Letter of Jeremiah 1

1Because of your sins, which you committed against God, you will be carried away captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of the Babylonians.

2So when you enter Babylon, you will be there for many years and a long time, until seven generations; but after this I will bring you out from there in peace.

3But now in Babylon you will see gods of silver and gold and wood, being carried on shoulders, showing fear to the nations.

4Therefore be on your guard, lest you too, having become like the foreigners, become like them, and fear seize you because of them,

5When you see a crowd in front of them and behind them bowing down to them, say in your mind, ‘It is you whom one must worship, Master.’

6For my angel is with you, and he himself is seeking your lives.

7For their tongue has been scraped by a craftsman, and they are overlaid with gold and silver, but they are false and cannot speak.

8And as for a woman who loves adornment, taking gold they make crowns for the heads of their gods;

9And there are times when the priests, taking gold and silver from their gods, spend it on themselves,

10They even give some of their things to the prostitutes on the roof. And they adorn them with clothing like human beings—silver gods and gold gods and wooden ones.

11But these are not preserved from rust and moths, though they are clothed in purple garments.

12They wipe off their faces because of the dust from the house, which is thick upon them.

13And he holds a scepter like a man, a judge of a country, who will not destroy the one who sins against him.

14In his right hand he holds a dagger and an axe, but he cannot rescue himself from war and robbers. Therefore it is evident that they are not gods; so do not fear them.

15For just as a human vessel, once broken, becomes useless,

16Such are their gods, set up in houses. Their eyes are full of dust from the feet of those who enter.

17And just as the courts are secured around one who has wronged a king, as one being led away to death, so the priests fortify their houses with doors and locks and bars, so that they may not be plundered by robbers.

18They light lamps for them, more than for themselves, though they cannot see a single one of them.

19They are indeed like a beam from a house, but they say that their hearts are licked away; while the creeping things from the ground devour them and their clothing, they do not perceive it.

20their faces blackened by the smoke from the house.

21Upon their bodies and upon their heads bats, swallows, and the birds alight, and likewise also the cats.

22Therefore you will know that they are not gods; therefore do not fear them.

23For the gold with which they are adorned for beauty—unless someone wipes off the rust—it will certainly not shine; for not even when they were being cast did they perceive it.

24They are bought at every price, but there is no breath in them.

25Without feet they are carried on shoulders, showing their own disgrace to men; and even those who serve them are put to shame,

26Therefore, if one of them falls to the ground, they cannot raise themselves up; and if someone sets it upright, it will not move by itself; and if it is tilted, it will certainly not be made straight. Rather, gifts are set before them as before the dead.

27And their priests, taking back their sacrifices, make use of them; likewise their women, preserving some from them, give none to the poor or the helpless.

28They touch their sacrifices while sitting apart and lying with women. Therefore, knowing from these things that they are not gods, do not fear them.

29For how could they be called gods, since women set out offerings before silver and gold and wooden gods?

30And in their houses the priests sit in state, having their tunics torn, and their heads and beards shaved, with their heads uncovered,

31But they howl, shouting before their gods, like some at a funeral meal for the dead.

32After taking garments from them, the priests clothe their wives and children.

33Whether they suffer some harm from anyone or receive some good, they will not be able to repay it; they cannot set up a king or remove one.

34Likewise, they are certainly not able to give either wealth or bronze; if someone makes a vow to them and does not pay it back, they will certainly not seek it.

35They will certainly not rescue a man from death, nor will they deliver the weaker from the strong.

36They certainly cannot set a blind man upright for seeing, nor can they rescue a man when he is in distress.

37They will never show mercy to a widow, nor do good to an orphan.

38The wooden things and the gold-covered and silver-covered things are like stones from the mountain, and those who serve them will be put to shame.

39How then should they be regarded or called gods?

40Moreover, even the Chaldeans themselves dishonor them: whenever they see a mute person unable to speak, they bring him before Bel and ask that he make him speak, as though he were able to perceive.

41And they themselves cannot, even though they perceive it, leave them behind, for they have no perception.

42And the women, with cords wrapped around themselves, sit in the streets, burning bran.

43But whenever one of them is dragged away by one of the passersby and lies with him, she reproaches the one next to her because she was not deemed worthy as she was, nor was her cord broken.

44Everything that happens to them is false; how then should one suppose or call them gods?

45They are made by carpenters and goldsmiths; they can become nothing other than what the craftsmen want them to become.

46And those who made them will by no means live long;

47How then can the things made by them endure? For they have left behind lies and disgrace for those who come after.

48For when war and calamities come upon them, the priests consult among themselves where they may hide with them.

49How then can one fail to perceive that they are not gods, since they neither save themselves from war nor from calamities?

50For since they are wooden, overlaid with gold and overlaid with silver, it will afterward be known that they are false; to all the nations and to the kings it will be evident that they are not gods but works of human hands, and there is no work of God in them.

51To whom, then, is it known that they are not gods?

52For they will certainly not raise up a king for a land, nor will they certainly give rain to men,

53They cannot judge their own case, nor can they rescue one who is wronged, because they are powerless;

54For just as a crow is between heaven and earth, so also when fire falls into a house of wooden or gold-covered or silver-covered gods, their priests will flee and be saved, but they themselves will be burned up like beams in the middle.

55But they will certainly not withstand a king or enemies.

56How then can it be accepted or supposed that they are gods? Wooden gods overlaid with silver and overlaid with gold will certainly not save themselves from thieves or robbers.

57From them the strong will strip away the gold and the silver, and they will go off with the clothing that is wrapped around them; yet they certainly will not help themselves.

58So a king who displays his own courage is better than the false gods, or a useful vessel in a house, which its owner will use, or a door in a house that keeps safe the things in it, or the false gods, and a wooden pillar in palaces is better than the false gods.

59For the sun and the moon and the stars, being bright and sent out for needs, are obedient.

60Likewise, when lightning appears, it is clearly seen; and in the same way the wind blows in every land.

61But when the clouds are commanded by God to move over the whole inhabited world, they accomplish what was appointed.

62And the fire sent from above, to consume mountains and forests, does what it was appointed to do; but these are not comparable to it either in appearance or in power.

63Therefore they are to be regarded neither as gods nor to be called gods, since they are unable either to judge a case or to do good to people.

64Therefore, knowing that they are not gods, do not fear them.

65For they can neither curse kings nor bless them.

66They will certainly not show signs in the heavens among the nations, nor will they shine like the sun, nor give light like the moon.

67Wild animals are better than they are, because they can escape into shelter and help themselves.

68Therefore, it is in no way evident to us that they are gods; so do not fear them.

69For just as in a cucumber patch there is nothing guarding it, so their gods are wooden and overlaid with gold and silver.

70In the same way, their wooden gods overlaid with gold and silver are made like a scarecrow in a garden, on which every bird sits, and also like a dead body thrown out in the dark.

71From the purple and the marble rotting upon them it will be known that they are not gods; and in the end they themselves will be eaten, and they will become a disgrace in the land.

72So a righteous man who has no idols is better, for he will be far from reproach.