Jeremiah 10:1-16

God and Idols 1Hear what the LORD says to you, people of Israel.

2This is what the LORD says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified by them.

3For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.

4They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter.

5Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.”

6No one is like you, LORD ; you are great, and your name is mighty in power.

7Who should not fear you, King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise leaders of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.

8They are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols.

9Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. What the craftsman and goldsmith have made is then dressed in blue and purple— all made by skilled workers.

10But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath.

11“Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’ ” The text of this verse is in Aramaic.

12But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

13When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

14Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them.

15They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish.

16He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the people of his inheritance— the LORD Almighty is his name.