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For the carved images of the nations are powerless;
    they are nothing more than wood cut from a forest,
fashioned with a knife by craftsmen
    and embellished with silver and gold.
Then they are fastened with hammers and nails
    to prevent them from toppling.
Like scarecrows in a cucumber field
    they are unable to speak,
and they must be carried from place to place
    since they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
    for they can do no harm,
    nor do they have any power to do good.

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(A)for the customs of the peoples are vanity.[a]
(B)A tree from the forest is cut down
    and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
(C)They decorate it with silver and gold;
    (D)they fasten it with hammer and nails
    so that it cannot move.
Their idols[b] are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
    and (E)they cannot speak;
(F)they have to be carried,
    for they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
    (G)for they cannot do evil,
    neither is it in them to do good.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 10:3 Or vapor, or mist
  2. Jeremiah 10:5 Hebrew They