The False Gods and the True God

101 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 artizan, 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.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 10:1-16

Commentary on Jeremiah 10:1-16

(Read Jeremiah 10:1-16)

The prophet shows the glory of Israel's God, and exposes the folly of idolaters. Charms and other attempts to obtain supernatural help, or to pry into futurity, are copied from the wicked customs of the heathen. Let us stand in awe, and not dare provoke God, by giving that glory to another which is due to him alone. He is ready to forgive, and save all who repent and believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ. Faith learns these blessed truths from the word of God; but all knowledge not from that source, leads to doctrines of vanity.