[1] The words of Jeremiah the son of
Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
[2] To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of
Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
[3] It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of
Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of
Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
[4] Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[5] Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest
forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the
nations.
[6] Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
[7] But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go
to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
[8] Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee,
saith the LORD.
[9] Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD
said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
[10] See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the
kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to
build, and to plant.
[11] Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what
seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
[12] Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten
my word to perform it.
[13] And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What
seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the
north.
[14] Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break
forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
[15] For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north,
saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at
the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round
about, and against all the cities of Judah.
[16] And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their
wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and
worshipped the works of their own hands.
[17] Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all
that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before
them.
[18] For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron
pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah,
against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people
of the land.
[19] And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail
against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.
[1] Moreover the word of the LORD came to
me, saying,
[2] Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I
remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou
wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
[3] Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his
increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the
LORD.
[4] Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families
of the house of Israel:
[5] Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me,
that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become
vain?
[6] Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the
land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and
of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land
that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?
[7] And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof
and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine
heritage an abomination.
[8] The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law
knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets
prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
[9] Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your
children's children will I plead.
[10] For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar,
and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.
[11] Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my
people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
[12] Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye
very desolate, saith the LORD.
[13] For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the
fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that
can hold no water.
[14] Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled?
[15] The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land
waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant.
[16] Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy
head.
[17] Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken
the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?
[18] And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the
waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the
waters of the river?
[19] Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall
reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that
thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the
Lord GOD of hosts.
[20] For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and
thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every
green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.
[21] Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then
art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?
[22] For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet
thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.
[23] How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim?
see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary
traversing her ways;
[24] A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her
pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not
weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.
[25] Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but
thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them
will I go.
[26] As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel
ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their
prophets,
[27] Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast
brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face:
but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.
[28] But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if
they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of
thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.
[29] Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against
me, saith the LORD.
[30] In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction:
your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
[31] O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness
unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will
come no more unto thee?
[32] Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my
people have forgotten me days without number.
[33] Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also
taught the wicked ones thy ways.
[34] Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor
innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.
[35] Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn
from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.
[36] Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be
ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
[37] Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head:
for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.
[1] They say, If a man put away his wife,
and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again?
shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with
many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.
[2] Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not
been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the
wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy
wickedness.
[3] Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no
latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.
[4] Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the
guide of my youth?
[5] Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end?
Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.
[6] The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou
seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high
mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
[7] And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me.
But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
[8] And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel
committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her
treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
[9] And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she
defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
[10] And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned
unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
[11] And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified
herself more than treacherous Judah.
[12] Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou
backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon
you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.
[13] Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against
the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green
tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
[14] Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto
you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring
you to Zion:
[15] And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall
feed you with knowledge and understanding.
[16] And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in
the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the
covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember
it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.
[17] At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and
all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to
Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil
heart.
[18] In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of
Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land
that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.
[19] But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a
pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt
call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.
[20] Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have
ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.
[21] A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of
the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have
forgotten the LORD their God.
[22] Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.
Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.
[23] Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the
multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
[24] For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth;
their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
[25] We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have
sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto
this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.
[1] If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith
the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my
sight, then shalt thou not remove.
[2] And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in
righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall
they glory.
[3] For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up
your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
[4] Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of
your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come
forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your
doings.
[5] Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the
trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let
us go into the defenced cities.
[6] Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring
evil from the north, and a great destruction.
[7] The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the
Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land
desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.
[8] For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce
anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.
[9] And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart
of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be
astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.
[10] Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this
people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth
unto the soul.
[11] At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry
wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not
to fan, nor to cleanse,
[12] Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will
I give sentence against them.
[13] Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a
whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.
[14] O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be
saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
[15] For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount
Ephraim.
[16] Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem,
that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the
cities of Judah.
[17] As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she
hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.
[18] Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is
thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.
[19] My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh
a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the
sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
[20] Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is
spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.
[21] How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the
trumpet?
[22] For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish
children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do
good they have no knowledge.
[23] I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the
heavens, and they had no light.
[24] I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills
moved lightly.
[25] I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the
heavens were fled.
[26] I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the
cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce
anger.
[27] For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet
will I not make a full end.
[28] For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black:
because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will
I turn back from it.
[29] The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen;
they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be
forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.
[30] And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest
thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though
thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy
lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.
[31] For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish
as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of
Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now!
for my soul is wearied because of murderers.
[1] Run ye to and fro through the streets
of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye
can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth;
and I will pardon it.
[2] And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.
[3] O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them,
but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to
receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have
refused to return.
[4] Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they
know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.
[5] I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they
have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have
altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
[6] Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the
evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one
that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are
many, and their backslidings are increased.
[7] How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and
sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then
committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.
[8] They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his
neighbour's wife.
[9] Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my
soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
[10] Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take
away her battlements; for they are not the LORD's.
[11] For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very
treacherously against me, saith the LORD.
[12] They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall
evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:
[13] And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them:
thus shall it be done unto them.
[14] Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this
word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and
it shall devour them.
[15] Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel,
saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose
language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.
[16] Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.
[17] And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons
and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they
shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced
cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.
[18] Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full
end with you.
[19] And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the
LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye
have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve
strangers in a land that is not yours.
[20] Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
[21] Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which
have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
[22] Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence,
which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that
it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they
not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?
[23] But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are
revolted and gone.
[24] Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God,
that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth
unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
[25] Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have
withholden good things from you.
[26] For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that
setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
[27] As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit:
therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
[28] They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the
wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper;
and the right of the needy do they not judge.
[29] Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my
soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
[30] A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
[31] The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their
means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?
[1] O ye children of Benjamin, gather
yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa,
and set up a sign of fire in Beth-haccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north,
and great destruction.
[2] I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.
[3] The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch
their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place.
[4] Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto
us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
[5] Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.
[6] For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a
mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly
oppression in the midst of her.
[7] As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her
wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief
and wounds.
[8] Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest
I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.
[9] Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant
of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.
[10] To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold,
their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the
LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
[11] Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding
in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young
men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with
him that is full of days.
[12] And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and
wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land,
saith the LORD.
[13] For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one
is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one
dealeth falsely.
[14] They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people
slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
[15] Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they
were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall
among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down,
saith the LORD.
[16] Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the
old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for
your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
[17] Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the
trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
[18] Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among
them.
[19] Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the
fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to
my law, but rejected it.
[20] To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet
cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your
sacrifices sweet unto me.
[21] Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks
before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them;
the neighbour and his friend shall perish.
[22] Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north country,
and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth.
[23] They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no
mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array
as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.
[24] We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath
taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
[25] Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of
the enemy and fear is on every side.
[26] O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow
thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter
lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.
[27] I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that
thou mayest know and try their way.
[28] They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are
brass and iron; they are all corrupters.
[29] The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the
founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.
[30] Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected
them.
[1] The word that came to Jeremiah from
the LORD, saying,
[2] Stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim there this word,
and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these
gates to worship the LORD.
[3] Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and
your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
[4] Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The
temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.
[5] For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly
execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;
[6] If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and
shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your
hurt:
[7] Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave
to your fathers, for ever and ever.
[8] Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
[9] Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and
burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
[10] And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my
name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?
[11] Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers
in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.
[12] But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name
at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
[13] And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I
spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called
you, but ye answered not;
[14] Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name,
wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as
I have done to Shiloh.
[15] And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your
brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
[16] Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor
prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.
[17] Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the
streets of Jerusalem?
[18] The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the
women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out
drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
[19] Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke
themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
[20] Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury
shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the
trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and
shall not be quenched.
[21] Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt
offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.
[22] For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day
that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or
sacrifices:
[23] But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will
be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have
commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
[24] But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the
counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not
forward.
[25] Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt
unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily
rising up early and sending them:
[26] Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened
their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
[27] Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will
not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer
thee.
[28] But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the
voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is
cut off from their mouth.
[29] Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a
lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the
generation of his wrath.
[30] For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the
LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name,
to pollute it.
[31] And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the
valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire;
which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.
[32] Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no
more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of
slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.
[33] And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the
heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away.
[34] Then will I cause 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 be desolate.
[1] At that time, saith the LORD, they
shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes,
and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:
[2] And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the
host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom
they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they
shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of
the earth.
[3] And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them
that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have
driven them, saith the LORD of hosts.
[4] Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they
fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?
[5] Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual
backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
[6] I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him
of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as
the horse rusheth into the battle.
[7] Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the
turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my
people know not the judgment of the LORD.
[8] How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo,
certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.
[9] The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have
rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?
[10] Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to
them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the
greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every
one dealeth falsely.
[11] For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly,
saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
[12] Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they
were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall
among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down,
saith the LORD.
[13] I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes
on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things
that I have given them shall pass away from them.
[14] Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the
defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to
silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the
LORD.
[15] We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and
behold trouble!
[16] The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land
trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and
have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell
therein.
[17] For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which
will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD.
[18] When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.
[19] Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of
them that dwell in a far country: Is not the LORD in Zion? is not her king in
her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with
strange vanities?
[20] The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
[21] For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black;
astonishment hath taken hold on me.
[22] Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is
not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
[1] Oh that my head were waters, and mine
eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the
daughter of my people!
[2] Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men;
that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an
assembly of treacherous men.
[3] And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not
valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and
they know not me, saith the LORD.
[4] Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any
brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk
with slanders.
[5] And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the
truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to
commit iniquity.
[6] Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they
refuse to know me, saith the LORD.
[7] Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and
try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people?
[8] Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one
speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his
wait.
[9] Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my
soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
[10] For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the
habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that
none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both
the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.
[11] And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will
make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.
[12] Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom
the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land
perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?
[13] And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set
before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;
[14] But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after
Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
[15] Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I
will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to
drink.
[16] I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor
their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have
consumed them.
[17] Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning
women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come:
[18] And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes
may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.
[19] For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we
are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings
have cast us out.
[20] Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive
the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her
neighbour lamentation.
[21] For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our
palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the
streets.
[22] Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall as
dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none
shall gather them.
[23] Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his
riches:
[24] But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and
knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and
righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.
[25] Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them
which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;
[26] Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and
all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these
nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the
heart.
[1] Hear ye the word which the LORD
speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
[2] Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not
dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
[3] For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of
the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
[4] They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and
with hammers, that it move not.
[5] They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be
borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil,
neither also is it in them to do good.
[6] Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great,
and thy name is great in might.
[7] Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it
appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their
kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.
[8] But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine
of vanities.
[9] Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from
Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple
is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.
[10] But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an
everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall
not be able to abide his indignation.
[11] Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens
and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these
heavens.
[12] He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world
by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
[13] When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the
heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he
maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
[14] Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded
by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath
in them.
[15] They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their
visitation they shall perish.
[16] The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all
things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name.
[17] Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress.
[18] For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of
the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so.
[19] Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this
is a grief, and I must bear it.
[20] My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children
are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent
any more, and to set up my curtains.
[21] For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD:
therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.
[22] Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of
the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.
[23] O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in
man that walketh to direct his steps.
[24] O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou
bring me to nothing.
[25] Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the
families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured
him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.
[1] The word that came to Jeremiah from
the LORD, saying,
[2] Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah,
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
[3] And say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Cursed be
the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant,
[4] Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth
out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do
them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will
be your God:
[5] That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to
give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered
I, and said, So be it, O LORD.
[6] Then the LORD said unto me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of
Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the words of this
covenant, and do them.
[7] For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought
them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and
protesting, saying, Obey my voice.
[8] Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in
the imagination of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them all the
words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do; but they did them not.
[9] And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of
Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
[10] They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which
refused to hear my words; and they went 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.
[11] Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them,
which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I
will not hearken unto them.
[12] Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and
cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at
all in the time of their trouble.
[13] For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah;
and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to
that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal.
[14] Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or
prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for
their trouble.
[15] What hath my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she hath wrought
lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee? when thou doest
evil, then thou rejoicest.
[16] The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly
fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the
branches of it are broken.
[17] For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil
against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah,
which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering
incense unto Baal.
[18] And the LORD hath given me knowledge of it, and I know it: then thou
shewedst me their doings.
[19] But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter; and
I knew not that they had devised devices against me, saying, Let us destroy the
tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living,
that his name may be no more remembered.
[20] But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the
reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I
revealed my cause.
[21] Therefore thus saith the LORD of the men of Anathoth, that seek thy
life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the LORD, that thou die not by our
hand:
[22] Therefore thus saith 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:
[23] And there shall be no remnant of them: for I will bring evil upon
the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation.
[1] Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I
plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the
way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very
treacherously?
[2] Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea,
they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.
[3] But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart
toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for
the day of slaughter.
[4] How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither,
for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the
birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end.
[5] If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then
how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou
trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
[6] For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have
dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee:
believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee.
[7] I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given
the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.
[8] Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out
against me: therefore have I hated it.
[9] Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about
are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour.
[10] Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my
portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
[11] They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me;
the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.
[12] The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness:
for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land even to the
other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace.
[13] They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put
themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your
revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
[14] Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the
inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will
pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.
[15] And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will
return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his
heritage, and every man to his land.
[16] And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of
my people, to swear by my name, The LORD liveth; as they taught my people to
swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people.
[17] But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that
nation, saith the LORD.
[1] Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and
get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
[2] So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my
loins.
[3] And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,
[4] Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and
arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.
[5] So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.
[6] And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me,
Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee
to hide there.
[7] Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the
place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable
for nothing.
[8] Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[9] Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah,
and the great pride of Jerusalem.
[10] This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the
imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to
worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.
[11] For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused
to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith
the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a
praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.
[12] Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the LORD
God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto
thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?
[13] Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will
fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David's
throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
with drunkenness.
[14] And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the
sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but
destroy them.
[15] Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.
[16] Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and
before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light,
he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
[17] But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for
your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the
LORD's flock is carried away captive.
[18] Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for
your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.
[19] The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them:
Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away
captive.
[20] Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where
is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
[21] What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught
them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a
woman in travail?
[22] And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me?
For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels
made bare.
[23] Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then
may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
[24] Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by
the wind of the wilderness.
[25] This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the
LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
[26] Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame
may appear.
[27] I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy
whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O
Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?
[1] The word of the LORD that came to
Jeremiah concerning the dearth.
[2] Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto
the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
[3] And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came
to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they
were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.
[4] Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the
plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.
[5] Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there
was no grass.
[6] And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the
wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.
[7] O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy
name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.
[8] O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why
shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth
aside to tarry for a night?
[9] Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot
save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name;
leave us not.
[10] Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to
wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept
them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.
[11] Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
[12] When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt
offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the
sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.
[13] Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye
shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you
assured peace in this place.
[14] Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I
sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they
prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the
deceit of their heart.
[15] Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy
in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in
this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
[16] And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the
streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have
none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I
will pour their wickedness upon them.
[17] Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes run down
with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin daughter of my
people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow.
[18] If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword!
and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yea,
both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not.
[19] Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion? why
hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace, and
there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble!
[20] We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our
fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
[21] Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake, do not disgrace the throne of
thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.
[22] Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause
rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God?
therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.
[1] Then said the LORD unto me, Though
Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people:
cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.
[2] And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go
forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to
death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the
famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.
[3] And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to
slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the
earth, to devour and destroy.
[4] And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth,
because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in
Jerusalem.
[5] For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan
thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest?
[6] Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward:
therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary
with repenting.
[7] And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will
bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from
their ways.
[8] Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have
brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noonday: I
have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city.
[9] She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the ghost;
her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath been ashamed and confounded:
and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith
the LORD.
[10] Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a
man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have
lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.
[11] The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I
will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of
affliction.
[12] Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?
[13] Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without
price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
[14] And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which
thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon
you.
[15] O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of
my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I
have suffered rebuke.
[16] Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me
the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of
hosts.
[17] I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone
because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.
[18] Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to
be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?
[19] Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring
thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious
from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return
not thou unto them.
[20] And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they
shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with
thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
[21] And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will
redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.
[1] The word of the LORD came also unto
me, saying,
[2] Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or
daughters in this place.
[3] For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the
daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare
them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;
[4] They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented;
neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the
earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their
carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
[5] For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning,
neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this
people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.
[6] Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not
be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make
themselves bald for them:
[7] Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort
them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink
for their father or for their mother.
[8] Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them
to eat and to drink.
[9] For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will
cause to cease out of this place in 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 it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all
these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced
all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that
we have committed against the LORD our God?
[11] Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken
me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and
have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;
[12] And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every
one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:
[13] Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know
not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and
night; where I will not shew you favour.
[14] Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no
more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the
land of Egypt;
[15] But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from
the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I
will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
[16] Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall
fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from
every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.
[17] For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my
face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.
[18] And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double;
because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the
carcases of their detestable and abominable things.
[19] O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of
affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and
shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein
there is no profit.
[20] Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?
[21] Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause
them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The
LORD.
[1] The sin of Judah is written with a pen
of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their
heart, and upon the horns of your altars;
[2] Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the
green trees upon the high hills.
[3] O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy
treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders.
[4] And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I
gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou
knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for
ever.
[5] Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and
maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
[6] For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when
good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt
land and not inhabited.
[7] Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD
is.
[8] For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth
out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf
shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall
cease from yielding fruit.
[9] The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who
can know it?
[10] I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man
according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
[11] As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that
getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and
at his end shall be a fool.
[12] A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our
sanctuary.
[13] O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed,
and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have
forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
[14] Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be
saved: for thou art my praise.
[15] Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come
now.
[16] As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee:
neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my
lips was right before thee.
[17] Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.
[18] Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be
confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them
the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
[19] Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children
of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out,
and in all the gates of Jerusalem;
[20] And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah,
and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these
gates:
[21] Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on
the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;
[22] Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day,
neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your
fathers.
[23] But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck
stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.
[24] And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith
the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath
day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein;
[25] Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes
sitting upon 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 remain for ever.
[26] And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places
about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the
mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and
meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house
of the LORD.
[27] But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and
not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath
day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the
palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.
[1] The word which came to Jeremiah from
the LORD, saying,
[2] Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee
to hear my words.
[3] Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a
work on the wheels.
[4] And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the
potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make
it.
[5] Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
[6] O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the
LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O
house of Israel.
[7] At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a
kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
[8] If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil,
I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
[9] And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning
a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
[10] If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will
repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
[11] Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil
against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his
evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
[12] And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own
devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.
[13] Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who
hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.
[14] Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of
the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be
forsaken?
[15] Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to
vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient
paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;
[16] To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that
passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
[17] I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will
shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.
[18] Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah;
for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the
word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us
not give heed to any of his words.
[19] Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that
contend with me.
[20] Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for
my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn
away thy wrath from them.
[21] Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out
their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their
children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men
be slain by the sword in battle.
[22] Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop
suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my
feet.
[23] Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me:
forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let
them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.
[1] Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a
potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the
ancients of the priests;
[2] And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the
entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee,
[3] And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and
inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears
shall tingle.
[4] Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and
have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers
have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of
innocents;
[5] They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with
fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither
came it into my mind:
[6] Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place
shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The
valley of slaughter.
[7] And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this
place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by
the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be
meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
[8] And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that
passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.
[9] And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of
their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the
siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives,
shall straiten them.
[10] Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go
with thee,
[11] And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will
I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that
cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no
place to bury.
[12] Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the
inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet:
[13] And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah,
shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose
roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out
drink offerings unto other gods.
[14] Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither 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 saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will
bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced
against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my
words.
[1] Now Pashur the son of Immer the
priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that
Jeremiah prophesied these things.
[2] Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks
that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.
[3] And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah
out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called thy
name Pashur, but Magor-missabib.
[4] For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to
thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their
enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand
of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall
slay them with the sword.
[5] Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the
labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of
the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil
them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.
[6] And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into
captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt
be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.
[7] O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger
than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
[8] For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because
the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.
[9] Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in
his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones,
and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.
[10] For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say
they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying,
Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall
take our revenge on him.
[11] But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my
persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly
ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be
forgotten.
[12] But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins
and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my
cause.
[13] Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the
soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.
[14] Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my
mother bare me be blessed.
[15] Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man
child is born unto thee; making him very glad.
[16] And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and
repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at
noontide;
[17] Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have
been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me.
[18] Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow,
that my days should be consumed with shame?
[1] The word which came unto Jeremiah from
the LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and
Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
[2] Inquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the LORD will deal with us
according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us.
[3] Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah:
[4] Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the
weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of
Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I
will assemble them into the midst of this city.
[5] And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and
with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.
[6] And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast:
they shall die of a great pestilence.
[7] And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah,
and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the
pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar
king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those
that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he
shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.
[8] And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I
set before you the way of life, and the way of death.
[9] He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the
famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the
Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a
prey.
[10] For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good,
saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he
shall burn it with fire.
[11] And touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word
of the LORD;
[12] O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the
morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest
my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil
of your doings.
[13] Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of
the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who
shall enter into our habitations?
[14] But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith
the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour
all things round about it.
[1] Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the
house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
[2] And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest
upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in
by these gates:
[3] Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and
deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no
violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent
blood in this place.
[4] For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the
gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots
and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.
[5] But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the
LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.
[6] For thus saith the LORD unto the king's house of Judah; Thou art
Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a
wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.
[7] And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his
weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
[8] And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every
man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?
[9] Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of
the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.
[10] Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him
that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.
[11] For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of
Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this
place; He shall not return thither any more:
[12] But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and
shall see this land no more.
[13] Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his
chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth
him not for his work;
[14] That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and
cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with
vermilion.
[15] Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy
father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with
him?
[16] He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with
him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.
[17] But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and
for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
[18] Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah
king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah
sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!
[19] He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth
beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
[20] Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry
from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed.
[21] I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not
hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice.
[22] The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into
captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy
wickedness.
[23] O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how
gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in
travail!
[24] As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king
of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;
[25] And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and
into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
[26] And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into
another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.
[27] But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they
not return.
[28] Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is
no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a
land which they know not?
[29] O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
[30] Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall
not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the
throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.
[1] Woe be unto the pastors that destroy
and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
[2] Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that
feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not
visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the
LORD.
[3] And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries
whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they
shall be fruitful and increase.
[4] And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they
shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the
LORD.
[5] Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a
righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment
and justice in the earth.
[6] In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and
this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
[7] Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no
more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the
land of Egypt;
[8] But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the
house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had
driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
[9] Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones
shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because
of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.
[10] For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land
mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course
is evil, and their force is not right.
[11] For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I
found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
[12] Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the
darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon
them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.
[13] And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in
Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
[14] I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing:
they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of
evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto
me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
[15] Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets;
Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall:
for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.
[16] Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the
prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of
their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
[17] They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye
shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination
of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
[18] For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived
and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?
[19] Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a
grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
[20] The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and
till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall
consider it perfectly.
[21] I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to
them, yet they prophesied.
[22] But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to
hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from
the evil of their doings.
[23] Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?
[24] Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him?
saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
[25] I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name,
saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
[26] How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy
lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;
[27] Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams
which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my
name for Baal.
[28] The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that
hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?
saith the LORD.
[29] Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer
that breaketh the rock in pieces?
[30] Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that
steal my words every one from his neighbour.
[31] Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their
tongues, and say, He saith.
[32] Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the
LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their
lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not
profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
[33] And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee,
saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What
burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD.
[34] And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall
say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house.
[35] Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his
brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
[36] And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's
word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of
the LORD of hosts our God.
[37] Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered
thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
[38] But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the
LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto
you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD;
[39] Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will
forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of
my presence:
[40] And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual
shame, which shall not be forgotten.
[1] The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two
baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of
Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and
smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
[2] One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first
ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they
were so bad.
[3] Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said,
Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten,
they are so evil.
[4] Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[5] Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will
I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out
of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
[6] For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them
again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will
plant them, and not pluck them up.
[7] And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and
they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me
with their whole heart.
[8] And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely
thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes,
and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in
the land of Egypt:
[9] And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the
earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in
all places whither I shall drive them.
[10] And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among
them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their
fathers.
[1] The word that came to Jeremiah
concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of
Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;
[2] The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah,
and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,
[3] From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah,
even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD
hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye
have not hearkened.
[4] And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising
early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to
hear.
[5] They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from
the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you
and to your fathers for ever and ever:
[6] And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and
provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
[7] Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might
provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.
[8] Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my
words,
[9] Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the
LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them
against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these
nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an
astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
[10] Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of
gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of
the millstones, and the light of the candle.
[11] And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and
these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
[12] And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that
I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their
iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.
[13] And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced
against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath
prophesied against all the nations.
[14] For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them
also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the
works of their own hands.
[15] For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of
this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink
it.
[16] And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword
that I will send among them.
[17] Then took I the cup at the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to
drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:
[18] To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof,
and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing,
and a curse; as it is this day;
[19] Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all
his people;
[20] And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and
all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron,
and the remnant of Ashdod,
[21] Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,
[22] And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the
kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,
[23] Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners,
[24] And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people
that dwell in the desert,
[25] And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the
kings of the Medes,
[26] And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and
all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the
king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
[27] Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts,
the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no
more, because of the sword which I will send among you.
[28] And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to
drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall
certainly drink.
[29] For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my
name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I
will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of
hosts.
[30] Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto
them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy
habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout,
as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
[31] A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath
a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them
that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.
[32] Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from
nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of
the earth.
[33] And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the
earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither
gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.
[34] Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye
principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions
are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.
[35] And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of
the flock to escape.
[36] A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal
of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture.
[37] And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce
anger of the LORD.
[38] He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate
because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.
[1] In the beginning of the reign of
Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the LORD, saying,
[2] Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD's house, and
speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD's house,
all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:
[3] If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way,
that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the
evil of their doings.
[4] And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not
hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,
[5] To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto
you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;
[6] Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a
curse to all the nations of the earth.
[7] So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah
speaking these words in the house of the LORD.
[8] Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all
that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests
and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.
[9] Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, This house
shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And
all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.
[10] When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from
the king's house unto the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry of the
new gate of the LORD's house.
[11] Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all
the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against
this city, as ye have heard with your ears.
[12] Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people,
saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city
all the words that ye have heard.
[13] Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of
the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath
pronounced against you.
[14] As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and
meet unto you.
[15] But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely
bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the
inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak all
these words in your ears.
[16] Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the
prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of
the LORD our God.
[17] Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the
assembly of the people, saying,
[18] Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of
Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of
hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and
the mountains of the house as the high places of a forest.
[19] Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death?
did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of
the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil
against our souls.
[20] And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD,
Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath-jearim, who prophesied against this city
and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah:
[21] And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the
princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah
heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt;
[22] And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son
of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt.
[23] And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto
Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the
graves of the common people.
[24] Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with
Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him
to death.
[1] In the beginning of the reign of
Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the
LORD, saying,
[2] Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them
upon thy neck,
[3] And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to
the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon,
by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of
Judah;
[4] And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the LORD of
hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters;
[5] I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the
ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto
whom it seemed meet unto me.
[6] And now have I given all these lands unto the hand of Nebuchadnezzar
the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him
also to serve him.
[7] And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son,
until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings
shall serve themselves of him.
[8] And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not
serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their
neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the
LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have
consumed them by his hand.
[9] Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor
to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak
unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:
[10] For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land;
and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.
[11] But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of
Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith
the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.
[12] I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words,
saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him
and his people, and live.
[13] Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine,
and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken against the nation that will not
serve the king of Babylon?
[14] Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto
you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie
unto you.
[15] For I have not sent them, saith the LORD, yet they prophesy a lie in
my name; that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the
prophets that prophesy unto you.
[16] Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus
saith the LORD; Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto
you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD's house shall now shortly be
brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.
[17] Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live:
wherefore should this city be laid waste?
[18] But if they be prophets, and if the word of the LORD be with them,
let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels which are
left in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at
Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.
[19] For thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, and
concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the
vessels that remain in this city,
[20] Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away
captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon,
and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;
[21] Yea, thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the
vessels that remain in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of
Judah and of Jerusalem;
[22] They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the
day that I visit them, saith the LORD; then will I bring them up, and restore
them to this place.
[1] And it came to pass the same year, in
the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in
the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon,
spake unto me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of
all the people, saying,
[2] Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have
broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
[3] Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the
vessels of the LORD's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from
this place, and carried them to Babylon:
[4] And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim
king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the
LORD: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
[5] Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah in the
presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood in the
house of the LORD,
[6] Even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: the LORD do so: the LORD
perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the
LORD's house, and all that is carried away captive, from Babylon into this
place.
[7] Nevertheless hear thou now this word that I speak in thine ears, and
in the ears of all the people;
[8] The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old
prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and
of evil, and of pestilence.
[9] The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet
shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD hath truly
sent him.
[10] Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet
Jeremiah's neck, and brake it.
[11] And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus
saith the LORD; Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years. And the prophet
Jeremiah went his way.
[12] Then the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the prophet, after that
Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet
Jeremiah, saying,
[13] Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast broken
the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron.
[14] For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a
yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him
the beasts of the field also.
[15] Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now,
Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a
lie.
[16] Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will cast thee from off the
face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion
against the LORD.
[17] So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.
[1] Now these are the words of the letter
that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders
which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and
to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to
Babylon;
[2] (After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the
princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were
departed from Jerusalem;)
[3] By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of
Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon) saying,
[4] Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are
carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto
Babylon;
[5] Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the
fruit of them;
[6] Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your
sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and
daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
[7] And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be
carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof
shall ye have peace.
[8] For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your
prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither
hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
[9] For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them,
saith the LORD.
[10] For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at
Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to
return to this place.
[11] For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD,
thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
[12] Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I
will hearken unto you.
[13] And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with
all your heart.
[14] And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away
your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the
places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again
into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
[15] Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised us up prophets in
Babylon;
[16] Know that thus saith the LORD of the king that sitteth upon the
throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your
brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity;
[17] Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the
sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that
cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
[18] And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with
the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the
earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among
all the nations whither I have driven them:
[19] Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I
sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them;
but ye would not hear, saith the LORD.
[20] Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all ye of the captivity,
whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:
[21] Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of
Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in
my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes;
[22] And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah
which are in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab,
whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;
[23] Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed
adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name,
which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the LORD.
[24] Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,
[25] Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because
thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem,
and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,
[26] The LORD hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest,
that ye should be officers in the house of the LORD, for every man that is mad,
and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the
stocks.
[27] Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which
maketh himself a prophet to you?
[28] For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is
long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit
of them.
[29] And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah
the prophet.
[30] Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
[31] Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the LORD
concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto
you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie:
[32] Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the
Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people;
neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the LORD;
because he hath taught rebellion against the LORD.
[1] The word that came to Jeremiah from
the LORD, saying,
[2] Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the
words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.
[3] For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the
captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause the