JEREMIAH 1 [†]The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one a of the priests who were in b Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2[^][†]to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of c Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in d the thirteenth year of his reign. 3[†]It came also in the days of e Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and f until the end of the eleventh year of g Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, h until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.
The Call of Jeremiah
4[†]Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
5[^][†] i “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born j I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet k to the nations.”
6[†]Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, l I do not know how to speak, m for I am only a youth.” 7[†]But 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 n whatever I command you, you shall speak.
8[^][†] o Do not be afraid of them,
p for I am with you to deliver you,
declares the LORD.”
9[^][†] q Then the LORD put out his hand and r touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me,
“Behold, I have put s my words in your mouth.
10 See, I have set you this day k over nations and over kingdoms,
t to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”
11[†]And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, u “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond [1] branch.” 12Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”
13[†]The word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see v a boiling pot, facing away w from the north.” 14Then the LORD said to me, w “Out of the north disaster [2] shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15[†]For behold, x I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the LORD, y and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. 16[^][†]And z I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil a in forsaking me. b They have made offerings to other gods and c worshiped the works of their own hands. 17[†]But you, d dress yourself for work; [3] arise, and e say to them everything that I command you. f Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. 18[†]And I, behold, I make you this day g a fortified city, h an iron pillar, and i bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. 19[†] i They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for j I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you.”
Israel Forsakes the LORD
JEREMIAH 2 [†]The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2[^]“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the LORD,
“I remember the devotion of k your youth,
your love l as a bride,
m how you followed me in the wilderness,
n in a land not sown.
3[†] o Israel was holy to the LORD,
p the firstfruits of his harvest.
q All who ate of it incurred guilt;
disaster came upon them,
declares the LORD.”
4[†]Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. 5[†]Thus says the LORD:
r “What wrong did your fathers find in me
that they went far from me,
s and went after t worthlessness, and became worthless?
6[†] They did not say, u ‘Where is the LORD
who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
who led us v 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?’
7[†] w And I brought you into a plentiful land
to enjoy its fruits and its good things.
But when you came in, x you defiled my land
and made my heritage an abomination.
8[†] The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’
y Those who handle the law did not know me;
z the shepherds [1] transgressed against me;
a the prophets prophesied by Baal
and went after b things that do not profit.
9[†] “Therefore c I still contend with you,
declares the LORD,
and d with your children’s children I will contend.
10[†] For cross to the coasts of e Cyprus and see,
or send to f Kedar and examine with care;
see if there has been such a thing.
11[^] g Has a nation changed its gods,
h even though they are no gods?
But my people i have changed their glory
for b that which does not profit.
12[†] Be appalled, j O heavens, at this;
be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the LORD,
13[^] for my people have committed two evils:
the fountain of m living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.
14[†] n “Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant?
Why then has he become a prey?
15[†] o The lions have roared against him;
they have roared loudly.
They have made his land a waste;
his cities are in ruins, p without inhabitant.
16[†] Moreover, the men of q Memphis and r Tahpanhes
s have shaved [2] the crown of your head.
17[†] t Have you not brought this upon yourself
by forsaking the LORD your God,
when u he led you in the way?
18[†] v And now what do you gain by going to Egypt
to drink the waters of w the Nile?
x Or what do you gain by going to Assyria
to drink the waters of y the Euphrates? [3]
19 z Your evil will chastise you,
and a your apostasy will reprove you.
Know and see that it is evil and b bitter
for c you to forsake the LORD your God;
the fear of me is not in you,
declares the Lord GOD of hosts.
20[†] “For long ago I d broke your yoke
and burst your bonds;
but you said, e ‘I will not serve.’
Yes, f on every high hill
and under every green tree
you bowed down g like a whore.
21[^][†] h Yet I planted you a choice vine,
wholly of pure seed.
i How then have you turned degenerate
and become a wild vine?
22[†] Though you wash yourself with lye
and use much soap,
j the stain of your guilt is still before me,
declares the Lord GOD.
23[†] k How can you say, ‘I am not unclean,
I have not gone after the Baals’?
Look at your way l in the valley;
know what you have done—
a restless young camel running here and there,
24 m 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.
25[†] Keep n your feet from going unshod
and o your throat from thirst.
But you said, ‘It is hopeless,
p for I have loved foreigners,
and after them I will go.’
26[†] “As a thief is shamed when caught,
so the house of Israel shall be shamed:
q they, their kings, their officials,
their priests, and their prophets,
27 who 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 r in the time of their trouble they say,
‘Arise and save us!’
28[†] But s where are your gods
that you made for yourself?
Let them arise, t if they can save you,
in your time of trouble;
for u as many as your cities
are your gods, O Judah.
29 “Why do you contend with me?
You have all transgressed against me,
declares the LORD.
30[†] In vain have I v struck your children;
they took no correction;
w your own sword devoured your prophets
like a ravening lion.
31[†] And you, O generation, behold 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’?
32 x Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
or a bride her attire?
Yet y my people have forgotten me
days without number.
33[†] “How well you direct your course
to seek love!
So that even to wicked women
you have taught your ways.
34[†] Also on your skirts is found
z the lifeblood of the guiltless poor;
you did not find them a breaking in.
Yet in spite of all these things
35[†] you say, ‘I am innocent;
surely his anger has turned from me.’
b Behold, I will bring you to judgment
for c saying, ‘I have not sinned.’
36[†] d How much you go about,
changing your way!
You shall be e put to shame by Egypt
as you were put to shame by Assyria.
37 From it too you will come away
with f your hands on your head,
for the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust,
and you will not prosper by them.
JEREMIAH 3 [†] g “If [1] a man divorces his wife
and she goes from him
and becomes another man’s wife,
will he return to her?
h Would not that land be greatly polluted?
i You have played the whore with many lovers;
and would you return to me?
declares the LORD.
2[†] Lift up your eyes to j the bare heights, and see!
Where have you not been ravished?
k By the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers
like an Arab in the wilderness.
h You have polluted the land
with your vile whoredom.
3[†] l Therefore the showers have been withheld,
and the spring rain has not come;
yet you have m the forehead of a whore;
you refuse to be ashamed.
4[†] Have you not just now n called to me,
‘My father, you are the friend of my youth—
5 o will he be angry forever,
will he be indignant to the end?’
Behold, you have spoken,
but you have done all the evil that you could.”
Faithless Israel Called to Repentance
6[†]The LORD said to me in the days of p King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, q how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there i played the whore? 7[†]And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous r sister Judah saw it. 8[†]She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, s I had sent her away with t a decree of divorce. u Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went i and played the whore. 9[†]Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with v stone and tree. 10[^]Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me w with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the LORD.”
11[†]And the LORD said to me, x “Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12[†]Go, and proclaim these words toward y the north, and say,
z “‘Return, faithless Israel,
declares the LORD.
I will not look on you in anger,
for a I am merciful,
declares the LORD;
b I will not be angry forever.
13[^][†] c Only acknowledge your guilt,
that you rebelled against the LORD your God
and scattered your favors among foreigners under d every green tree,
and that you have not obeyed my voice,
declares the LORD.
14[†] e Return, O faithless children,
declares the LORD;
f 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 g I will give you shepherds after my own heart, h who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16[†]And when you have multiplied and been fruitful in the land, in those days, declares the LORD, they shall no more say, “The ark of the covenant of the LORD.” It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed; it shall not be made again. 17[^][†]At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the LORD, i and all nations shall gather to it, j to the presence of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart. 18[†] k In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land l of the north to m the land that I gave your fathers for a heritage.
19[†] “‘I said,
How I would set you among my sons,
and give you a pleasant land,
a heritage most beautiful of all nations.
And I thought you would n call me, My Father,
and would not turn from following me.
20 o Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband,
so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel,
declares the LORD.’”
21[†] A voice on the p bare heights is heard,
q the weeping and pleading of Israel’s sons
because they have perverted their way;
they have forgotten the LORD their God.
22[†] r “Return, O faithless sons;
s I will heal your faithlessness.”
“Behold, we come to you,
for you are the LORD our God.
23[†] Truly t the hills are a delusion,
the orgies [2] on the mountains.
u 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. 25[†] v Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us. For w 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.”
JEREMIAH 4 [†] “If you return, O Israel,
declares the LORD,
x to me you should return.
If you remove your detestable things from my presence,
y and do not waver,
2[†] z and if you swear, ‘As the LORD lives,’
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
then a nations shall bless themselves in him,
b and in him shall they glory.”
3[†]For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
c “Break up your fallow ground,
and d sow not among thorns.
4[^][†] e Circumcise yourselves to the LORD;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
f lest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
g because of the evil of your deeds.”
Disaster from the North
5[†]Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
h “Blow the trumpet through the land;
cry aloud and say,
i ‘Assemble, and let us go
into the fortified cities!’
6 j Raise a standard toward Zion,
flee for safety, stay not,
for I bring disaster from k the north,
l and great destruction.
7[†] m A lion has gone up from his thicket,
a destroyer of nations has set out;
he has gone out from his place
to make your land a waste;
your cities will be ruins
n without inhabitant.
8[†] For this o put on sackcloth,
lament and wail,
for p the fierce anger of the LORD
has not turned back from us.”
9[†]“In that day, declares the LORD, q courage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.” 10[†]Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, r 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 s 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 t speak in judgment upon them.”
13[†] Behold, he comes up like clouds;
u his chariots like the whirlwind;
his horses are v swifter than eagles—
woe to us, w for we are ruined!
14 O Jerusalem, x wash your heart from evil,
that you may be saved.
How long shall your wicked thoughts
lodge within you?
15[†] For a voice y declares from Dan
and proclaims trouble from z Mount Ephraim.
16 Warn the nations that he is coming;
announce to Jerusalem,
“Besiegers come a from a distant land;
they shout against the cities of Judah.
17 Like keepers of a field b are they against her all around,
because she has rebelled against me,
declares the LORD.
18[†] Your ways and your deeds
have brought this upon you.
This is your doom, and c it is bitter;
it has reached your very heart.”
Anguish over Judah’s Desolation
19[†] d My 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.
20 e Crash follows hard on crash;
the whole land is laid waste.
f Suddenly my tents are laid waste,
my curtains in a moment.
21[†] How long must I see the standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22[†] “For g my people are foolish;
they know me not;
they are stupid children;
they have no understanding.
h They are ‘wise’—in doing evil!
But how to do good they know not.”
23[†] I looked on the earth, and behold, it was i without form and void;
j and to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I looked on k the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,
and all the hills moved to and fro.
25 l I looked, and behold, there was no man,
and all the birds of the air had fled.
26[†] I looked, and behold, the m fruitful land was a desert,
and all its cities were laid in ruins
before the LORD, before n his fierce anger.
27[†]For thus says the LORD, “The whole land shall be a desolation; o yet I will not make a full end.
28[†] p “For this the earth shall mourn,
q and the heavens above be dark;
for I have spoken; I have purposed;
r I have not relented, nor will I turn back.”
29 At the noise of horseman and archer
every city takes to flight;
they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;
all the cities are forsaken,
and s no man dwells in them.
30[†] And you, O desolate one,
what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,
t that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
u that you enlarge your eyes with paint?
In vain you beautify yourself.
v Your lovers despise you;
they seek your life.
31[†] For I heard w a cry as of a woman in labor,
anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,
the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath,
x stretching out her hands,
“Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.”
Jerusalem Refused to Repent
JEREMIAH 5 [†] y Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
look and take note!
Search her squares to see
z if you can find a man,
one who does justice
and seeks truth,
a that I may pardon her.
2[†] b Though they say, “As the LORD lives,”
c yet they swear falsely.
3[†] O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth?
d You have struck them down,
but they felt no anguish;
you have consumed them,
but they refused to take correction.
e They have made their faces harder than rock;
they have refused to repent.
4[†] Then I said, “These are only the poor;
they have no sense;
f for they do not know the way of the LORD,
the justice of their God.
5 I will go to the great
and will speak to them,
for they know the way of the LORD,
the justice of their God.”
g But they all alike had broken the yoke;
they had burst the bonds.
6[†] Therefore h a lion from the forest shall strike them down;
a i wolf from the desert shall devastate them.
j A leopard is watching their cities;
everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,
because their transgressions are many,
their k apostasies are great.
Your children have forsaken me
m and have sworn by those who are no gods.
n When I fed them to the full,
o they committed adultery
p and trooped to the houses of whores.
8[†] They were well-fed, lusty stallions,
q each neighing r for his neighbor’s wife.
9[^][†] s Shall I not punish them for these things?
declares the LORD;
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?
10[†] t “Go up through her vine rows and destroy,
u but make not a full end;
strip away her branches,
for they are not the LORD’s.
11 v For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have been utterly treacherous to me,
declares the LORD.
12[†] They have spoken falsely of the LORD
and have said, ‘He will do nothing;
w no disaster will come upon us,
x nor shall we see sword or famine.
13 The prophets will become wind;
the word is not in them.
Thus shall it be done to them!’”
The LORD Proclaims Judgment
14[^][†] Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts:
“Because you have spoken this word,
behold, y I am making my words in your mouth z a fire,
and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.
15[†] a Behold, I am bringing against you
a nation from afar, O house of Israel,
declares the LORD.
It is an enduring nation;
it is an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know,
b nor can you understand what they say.
16[†] c Their quiver is like d an open tomb;
they are all mighty warriors.
17 e They 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 f fortified cities in which you trust
they shall beat down with the sword.”
18[†]“But even in those days, declares the LORD, u I will not make a full end of you. 19And when your people say, g ‘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, h so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’”
20[†] Declare this in the house of Jacob;
proclaim it in Judah:
21[†] “Hear this, i O foolish and senseless people,
j who have eyes, but see not,
who have ears, but hear not.
22[†] k Do you not fear me? declares the LORD.
Do you not tremble before me?
I placed the sand l as the boundary for the sea,
a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;
though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;
though m they roar, they cannot pass over it.
23[†] n But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
they have turned aside and gone away.
24[†] They do not say in their hearts,
‘Let us fear the LORD our God,
o who gives the rain in its season,
the autumn rain and the spring rain,
and keeps for us
p the weeks appointed for the harvest.’
25[†] q Your iniquities have turned these away,
and your sins have kept good from you.
26[†] For wicked men are found among my people;
r they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. [1]
s They set a trap;
they catch men.
27 Like a cage full of birds,
their houses are full of deceit;
therefore they have become great and rich;
28 t they have grown fat and sleek.
They know no bounds in deeds of evil;
u they judge not with justice
the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper,
and they do not defend the rights of the needy.
29 v Shall I not punish them for these things?
declares the LORD,
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?”
30[†] An appalling and w horrible thing
has happened in the land:
31 x the prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests rule at their direction;
y my people love to have it so,
but what will you do when the end comes?
Impending Disaster for Jerusalem
JEREMIAH 6 [†] Flee for safety, z O people of Benjamin,
from the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow the trumpet in a Tekoa,
and raise a signal on b Beth-haccherem,
for disaster looms c out of the north,
and great destruction.
2[†] The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy,
3 e Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her;
f they shall pitch their tents around her;
they shall pasture, each in his place.
4[†] g “Prepare war against her;
arise, and let us attack h at noon!
Woe to us, for the day declines,
for the shadows of evening lengthen!
5 Arise, and let us attack by night
and destroy her palaces!”
6[†] For thus says the LORD of hosts:
i “Cut down her trees;
j cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem.
This is the city that must be k punished;
there is nothing but oppression within her.
7[†] l As a well keeps its water fresh,
so she keeps fresh her evil;
m violence and destruction are heard within her;
sickness and wounds are ever before me.
8[†] Be warned, O Jerusalem,
n lest I turn from you in disgust,
lest I make you o a desolation,
an uninhabited land.”
9[†] Thus says the LORD of hosts:
p “They shall glean thoroughly as a vine
the remnant of Israel;
like a grape gatherer pass your hand again
over its branches.”
10[†] q To whom shall I speak and give warning,
that they may hear?
r Behold, their ears are uncircumcised,
s they cannot listen;
behold, t the word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn;
they take no pleasure in it.
11[†] Therefore I am full of the wrath of the LORD;
u I am weary of holding it in.
v “Pour it out upon the children in the street,
and upon the gatherings of young men, also;
w both husband and wife x shall be taken,
the elderly and the very aged.
12[†] y Their 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,”
declares the LORD.
13[†] z “For from the least to the greatest of them,
everyone a is greedy for unjust gain;
and from b prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
14[^] They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, c ‘Peace, peace,’
d when there is no peace.
15 e Were 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;
f at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,”
says the LORD.
16[†] Thus says the LORD:
“Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for g the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
h and find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17[†] i I set watchmen over you, saying,
‘Pay attention to j the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, k ‘We will not pay attention.’
18[†] Therefore hear, O nations,
and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.
19 Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people,
l the fruit of their devices,
because they have not paid attention to my words;
and as for my law, they have rejected it.
20[†] m What use to me is n frankincense that comes from o Sheba,
or sweet cane from a distant land?
p Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.
21[†] Therefore thus says the LORD:
q ‘Behold, I will lay before this people
stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;
fathers and sons together,
neighbor and friend shall perish.’”
22[†] Thus says the LORD:
r “Behold, a people is coming s from the north country,
a great nation is stirring from t the farthest parts of the earth.
23 They lay hold on bow and javelin;
they are u cruel and have no mercy;
v the sound of them is like the roaring sea;
they ride on horses,
set in array as a man for battle,
against you, O daughter of Zion!”
24[†] We have heard the report of it;
w our hands fall helpless;
anguish has taken hold of us,
x pain as of a woman in labor.
25[†] Go not out into the field,
nor walk on the road,
for the enemy has a sword;
y terror is on every side.
26[†] O daughter of my people, z put on sackcloth,
and a roll in ashes;
b make mourning as for an only son,
most bitter lamentation,
for suddenly the destroyer
will come upon us.
27[†] “I have made you c a tester of metals among my people,
that you may know and d test their ways.
28 e They are all stubbornly rebellious,
f going about with slanders;
they are g bronze and iron;
all of them act corruptly.
29 The g bellows blow fiercely;
the lead is consumed by the fire;
h in vain the refining goes on,
for the wicked are not removed.
30[†] i Rejected silver they are called,
for the LORD has rejected them.”
Evil in the Land
JEREMIAH 7 [†]The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 j “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. 3[†]Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: k Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. 4[†] l Do 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 m amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly n execute justice one with another, 6[†]if you n do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, m or shed innocent blood in this place, o and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, 7[†] p then I will let you dwell in this place, q in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.
8“Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. 9[†] r Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, s swear falsely, t make offerings to Baal, o and go after other gods that you have not known, 10and then come and stand before me in this house, u which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? 11[^][†] v Has this house, u which is called by my name, w become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD. 12[†]Go now to x my place that was in Shiloh, y where I made my name dwell at first, and z see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. 13And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and a when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and b when I called you, you did not answer, 14[^]therefore I will do to c the house u that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, z as I did to Shiloh. 15[†] c And I will cast you out of my sight, d as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of e Ephraim.
16[†]“As for you, f do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. 17Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18[†]The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, g and the women knead dough, to h make cakes for i the queen of heaven. And j they pour out drink offerings to other gods, k to provoke me to anger. 19[†] l Is it I whom they provoke? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves, m to their own shame? 20[†]Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, n 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; o it will burn and not be quenched.”
21[†]Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: p “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. 22[†]For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them q concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23But this command I gave them: r ‘Obey my voice, and s I will be your God, and you shall be my people. t And walk in all the way that I command you, u that it may be well with you.’ 24[†] v But they did not obey or incline their ear, w but walked in their own counsels and x the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and y went backward and not forward. 25[†]From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, z I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. 26 v Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, a but stiffened their neck. b They did worse than their fathers.
27 c “So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. d You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. 28[†]And 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; e truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.
29[†] f “‘Cut off your hair and cast it away;
raise a lamentation on g the bare heights,
for the LORD has rejected and forsaken
the generation of his wrath.’
The Valley of Slaughter
30[†]“For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the LORD. They have set h their detestable things in the house i that is called by my name, to h defile it. 31[†]And they have built the high places of j Topheth, which is in k the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, l to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, m which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. 32[†] n Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it will no more be called j Topheth, or k the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; o for they will bury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere. 33[†] p And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, q and none will frighten them away. 34[†] r And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, s for the land shall become a waste.
JEREMIAH 8 [†]“At that time, declares the LORD, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its officials, 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 t 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. u And they shall not be gathered or buried. v They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. 3[^][†] w Death shall be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family x in all the places where I have driven them, declares the LORD of hosts.
Sin and Treachery
4[†] “You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD:
y When men fall, do they not rise again?
If one turns away, does he not return?
5 Why then has this people z turned away
in perpetual a backsliding?
b They hold fast to deceit;
they refuse to return.
6[†] c I have paid attention and listened,
but they have not spoken rightly;
no man relents of his evil,
saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turns to his own course,
d like a horse plunging headlong into battle.
7 Even the stork in the heavens
knows her times,
and e the turtledove, f swallow, and crane [1]
keep the time of their coming,
g but my people know not
the rules [2] of the LORD.
8[†] h “How can you say, ‘We are wise,
and the law of the LORD is with us’?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribes
has made it into a lie.
9[†] i The wise men shall be put to shame;
they shall be dismayed j and taken;
behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD,
so what wisdom is in them?
10[†] k Therefore I will give their wives to others
and their fields to conquerors,
because from the least to the greatest
everyone l is greedy for unjust gain;
from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
11[^][†] They have healed m the wound of my people lightly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.
12[†] Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, n they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
o Therefore they shall fall among the fallen;
when I punish them, they shall be overthrown,
says the LORD.
13[†] When I would gather them, declares the LORD,
there are q no grapes on the vine,
r nor figs on the fig tree;
s even the leaves are withered,
and what I gave them has passed away from them.” [3]
14[†] Why do we sit still?
t Gather together; t let us go into the fortified cities
and perish there,
for the LORD our God has doomed us to perish
and has u given us v poisoned water to drink,
because we have sinned against the LORD.
15[†] w We looked for peace, but no good came;
for a time of healing, but behold, terror.
16[†] x “The snorting of their horses is heard y from Dan;
at the sound of the neighing z of their stallions
a the whole land quakes.
They come b and devour the land and all that fills it,
the city and those who dwell in it.
17 For behold, I am sending among you c serpents,
adders d that cannot be charmed,
e and they shall bite you,”
declares the LORD.
Jeremiah Grieves for His People
18[†] My joy is gone; grief is upon me; [4]
f my heart is sick within me.
19 Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people
from g the length and breadth of the land:
“Is the LORD not in Zion?
h Is her King not in her?”
i “Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images
and with their foreign idols?”
20 “The harvest is past, the summer is ended,
and we are not saved.”
21 For the wound of j the daughter of my people is my heart wounded;
k I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me.
22 Is there no l balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then has the health of the daughter of my people
not been restored?
JEREMIAH 9 [†] [1] m Oh that my head were waters,
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night
for the slain of j the daughter of my people!
2[†] [2] Oh that I had in the desert
a travelers’ lodging place,
that I might leave my people
and go away from them!
For they are all n adulterers,
a company of o treacherous men.
3[†] p They bend their tongue like a bow;
falsehood and not truth has grown strong [3] in the land;
for they proceed from evil to evil,
q and they do not know me, declares the LORD.
4[†] r Let everyone beware of his neighbor,
and put no trust in any brother,
for every s brother is a deceiver,
and every neighbor t goes about as a slanderer.
5 Everyone deceives his neighbor,
and no one speaks the truth;
they have taught their tongue to speak lies;
they weary themselves committing iniquity.
6 Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,
u they refuse to know me, declares the LORD.
7[†] Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts:
“Behold, v I will refine them and w test them,
for what else can I do, j because of my people?
8[†] x Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
y it speaks deceitfully;
with his mouth z each speaks peace to his neighbor,
but in his heart a he plans an ambush for him.
9[†] b Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD,
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?
10[†] “I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains,
and a lamentation for c the pastures of the wilderness,
d because they are laid waste so that no one passes through,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard;
e both the birds of the air and the beasts
have fled and are gone.
11 f I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
g a lair of jackals,
h and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,
without inhabitant.”
12[†] i Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined j and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? 13[†]And the LORD says: k “Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, 14but l have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. 15[†]Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: m Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them n poisonous water to drink. 16[†] o I will scatter them among the nations p whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will q send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.”
17[†] Thus says the LORD of hosts:
r “Consider, and call for the mourning women to come;
send for the skillful women to come;
18 let them make haste s and raise a wailing over us,
t that our eyes may run down with tears
and our eyelids flow with water.
19[†] For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
u ‘How we are ruined!
We are utterly shamed,
because we have left the land,
because they have cast down our dwellings.’”
20[†] Hear, 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.
21 For death has come up into our windows;
it has entered our palaces,
v cutting off the children from the streets
and the young men from the squares.
22 Speak: “Thus declares the LORD,
w ‘The dead bodies of men shall fall
like dung upon the open field,
x like sheaves after the reaper,
and none shall gather them.’”
23[^][†]Thus says the LORD: y “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24but z let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. a For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”
25[†]“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when b I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh— 26 c Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and d all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are e uncircumcised in heart.”
Idols and the Living God
JEREMIAH 10 [†]Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2[†]Thus 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,
3[†] f for the customs of the peoples are vanity. [1]
g A tree from the forest is cut down
and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
4 h They decorate it with silver and gold;
i they fasten it with hammer and nails
so that it cannot move.
5[^] Their idols [2] are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
and j they cannot speak;
k they have to be carried,
for they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
l for they cannot do evil,
neither is it in them to do good.”
6 m There is none like you, O LORD;
you are great, and your name is great in might.
7 n Who 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.
8[†] o They are both p stupid and foolish;
the instruction of idols is but wood!
9 q Beaten silver is brought from r Tarshish,
and gold from s Uphaz.
q They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;
their clothing is violet and purple;
t they are all the work of skilled men.
10 u But the LORD is the true God;
v 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: w “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth x shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.” [3]
12 y It is he who z made the earth by his power,
z who established the world by his wisdom,
and a by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
13 b When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
c and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
c He makes lightning d for the rain,
c and he brings forth the wind e from his storehouses.
14[†] f Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
g every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false,
h and there is no breath in them.
15 They are worthless, a work of delusion;
at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
16 Not like these is he who is i the portion of Jacob,
for he is the one who formed all things,
j and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
k the LORD of hosts is his name.
17[†] l Gather up your bundle from the ground,
O you who dwell under siege!
18[†] For thus says the LORD:
m “Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land
at this time,
n and I will bring distress on them,
that they may feel it.”
19[†] Woe is me because of my hurt!
o My wound is grievous.
But I said, “Truly this is an affliction,
and I must bear it.”
20 p My tent is destroyed,
and all my cords are broken;
my children have gone from me,
q and they are not;
there is no one to spread my tent again
and p to set up my curtains.
21[†] r For the shepherds s are stupid
and do not inquire of the LORD;
therefore they have not prospered,
t and all their flock is scattered.
22[†] A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!—
u a great commotion out of the north country
to make v the cities of Judah a desolation,
v a lair of jackals.
23[†] w I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself,
that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
24 x Correct me, O LORD, but in justice;
not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.
25 y Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not,
and on the peoples that call not on your name,
z for they have devoured Jacob;
they have devoured him and consumed him,
and have laid waste his habitation.
The Broken Covenant
JEREMIAH 11 [†]The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2[†] a “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 3[†]You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: b Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant 4[†]that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, c from the iron furnace, saying, d Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. d So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, 5[†] e that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, f to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, LORD.”
6[†]And the LORD said to me, g “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: h Hear the words of this covenant and do them. 7[†]For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, i warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, d Obey my voice. 8[^][†] j Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, k but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all h the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”
9[†]Again the LORD said to me, l “A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10[†]They have turned back to m the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. m They have gone after other gods to serve them. n The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. 11[†]Therefore, thus says the LORD, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. o Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them. 12Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem p will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, p but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. 13[†] p For 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, q altars to make offerings to Baal.
14[†]“Therefore r do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, o for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. 15[†] s What right has my beloved in my house, t when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? u Can you then exult? 16[†]The LORD once called you v ‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But w with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and x its branches will be consumed. 17[†]The LORD of hosts, y who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, z provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.”
18[†] The LORD made it known to me and I knew;
then you showed me their deeds.
19[^] But I was a like a gentle lamb
led to the slaughter.
I did not know b it was against me
they devised schemes, saying,
“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,
c let us cut him off from d the land of the living,
that his name be remembered no more.”
20 But, O LORD of hosts, who judges righteously,
who e tests f the heart and the mind,
g 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 h Anathoth, i who seek your life, and say, j “Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand”— 22[†]therefore 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 disaster upon the men of k Anathoth, l the year of their punishment.”
Jeremiah’s Complaint
JEREMIAH 12 [†] m Righteous are you, O LORD,
when I complain to you;
yet I would plead my case before you.
n Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all o who are treacherous thrive?
2[†] You plant them, and they take root;
they grow and produce fruit;
p you are near in their mouth
and far from their heart.
3[†] q But you, O LORD, know me;
r you see me, and test my heart toward you.
s Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
and set them apart for t the day of slaughter.
4[†] u How long will the land mourn
and the grass of every field wither?
v For the evil of those who dwell in it
w the beasts and the birds are swept away,
because they said, “He will not see our latter end.”
The LORD Answers Jeremiah
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 are so trusting,
what will you do in x the thicket of the Jordan?
6 For y even your brothers and the house of your father,
o even they have dealt treacherously with you;
they are in full cry after you;
z do not believe them,
though they speak friendly words to you.”
7[^][†] “I have forsaken my house;
I have abandoned a my heritage;
I have given b the beloved of my soul
into the hands of her enemies.
8 a My heritage has become to me
like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me;
therefore I hate her.
9[†] Is a my heritage to me like c a hyena’s lair?
Are the c birds of prey against her all around?
Go, d assemble all the wild beasts;
bring them to devour.
10[†] Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
e they have trampled down my portion;
they have made my pleasant portion
a desolate wilderness.
11 They have made it a desolation;
desolate, u it mourns to me.
The whole land is made desolate,
f but no man lays it to heart.
12[†] Upon 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.
13[†] g They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
h they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their [1] harvests
i because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”
14[†]Thus says the LORD concerning all j my evil neighbors k who touch the heritage that l 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. 15[†]And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, m and I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. 16[†]And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, n to swear by my name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, o then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. 17 p But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the LORD.”
The Ruined Loincloth
JEREMIAH 13 [†]Thus says the LORD to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and q put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” 2[†]So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the LORD, and put it around my waist. 3And the word of the LORD came to me a second time, 4“Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, r go to the Euphrates and hide it there in s a cleft of the rock.” 5So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me. 6And after many days the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there q the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” 7Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took q the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was t spoiled; it was u good for nothing.
8[†]Then the word of the LORD came to me: 9[^]“Thus says the LORD: v Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great w pride of Jerusalem. 10This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, x who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is u good for nothing. 11For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the LORD, y that they might be for me a people, z 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 a every jar will be filled with wine?’ 13Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: b Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: c the kings who sit on David’s throne, d the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 14And I will e dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the LORD. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.’”
Exile Threatened
15[†] Hear and give ear; be not proud,
for the LORD has spoken.
16 f Give glory to the LORD your God
g before he brings darkness,
before your feet stumble
on the twilight mountains,
and g while you look for light
he turns it into gloom
and makes it h deep darkness.
17 But if you will not listen,
i 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.
18[†] Say to j the king and j the queen mother:
“Take a lowly seat,
for k your beautiful crown
has come down from your head.”
19[†] l The cities of the Negeb are shut up,
with none to open them;
all Judah is taken into exile,
wholly taken into exile.
20[†] “Lift up your eyes m and see
those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given you,
your beautiful flock?
21 What will you say when they set as head over you
those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you?
n Will not pangs take hold of you
like those of a woman in labor?
22 And if you say in your heart,
o ‘Why have these things come upon me?’
it is for the greatness of your iniquity
that p your skirts are lifted up
and you suffer violence.
23[†] q Can the Ethiopian change his skin
or q the leopard his spots?
Then also you can do good
who are accustomed to do evil.
24[†] I will scatter you [1] r like chaff
driven by the wind from the desert.
the portion I have measured out to you, declares the LORD,
because t you have forgotten me
and trusted in lies.
26[†] p I myself will lift up your skirts over your face,
and your shame will be seen.
27 I have seen u your abominations,
your adulteries and v neighings, your lewd whorings,
w on the hills in the field.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will it be x before you are made clean?”