The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge! The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make, for their carefully shaped works are a fraud. These idols have no breath or power.
Parallel translations
- WEB Every man has become brutish and without knowledge; every goldsmith is disappointed by his engraved image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
- KJV Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
- BSB Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
- NKJV Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge; Every metalsmith is put to shame by an image; For his molded image is falsehood, And there is no breath in them.
- NASB Every person is stupid, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, For his cast metal images are deceitful, And there is no breath in them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Every idol-maker is exposed as senseless, for his molten image is a lie with no breath in it. The craftsman is shamed by the lifeless thing he made.
Overview
In contrast to the living, creating God, every person who trusts idols is shown to be without knowledge, and the goldsmith is put to shame by his breathless image. The molten god is sheer falsehood. The verse seals the chapter's argument that idols are lifeless deceptions, directing worship instead to the God who is Himself the breath of life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 135:16–18They have mouths, but they can’t speak. They have eyes, but they can’t see.
- Ps 115:4–8Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
- Isa 46:7–8They bear it on their shoulder. They carry it, and set it in its place, and it stands there. It cannot move from its place. Yes, one may cry to it, yet it can not answer. It cannot save him out of his trouble.
- Hab 2:18–19“What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in it, to make mute idols?
- Isa 44:18–20They don’t know, neither do they consider: for he has shut their eyes, that they can’t see; and their hearts, that they can’t understand.
- Rom 1:22–23Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
- Jer 51:17–18“Every man has become brutish without knowledge. Every goldsmith is disappointed by his image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
- Jer 10:8But they are together brutish and foolish, instructed by idols! It is just wood.
- Isa 42:17“Those who trust in engraved images, who tell molten images, ‘You are our gods’ will be turned back. They will be utterly disappointed.
- Isa 45:16They will be disappointed, yes, confounded, all of them. Those who are makers of idols will go into confusion together.
- Ps 97:7Let all them be shamed who serve engraved images, who boast in their idols. Worship him, all you gods!
- Isa 44:11Behold, all his fellows will be disappointed; and the workmen are mere men. Let them all be gathered together. Let them stand up. They will fear. They will be put to shame together.
- Ps 14:2Yahweh looked down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who understood, who sought after God.
- Ps 92:6A senseless man doesn’t know, neither does a fool understand this:
- Ps 94:8Consider, you senseless among the people; you fools, when will you be wise?
- Prov 30:2“Surely I am the most ignorant man, and don’t have a man’s understanding.
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 10:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.