Idols Are Worthless
Study note
God warns Israel not to follow the practices of other nations who are frightened by signs in the sky. He describes the foolish process of making an idol: someone cuts a tree from the forest, a craftsman shapes it, then they cover it with silver and gold and nail it down so it will not fall over. These idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field. They cannot speak or walk. People have to carry them around.
1 People of Israel, listen to what the Lord has to say to you. Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
2 The Lord says, "Don't pick up the habits of other nations. Don't get frightened by strange signs in the sky, even though those other nations are terrified by them." 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 "The practices of the nations are completely worthless. Someone chops down a tree from the forest, and a craftsman carves it into shape with his tools." 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 "Then they cover it with silver and gold and nail it down so it won't tip over." They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
5 "Their idols are like scarecrows standing in a cucumber field. They can't talk. They have to be carried everywhere because they can't take a single step. Don't be afraid of them — they can't hurt you, and they can't help you either." 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.
The Lord Is the True God
Study note
In contrast to lifeless idols, the Lord is the true and living God, the eternal King. He made the earth by his power and stretched out the heavens by his wisdom. When he speaks, the waters in the heavens roar. He makes clouds rise and sends lightning with the rain. Every idol maker will be put to shame because their idols are frauds with no breath in them.
6 "Nobody is like you, Lord. You are great, and your name carries awesome power." Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
7 "Who wouldn't respect you, King of all the nations? You deserve it! Among all the smartest people on earth and in every kingdom, there is no one who compares to you." 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 "Every one of them is foolish and ignorant. What can you learn from a block of wood? Nothing worthwhile!" But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
9 "They bring hammered silver from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. A craftsman shapes the idol, and a goldsmith covers it in metal. Then they dress it up in blue and purple fabric. These are all things that skilled workers made." 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 real God. He is alive and rules forever. When he gets angry, the earth shakes. No nation can stand up to his fury." 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 "Tell them this: 'These gods, who didn't make the heavens or the earth, will vanish from the earth and from under the sky.'" 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 "God used his power to create the earth. He used his wisdom to put the world in its proper place. He used his understanding to spread out the heavens." 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 speaks with thunder, the waters in the sky roar. He pulls clouds up from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning along with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses." 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 "Everyone who worships idols is ignorant. Every metalworker should be ashamed of the idols he makes. They're fakes — there's no life in them." 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're completely worthless, something to laugh at. When God's judgment day arrives, they will be smashed." They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
16 "The God of Jacob is nothing like those idols. He is the one who created everything that exists. Israel is his special, chosen people. His name is the Lord of Heaven's Armies." 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.
Coming Exile
Study note
Jeremiah warns the people to pack their bags because they are about to be thrown out of the land. Jerusalem cries out in pain over its wounded condition. The leaders have been foolish and have not sought the Lord, so their flocks are scattered. A great commotion is coming from the north to turn the cities of Judah into an empty wasteland.
17 "Pack your bags and get ready to leave, you people who are trapped inside a city under attack." Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress.
18 The Lord says, "This time I am going to throw the people of this land far away. I will bring such trouble on them that they will feel every bit of it." 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 "My wound is terrible! My injury is very serious." But I said to myself, "This is the suffering I must go through, and I have to bear it." 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 tent is wrecked. Every rope is snapped. My children have gone away and are nowhere to be found. There is nobody left to set up my shelter or hang my curtains." 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 "The leaders are fools because they never asked the Lord for guidance. That's why they failed, and all the people they were supposed to lead have been scattered." 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 "Listen! You can hear the rumble of a great commotion coming from the north! It will turn the towns of Judah into an empty wasteland where only wild dogs roam." 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.
Jeremiah's Prayer
Study note
Jeremiah prays one of the most humble prayers in the Bible, acknowledging that human beings cannot direct their own steps. He asks God to correct him, but gently, not in anger. He asks God to pour out his fury instead on the nations that do not know him and have devoured Israel.
23 Lord, I know that people are not in charge of their own destiny. Human beings cannot direct the course of their own lives. 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 Lord, correct me, but please be fair about it. Don't punish me when you're angry, or you'll crush me into nothing. O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
25 Pour out your fury instead on the nations that refuse to know you, on the peoples who never call on your name. They are the ones who have devoured Jacob, eaten him alive, and left his homeland in ruins. 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.