Introduction
1* The words of Jeremi'ah, the son of
Hilki'ah, of the priests who were in An'athoth in the land of
Benjamin,
2to whom the
word of the LORD came in the days of
Josi'ah the son of A'mon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of
his reign. 3It
came also in the days of Jehoi'akim the son of Josi'ah, king of
Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedeki'ah, the son
of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the
fifth month.
Jeremiah’s Call and
Commission
4 Now the word of the LORD came to me saying,
5“Before I formed you in the womb
I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated
you;
I appointed you a prophet to the
nations.”
6Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know
how to speak, for I am only a youth.”*
7But the
LORD said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a
youth’;
for to all to whom I send you you shall
go,
and whatever I command you you shall
speak.
for I am with you to deliver you,
says the LORD.”
9Then the LORD put forth his
hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me,
“Behold, I have put my words in your
mouth.
10See, I have set you this day over
nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”
11 And the word of the
L
ORD came to me, saying,
“Jeremi'ah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see
a rod of almond.”
a 12Then the L
ORD
said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching
b over my word
to perform it.”
13 The word of the
L
ORD came to me a second time, saying,
“What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling
pot, facing away from the north.”
14Then the
L
ORD said to me, “Out of the
north evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
15For, behold,
I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, says the
L
ORD; and they shall come and every
one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem,
against all its walls round about, and against all the cities of
Judah.
16And I
will utter my judgments against them, for all their wickedness in
forsaking me; they have burned incense to other gods, and worshiped
the works of their own hands.
17But you, gird up your loins; arise, and say
to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them,
lest I dismay you before them.
18And I, behold, I make you this day a
fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole
land, against the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, and the
people of the land.
19They will fight against you; but they shall
not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the L
ORD, to deliver you.”
Israel’s Apostasy
2
The word of the L
ORD came to me,
saying,
2“Go and
proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the LORD,
I remember the devotion of your youth,
your love as a bride,
how you followed me in the wilderness,
in a land not sown.
3Israel was holy to the LORD,
the first fruits of his harvest.
All who ate of it became guilty;
evil came upon them,
says the LORD.”
4 Hear the word of the
LORD, O house of Jacob, and all
the families of the house of Israel. 5Thus says the
LORD:
“What wrong did your fathers find in
me
that they went far from me,
and went after worthlessness, and became
worthless?
6They did not say, ‘Where is the
LORD
who brought us up from the land of
Egypt,
who led us in the wilderness,
in a land of deserts and pits,
in a land of drought and deep
darkness,
in a land that none passes through,
where no man dwells?’
7And I brought you into a plentiful
land
to enjoy its fruits and its good
things.
But when you came in you defiled my
land,
and made my heritage an abomination.
8The priests did not say, ‘Where is the
L
ORD?’
Those who handle the law did not know
me;
the rulers
c transgressed
against me;the prophets prophesied by Ba'al,
and went after things that do not
profit.
9“Therefore I still contend with
you,
says the LORD,
and with your children’s children I
will contend.
10For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and
see,
or send to Kedar and examine with
care;
see if there has been such a thing.
11Has a nation changed its gods,
even though they are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory
for that which does not profit.
12Be appalled, O heavens, at this,
be shocked, be utterly desolate,
says the LORD,
13for my people have committed two
evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns,
that can hold no water.
14“Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn
servant?
Why then has he become a prey?
15The lions have roared against him,
they have roared loudly.
They have made his land a waste;
his cities are in ruins, without
inhabitant.
16Moreover, the men of Memphis and
Tah'panhes
have broken the crown of your head.
17Have you not brought this upon
yourself
by forsaking the LORD your God,
when he led you in the way?
18And now what do you gain by going to
Egypt,
to drink the waters of the Nile?
Or what do you gain by going to
Assyria,
to drink the waters of the Euphra'tes?
19Your wickedness will chasten you,
and your apostasy will reprove you.
Know and see that it is evil and
bitter
for you to forsake the LORD your God;
the fear of me is not in you,
says the Lord GOD of hosts.
20“For long ago you broke your
yoke
and burst your bonds;
and you said, ‘I will not
serve.’
Yes, upon every high hill
and under every green tree
you bowed down as a harlot.
21Yet I planted you a choice vine,
wholly of pure seed.
How then have you turned degenerate
and become a wild vine?
22Though you wash yourself with lye
and use much soap,
the stain of your guilt is still before
me,
says the Lord GOD.
23How can you say, ‘I am not
defiled,
I have not gone after the
Ba'als’?
Look at your way in the valley;
know what you have done—
a restive young camel interlacing her
tracks,
24 a wild donkey used to the
wilderness,
in her heat sniffing the wind!
Who can restrain her lust?
None who seek her need weary
themselves;
in her month they will find her.
25Keep your feet from going unshod
and your throat from thirst.
But you said, ‘It is hopeless,
for I have loved strangers,
and after them I will go.’
26“As a thief is shamed when
caught,
so the house of Israel shall be
shamed:
they, their kings, their princes,
their priests, and their prophets,
27who say to a tree, ‘You are my
father,’
and to a stone, ‘You gave me
birth.’
For they have turned their back to me,
and not their face.
But in the time of their trouble they
say,
‘Arise and save us!’
28But where are your gods
that you made for yourself?
Let them arise, if they can save you,
in your time of trouble;
for as many as your cities
are your gods, O Judah.
29“Why do you complain against
me?
You have all rebelled against me,
says the LORD.
30In vain have I struck down your
children,
they took no correction;
your own sword devoured your prophets
like a ravening lion.
31And you, O generation, heed the word of the
LORD.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
or a land of thick darkness?
Why then do my people say, ‘We are
free,
we will come no more to you’?
32Can a maiden forget her ornaments,
or a bride her attire?
Yet my people have forgotten me
days without number.
33“How well you direct your
course
to seek lovers!
So that even to wicked women
you have taught your ways.
34Also on your skirts is found
the lifeblood of guiltless poor;
you did not find them breaking in.
Yet in spite of all these things
35you say, ‘I am innocent;
surely his anger has turned from
me.’
Behold, I will bring you to judgment
for saying, ‘I have not
sinned.’
36How lightly you gad about,
changing your way!
You shall be put to shame by Egypt
as you were put to shame by Assyria.
37From it too you will come away
with your hands upon your head,
for the LORD
has rejected those in whom you trust,
and you will not prosper by them.
Unfaithful Israel
3
“If
d a man divorces his wife
and she goes from him
and becomes another man’s wife,
will he return to her?
Would not that land be greatly
polluted?
You have played the harlot with many
lovers;
and would you return to me?
says the LORD.
2Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and
see!
Where have you not been lain with?
By the waysides you have sat awaiting
lovers
like an Arab in the wilderness.
You have polluted the land
with your vile harlotry.
3Therefore the showers have been
withheld,
and the spring rain has not come;
yet you have a harlot’s brow,
you refuse to be ashamed.
4Have you not just now called to me,
‘My father, you are the friend of my
youth—
5will he be angry for ever,
will he be indignant to the
end?’
Behold, you have spoken,
but you have done all the evil that you
could.”
A Call to Repentance
6 The LORD
said to me in the days of King Josi'ah: “Have you seen what
she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high
hill and under every green tree, and there played the harlot?
7And I
thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to
me’; but she did not return, and her false sister Judah saw
it. 8She saw
that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had
sent her away with a decree of divorce; yet her false sister Judah
did not fear, but she too went and played the harlot. 9Because harlotry was
so light to her, she polluted the land, committing adultery with
stone and tree. 10Yet for all this her false sister Judah did
not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, says the
LORD.”
11 And the
LORD said to me, “Faithless
Israel has shown herself less guilty than false Judah. 12Go, and proclaim
these words toward the north, and say,
‘Return, faithless Israel,
says the LORD.
I will not look on you in anger,
for I am merciful,
says the LORD;
I will not be angry for ever.
13Only acknowledge your guilt,
that you rebelled against the LORD your God
and scattered your favors among strangers
under every green tree,
and that you have not obeyed my voice,
says the LORD.
14Return, O faithless children,
says the LORD;
for I am your master;
I will take you, one from a city and two
from a family,
and I will bring you to Zion.
15 “‘And
I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you
with knowledge and understanding.
16And when you have multiplied and increased
in the land, in those days, says the L
ORD, they shall no more say, “The ark of the
covenant of the L
ORD.” It shall
not come to mind, or be remembered, or missed; it shall not be made
again.
* 17At that time Jerusalem shall be called the
throne of the L
ORD, and all nations
shall gather to it, to the presence of the L
ORD in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly
follow their own evil heart.
18In those days the house of Judah shall join
the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of
the north to the land that I gave your fathers for a
heritage.
19“‘I thought
how I would set you among my sons,
and give you a pleasant land,
a heritage most beauteous of all
nations.
And I thought you would call me, My
Father,
and would not turn from following me.
20Surely, as a faithless wife leaves her
husband,
so have you been faithless to me, O house of
Israel,
says the LORD.’”
21A voice on the bare heights is heard,
the weeping and pleading of Israel’s
sons,
because they have perverted their way,
they have forgotten the LORD their God.
22“Return, O faithless sons,
I will heal your faithlessness.”
“Behold, we come to you;
for you are the LORD our God.
23Truly the hills are a delusion,
the orgies on the mountains.
Truly in the LORD our God
is the salvation of Israel.
24 “But from
our youth the shameful thing has devoured all for which our fathers
labored, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their
daughters. 25Let us lie down in our shame, and let our
dishonor cover us; for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth
even to this day; and we have not obeyed the voice of the
LORD our God.”
4
“If you return, O
Israel,
says the LORD,
to me you should return.
If you remove your abominations from my
presence,
and do not waver,
2and if you swear, ‘As the
LORD lives,’
in truth, in justice, and in
uprightness,
then nations shall bless themselves in
him,
and in him shall they glory.”
3 For thus says the
LORD to the men of Judah and to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem:
“Break up your fallow ground,
and sow not among thorns.
4Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
O men of Judah and inhabitants of
Jerusalem;
lest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
because of the evil of your
doings.”
Judah Threatened with Invasion
5
Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
“Blow the trumpet through the
land;
cry aloud and say,
‘Assemble, and let us go
into the fortified cities!’
6Raise a standard toward Zion,
flee for safety, stay not,
for I bring evil from the north,
and great destruction.
7A lion has gone up from his thicket,
a destroyer of nations has set out;
he has gone forth from his place
to make your land a waste;
your cities will be ruins
without inhabitant.
8For this clothe yourself with
sackcloth,
lament and wail;
for the fierce anger of the LORD
has not turned back from us.”
9 “In that
day, says the LORD, courage shall fail
both king and princes; the priests shall be appalled and the
prophets astounded.” 10Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, surely
you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying,
‘It shall be well with you’; whereas the sword has
reached their very life.”
11 At that time it will be
said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind from the
bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to
winnow or cleanse, 12a wind too full for this comes for me. Now
it is I who speak in judgment upon them.”
13Behold, he comes up like clouds,
his chariots like the whirlwind;
his horses are swifter than
eagles—
woe to us, for we are ruined!
14O Jerusalem, wash your heart from
wickedness,
that you may be saved.
How long shall your evil thoughts
lodge within you?
15For a voice declares from Dan
and proclaims evil from Mount
E'phraim.
16Warn the nations that he is coming;
announce to Jerusalem,
“Besiegers come from a distant
land;
they shout against the cities of
Judah.
17Like keepers of a field they are against
her round about,
because she has rebelled against me,
says the LORD.
18Your ways and your doings
have brought this upon you.
This is your doom, and it is bitter;
it has reached your very heart.”
19My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in
pain!
Oh, the walls of my heart!
My heart is beating wildly;
I cannot keep silent;
for I hear the sound of the trumpet,
the alarm of war.
20Disaster follows hard on disaster,
the whole land is laid waste.
Suddenly my tents are destroyed,
my curtains in a moment.
21How long must I see the standard,
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22“For my people are foolish,
they know me not;
they are stupid children,
they have no understanding.
They are skilled in doing evil,
but how to do good they know
not.”
23I looked on the earth, and behold, it was
waste and void;
and to the heavens, and they had no
light.
24I looked on the mountains, and behold, they
were quaking,
and all the hills moved back and
forth.
25I looked, and behold, there was no
man,
and all the birds of the air had fled.
26I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was
a desert,
and all its cities were laid in ruins
before the LORD, before his fierce anger.
27 For thus says the
LORD, “The whole land shall be a
desolation; yet I will not make a full end.
28For this the earth shall mourn,
and the heavens above be black,
for I have spoken, I have planned;
I have not relented nor will I turn
back.”
29At the noise of horseman and archer
every city takes to flight;
they enter thickets; they climb among
rocks;
all the cities are forsaken,
and no man dwells in them.
30And you, O desolate one,
what do you mean that you dress in
scarlet,
that you deck yourself with ornaments of
gold,
that you enlarge your eyes with paint?
In vain you beautify yourself.
Your lovers despise you;
they seek your life.
31For I heard a cry as of a woman with labor
pains,
anguish as of one bringing forth her first
child,
the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for
breath,
stretching out her hands,
“Woe is me! I am fainting before
murderers.”
The Godlessness of Jerusalem
5 Run back and forth
through the streets of Jerusalem,
look and take note!
Search her squares to see
if you can find a man,
one who does justice
and seeks truth;
that I may pardon her.
2Though they say, “As the
LORD lives,”
yet they swear falsely.
3O LORD, do not
your eyes look for truth?
You have struck them down,
but they felt no anguish;
you have consumed them,
but they refused to take correction.
They have made their faces harder than
rock;
they have refused to repent.
4Then I said, “These are only the
poor,
they have no sense;
for they do not know the way of the
LORD,
the law of their God.
5I will go to the great,
and will speak to them;
for they know the way of the LORD,
the law of their God.”
But they all alike had broken the
yoke,
they had burst the bonds.
6Therefore a lion from the forest shall slay
them,
a wolf from the desert shall destroy
them.
A leopard is watching against their
cities,
every one who goes out of them shall be torn
in pieces;
because their transgressions are many,
their apostasies are great.
7“How can I pardon you?
Your children have forsaken me,
and have sworn by those who are no
gods.
When I fed them to the full,
they committed adultery
and trooped to the houses of harlots.
8They were well-fed lusty stallions,
each neighing for his neighbor’s
wife.
9Shall I not punish them for these
things?
says the LORD;
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?
10“Go up through her vine-rows and
destroy,
but make not a full end;
strip away her branches,
for they are not the LORD’s.
11For the house of Israel and the house of
Judah
have been utterly faithless to me,
says the LORD.
12They have spoken falsely of the
LORD,
and have said, ‘He will do
nothing;
no evil will come upon us,
nor shall we see sword or famine.
13The prophets will become wind;
the word is not in them.
Thus shall it be done to
them!’”
14Therefore thus says the L
ORD, the God of hosts:
“Because they
e have spoken
this word,behold, I am making my words in your mouth a
fire,
and this people wood, and the fire shall
devour them.
15Behold, I am bringing upon you
a nation from afar, O house of Israel,
says the LORD.
It is an enduring nation,
it is an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not
know,
nor can you understand what they say.
16Their quiver is like an open tomb,
they are all mighty men.
17They shall eat up your harvest and your
food;
they shall eat up your sons and your
daughters;
they shall eat up your flocks and your
herds;
they shall eat up your vines and your fig
trees;
your fortified cities in which you
trust
they shall destroy with the
sword.”
18 “But even in
those days, says the LORD, I will
not make a full end of you. 19And when your people say, ‘Why has
the LORD our God done all these
things to us?’ you shall say to them, ‘As you have
forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall
serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’”
20Declare this in the house of Jacob,
proclaim it in Judah:
21“Hear this, O foolish and
senseless people,
who have eyes, but see not,
who have ears, but hear not.
22Do you not fear me? says the L
ORD;
Do you not tremble before me?
I placed the sand as the bound for the
sea,
a perpetual barrier which it cannot
pass;
though the waves toss, they cannot
prevail,
though they roar, they cannot pass over
it.
23But this people has a stubborn and
rebellious heart;
they have turned aside and gone away.
24They do not say in their hearts,
‘Let us fear the LORD our God,
who gives the rain in its season,
the autumn rain and the spring rain,
and keeps for us
the weeks appointed for the
harvest.’
25Your iniquities have turned these
away,
and your sins have kept good from you.
26For wicked men are found among my
people;
they lurk like fowlers lying in
wait.
fThey set a trap;
they catch men.
27Like a basket full of birds,
their houses are full of treachery;
therefore they have become great and
rich,
28 they have grown fat and sleek.
They know no bounds in deeds of
wickedness;
they judge not with justice
the cause of the fatherless, to make it
prosper,
and they do not defend the rights of the
needy.
29Shall I not punish them for these
things?
says the LORD,
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?”
30An appalling and horrible thing
has happened in the land:
31the prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests rule at their
direction;
my people love to have it so,
but what will you do when the end
comes?
A Warning to Judah
6
Flee for safety, O people of Benjamin,
from the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow the trumpet in Teko'a,
and raise a signal on
Beth''-hacche'rem;
for evil looms out of the north,
and great destruction.
2The comely and delicately bred I will
destroy,
the daughter of Zion.
3Shepherds with their flocks shall come
against her;
they shall pitch their tents around
her,
they shall pasture, each in his place.
4“Prepare war against her;
up, and let us attack at noon!”
“Woe to us, for the day
declines,
for the shadows of evening
lengthen!”
5“Up, and let us attack by night,
and destroy her palaces!”
6For thus says the L
ORD of hosts:
“Hew down her trees;
cast up a siege mound against
Jerusalem.
This is the city which must be
punished;
there is nothing but oppression within
her.
7As a well keeps its water fresh,
so she keeps fresh her wickedness;
violence and destruction are heard within
her;
sickness and wounds are ever before
me.
8Be warned, O Jerusalem,
lest I be alienated from you;
lest I make you a desolation,
an uninhabited land.”
9Thus says the L
ORD of hosts:
“Glean
g thoroughly as
a vinethe remnant of Israel;
like a grape-gatherer pass your hand
again
over its branches.”
10To whom shall I speak and give
warning,
that they may hear?
Behold, their ears are closed,
hthey cannot listen;
behold, the word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn,
they take no pleasure in it.
11Therefore I am full of the wrath of the
LORD;
I am weary of holding it in.
“Pour it out upon the children in the
street,
and upon the gatherings of young men,
also;
both husband and wife shall be taken,
the old folk and the very aged.
12Their houses shall be turned over to
others,
their fields and wives together;
for I will stretch out my hand
against the inhabitants of the
land,”
says the LORD.
13“For from the least to the greatest of
them,
every one is greedy for unjust gain;
and from prophet to priest,
every one deals falsely.
14They have healed the wound of my people
lightly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.
15Were they ashamed when they committed
abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who
fall;
at the time that I punish them, they shall
be overthrown,”
says the LORD.
“Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in
it.’
17I set watchmen over you, saying,
‘Give heed to the sound of the
trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not give
heed.’
18Therefore hear, O nations,
and know, O congregation, what will happen
to them.
19Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing evil
upon this people,
the fruit of their devices,
because they have not given heed to my
words;
and as for my law, they have rejected
it.
20To what purpose does frankincense come to
me from Sheba,
or sweet cane from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not
acceptable,
nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.
21Therefore thus says the LORD:
‘Behold, I will lay before this
people
stumbling blocks against which they shall
stumble;
fathers and sons together,
neighbor and friend shall
perish.’”
22Thus says the LORD:
“Behold, a people is coming from the
north country,
a great nation is stirring from the farthest
parts of the earth.
23They lay hold on bow and spear,
they are cruel and have no mercy,
the sound of them is like the roaring
sea;
they ride upon horses,
set in array as a man for battle,
against you, O daughter of
Zion!”
24We have heard the report of it,
our hands fall helpless;
anguish has taken hold of us,
pain as of a woman with labor pains.
25Go not forth into the field,
nor walk on the road;
for the enemy has a sword,
terror is on every side.
26O daughter of my people, put on
sackcloth,
and roll in ashes;
make mourning as for an only son,
most bitter lamentation;
for suddenly the destroyer
will come upon us.
27“I have made you an assayer and
tester among my people,
that you may know and assay their
ways.
28They are all stubbornly rebellious,
going about with slanders;
they are bronze and iron,
all of them act corruptly.
29The bellows blow fiercely,
the lead is consumed by the fire;
in vain the refining goes on,
for the wicked are not removed.
30Refuse silver they are called,
for the LORD
has rejected them.”
Impending Punishment of Judah
7
The word that came to Jeremi'ah from the L
ORD:
2“Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and
proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the
LORD, all you men of Judah who enter
these gates to worship the LORD.
3Thus says the
LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,
Amend your ways and your doings, and I will let you dwell in this
place. 4Do not
trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the
LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’*
5 “For if you
truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly execute justice
one with another, 6if you do not oppress the alien, the
fatherless or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and
if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, 7then I will let you
dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers
for ever.
8 “Behold, you
trust in deceptive words to no avail.
9Will you steal,
murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Ba'al, and
go after other gods that you have not known,
10and then come and
stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say,
‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these
abominations?
11Has this house, which is called by my name,
become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen
it, says the L
ORD.
12Go now to my place that was
in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did
to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
13And now, because you
have done all these things, says the L
ORD, and when I spoke to you persistently you did
not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer,
14therefore I will do to the
house which is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to
the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to
Shiloh.
15And
I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen,
all the offspring of E'phraim.
The People’s Disobedience
16 “As for you, do not pray for this
people, or lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede
with me, for I do not hear you. 17Do you not see what they are doing in the
cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18The children gather
wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make
cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to
other gods, to provoke me to anger. 19Is it I whom they provoke? says the
LORD. Is it not themselves, to their
own confusion? 20Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold,
my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man
and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground;
it will burn and not be quenched.”
21 Thus says the
L
ORD of hosts, the God of Israel:
“Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the
flesh.
22For
in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not
speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings
and sacrifices.
23But
this command I gave them, ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your
God, and you shall be my people; and walk in all the way that I
command you, that it may be well with you.’
24But they did not obey
or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the
stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not
forward.
25From the day that your fathers came out of
the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my
servants the prophets to them, day after day;
26yet they did not
listen to me, or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They
did worse than their fathers.
27 “So you
shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to
you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you.
28And you
shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the
voice of the LORD their God, and did
not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their
lips.
29Cut off your hair and cast it away;
raise a lamentation on the bare
heights,
for the LORD
has rejected and forsaken
the generation of his wrath.’
30 “For the
sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, says the L
ORD; they have set their abominations in the house
which is called by my name, to defile it.
31And they have built the
high place
i of
To'pheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hin'nom, to burn
their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I did not
command, nor did it come into my mind. 32Therefore, behold,
the days are coming, says the L
ORD,
when it will no more be called To'pheth, or the valley of the son
of Hinnom, but the valley of Slaughter: for they will bury in
Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere.
33And the dead bodies
of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the
beasts of the earth; and none will frighten them away.
34And I will make to
cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem
the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the
bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land shall become a
waste.
A Lament for Judah
8
“At that time, says the L
ORD,
the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its princes, the
bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of
the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs;
2and they shall
be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven,
which they have loved and served, which they have gone after, and
which they have sought and worshiped; and they shall not be
gathered or buried; they shall be as dung on the surface of the
ground. 3Death
shall be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this
evil family in all the places where I have driven them, says the
LORD of hosts.
4“You shall say to them, Thus says the
LORD:
When men fall, do they not rise again?
If one turns away, does he not return?
5Why then has this people turned away
in perpetual backsliding?
They hold fast to deceit,
they refuse to return.
6I have given heed and listened,
but they have not spoken rightly;
no man repents of his wickedness,
saying, ‘What have I
done?’
Every one turns to his own course,
like a horse plunging headlong into
battle.
7Even the stork in the heavens
knows her times;
and the turtledove, swallow, and
crane
jkeep the time of their coming;
but my people know not
the ordinance of the LORD.*
8“How can you say, ‘We are
wise,
and the law of the LORD is with us’?
But, behold, the false pen of the
scribes
has made it into a lie.
9The wise men shall be put to shame,
they shall be dismayed and taken;
behold, they have rejected the word of the
LORD,
and what wisdom is in them?
10Therefore I will give their wives to
others
and their fields to conquerors,
because from the least to the greatest
every one is greedy for unjust gain;
from prophet to priest
every one deals falsely.
11They have healed the wound of my people
lightly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.
12Were they ashamed when they committed
abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among the
fallen;
when I punish them, they shall be
overthrown,
says the LORD.
13When I would gather them, says the
L
ORD,
there are no grapes on the vine,
nor figs on the fig tree;
even the leaves are withered,
and what I gave them has passed away from
them.”
k14Why do we sit still?
Gather together, let us go into the
fortified cities
and perish there;
for the LORD
our God has doomed us to perish,
and has given us poisoned water to
drink,
because we have sinned against the
LORD.
15We looked for peace, but no good
came,
for a time of healing, but behold,
terror.
16“The snorting of their horses is
heard from Dan;
at the sound of the neighing of their
stallions
the whole land quakes.
They come and devour the land and all that
fills it,
the city and those who dwell in it.
17For behold, I am sending among you
serpents,
adders which cannot be charmed,
and they shall bite you,”
says the LORD.
18My grief is beyond healing,
l
my heart is sick within me.
19Listen, the cry of the daughter of my
people
from the length and breadth of the
land:
“Is the LORD not in Zion?
Is her King not in her?”
“Why have they provoked me to anger
with their graven images,
and with their foreign idols?”
20“The harvest is past, the summer is
ended,
and we are not saved.”
21For the wound of the daughter of my people
my heart is wounded,
I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on
me.
22Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then has the health of the daughter of
my people
not been restored?
9
m O that my head were
waters,
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night
for the slain of the daughter of my
people!
2n O that I had in the desert
a wayfarers’ lodging place,
that I might leave my people
and go away from them!
For they are all adulterers,
a company of treacherous men.
3They bend their tongue like a bow;
falsehood and not truth has grown
strong
o in the
land;for they proceed from evil to evil,
and they do not know me, says the
LORD.
4Let every one beware of his neighbor,
and put no trust in any brother;
for every brother is a supplanter,
and every neighbor goes about as a
slanderer.
5Every one deceives his neighbor,
and no one speaks the truth;
they have taught their tongue to speak
lies;
they commit iniquity and are too weary to
repent.
p6Heaping oppression upon oppression, and
deceit upon deceit,
they refuse to know me, says the
LORD.
7Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts:
“Behold, I will refine them and test
them,
for what else can I do, because of my
people?
8Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
it speaks deceitfully;
with his mouth each speaks peaceably to his
neighbor,
but in his heart he plans an ambush for
him.
9Shall I not punish them for these things?
says the LORD;
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?
10“Take up
q weeping and
wailing for the mountains,
and a lamentation for the pastures of the
wilderness,
because they are laid waste so that no one
passes through,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard;
both the birds of the air and the
beasts
have fled and are gone.
11I will make Jerusalem a heap of
ruins,
a lair of jackals;
and I will make the cities of Judah a
desolation,
without inhabitant.”
12 Who is the man so wise
that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the
L
ORD spoken, that he may declare
it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so
that no one passes through?
13And the L
ORD says: “Because they have forsaken my
law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, or
walked in accord with it,
14but have stubbornly followed their own
hearts and have gone after the Ba'als, as their fathers taught
them.
15Therefore thus says the L
ORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will
feed this people with wormwood, and give them poisonous water to
drink.
16I will
scatter them among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers
have known; and I will send the sword after them, until I have
consumed them.”
17Thus says the LORD of hosts:
“Consider, and call for the mourning
women to come;
send for the skilful women to come;
18let them make haste and raise a wailing
over us,
that our eyes may run down with tears,
and our eyelids gush with water.
19For a sound of wailing is heard from
Zion:
‘How we are ruined!
We are utterly shamed,
because we have left the land,
because they have cast down our
dwellings.’”
20Hear, O women, the word of the
LORD,
and let your ear receive the word of his
mouth;
teach to your daughters a lament,
and each to her neighbor a dirge.
21For death has come up into our
windows,
it has entered our palaces,
cutting off the children from the
streets
and the young men from the squares.
22Speak, “Thus says the LORD:
‘The dead bodies of men shall
fall
like dung upon the open field,
like sheaves after the reaper,
and none shall gather
them.’”
23 Thus says the L
ORD: “Let not the wise man glory in his
wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich
man glory in his riches;
24but let him who glories glory in this,
that he understands and knows me, that I am the L
ORD who practice steadfast love, justice, and
righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the
L
ORD.”
*
25 “Behold, the days
are coming, says the L
ORD, when I will
punish all those who are circumcised but yet uncircumcised—
26Egypt, Judah, E'dom, the sons of Ammon,
Moab, and all who dwell in the desert that cut the corners of their
hair; for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of
Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”
Idolatry Has Brought Ruin on
Israel
10
Hear the word which the L
ORD speaks to
you, O house of Israel.
2Thus says the LORD:
“Learn not the way of the
nations,
nor be dismayed at the signs of the
heavens
because the nations are dismayed at
them,
3for 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.
4Men deck it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so that it cannot move.
5Their idols
r are like
scarecrows in a cucumber field,
and they cannot speak;
they have to be carried,
for they cannot walk.
Be not afraid of them,
for they cannot do evil,
neither is it in them to do
good.”
6There is none like you, O LORD;
you are great, and your name is great in
might.
7Who would not fear you, O King of the
nations?
For this is your due;
for among all the wise ones of the
nations
and in all their kingdoms
there is none like you.
8They are both stupid and foolish;
the instruction of idols is but wood!
9Beaten silver is brought from
Tar'shish,
and gold from U'phaz.
They are the work of the craftsman and of
the hands of the goldsmith;
their clothing is violet and purple;
they are all the work of skilled men.
10But the LORD
is the true God;
he is the living God and the everlasting
King.
At his wrath the earth quakes,
and the nations cannot endure his
indignation.
11 Thus shall you say to them:
“The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall
perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”
s
12It is he who made the earth by his
power,
who established the world by his
wisdom,
and by his understanding stretched out the
heavens.
13When he utters his voice there is a tumult
of waters in the heavens,
and he makes the mist rise from the ends of
the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
and he brings forth the wind from his
storehouses.
14Every man is stupid and without
knowledge;
every goldsmith is put to shame by his
idols;
for his images are false,
and there is no breath in them.
15They are worthless, a work of
delusion;
at the time of their punishment they shall
perish.
16Not like these is he who is the portion of
Jacob,
for he is the one who formed all
things,
and Israel is the tribe of his
inheritance;
the LORD of
hosts is his name.
17Gather up your bundle from the
ground,
O you who dwell under siege!
18For thus says the LORD:
“Behold, I am slinging out the
inhabitants of the land
at this time,
and I will bring distress on them,
that they may feel it.”
19Woe is me because of my hurt!
My wound is grievous.
But I said, “Truly this is an
affliction,
and I must bear it.”
20My tent is destroyed,
and all my cords are broken;
my children have gone from me,
and they are not;
there is no one to spread my tent
again,
and to set up my curtains.
21For the shepherds are stupid,
and do not inquire of the LORD;
therefore they have not prospered,
and all their flock is scattered.
22Listen, a rumor! Behold, it
comes!—
a great commotion out of the north
country
to make the cities of Judah a
desolation,
a lair of jackals.
23I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself,
that it is not in man who walks to direct
his steps.
24Correct me, O LORD, but in just measure;
not in your anger, lest you bring me to
nothing.
25Pour out your wrath upon the nations
that know you not,
and upon the peoples that call not on your
name;
for they have devoured Jacob;
they have devoured him and consumed
him,
and have laid waste his habitation.
Israel and Judah Have Broken the
Covenant
11 The word that
came to Jeremi'ah from the LORD: 2“Hear the words of this covenant, and
speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
3You shall say
to them, Thus says the L
ORD, the
God of Israel: Cursed be the man who does not heed the words of
this covenant
4which I commanded your fathers when I
brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace,
saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall
you be my people, and I will be your God,
5that I may perform the
oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing
with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered,
“So be it, L
ORD.”
6 And the
LORD said to me, “Proclaim
all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of
Jerusalem: Hear the words of this covenant and do them. 7For I solemnly warned
your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt,
warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice.
8Yet they did
not obey or incline their ear, but every one walked in the
stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all
the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they
did not.”
9 Again the
LORD said to me, “There is
revolt among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
10They have
turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to
hear my words; they have gone after other gods to serve them; the
house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant
which I made with their fathers. 11Therefore, thus says the LORD, Behold, I am bringing evil upon them which
they cannot escape; though they cry to me, I will not listen to
them. 12Then
the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and
cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they cannot save
them in the time of their trouble. 13For your gods have become as many as your
cities, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the
altars you have set up to shame, altars to burn incense to
Ba'al.
14 “Therefore
do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their
behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of
their trouble.
15What
right has my beloved in my house, when she has done vile deeds? Can
vows
t and
sacrificial flesh avert your doom? Can you then exult?
16The
L
ORD once called you, ‘A green
olive tree, fair with excellent fruit’; but with the roar of
a great tempest he will set fire to it, and its branches will be
consumed.
17The L
ORD of
hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you, because of
the evil which the house of Israel and the house of Judah have
done, provoking me to anger by burning incense to
Ba'al.”
18The LORD made
it known to me and I knew;
then you showed me their evil deeds.
19But I was like a gentle lamb
led to the slaughter.
I did not know it was against me
they devised schemes, saying,
“Let us destroy the tree with its
fruit,
let us cut him off from the land of the
living,
that his name be remembered no
more.”
20But, O LORD of
hosts, who judge righteously,
who test the heart and the mind,
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause.
21 Therefore
thus says the LORD concerning the
men of An'athoth, who seek your life, and say, “Do not
prophesy in the name of the LORD,
or you will die by our hand”— 22therefore thus says
the LORD of hosts: “Behold,
I will punish them; the young men shall die by the sword; their
sons and their daughters shall die by famine; 23and none of them
shall be left. For I will bring evil upon the men of An'athoth, the
year of their punishment.”
Jeremiah Complains to God
12 Righteous are
you, O LORD, when I complain to
you;
yet I would plead my case before you.
Why does the way of the wicked
prosper?
Why do all who are treacherous thrive?
2You plant them, and they take root;
they grow and bring forth fruit;
you are near in their mouth
and far from their heart.
3But you, O LORD, know me;
you see me, and test my mind toward
you.
Pull them out like sheep for the
slaughter,
and set them apart for the day of
slaughter.
4How long will the land mourn,
and the grass of every field wither?
For the wickedness of those who dwell in
it
the beasts and the birds are swept
away,
because men said, “He will not see our
latter end.”
5“If you have raced with men on foot,
and they have wearied you,
how will you compete with horses?
And if in a safe land you fall down,
how will you do in the jungle of the
Jordan?
6For even your brothers and the house of your
father,
even they have dealt treacherously with
you;
they are in full cry after you;
believe them not,
though they speak fair words to
you.”
7“I have forsaken my house,
I have abandoned my heritage;
I have given the beloved of my soul
into the hands of her enemies.
8My heritage has become to me
like a lion in the forest,
she has lifted up her voice against
me;
therefore I hate her.
9Is my heritage to me like a speckled bird of
prey?
Are the birds of prey against her round
about?
Go, assemble all the wild beasts;
bring them to devour.
10Many shepherds have destroyed my
vineyard,
they have trampled down my portion,
they have made my pleasant portion
a desolate wilderness.
11They have made it a desolation;
desolate, it mourns to me.
The whole land is made desolate,
but no man lays it to heart.
12Upon all the bare heights in the
desert
destroyers have come;
for the sword of the LORD devours
from one end of the land to the other;
no flesh has peace.
13They have sown wheat and have reaped
thorns,
they have tired themselves out but profit
nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their
u harvestsbecause of the fierce anger of the
LORD.”
The Lord’s Answer
14 Thus says the L
ORD concerning all my evil neighbors who touch the
heritage which I have given my people Israel to inherit:
“Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will
pluck up the house of Judah from among them.
15And after I have plucked
them up, I will again have compassion on them, and I will bring
them again each to his heritage and each to his land.
16And it shall come to
pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear
by my name, ‘As the L
ORD
lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Ba'al, then
they shall be built up in the midst of my people.
17But if any nation
will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it,
says the L
ORD.”
The Linen Waistcloth
13
* Thus said the L
ORD to me,
“Go and buy a linen waistcloth, and put it on your loins, and
do not dip it in water.”
2So I bought a waistcloth according to the word of the
LORD, and put it on my loins.
3And the word
of the LORD came to me a second time,
4“Take
the waistcloth which you have bought, which is upon your loins, and
arise, go to the Euphra'tes, and hide it there in a cleft of the
rock.” 5So I went, and hid it by the Euphra'tes, as
the LORD commanded me. 6And after many days
the LORD said to me, “Arise, go
to the Euphra'tes, and take from there the waistcloth which I
commanded you to hide there.” 7Then I went to the Euphra'tes, and dug, and
I took the waistcloth from the place where I had hidden it. And
behold, the waistcloth was spoiled; it was good for
nothing.
8 Then the word of
the LORD came to me: 9 “Thus says the
LORD: Even so will I spoil the pride
of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10This evil people, who
refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and
have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be
like this waistcloth, which is good for nothing. 11For as the waistcloth
clings to the loins of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel
and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the LORD, that they might be for me a people, a name, a
praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.
The Jars Filled with Wine
12 “You shall speak to them this word:
‘Thus says the LORD, the God of
Israel, “Every jar shall be filled with wine.”’
And they will say to you, ‘Do we not indeed know that every
jar will be filled with wine?’ 13Then you shall say to
them, ‘Thus says the LORD:
Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this
land: the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the
prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 14And I will dash them
one against another, fathers and sons together, says the
LORD. I will not pity or spare or have
compassion, that I should not destroy them.’”
15Hear and give ear; be not proud,
for the LORD
has spoken.
16Give glory to the LORD your God
before he brings darkness,
before your feet stumble
on the twilight mountains,
and while you look for light
he turns it into gloom
and makes it deep darkness.
17But if you will not listen,
my soul will weep in secret for your
pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with
tears,
because the LORD’s flock has been
taken captive.
18Say to the king and the queen mother:
“Take a lowly seat,
for your beautiful crown
has come down from your
head.”
v19The cities of the Neg'eb are shut up,
with none to open them;
all Judah is taken into exile,
wholly taken into exile.
20“Lift up your eyes and see
those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given you,
your beautiful flock?
21What will you say when they set as head
over you
those whom you yourself have taught
to be friends to you?
Will not pangs take hold of you,
like those of a woman with labor
pains?
22And if you say in your heart,
‘Why have these things come upon
me?’
it is for the greatness of your
iniquity
that your skirts are lifted up,
and you suffer violence.
23Can the Ethiopian change his skin
or the leopard his spots?
Then also you can do good
who are accustomed to do evil.
24I will scatter you
w like
chaff
driven by the wind from the desert.
25This is your lot,
the portion I have measured out to you, says
the LORD,
because you have forgotten me
and trusted in lies.
26I myself will lift up your skirts over your
face,
and your shame will be seen.
27I have seen your abominations,
your adulteries and neighings, your lewd
harlotries,
on the hills in the field.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will it be
before you are made clean?”
The Great Drought
14
The word of the L
ORD which came to
Jeremi'ah concerning the drought:
2“Judah mourns
and her gates languish;
her people lament on the ground,
and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
3Her nobles send their servants for
water;
they come to the cisterns,
they find no water,
they return with their vessels empty;
they are ashamed and confounded
and cover their heads.
4Because of the ground which is
dismayed,
since there is no rain on the land,
the farmers are ashamed,
they cover their heads.
5Even the deer in the field forsakes her
newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
6The wild donkeys stand on the bare
heights,
they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
because there is no herbage.
7“Though our iniquities testify against
us,
act, O LORD,
for your name’s sake;
for our backslidings are many,
we have sinned against you.
8O you hope of Israel,
its savior in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the
land,
like a wayfarer who turns aside to linger
for a night?
9Why should you be like a man confused,
like a mighty man who cannot save?
Yet you, O LORD, are in the midst of us,
and we are called by your name;
leave us not.”
10Thus says the LORD concerning this people:
“They have loved to wander thus,
they have not restrained their feet;
therefore the LORD does not accept them,
now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.”
11 The L
ORD said to me: “Do not pray for the
welfare of this people.
12Though they fast, I will not hear
their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and cereal
offering, I will not accept them; but I will consume them by the
sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”
Denunciation of Lying Prophets; and a
Prayer for Mercy
13 Then I said: “Ah, Lord GOD, behold,
the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor
shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this
place.’” 14And the LORD
said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name; I
did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They
are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and
the deceit of their own minds. 15Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name
although I did not send them, and who say, ‘Sword and famine
shall not come on this land’: By sword and famine those
prophets shall be consumed. 16And the people to whom they prophesy shall
be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and
sword, with none to bury them—them, their wives, their sons,
and their daughters. For I will pour out their wickedness upon
them.
17“You shall say to them this
word:
‘Let my eyes run down with tears night
and day,
and let them not cease,
for the virgin daughter of my people is
struck down with a great wound,
with a very grievous blow.
18If I go out into the field,
behold, those slain by the sword!
And if I enter the city,
behold, the diseases of famine!
For both prophet and priest ply their trade
through the land,
and have no knowledge.’”
19Have you utterly rejected Judah?
Does your soul loathe Zion?
Why have you struck us down
so that there is no healing for us?
We looked for peace, but no good came;
for a time of healing, but behold,
terror.
20We acknowledge our wickedness, O
LORD,
and the iniquity of our fathers,
for we have sinned against you.
21Do not spurn us, for your name’s
sake;
do not dishonor your glorious throne;
remember and do not break your covenant with
us.
22Are there any among the false gods of the
nations that can bring rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Are you not he, O LORD our God?
We set our hope on you,
for you do all these things.
Anguish and Terror Foretold
15
Then the L
ORD said to me,
“Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would
not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let
them go!
2And when
they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to
them, ‘Thus says the LORD:
“Those who are for pestilence, to
pestilence,
and those who are for the sword, to the
sword;
those who are for famine, to famine,
and those who are for captivity, to
captivity.”’
3“I will appoint over them four kinds of
destroyers, says the LORD: the sword
to slay, the dogs to tear, and the birds of the air and the beasts
of the earth to devour and destroy. 4And I will make them a horror to all the
kingdoms of the earth because of what Manas'seh the son of
Hezeki'ah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.
5“Who will have pity on you, O
Jerusalem,
or who will bemoan you?
Who will turn aside
to ask about your welfare?
6You have rejected me, says the
LORD,
you keep going backward;
so I have stretched out my hand against you
and destroyed you;—
I am weary of relenting.
7I have winnowed them with a winnowing
fork
in the gates of the land;
I have bereaved them, I have destroyed my
people;
they did not turn from their ways.
8I have made their widows more in
number
than the sand of the seas;
I have brought against the mothers of young
men
a destroyer at noonday;
I have made anguish and terror
fall upon them suddenly.
9She who bore seven has languished;
she has swooned away;
her sun went down while it was yet
day;
she has been shamed and disgraced.
And the rest of them I will give to the
sword
before their enemies,
says the LORD.”
Jeremiah Pleads Again and Is
Reassured
10 Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a
man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent,
nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me.
11So let it be, O
L
ORD,
x if I have not
entreatedy you for their
good, if I have not pleaded with you on behalf of the enemy in the
time of trouble and in the time of distress! 12Can one break iron,
iron from the north, and bronze?
13“Your wealth and your treasures I
will give as spoil, without price, for all your sins, throughout
all your territory. 14I will make you serve your enemies in a
land which you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled which
shall burn for ever.”
15O LORD,
you know;
remember me and visit me,
and take vengeance for me on my
persecutors.
In your forbearance take me not away;
know that for your sake I bear
reproach.
16Your words were found, and I ate
them,
and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart;
for I am called by your name,
O LORD, God of
hosts.
17I did not sit in the company of
merrymakers,
nor did I rejoice;
I sat alone, because your hand was upon
me,
for you had filled me with
indignation.
18Why is my pain unceasing,
my wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
Will you be to me like a deceitful
brook,
like waters that fail?
19Therefore thus says the LORD:
“If you return, I will restore
you,
and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what
is worthless,
you shall be as my mouth.
They shall turn to you,
but you shall not turn to them.
20And I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
but they shall not prevail over you,
for I am with you
to save you and deliver you, says the
LORD.
21I will deliver you out of the hand of the
wicked,
and redeem you from the grasp of the
ruthless.”
Jeremiah’s Celibacy and
Message
16
The word of the L
ORD came to me:
2“You
shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this
place. 3For
thus says the LORD concerning the sons
and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the
mothers who bore them and the fathers who begot them in this land:
4They shall
die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they
be buried; they shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. They
shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies
shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the
earth.
5 “For thus
says the L
ORD: Do not enter the house
of mourning, or go to lament, or bemoan them; for I have taken away
my peace from this people, says the L
ORD, my steadfast love and mercy.
6Both great and small
shall die in this land; they shall not be buried, and no one shall
lament for them or cut himself or make himself bald for them.
7No one shall
break bread for the mourner, to comfort him for the dead; nor shall
any one give him the cup of consolation to drink for his father or
his mother.
8You shall not go into the house of feasting
to sit with them, to eat and drink.
9For thus says the L
ORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will
make to cease from this place, before your eyes and in your days,
the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the
bridegroom and the voice of the bride.
10 “And when
you tell this people all these words, and they say to you,
‘Why has the LORD pronounced all
this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin
that we have committed against the LORD our God?’ 11then you shall say to them: ‘Because
your fathers have forsaken me, says the LORD, and have gone after other gods and have served
and worshiped them, and have forsaken me and have not kept my law,
12and because
you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, every one of you
follows his stubborn evil will, refusing to listen to me; 13therefore I will hurl
you out of this land into a land which neither you nor your fathers
have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for
I will show you no favor.’
God Will Restore Israel
14 “Therefore, behold, the days are
coming, says the LORD, when it shall
no longer be said, ‘As the LORD
lives who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of
Egypt,’ 15but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the sons of Israel out of
the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven
them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land which I
gave to their fathers.
16
“Behold, I am sending for many fishers, says the
L
ORD, and they shall catch them;
and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt
them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of
the rocks.
17For my eyes are upon all their ways; they
are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my
eyes.
18And
z I will doubly
recompense their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted
my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have
filled my inheritance with their abominations.”
19O LORD, my
strength and my stronghold,
my refuge in the day of trouble,
to you shall the nations come
from the ends of the earth and say:
“Our fathers have inherited nothing
but lies,
worthless things in which there is no
profit.
20Can man make for himself gods?
Such are no gods!”
21 “Therefore,
behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my
power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the
LORD.”
Judah’s Sin and Shame
17 “The sin of
Judah is written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is
engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their
altars, 2while their children remember their altars
and their Ashe'rim, beside every green tree, and on the high hills,
3on the mountains in
the open country. Your wealth and all your treasures I will give
for spoil as the price of your sin
a throughout
all your territory. 4You shall loosen your hand
b from your
heritage which I gave to you, and I will make you serve your
enemies in a land which you do not know, for in my anger a fire is
kindled which shall burn for ever.”
5Thus says the LORD:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in
man
and makes flesh his arm,
whose heart turns away from the
LORD.
6He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the
wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.
7“Blessed is the man who trusts in
the L
ORD,
whose trust is the LORD.
8He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the
stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of
drought,
for it does not cease to bear
fruit.”
9The heart is deceitful above all
things,
and desperately corrupt;
who can understand it?
10“I the L
ORD search the mind
and test the heart,
to give to every man according to his
ways,
according to the fruit of his
doings.”
11Like the partridge that gathers a brood
which she did not hatch,
so is he who gets riches but not by
right;
in the midst of his days they will leave
him,
and at his end he will be a fool.
12A glorious throne set on high from the
beginning
is the place of our sanctuary.
13O L
ORD, the
hope of Israel,
all who forsake you shall be put to
shame;
those who turn away from you
c shall be
written in the earth,for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water.
14Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed;
save me, and I shall be saved;
for you are my praise.
15Behold, they say to me,
“Where is the word of the
LORD?
Let it come!”
16I have not pressed you to send evil,
nor have I desired the day of
disaster,
you know;
that which came out of my lips
was before your face.
17Be not a terror to me;
you are my refuge in the day of evil.
18Let those be put to shame who persecute
me,
but let me not be put to shame;
let them be dismayed,
but let me not be dismayed;
bring upon them the day of evil;
destroy them with double destruction!
19 Thus said the L
ORD to me: “Go and stand in the
Benjamin
d Gate,
by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in
all the gates of Jerusalem, 20and say: ‘Hear the word of the
L
ORD, you kings of Judah, and all
Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these
gates.
21Thus
says the L
ORD: Take heed for the
sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the sabbath day or
bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.
22And do not carry a
burden out of your houses on the sabbath or do any work, but keep
the sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers.
23Yet they did not
listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they
might not hear and receive instruction.
24 “‘But
if you listen to me, says the L
ORD,
and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the sabbath
day, but keep the sabbath day holy and do no work on it,
25then there shall enter by
the gates of this city kings
e who sit on
the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and
their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
and this city shall be inhabited for ever. 26And people shall come
from the cities of Judah and the places round about Jerusalem, from
the land of Benjamin, from the Shephe'lah, from the hill country,
and from the Neg'eb, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices,
cereal offerings and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings to
the house of the L
ORD.
27But if you do not
listen to me, to keep the sabbath day holy, and not to bear a
burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then
I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces
of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.’”
The Potter and the Clay
18
The word that came to Jeremi'ah from the L
ORD:
2“Arise, and go down to the potter’s house,
and there I will let you hear my words.” 3So I went down to the
potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel.
4And the
vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s
hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to
the potter to do.
5 Then the word of
the L
ORD came to me:
6“O house of
Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? says the
L
ORD. Behold, like the clay in the
potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.
7If at any
time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck
up and break down and destroy it,
8and if that nation, concerning which I have
spoken, turns from its evil, I will repent of the evil that I
intended to do to it.
9And if at any time I declare concerning a
nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it,
10and if it does evil
in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will repent of the
good which I had intended to do to it.
11Now, therefore, say
to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus
says the L
ORD, Behold, I am shaping
evil against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one
from his evil way, and amend your ways and your
doings.’
Israel’s Stubborn Idolatry
12 “But they say, ‘That is in
vain! We will follow our own plans, and everyone will act according
to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’
13“Therefore thus says the
LORD:
Ask among the nations,
who has heard the like of this?
The virgin Israel
has done a very horrible thing.
14Does the snow of Lebanon leave
Do the mountain
g waters run
dry,hthe cold flowing streams?
15But my people have forgotten me,
they burn incense to false gods;
they have stumbled
i in their
ways,in the ancient roads,
and have gone into bypaths,
not the highway,
16making their land a horror,
a thing to be hissed at for ever.
Every one who passes by it is
horrified
and shakes his head.
17Like the east wind I will scatter
them
before the enemy.
I will show them my back, not my face,
in the day of their calamity.”
Plots against Jeremiah
18 Then they said, “Come, let us make
plots against Jeremi'ah, for the law shall not perish from the
priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet.
Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not heed any of
his words.”
19Give heed to me, O L
ORD,
20Is evil a recompense for good?
Yet they have dug a pit for my life.
Remember how I stood before you
to speak good for them,
to turn away your wrath from them.
21Therefore deliver up their children to
famine;
give them over to the power of the
sword,
let their wives become childless and
widowed.
May their men meet death by
pestilence,
their youths be slain by the sword in
battle.
22May a cry be heard from their houses,
when you bring the marauder suddenly upon
them!
For they have dug a pit to take me,
and laid snares for my feet.
23Yet, you, O LORD, know
all their plotting to slay me.
Forgive not their iniquity,
nor blot out their sin from your
sight.
Let them be overthrown before you;
deal with them in the time of your
anger.
The Broken Earthen Flask
19
Thus said the L
ORD, “Go, buy a
potter’s earthen flask, and take some of the elders of the
people and some of the senior priests,
2and go out to
the valley of the son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate,
and proclaim there the words that I tell you. 3You shall say,
‘Hear the word of the LORD, O
kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the
LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,
Behold, I am bringing such evil upon this place that the ears of
every one who hears of it will tingle. 4Because the people
have forsaken me, and have profaned this place by burning incense
in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the
kings of Judah have known; and because they have filled this place
with the blood of innocents, 5and have built the high places of Ba'al to
burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did
not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind; 6therefore, behold,
days are coming, says the LORD, when
this place shall no more be called To'pheth, or the valley of the
son of Hinnom, but the valley of Slaughter. 7And in this place I
will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, and will cause
their people to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the
hand of those who seek their life. I will give their dead bodies
for food to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth.
8And I will
make this city a horror, a thing to be hissed at; every one who
passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its
disasters. 9And I will make them eat the flesh of their
sons and their daughters, and every one shall eat the flesh of his
neighbor in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies
and those who seek their life afflict them.’
10 “Then you
shall break the flask in the sight of the men who go with you,
11and shall
say to them, ‘Thus says the L
ORD
of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, as one breaks
a potter’s vessel, so that it can never be mended. Men shall
bury in To'pheth because there will be no place else to bury.
12Thus will I
do to this place, says the L
ORD, and
to its inhabitants, making this city like To'pheth.
13The houses of
Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah—all the houses
upon whose roofs incense has been burned to all the host of heaven,
and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods—shall
be defiled like the place of To'pheth.’”
14 Then Jeremi'ah
came from To'pheth, where the LORD had
sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the court of the LORD’s
house, and said to all the people: 15“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I am
bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the evil that I
have pronounced against it, because they have stiffened their neck,
refusing to hear my words.”
Jeremiah Is Persecuted by Pashhur and
Complains to God
20 Now Pashhur the
priest, the son of Im'mer, who was chief officer in the house of
the LORD, heard Jeremi'ah
prophesying these things. 2Then Pashhur beat Jeremi'ah the prophet, and
put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the
house of the L
ORD.
3On the next day, when
Pashhur released Jeremi'ah from the stocks, Jeremi'ah said to him,
“The L
ORD does not call your
name Pashhur, but Terror on every side.
4For thus says the
L
ORD: Behold, I will make you a
terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the
sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah
into the hand of the king of Babylon; he shall carry them captive
to Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.
5Moreover, I will give
all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its prized
belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the
hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them, and seize them, and
carry them to Babylon.
6And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your
house, shall go into captivity; to Babylon you shall go; and there
you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your
friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.”
7O LORD, you
have deceived me,
and I was deceived;
you are stronger than I,
and you have prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all the
day;
every one mocks me.
8For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I shout, “Violence and
destruction!”
For the word of the LORD has become for me
a reproach and derision all day long.
9If I say, “I will not mention
him,
or speak any more in his name,”
there is in my heart as it were a burning
fire
shut up in my bones,
and I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
10For I hear many whispering.
Terror is on every side!
“Denounce him! Let us denounce
him!”
say all my familiar friends,
watching for my fall.
“Perhaps he will be deceived,
then we can overcome him,
and take our revenge on him.”
11But the LORD
is with me as a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble,
they will not overcome me.
They will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
Their eternal dishonor
will never be forgotten.
12O LORD of
hosts, who test the righteous,
who see the heart and the mind,