= Jeremiah 10 * Please see [[nsv:license|License]] for Copyright notice and Licensing information. * [ [[Jeremiah_9|Previous]] | [[Jeremiah_11|Next]] ] == Jeremiah 10 1 Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: 2 Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. 5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. 6 Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. 7 Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee. 8 But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities. 9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men. 10 But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. 11 Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens. 12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion. 13 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. 14 Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. 15 They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. 16 The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The Lord of hosts is his name. 17 Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress. 18 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so. 19 Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous; but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it. 20 My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains. 21 For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the Lord: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered. 22 Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons. 23 O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. 24 O Lord, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. 25 Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate. == Notes == Cross Reference == Commentary == Rashi ==== Verse 2 Of the way of the nations you shall not learn Of the way of the nations you shall not learnand then, from the signs of the heavens you will not be dismayed, from the eclipse of the sun or the eclipse of the luminaries. ==== Verse 3 a carpenter Heb. חרש, a craftsman. a small axe Dolodojjre in O.F. ==== Verse 4 with nails clous in French. and with sledge hammers A hammer, marteau in French. it does not bend Heb. יפיק, it does not kneel with its knees. Comp. (I Sam. 25:31) “a stumbling block (פוקה)”; (Nahum 2:11) “and tottering (ופיק) of the knees.” ==== Verse 5 Like a palm tree they are beaten He hammers them with a hammer until it has an upright stature like a palm tree. fear them not if you separate from them for they will not harm you. neither is it in them to do good If you worship them. היטיב is like להיטיב to do good. ==== Verse 7 for it befits You It is proper for you. ==== Verse 8 But with one thing they are brutish i.e., the heathens, and what is that one thing? Their vanities of wood for which they will be punished, and they will be punished for it. יבערו is an expression of foolishness, so is ויכסלו. ==== Verse 9 Silver beaten into plates Heb. מרקע. ==== Verse 10 But the Lord God is true Why? Because He is a living God and the King of the world. Therefore, He can make His words come true. A mortal person, however, plans to do something and dies or becomes weak or loses his property, and has no ability to execute his plans. ==== Verse 11 So shall you say to them This is a letter that Jeremiah sent to Jeconiah and those exiled with him in exile, to reply to the Chaldees in Aramaic, a reply if they tell them to worship idols. ==== Verse 12 He stretched out Tendre in French. ==== Verse 13 At the sound of His giving At the time the sound comes that He is giving a multitude of water in the heavens. clouds Heb. נשאים, clouds. lightning plaindres in old French. ==== Verse 14 brutish Heb. נבער. Comp. (Psalms 92:7) “a brutish (בער) man”; also here (infra 10:21), “the shepherds have become brutish (נבערו).” his molten images Heb. נסכו. An expression of מסכה, a molten image. ==== Verse 15 at the time of their visitation When I will visit retribution upon them. ==== Verse 17 Gather in from the land your merchandise Heb. כנעתך. Hide, gather in from the land your merchandise. Comp. (Hos. 12:8) “The trafficker (כּנען) in his hand are deceitful scales.” Menahem explains כנעתך as an expression of humility (הכנעה) and lowliness. And אספי is an expression of bending down. Bend down and humble yourself more than the lowliness of the earth, you Jerusalem, that dwells now in a fortified city (Machbereth p. 107). ==== Verse 18 sling as one slings a stone with a slingshot. that they may find their just deserts. ==== Verse 19 grievous Heb. נחלה, an expression of sickness (חלי). and I will bear it Heb. ואשאנו. Jonathan renders. And I will bear it ([a]souffrir lui in O.F.). ==== Verse 20 have left me Heb. יצאוני, have left me, Jerusalem says this. ==== Verse 21 For the shepherds The kings. they have not prospered They have not prospered in their kingdom. Comp. (Prov. 17:8) “To all that he turns, he will prosper (ישכיל). their flocks Heb. מרעיתם, lit. their pasture, the flocks of their pasture. ==== Verse 23 man’s way is not his For the evil inclination that You created in him leads him astray from the way. Another explanation is: I know, O Lord, that man’s way is not his; not every man has the power to make his way prosper, and if it were not for Your command, the enemy would have no power to destroy Your Temple. ==== Verse 24 but with justice With chastisements. with justice (justice in French). but with justice Jonathan renders: but with mild judgment. not with Your wrath lest there be complete destruction. ==== Verse 25 they have devoured (devorerent in French). The same applies to “and consumed him” (ואכלהוּ).