Jeremiah 10:1-5
New Living Translation
Idolatry Brings Destruction
10 Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O Israel! 2 This is what the Lord says:
“Do not act like the other nations,
who try to read their future in the stars.
Do not be afraid of their predictions,
even though other nations are terrified by them.
3 Their ways are futile and foolish.
They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol.
4 They decorate it with gold and silver
and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails
so it won’t fall over.
5 Their gods are like
helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field!
They cannot speak,
and they need to be carried because they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of such gods,
for they can neither harm you nor do you any good.”
Jeremiah 10:1-5
English Standard Version
Idols and the Living God
10 Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says the Lord:
“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.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 10:3 Or vapor, or mist
- Jeremiah 10:5 Hebrew They
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.