Jeremiah 10 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Idols and the Living God

Jer 10:1Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.

Jer 10:2Thus says the LORD:
“Learn not the way of the nations,
nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens
because the nations are dismayed at them,

Jer 10:3

Jer 10:3for the customs of the peoples are vanity.[fn]
A tree from the forest is cut down
and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.

Jer 10:4

Jer 10:4They decorate it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so that it cannot move.

Jer 10:5

Jer 10:5Their idols[fn] are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
and they cannot speak;
they have to be carried,
for they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
for they cannot do evil,
neither is it in them to do good.”

Jer 10:6

Jer 10:6There is none like you, O LORD;
you are great, and your name is great in might.

Jer 10:7

Jer 10:7Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?
For this is your due;
for among all the wise ones of the nations
and in all their kingdoms
there is none like you.

Jer 10:8

Jer 10:8They are both stupid and foolish;
the instruction of idols is but wood!

Jer 10:9

Jer 10:9Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,
and gold from Uphaz.
They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;
their clothing is violet and purple;
they are all the work of skilled men.

Jer 10:10

Jer 10:10But the LORD is the true God;
he is the living God and the everlasting King.
At his wrath the earth quakes,
and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

Jer 10:11

Jer 10:11Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”[fn]

Jer 10:12

Jer 10:12It is he who made the earth by his power,
who established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

Jer 10:13

Jer 10:13When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

Jer 10:14

Jer 10:14Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false,
and there is no breath in them.

Jer 10:15

Jer 10:15They are worthless, a work of delusion;
at the time of their punishment they shall perish.

Jer 10:16

Jer 10:16Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,
for he is the one who formed all things,
and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
the LORD of hosts is his name.

Jer 10:17

Jer 10:17Gather up your bundle from the ground,
O you who dwell under siege!

Jer 10:18

Jer 10:18For thus says the LORD:
“Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land
at this time,
and I will bring distress on them,
that they may feel it.”

Jer 10:19

Jer 10:19Woe is me because of my hurt!
My wound is grievous.
But I said, “Truly this is an affliction,
and I must bear it.”

Jer 10:20

Jer 10:20My tent is destroyed,
and all my cords are broken;
my children have gone from me,
and they are not;
there is no one to spread my tent again
and to set up my curtains.

Jer 10:21

Jer 10:21For the shepherds are stupid
and do not inquire of the LORD;
therefore they have not prospered,
and all their flock is scattered.

Jer 10:22

Jer 10:22A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!—
a great commotion out of the north country
to make the cities of Judah a desolation,
a lair of jackals.

Jer 10:23

Jer 10:23I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself,
that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.

Jer 10:24

Jer 10:24Correct me, O LORD, but in justice;
not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.

Jer 10:25

Jer 10:25Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not,
and on the peoples that call not on your name,
for they have devoured Jacob;
they have devoured him and consumed him,
and have laid waste his habitation.

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

ESV Footnotes

(10:3)

Or vapor, or mist

(10:5)

Hebrew They

(10:11)

This verse is in Aramaic

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.