Dead Idols, the Living Father
Idols are set beside the living Father: wood cut and nailed upright so it will not fall, carried because it cannot walk. He made the earth and thunders over it. Then the city packs its bundle for exile, and Jeremiah asks to be corrected with justice, not fury.
10 1Hear the word that our Father speaks to you, house of Israel.
2This is what our Father says: Don't learn the nations' way, or fear signs in the heavens, though the nations fear them.
3For the customs of the peoples are worthless: someone cuts a tree from the forest, and the craftsman shapes it with his chisel. 4They beautify it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not topple. 5Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they can do no harm, and they have no power to do any good either.
6There is no one like you, our Father; you are great, and your name is great in power. 7Who would not fear you, King of the nations? This is your due, for among all the wise people of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is no one like you. 8They are all senseless and foolish; their instruction comes from worthless idols—nothing but wood. 9Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, crafted by craftsmen and goldsmiths; their clothing is violet and purple—all of it the work of skilled hands. 10But our Father is the true One; he is the living Father and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his fury.
11Tell them: "The gods who didn't make the heavens and the earth will be destroyed from the earth and from under the heavens." 12It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. 13When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes the mists rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. 14Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his cast images are a lie, and there is no breath in them. 15They are worthless, a mockery; at the time of their punishment they will perish. 16The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the one who formed all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; the Father of heaven's armies is his name. a a v16 "The Portion of Jacob" is a title for God, naming him as the true treasure and inheritance belonging to his people.
The Coming Exile
17Gather up your bundle from the ground, you who live under siege.
18For this is what our Father says: Look, this time I am hurling out the inhabitants of the land, and I will bring distress on them so that they will feel it.
19Woe to me because of my wound! My injury is grievous. But I said, "Surely this is my sickness, and I must bear it." 20My tent is destroyed, and all my ropes are snapped. My children have left me and are no more; there is no one left to pitch my tent again or to set up my curtains. 21For the shepherds have become senseless and have not sought our Father; therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered. 22Listen! A report is coming—a great commotion from the land of the north—to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a haunt of jackals. 23I know, our Father, that a person's way is not their own; no one who walks can direct their own steps.
Jeremiah's Prayer for Mercy
24Correct me, our Father, but with justice—not in your anger, or you will reduce me to nothing. 25Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you, and on the peoples that do not call on your name; for they have devoured Jacob—devoured him and consumed him—and laid waste his pasture.
