Passage

Jeremiah 10.1-16

Book: Jeremiah · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Hear ye the word which Jehovah speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: 2. thus saith Jehovah, Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the nations are dismayed at them. 3. For the customs of the peoples are vanity; 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 like a palm-tree, of turned work, and speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good. 6. There is none like unto thee, O Jehovah; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. 7. Who should not fear thee, O King of the nations? for to thee doth it appertain; forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal estate, there is none like unto thee. 8. But they are together brutish and foolish: the instruction of idols! it is but a stock. 9. There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artificer and of the hands of the goldsmith; blue and purple for their clothing; they are all the work of skilful men. 10. But Jehovah is the true God; he is the living God, and an everlasting King: at his wrath the earth trembleth, and the nations are not able to abide his indignation. 11. Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens. 12. He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding hath he stretched out the heavens: 13. when he uttereth his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasuries. 14. Every man is become brutish and is without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. 15. They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. 16. The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Jehovah of hosts is his name."

"17. Gather up thy wares out of the land, O thou that abidest in the siege. 18. For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and will distress them, that they may feel it." (Jeremiah 10:1-18, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Hear the word which Yahweh speaks to you, house of Israel! 2. Yahweh says, “Don’t learn the way of the nations, and don’t be dismayed at the signs of the sky; for the nations are dismayed at them. 3. For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the ax. 4. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it not move. 5. They are like a palm tree, of turned work, and don’t speak: they must be carried, because they can’t move. Don’t be afraid of them; for they can’t do evil, neither is it in them to do good.” 6. There is no one like you, Yahweh. you are great, and your name is great in might. 7. Who should not fear you, King of the nations? For it belongs to you. Because among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal estate, there is no one like you. 8. But they are together brutish and foolish, instructed by idols! It is just wood. 9. There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artificer and of the hands of the goldsmith; Blue and purple are their clothing; they are all the work of skillful men. 10. But Yahweh is the true God; he is the living God, and an everlasting King. At his wrath, the earth trembles, and the nations are not able to withstand his indignation. 11. “You shall say this to them: ‘The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.’” 12. He has made the earth by his power. he has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens. 13. when he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for the rain, and brings the wind out of his treasuries. 14. Every man has become brutish and without knowledge; every goldsmith is disappointed by his engraved image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. 15. They are vanity, a work of delusion. In the time of their visitation they will perish. 16. The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Yahweh of Armies is his name."

"17. Gather up your wares out of the land, you who live under siege. 18. For Yahweh says, “Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and will distress them, that they may feel it.”" (Jeremiah 10:1-18, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"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. ^{customs: Heb. statutes, or, ordinances are vanity} 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. ^{to: or, it liketh thee} 8. But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities. ^{altogether: Heb. in one, or, at once} 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. ^{true: Heb. God of truth} ^{everlasting: Heb. king of eternity} 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. ^{multitude: or, noise} ^{with: or, for} 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} 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. ^{inhabitant: Heb. inhabitress} 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." (Jeremiah 10:1-18, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. Hear ye the word, O house of Israel, That Jehovah hath spoken for you. 2. Thus said Jehovah: Unto the way of the nations accustom not yourselves, And by the signs of the heavens be not affrighted, For the nations are affrighted by them. 3. For the statutes of the peoples are vanity, For a tree from a forest hath one cut, Work of the hands of an artificer, with an axe, 4. With silver and with gold they beautify it, With nails and with hammers they fix it, And it doth not stumble. 5. As a palm they [are] stiff, and they speak not, They are surely borne, for they step not, Be not afraid of them, for they do no evil, Yea, also to do good is not in them. 6. Because there is none like Thee, O Jehovah, Great [art] Thou, and great Thy name in might. 7. Who doth not fear Thee, king of the nations? For to Thee it is becoming, For among all the wise of the nations, And in all their kingdom there is none like Thee. 8. And in one they are brutish and foolish, An instruction of vanities [is] the tree itself. 9. Spread-out silver from Tarshish is brought, And gold from Uphaz, Work of an artisan, and of the hands of a refiner, Blue and purple [is] their clothing, Work of the skilful, all of them. 10. And Jehovah [is] a God of truth, He [is] a living God, and a king age-during, From His wrath shake doth the earth, And nations endure not His indignation. 11. Thus do ye say to them, The gods Who the heavens and earth have not made, They do perish from the earth, And from under these heavens. 12. The maker of the earth by His power, The establisher of the world by His wisdom, Who, by His understanding, stretched forth the heavens, 13. At the voice He giveth forth, A multitude of waters [is] in the heavens, And He causeth vapours to come up from the end of the earth, Lightnings for rain He hath made, And bringeth out wind from His treasures. 14. Brutish is every man by knowledge, Put to shame is every refiner by a graven image, For false [is] his molten image. And there is no breath in them. 15. Vanity [are] they, work of erring ones, In the time of their inspection they perish. 16. Not like these [is] the Portion of Jacob, For framer of all things [is] He, And Israel [is] the rod of His inheritance, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name."

"17. Gather from the land thy merchandise, O dweller in the bulwark, 18. For thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land at this time, And have been an adversary to them, So that they are found out." (Jeremiah 10:1-18, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.