Jeremiah 10:4
2 This is what the LORD says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by the signs in the heavens, though the nations themselves are terrified by them.
3 For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut down a tree from the forest; it is shaped with a chisel by the hands of a craftsman.
They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter.
5 Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, and neither can they do any good.”
6 There is none like You, O LORD. You are great, and Your name is mighty in power.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter.
- KJV
- They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
- WEB
- They deck it with silver and with gold. They fasten it with nails and with hammers, so that it can’t move.
- ASV
- They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
- DARBY
- they deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
- BLB
- They decorate it with silver and with gold, they fasten [it] with nails and with hammers so that it will not totter.
- ÅB
- med sølv og gull pryder de det; med spiker og hammer fester de det, så det ikke skal falle.
- OTB
- De pynter det med sølv og gull; de fester det med spiker og hammere så det ikke skal falle.
- B1930
- med sølv og gull pryder de det; med spiker og hammer fester de det, så det ikke skal falle.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Isaiah 46:7
They lift it to their shoulder and carry it along; they set it in its place, and there it stands, not budging from that spot. They cry out to it, but it does not answer; it saves no one from his troubles.
Read in contextIsaiah 40:19–20
To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?
Read in contextIsaiah 41:6–7
Each one helps the other and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
Read in contextIsaiah 44:12
The blacksmith takes a tool and labors over the coals; he fashions an idol with hammers and forges it with his strong arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he fails to drink water and grows faint.
Read in contextPsalms 115:4
Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
Read in contextPsalms 135:15
The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
Read in context