Jeremiah 10

CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Listen to the word that the Lord has spoken concerning you, O house of Israel.	1 Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.
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.	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 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.	3 For the cult idols of the nations are nothing, wood cut from the forest, Wrought by craftsmen with the adze,
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.	4 adorned with silver and gold. With nails and hammers they are fastened, that they may not totter.
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.”	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 O Lord, there is nothing similar to you. You are great, and your name is great in strength.	6 No one is like you, O LORD, great are you, great and mighty is your name.
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.	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 Together, they will all be proven to be unwise and foolish. The doctrine of their vanity is made of wood.	8 One and all they are dumb and senseless, these idols they teach about are wooden:
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.	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 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.	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 “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.	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 He made the earth by his power, he prepared the world in his wisdom, and he stretched out the heavens with his understanding.	12 He who made the earth by his power, established the world by his wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by his skill.
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.	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 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.	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 These things are empty, and they are a work deserving of ridicule. In the time of their visitation, they will perish.	15 Nothingness are they, a ridiculous work; they will perish in their time of punishment.
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.	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 Gather your shame from the earth, you who are living under siege.”	17 Lift your bundle and leave the land, O city living in a state of siege!
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.”	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 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.	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 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.	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 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.	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 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.	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, 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.	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, O Lord, yet truly, do so with judgment, and not in your fury. Otherwise, you will 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 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.	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.