Jeremiah 10:1-16

1Hear the word that the Lord has spoken to you, house of Israel.

2This is what the Lord says: Do not learn the way of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, although the nations are terrified by them,

3for the customs of the peoples are worthless. Someone cuts down a tree from the forest; it is worked by the hands of a craftsman with a chisel.

4He decorates it with silver and gold. It is fastened with hammer and nails, so it won’t totter.

5Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them for they can do no harm  — and they cannot do any good.

6Lord, there is no one like you. You are great; your name is great in power.

7Who should not fear you, King of the nations? It is what you deserve. For among all the wise people of the nations and among all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.

8They are both stupid and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!

9Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. The work of a craftsman and of a goldsmith’s hands is clothed in blue and purple, all the work of skilled artisans.

10But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and eternal King. The earth quakes at his wrath, and the nations cannot endure his fury.

11You are to say this to them: “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under these heavens.”

12He made the earth by his power, established the world by his wisdom, and spread out the heavens by his understanding.

13When he thunders, the waters in the heavens are in turmoil, and he causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings the wind from his storehouses.

14Everyone is stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his carved image, for his cast images are a lie; there is no breath in them.

15They are worthless, a work to be mocked. At the time of their punishment they will be destroyed.

16Jacob’s Portion is not like these because he is the one who formed all things. Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; the Lord of Armies is his name.