Jeremiah 10:3

New Living Translation

Their ways are futile and foolish. They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
for the customs of the peoples are worthless.Someone cuts down a tree from the forest;it is worked by the hands of a craftsman with a chisel.

Hebrew Names Version
For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the ax.

King James Version
For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

English Standard Version
for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.

New American Standard Bible
For the customs of the peoples are futile; For it is wood cut from the forest, The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.

New Century Version
The customs of other people are worth nothing. Their idols are just wood cut from the forest, shaped by a worker with his chisel.

Amplified Bible
For the customs and decrees of the peoples are [mere] delusion [exercises in futility]; It is only wood which one cuts from the forest [to make a god], The work of the hands of the craftsman with the axe or cutting tool.

World English Bible
For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the ax.

Geneva Bible (1587)
For the customes of the people are vaine: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest (which is the worke of the handes of the carpenter) with the axe,

Legacy Standard Bible
For the statutes of the peoples are vanityBecause it is wood cut from the forest,The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.

Berean Standard Bible
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.

Contemporary English Version
Their religion is worthless! They chop down a tree, carve the wood into an idol,

Complete Jewish Bible
for the customs of the peoples are nothing. They cut down a tree in the forest; a craftsman works it with his axe;

Darby Translation
For the statutes of the peoples are vanity; for [it is] a tree cut out of the forest, worked with a chisel by the hands of the artizan;

Easy-to-Read Version
The customs of other people are worth nothing. Their idols are nothing but wood from the forest. Their idols are made by workers with their chisels.

George Lamsa Translation
For the gods of the Gentiles are nothing; they are cut from a tree in the forest, the work of the hands of a carpenter, things made with a plane.

Good News Translation
The religion of these people is worthless. A tree is cut down in the forest; it is carved by the tools of the woodworker

Lexham English Bible
For the statutes of the peoples are vanity, for it is a tree cut down from the forest, the work of the hands of a craftsman with the tool.

Literal Translation
For the ordinances of the people are vanity. For one cuts a tree out of the forest with the axe, the work of the hands of the craftsman.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yee all the customes and lawes of the Getiles are nothinge, but vanite. They hewe downe a tre in the wod with the hondes of the worke man, and fashion it with the axe:

American Standard Version
For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.

Bible in Basic English
For that which is feared by the people is foolish: it is the work of the hands of the workman; for a tree is cut down by him out of the woods with his axe.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for it is but a tree which one cutteth out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.

King James Version (1611)
For the customes of the people are vaine: for one cutteth a tree out of the forrest (the worke of the handes of the workeman) with the axe.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Yea all the customes and lawes of the gentiles are nothing but vanitie: They hewe downe a tree in the wood with the handes of the workeman, and fashion it with the axe.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
For the customs of the nations are vain; it is a tree cut out of the forest, the work of the carpenter, or a molten image.

English Revised Version
For the customs of the peoples are vanity: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For the lawis of puplis ben veyn, for whi the werk of hondis of a crafti man hath kit doun with an axe a tre of the forest.

Update Bible Version
For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the ax.

Webster's Bible Translation
For the customs of the people [are] vain: for [one] cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.

New English Translation
For the religion of these people is worthless. They cut down a tree in the forest, and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools.

New King James Version
For the customs of the peoples are futile; For one cuts a tree from the forest, The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.

New Life Bible
For the ways of the people are of no use. They cut wood from the trees. A workman cuts it with an ax.

New Revised Standard
For the customs of the peoples are false: a tree from the forest is cut down, and worked with an ax by the hands of an artisan;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For as for the prescribed customs of the peoples, vanity, they are, - For a tree out of the forest, one cutteth down, Work for the hands of a skilled workman with the axe:

Douay-Rheims Bible
For the laws of the people are vain: for the works of the hand of the workman hath cut a tree out of the forest with an axe.

Revised Standard Version
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.

Young's Literal Translation
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,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
For the customs of the peoples are delusion; Because it is wood cut from the forest, The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.

Contextual Overview

¹ Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O Israel! ² This is what the Lord says: "Do not act like the other nations, who try to read their future in the stars. Do not be afraid of their predictions, even though other nations are terrified by them. ³ Their ways are futile and foolish. They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol. ⁴ They decorate it with gold and silver and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails so it won't fall over. ⁵ Their gods are like helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field! They cannot speak, and they need to be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of such gods, for they can neither harm you nor do you any good." ⁶ Lord , there is no one like you! For you are great, and your name is full of power. ⁷ Who would not fear you, O King of nations? That title belongs to you alone! Among all the wise people of the earth and in all the kingdoms of the world, there is no one like you. ⁸ People who worship idols are stupid and foolish. The things they worship are made of wood! ⁹ They bring beaten sheets of silver from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, and they give these materials to skillful craftsmen who make their idols. Then they dress these gods in royal blue and purple robes made by expert tailors. ¹⁰ But the Lord is the only true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King! The whole earth trembles at his anger. The nations cannot stand up to his wrath.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

customs: Heb. statutes, or ordinances, are vanity, Jeremiah 10:8, Jeremiah 2:5, Leviticus 18:30, 1 Kings 18:26-28, Matthew 6:7, Romans 1:21, 1 Peter 1:18

one: Isaiah 40:19-31, Isaiah 44:9-20, Isaiah 45:20, Hosea 8:4-6, Habakkuk 2:18, Habakkuk 2:19

Reciprocal: Exodus 20:4 - General Exodus 23:19 - Thou shalt not seethe a kid Leviticus 26:1 - Ye shall Deuteronomy 4:28 - neither see Judges 17:3 - a graven image 1 Kings 16:13 - vanities 1 Kings 16:26 - their vanities 2 Kings 17:29 - made gods 2 Kings 19:18 - for they were 2 Chronicles 32:19 - the work Psalms 96:5 - For Psalms 115:4 - Their idols Psalms 135:15 - idols Isaiah 36:18 - Hath Isaiah 37:19 - no gods Isaiah 40:20 - chooseth Isaiah 41:7 - the carpenter Isaiah 44:12 - The smith Isaiah 44:14 - heweth Isaiah 46:6 - lavish Hosea 8:6 - the workman Acts 14:15 - from Acts 16:21 - General Acts 17:22 - I perceive Acts 19:26 - that they Galatians 4:8 - ye did Revelation 9:20 - and idols

Cross-References

Jeremiah 51:27
Raise a signal flag to the nations. Sound the battle cry! Mobilize them all against Babylon. Prepare them to fight against her! Bring out the armies of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a commander, and bring a multitude of horses like swarming locusts!

Ezekiel 27:14
"From Beth-togarmah came riding horses, chariot horses, and mules, all in exchange for your goods.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For the customs of the people are vain,.... Or, "their decrees", or "statutes" o, their determinations and conclusions, founded upon the observation of the stars; or, their "rites and ceremonies" p in religion, in the worship of the sun and moon, and the hosts of heaven. The Syriac version is, "the idols of the people are nothing"; and which appears by what follows:

for one cutteth a tree out of the forest (the work of the hands of the workman) with the axe; not for building, or for burning, but to make a god of; the vanity, stupidity, and folly of which are manifest, when it is considered that the original of it is a tree that grew in the forest; the matter and substance of it the body and trunk of a tree cut down with an axe, and then hewed with the same, and planed with a plane, and formed into the image of a man, or of some creature; and now, to fall down and worship this must be vanity and madness to the last degree; see

Isaiah 44:13.

o חקות "decreta", Targ.; "statua", Junius Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt. p Ritus, Vatablus "ceremoniae", Tigurine version.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The customs - Better, as the marg, “the ordinances,” established institutions, “of the peoples, i. e.” pagan nations.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 10:3. The customs of the people are vain — חקות chukkoth; the statutes and principles of the science are vain, empty, and illusory. They are founded in nonsense, ignorance, idolatry, and folly.

One cutteth a tree out of the forest — Isaiah 40:19, and "Isaiah 44:9", &c., which are all parallel places and where this conduct is strongly ridiculed.