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Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, Chapter 10:

The next speech of Jeremiah opens with a condemnation of pagan worship. For most of this chapter Jeremiah is sharing his insights, but periodically God speaks in the first person. Jeremiah repeatedly points out the greatness of the living and true God, especially in comparison to the lifeless, human-crafted, pagan idols the people worship. The Jewish nation is called Jacob and Israel, names of their great ancestors. When disaster comes, Jeremiah admits the weakness of humans and asks God to turn His attention to the pagan nations bringing the destruction and not those He has called His own.

The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, Chapter 10:

Idolatry Has Brought Ruin on Israel

1 Hear the word which 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 for the customs of the peoples are false.
A tree from the forest is cut down,
and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
4 Men deck it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so that it cannot move.
5 Their idols are like scarecrows
in a cucumber field,
and they cannot speak;
they have to be carried, for they cannot walk.
Be not afraid of them,
for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.”
6 There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and your
name is great in might.
7 Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?
For this is your due;
for among all the wise ones of the nations
and in all their kingdoms there is none like you.
8 They are both stupid and foolish;
the instruction of idols is but wood!
9 Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,
and gold from Uphaz. They are the work of the craftsman and of the
hands of the goldsmith; their clothing is violet and purple;
they are all the work of skilled men.
10 But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the
everlasting King.
At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot
endure his indignation.
11 Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens."
12 It is he who made the earth by his power,
who established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
13 When he utters his voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
14 Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols;
for his images are false, and there is no breath in them.
15 They are worthless, a work of delusion;
at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
16 Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,
for he is the one who formed all things,
and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
the Lord of hosts is his name.
17 Gather up your bundle from the ground,
O you who dwell under siege!
18 For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am slinging out the
inhabitants of the land at this time,
and I will bring distress on them,
that they may feel it.”
19 Woe is me because of my hurt!
My wound is grievous.
But I said, “Truly this is an
affliction, and I must bear it.”
20 My tent is destroyed,
and all my cords are broken; my children have gone from me,
and they are not;
there is no one to spread my tent again,
and to set up my curtains.
21 For the shepherds are stupid, and do not inquire of the Lord;
therefore they have not prospered,
and all their flock is scattered.
22 Listen, a rumor! Behold, it comes!—
a great commotion out of the north country
to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a lair of jackals.
23 I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself,
that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
24 Correct me, O Lord, but in just measure;
not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.
25 Pour out your wrath upon the
nations that know you not,
and upon the peoples that call not on your name;
for they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him and
consumed him,
and have laid waste his habitation.

*Daily Lectio Divina Question:

Chapter 10 of Jeremiah can be difficult to read and understand. It can bring to mind the idea of a harsh God. Lord, speak deep into my heart and help me listen to what You want to show me through this Sacred Scripture.

Biblical Commentary provided by the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan, an adult faith formation apostolate. Catholic Biblical School of Michigan (cbsmich.org/join). 

Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006).
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