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10 The Lord Talks about Idols
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1 The Lord said:
Listen to me,
you people of Israel.
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10
  Chapter recording
List of all recordings of KJV
1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
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2 Don't follow the customs
of those nations
who become frightened
when they see
something strange
happen in the sky.
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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.
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3 Their religion is worthless!
They chop down a tree,
carve the wood into an idol,
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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.  customs...: Heb. statutes, or, ordinances are vanity
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4 cover it with silver and gold,
and then nail it down
so it won't fall over.
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4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
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5 An idol is no better
than a scarecrow.
It can't speak,
and it has to be carried,
because it can't walk.
Why worship an idol
that can't help or harm you?
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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.
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Jeremiah Praises the Lord
6 Our Lord, great and powerful,
you alone are God.
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6 Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
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7 You are King of the nations. 
Everyone should worship you.
No human anywhere on earth
is wiser than you.
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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. to...: or, it liketh thee
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8 Idols are worthless,
and anyone who worships them
is a fool!
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8 But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities. altogether: Heb. in one, or, at once
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9 Idols are made by humans.
A carver shapes the wood.
A metalworker hammers out
a covering
of gold from Uphaz
or of silver from Tarshish.
Then the idol is dressed
in blue and purple clothes.
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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.
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10 You, Lord, are the only true
and living God.
You will rule for all time.
When you are angry
the earth shakes,
and nations are destroyed.
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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. true...: Heb. God of truth everlasting...: Heb. king of eternity
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11 You told me to say
that idols did not create
the heavens and the earth,
and that you, the Lord,
will destroy every idol.
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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.
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12 With your wisdom and power
you created the earth
and spread out the heavens.
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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.
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13 The waters in the heavens roar
at your command.
You make clouds appear—
you send the winds
from your storehouse
and make lightning flash
in the rain.
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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. multitude: or, noise with: or, for
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14 People who make idols
are so stupid!
They will be disappointed,
because their false gods
are not alive.
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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. brutish in his knowledge: or, more brutish than to know
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15 Idols are merely a joke,
and when the time is right,
they will be destroyed.
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15 They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
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16 But you, Israel's God,
created all things,
and you chose Israel
to be your very own.
Your name is the Lord
All-Powerful.
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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.
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Judah Will Be Thrown from Its Land
17 I said to the people of Judah,
“Gather your things;
you are surrounded.
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17 Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress. inhabitant: Heb. inhabitress
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18 The Lord said these troubles
will lead to your capture,
and he will throw you
from this land
like a rock from a sling.” n 10.18 like a rock from a sling: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
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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.
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19 The people answered,
“We are wounded
and doomed to die.
Why did we say
we could stand the pain?
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19 Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.
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20 Our homes are destroyed;
our children are dead.
No one is left
to help us find shelter.”
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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.
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21 But I told them,
“Our leaders were stupid failures,
because they refused
to listen to the Lord.
And so we've been scattered
like sheep.
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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.
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22 “Sounds of destruction
rumble from the north
like distant thunder.
Soon our towns will be ruins
where jackals o 10.22 jackals: See the note at 9.11. live.”
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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.
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Jeremiah Prays
23 I know, Lord, that we humans
are not in control
of our own lives.
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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.
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24 Correct me, as I deserve,
but not in your anger,
or I will be dead.
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24 O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. bring...: Heb. diminish me
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25 Our enemies refuse
to admit that you are God
or to worship you.
They have wiped out our people
and left our nation
lying in ruins.
So get angry
and sweep them away!
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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.
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© 1999 American Bible Society |
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