Jeremiah 10

Revised Standard Version

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

¹² It is he who made the earth by his power,
    who established the world by his wisdom,
    and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
¹³ When he utters his voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
    and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightnings for the rain,
    and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
¹⁴ Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
    every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols;
for his images are false,
    and there is no breath in them.
¹⁵ They are worthless, a work of delusion;
    at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
¹⁶ Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,
    for he is the one who formed all things,
and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
    the Lord of hosts is his name.

¹⁹ Woe is me because of my hurt!
    My wound is grievous.
But I said, “Truly this is an affliction,
    and I must bear it.”
²⁰ My tent is destroyed,
    and all my cords are broken;
my children have gone from me,
    and they are not;
there is no one to spread my tent again,
    and to set up my curtains.
²¹ For the shepherds are stupid,
    and do not inquire of the Lord;
therefore they have not prospered,
    and all their flock is scattered.

²² Hark, a rumor! Behold, it comes!—
    a great commotion out of the north country
to make the cities of Judah a desolation,
    a lair of jackals.

²³ I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself,
    that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
²⁴ Correct me, O Lord, but in just measure;
    not in thy anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.

²⁵ Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that know thee not,
    and upon the peoples that call not on thy name;
for they have devoured Jacob;
    they have devoured him and consumed him,
    and have laid waste his habitation.