Jeremiah 10:1-5

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

10 Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.

² Thus says the Lord: Learn not the way of the [heathen] nations and be not dismayed at the signs of the heavens, though they are dismayed at them,

³ For the customs and ordinances of the peoples are false, empty, and futile; it is but a tree which one cuts out of the forest [to make for himself a god], the work of the hands of the craftsman with the ax or other tool.

⁴ They deck [the idol] with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers so it will not fall apart or move around.

⁵ [Their idols] are like pillars of turned work [as upright and stationary and immobile as a palm tree], like scarecrows in a cucumber field; they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it possible for them to do good [and it is not in them].