Jeremiah 10

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Listen, House of Israel, to the word that Yahweh addresses to you. Yahweh says this:	1 Listen to the word that the Lord has spoken concerning 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: “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.
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 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.
4 then embellished with silver and gold, then fastened with hammer and nails to keep it from moving.	4 He has adorned it with silver and gold. He has put it together with nail and hammer, so that it will not fall apart.
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 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.”
6 Yahweh, there is no one like you, so great you are, so great your mighty name.	6 O Lord, there is nothing similar to you. You are great, and your name is great in strength.
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 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.
8 Al of them are brutish and stupid: the Futile Ones' teaching is but wood,	8 Together, they will all be proven to be unwise and foolish. The doctrine of their vanity is made of wood.
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 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.
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 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.
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 “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.
12 By his power he made the earth, by his wisdom set the world firm, but his discernment spread out theheavens.	12 He made the earth by his power, he prepared the world in his wisdom, and he stretched out the heavens with his understanding.
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 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.
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 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.
15 They are futile, a laughable production; when the time comes for them to be punished, they wilvanish.	15 These things are empty, and they are a work deserving of ridicule. In the time of their visitation, they will perish.
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 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.
17 Pick up your pack from the ground, you the besieged!	17 Gather your shame from the earth, you who are living under 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, 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.”
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 to me, concerning my destruction! My wound is very grievous. And yet I said: Clearly, this infirmity is mine, and I will carry 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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 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.
24 Correct me, Yahweh, but with moderation, not in your anger, or you wil reduce me to nothing.	24 Correct me, O Lord, yet truly, do so with judgment, and not in your fury. Otherwise, you will reduce me to nothing.
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 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.