Jeremiah 10 - Easy To Read Version

¹ Family of Israel, listen to the Lord!

² This is what the Lord says:

³ The customs of other people\par are worth nothing.\par Their idols are nothing but wood\par from the forest.\par Their idols are made by a worker\par with his chisel.\par

⁴ They make their idols beautiful\par with silver and gold.\par They use hammers and nails\par to fasten their idols down,\par so they will not fall over.\par

⁵ The idols of the other nations are like\par a scarecrow in a cucumber field.\par Those idols can’t walk.\par They can’t talk.\par And the people must carry them.\par So don’t be afraid of those idols.\par They can’t hurt you.\par

⁶ Lord, there is no one like you!\par You are great!\par Your name is great and powerful!\par

⁷ Every person should respect you, God.\par You are the King of all the nations.\par You deserve their respect.\par There are many wise men among the nations.\par But none of those people are as wise as you.\par

⁸ All the people of the other nations are stupid and foolish.\par Their teachings come from worthless wooden statues.\par

⁹ They use silver from the city of Tarshish\par and gold from the city of Uphaz\par and make their statues.\par Carpenters and metal-workers make those idols.\par They put blue and purple clothes on those idols.\par “Wise men” make those “gods.”\par

¹⁰ But the Lord is the only true God.\par He is the only God who is truly alive.\par He is the King that rules forever.\par The earth shakes when God is angry.\par The people of the nations can’t stop his anger.\par

¹¹ \{The Lord says,\}\par “Tell this message to those people:\par ‘Those false gods did not make\par heaven and earth.\par And those false gods will be destroyed\par and disappear from heaven and earth.’” {\cf2\super [81]} \par

¹² God is the One who used his power\par and made the earth.\par God used his wisdom and built the world.\par With his understanding,\par God stretched out the sky \{over the earth\}.\par

¹³ God causes the loud thunder,\par and he causes great floods of water to fall from the sky.\par He makes clouds rise in the sky every place on earth.\par He sends lightning with the rain.\par He brings out the wind from his storehouses.\par

¹⁴ People are so stupid!\par Metal workers are fooled by the idols\par that they themselves made.\par Those statues are nothing but lies.\par They are stupid. {\cf2\super [82]} \par

¹⁵ Those idols are worth nothing.\par They are something to make fun of.\par In the time of judgment,\par those idols will be destroyed.\par

¹⁶ But Jacob’s God {\cf2\super [83]} is not like those idols.\par God made everything.\par And Israel is the family that God chose to be his own people.\par God’s name is “Lord All-Powerful.”\par

¹⁷ Get everything you own and prepare to leave.\par You people of Judah are caught in the city,\par and the enemy is all around it.\par

¹⁸ The Lord says:\par “This time, I will throw the people of Judah out of this country.\par I will bring pain and trouble to them.\par I will do this so they will learn their lesson.” {\cf2\super [84]} \par

¹⁹ Oh, I (Jeremiah) am hurt badly.\par I am injured and I can’t be healed.\par Yet I told myself,\par “This is my sickness,\par I must suffer through it.”\par

²⁰ My tent is ruined.\par All the tent’s ropes are broken.\par My children left me.\par They are gone.\par No person is left to put up my tent.\par No person is left to fix a shelter for me.\par

²¹ The shepherds (leaders) are stupid.\par They don’t try to find the Lord.\par They are not wise,\par so their flocks (people) are scattered and lost.\par

²² Listen! A loud noise!\par The loud noise is coming from the north. {\cf2\super [85]} \par It will destroy the cities of Judah.\par Judah will become an empty desert.\par It will be a home for jackals. {\cf2\super [86]} \par

²³ Lord, I know that a person does not really own his life.\par People don’t really know the right way to live.\par

²⁴ Lord, correct us!\par But be fair!\par Don’t punish us in anger!\par

²⁵ If you are angry, then punish the other nations.\par They don’t know or respect you.\par Those people don’t worship you.\par Those nations destroyed Jacob’s family.\par They destroyed Israel completely.\par They destroyed Israel’s homeland.\par