Jeremiah 10 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Listen to what Yahweh has to say to you, people of
"Don't pick up the habits of the nations around you. Don't be terrified by in the sky, even though the nations are terrified by them.
The customs of these peoples are completely worthless: someone cuts down a tree from the forest, a craftsman shapes it with his chisel,
they dress it up with silver and gold, then nail it down with hammer and nails so it won't fall over.
These idols are like a in a — they can't speak, they have to be carried because they can't walk. Don't be afraid of them — they can't do you any harm, and they certainly can't do you any good."
Yahweh, there is no one like you. You are great, and your carries immense power.
Who wouldn't stand in awe of you, of the nations? You deserve it. Among all the wise people of every nation, in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.
Every last one of them is senseless and foolish, schooled by worthless wooden idols.
Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. The work of a craftsman, shaped by a metalworker's hands — dressed in blue and purple fabric. All of it made by skilled workers.
But Yahweh is the God. He is the the everlasting King. When he is angry, the earth shakes. The nations cannot endure his fury.
Tell them this: "These gods, who made neither the heavens nor the earth — they will vanish from the earth and from under the heavens."
He made the earth by his power. He set the world in place by his wisdom. He stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar. He draws up clouds from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and releases wind from his
Everyone is senseless. They know nothing. Every metalworker is humiliated by his idol, because what he pours into a mold is a fraud — there is no in it.
They are worthless — something to laugh at. When their time of judgment comes, they will be destroyed.
The as own is nothing like these. He is the who shaped everything that exists, and Israel is the people he chose as own. His name is Yahweh, of
Gather up your belongings from the ground, you who live under siege.
For this is what Yahweh says: "Watch — this time I am hurling the people of this land far away. I will bring such distress on them that they will feel it to their core."
"I am devastated! My wound is beyond healing!" But then I said, "This is my suffering, and I must bear it."
"My is destroyed, all my ropes are snapped. My children have left me — they are gone. There is no one left to pitch my tent, no one to set up my shelters."
The have lost all sense. They never sought Yahweh. That's why nothing went well for them, and their entire flock has scattered.
Listen! A message is coming — a great commotion from the to the north! It will turn the towns of Judah into a wasteland, a place where make their dens.
Yahweh, I know that no one controls their own path. No one walking through life can direct their own steps.
Correct me, Yahweh — but with not in anger. Otherwise you will reduce me to nothing.
Pour out your fury on the nations that refuse to acknowledge you, on the peoples who never call on your name. Because they have — devoured him completely and turned his homeland into a wasteland.