Part 503 (1/2)
Jeremias Chapter 10
Neither stars nor idols are to be feared, but the great Creator of all things. The chastis.e.m.e.nt of Jerusalem for her sins.
10:1. Hear ye the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning you, O house of Israel.
10:2. Thus saith the Lord: Learn not according to the ways of the Gentiles: and be not afraid of the signs of heaven, which the heathens fear:
10:3. For the laws of the people are vain: for the works of the hand of the workman hath cut a tree out of the forest with an axe.
10:4. He hath decked it with silver and gold: he hath put it together with nails and hammers, that it may not fall asunder.
10:5. They are framed after the likeness of a palm tree, and shall not speak: they must be carried to be removed, because they cannot go.
Therefore fear them not, for they can neither do evil nor good.
10:6. There is none like to thee, O Lord: thou art great, and great is thy name in might.
10:7. Who shall not fear thee, O king of nations? for thine is the glory: among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms there is none like unto thee.
10:8. They shall be all proved together to be senseless and foolish: the doctrine of their vanity is wood.
10:9. Silver spread into plates is brought from Tharsis, and gold from Ophaz: the work of the artificer, and of the hand of the coppersmith: violet and purple is their clothing: all these things are the work of artificers.
10:10. But the Lord is the true G.o.d: he is the living G.o.d, and the everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his threatening.
10:11. Thus then shall you say to them: The G.o.ds that have not made heaven and earth, let them perish from the earth, and from among those places that are under heaven.
10:12. He that maketh the earth by his power, that prepareth the world by his wisdom, and stretcheth out the heavens by his knowledge.
10:13. At his voice he giveth a mult.i.tude of waters in the heaven, and lifteth up the clouds from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings for rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
10:14. Every man is become a fool for knowledge, every artist is confounded in his graven idol: for what he hath cast is false, and there is no spirit in them.
10:15. They are vain things, and a ridiculous work: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
10:16. The portion of Jacob is not like these: for it is he who formed all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his name.
10:17. Gather up thy shame out of the land, thou that dwellest in a siege.
10:18. For thus saith he Lord: Behold I will cast away far off the inhabitants of the land at this time: and I will afflict them, so that they may be found.
10:19. Woe is me for my destruction, my wound is very grievous. But I said: Truly this is my own evil, and I will bear it.
10:20. My tabernacle is laid waste, all my cords are broken: my children are gone out from me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
10:21. Because the pastors have done foolishly, and have not sought the Lord: therefore have they not understood, and all their flock is scattered.
10:22. Behold the sound of a noise cometh, a great commotion out of the land of the north: to make the cities of Juda a desert, and a dwelling for dragons.
10:23. I know, O Lord, that the way of a man is not his: neither is it in a man to walk, and to direct his steps.