Jeremiah 10:1-5

Idols and the Living God

1 Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.

2 Thus says the Lord:
"Learn not the way of the nations,
nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens
because the nations are dismayed at them,
 3 f for the customs of the peoples are vanity. 1
g A tree from the forest is cut down
and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
 4 h They decorate it with silver and gold;
i they fasten it with hammer and nails
so that it cannot move.
 5 Their idols 2 are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
and j they cannot speak;
k they have to be carried,
for they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
l for they cannot do evil,
neither is it in them to do good."

  1. Cross References
    Isaiah 44:9
    All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame.
  2. Cross References
    Isaiah 40:20
    He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move.
    Isaiah 45:20
    Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save.
  3. Cross References
    Isaiah 40:19
    An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains.
  4. Cross References
    Isaiah 41:7
    The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith, and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, "It is good"; and they strengthen it with nails so that it cannot be moved.
  5. Cross References
    Psalms 115:5
    They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see.
    Psalms 135:16
    They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see.
    Habakkuk 2:18 - 19
    What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols!
    1 Corinthians 12:2
    You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led.
  6. Cross References
    Psalms 115:7
    They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat.
    Isaiah 46:7
    They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands there; it cannot move from its place. If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble.
  7. Cross References
    Isaiah 41:23
    Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; do good, or do harm, that we may be dismayed and terrified.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.