 Not like these is the portion of Jacob: he is the creator of all things; Israel is his very own tribe, LORD of hosts is his name.
17 Pick up your pack from the ground, you the besieged!	17 Lift your bundle and leave the land, O city living in a state of siege!
18 For Yahweh says this, 'Now I shall throw out the inhabitants of the country, this time, and bringdistress on them, so that they may find me!'	18 For thus says the LORD: Behold, this time I will sling away the inhabitants of the land; I will hem them in, that they may be taken.
19 Disaster is on me! What a wound! My injury is incurable! And I used to think, 'If this is the worst, I canbear it!'	19 Woe is me! I am undone, my wound is incurable; Yet I had thought: if I make light of my wound, I can bear it.
20 But now my tent is destroyed, al my ropes are snapped, my sons have left me and are no more; noone is left to put my tent up again or to hang the side-cloths.	20 My tent is ruined, all its cords are severed. My sons have left me, they are no more: no one to pitch my tent, no one to raise its curtains.
21 The shepherds are the ones who have been stupid: they have not searched for Yahweh. This is whythey have not prospered and why their whole flock has been dispersed.	21 Yes, the shepherds were stupid as cattle, the LORD they sought not; Therefore they had no success, and all their flocks were scattered.
22 Listen! A terrible noise! A mighty uproar from the land of the north to reduce the towns of Judah todesert, to a lair for jackals!	22 Listen! a noise! it comes closer, a great uproar from the northern land: To turn the cities of Judah into a desert haunt of jackals.
23 I know, Yahweh, no one's course is in his control, nor is it in anyone's power, as he goes his way, toguide his own steps.	23 You know, O LORD, that man is not master of his way; Man's course is not within his choice, nor is it for him to direct his step.
24 Correct me, Yahweh, but with moderation, not in your anger, or you wil reduce me to nothing.	24 Punish us, O LORD, but with equity, not in anger, lest you have us dwindle away.
25 Pour out your anger on the nations who do not acknowledge you, and on the families that do not calon your name, for they have devoured Jacob, have devoured and made an end of him and reduced his home todesolation.	25 Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not, on the tribes that call not upon your name; For they have devoured Jacob utterly, and laid waste his dwelling.