Jeremiah 10:1-11

English Standard Version

“Learn not the way of the nations,
    nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens
    because the nations are dismayed at them,
^3 (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.
^4 (C)They decorate it with silver and gold;
    ^(D)they fasten it with hammer and nails
    so that it cannot move.
⁵ 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.”

^6 (H)There is none like you, O Lord;
    you are great, and your name is great in might.
^7 (I)Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?
    For this is your due;
for among all the wise ones of the nations
    and in all their kingdoms
    there is none like you.
^8 (J)They are both ^(K)stupid and foolish;
    the instruction of idols is but wood!
^9 (L)Beaten silver is brought from ^(M)Tarshish,
    and gold from ^(N)Uphaz.
^(O)They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;
    their clothing is violet and purple;
    ^(P)they are all the work of skilled men.
^10 (Q)But the Lord is the true God;
    ^(R)he is the living God and the everlasting King.
At his wrath the earth quakes,
    and the nations cannot endure his indignation.