False Gods Contrasted with the Creator

1Hear the word that the Lord has spoken toA you, house of Israel. 2This is what the Lord says:

Do not learn the way of the nationsa

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.a

It is fastened with hammer and nails,b

so it won’t totter.

5Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch,

their idols cannot speak.a

They must be carriedb because they cannot walk.

Do not fear them for they can do no harmc —

and they cannot do any good.d

6Lord, there is no one like you.a

You are great;

your name is great in power.b

7Who should not fear you,

King of the nations?a

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 Tarshisha

and gold from Uphaz.a b

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;a

he is the living Godb and eternal King.c

The earth quakes at his wrath,d

and the nations cannot endure his fury.

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

12He made the earth by his power,

established the worlda by his wisdom,b

and spread out the heavens by his understanding.c

13When he thunders,A

the waters in the heavens are in turmoil,a

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.b

14Everyone is stupid and ignorant.

Every goldsmith is put to shame

by his carved image,a

for his cast images are a lie;b

there is no breath in them.c

15They are worthless, a work to be mocked.

At the time of their punishment

they will be destroyed.a

16Jacob’s PortionA is not like these

because he is the one who formed all things.a

Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;b

the Lord of Armies is his name.c

Exile after the Siege

17Gather up your belongingsA from the ground,a

you who live under siege.

18For this is what the Lord says:

Look, I am flinging awaya

the land’s residents at this time

and bringing them such distress

that they will feel it.

Jeremiah Grieves

19Woe to me because of my brokenness —

I am severely wounded!a

I exclaimed, “This is my intense suffering,

but I must bear it.”

20My tent is destroyed;a

all my tent cords are snapped.

My sons have departed from me and are no more.

I have no one to pitch my tent again

or to hang up my curtains.

21For the shepherds are stupid:

They don’t seek the Lord.a

Therefore they have not prospered,

and their whole flock is scattered.

22Listen! A noise — it is coming —

a great commotiona from the land to the north.

The cities of Judah will be made desolate,

a jackals’ den.b

23I know, Lord,

that a person’s way of life is not his own;

no one who walks determines his own steps.a

24Discipline me, Lord, but with justice —

not in your anger,a

or you will reduce me to nothing.

25Pour out your wrath on the nations

that don’t recognize you

and on the families

that don’t call on your name,

for they have consumed Jacob;

they have consumed him and finished him off

and made his homeland desolate.a