"Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon every town about it, all the plagues that I have devised against them: for they have been obstinate, and would not obey my warnings."

Thou hast persuaded me, O Jehovah, and I am persuaded; Thou hast hardened me, and dost prevail, I have been for a laughter all the day, Every one is mocking at me,

Because from the time I speak I cry out, 'Violence and destruction,' I cry, For the word of Jehovah hath been to me For reproach and for derision all the day.

And I said, 'I do not mention Him, Nor do I speak any more in His name,' And it hath been in my heart As a burning fire shut up in my bones, And I have been weary of containing, And I am not able.

And Jehovah is with me, as a terrible mighty one, Therefore my persecutors stumble and prevail not, They have been exceedingly ashamed, For they have not acted wisely, Confusion age-during is not forgotten.

Cursed is the man who bore tidings to my father, saying, 'Born to thee hath been a child -- a male,' Making him very glad!

Then hath that man been as the cities, That Jehovah overthrew, and repented not, And he hath heard a cry at morning, And a shout at time of noon.

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.

Why did I ever come forth from the womb
To look on trouble and sorrow,
So that my days have been spent in shame?

The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, in the king Zedekiah's sending unto him Pashhur son of Malchiah, and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,

Whoso is abiding in this city -- dieth, By sword, and by famine, and by pestilence, And whoso is going forth, And hath fallen unto the Chaldeans, Who are laying siege against you -- liveth, And his life hath been to him for a spoil.

O house of David, thus says the Lord:

“Administer justice in the morning,
And rescue the one who has been robbed from the hand of his oppressor,
That My wrath will not roar up like fire
And burn so [hotly] that none can extinguish it,
Because of the evil of their deeds.

Beware! I am against you,
you who sit above the valley,
you atop the rocky plateau—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
you who say, “Who can come down against us?
Who can enter our hiding places?”

I will punish you according to what you have done—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
I will kindle a fire in its forest
that will consume everything around it.’”

Thus says the Lord, “Execute justice and righteousness, and rescue the one who has been robbed from the hand of his oppressor. And do no wrong; do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.

"'For the Lord says concerning the palace of the king of Judah, "This place looks like a veritable forest of Gilead to me. It is like the wooded heights of Lebanon in my eyes. But I swear that I will make it like a wilderness whose towns have all been deserted.

He took up the case of the poor and needy,
then it went well.
Is this not what it means to know Me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Go up to Lebanon, and cry, And in Bashan give forth thy voice, And cry from Abarim, For destroyed have been all loving thee.

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.

O dweller in Lebanon, making a nest among cedars, How gracious hast thou been when pangs come to thee, Pain -- as of a travailing woman.

A grief -- a despised broken thing -- is this man Coniah? A vessel in which there is no pleasure? Wherefore have they been cast up and down, He and his seed, Yea, they were cast on to a land that they knew not?

And I do gather the remnant of My flock Out of all the lands whither I drove them, And have brought them back unto their fold, And they have been fruitful, and multiplied.

In reference to the prophets: Broken hath been my heart in my midst, Fluttered have all my bones, I have been as a man -- a drunkard, And as a man -- wine hath passed over him, Because of Jehovah, and of His holy words.

For of adulterers hath the land been full, For because of these hath the land mourned, Dried up hath been the pleasant places of the wilderness, And their course is evil, and their might -- not right.

For both prophet and priest have been profane, Yea, in My house I found their wickedness, An affirmation of Jehovah.

And in prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing, Committing adultery, and walking falsely, Yea, they strengthened the hands of evil doers, So that they have not turned back Each from his wickedness, They have been to me -- all of them -- as Sodom, And its inhabitants as Gomorrah.

But if they had been in my secret, then they would have made my people give ear to my words, turning them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.

My ears have been open to what the prophets have said, who say false words in my name, saying, I have had a dream, I have had a dream, I have had a dream,

And you will no longer put people in mind of the word of weight of the Lord: for every man's word will be a weight on himself; for the words of the living God, of the Lord of armies, our God, have been twisted by you

Yahweh shewed me, and lo! two baskets of figs, which had been set before the temple of Yahweh, - after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive, Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the princes of Judah and the carpenters and the smiths out of Jerusalem, and had brought them into Babylon: -

And have given to them a heart to know Me, For I am Jehovah, And they have been to Me for a people, And I am to them for God, For they turned back unto Me with all their heart.

The word that hath been unto Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, -- it is the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, --

From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, and unto this day -- this three and twentieth year -- hath the word of Jehovah been unto me, and I speak unto you, rising early and speaking, and ye have not hearkened;

And the Lord has sent to you all his servants the prophets, getting up early and sending them; but you have not given attention and your ear has not been open to give hearing;

And all this land hath been for a waste, for an astonishment, and these nations have served the king of Babylon seventy years.

the foreigners living in Egypt; all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the land of the Philistines, the people of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, the people who had been left alive from Ashdod;

For lo! with the city on which my Name hath been called, am I making a beginning of sending calamity, And shall, ye, be held, guiltless? Ye shall not be held guiltless: For a sword, am I proclaiming against all the inhabitants of the earth, Declareth Yahweh of hosts.

And the pierced of Jehovah have been in that day, From the end of the earth even unto the end of the earth, They are not lamented, nor gathered, nor buried, For dung on the face of the ground they are.

Howl, ye shepherds, and cry, And roll yourselves, ye honourable of the flock, For full have been your days, For slaughtering, and for your scatterings, And ye have fallen as a desirable vessel.

And the peaceable habitations have been cut down, Because of the fierceness of the anger of Jehovah.

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, hath this word been from Jehovah, saying:

Maybe they will pay attention and each of them will stop living the evil way they do. If they do that, then I will forgo destroying them as I had intended to do because of the wicked things they have been doing.

and by listening to the words of My servants the prophets I have been sending you time and time again, though you did not listen,

Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh [after the ark of the Lord had been taken by our enemies] and this city [Jerusalem] will be desolate, without inhabitant’?” And all the people were gathered around Jeremiah in the [outer area of the] house of the Lord.

But correct the way you have been living and do what is right. Obey the Lord your God. If you do, the Lord will forgo destroying you as he threatened he would.

'Micah the Morashtite hath been prophesying in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and he saith unto all the people of Judah, saying: Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Zion is a plowed field, and Jerusalem is heaps, And the mountain of the house is for high places of a forest.

'And also there hath been a man prophesying in the name of Jehovah, Urijah son of Shemaiah, of Kirjath-Jearim, and he prophesieth against this city, and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah,

Only, the hand of Ahikam son of Shaphan hath been with Jeremiah so as not to give him up into the hand of the people to put him to death.

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, hath this word been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,

Thus do ye say unto your lords, I -- I have made the earth with man, and the cattle that are on the face of the earth, by My great power, and by My stretched-out arm, and I have given it to whom it hath been right in Mine eyes.

These are the words of the Lord of armies, the God of Israel: By me the yoke of the king of Babylon has been broken.

The prophet Jeremiah said, So be it: may the Lord do so: may the Lord give effect to the words which you have said, and let the vessels of the Lord's house, and all the people who have been taken away, come back from Babylon to this place.

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.

Then after the yoke had been broken off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah by Hananiah the prophet, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,

Go and say to Hananiah, This is what the Lord has said: Yokes of wood have been broken by you, but in their place I will make yokes of iron.

Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the responsible men among those who had been taken away, and to the priests and the prophets and to all the rest of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken away prisoners from Jerusalem to Babylon;

He sent it after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the palace officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had been exiled from Jerusalem.

“For thus says the Lord, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.

And I have been found of you -- an affirmation of Jehovah; and I have turned back to your captivity, and have gathered you out of all the nations, and out of all the places whither I have driven you -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- and I have brought you back unto the place whence I removed you.

and that because they have not been obedient unto my commandments, sayeth the LORD; which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets. I stood up early, and sent unto them, but they would not hear, sayeth the LORD.

And taken from them hath been a reviling by all the removed of Judah that are in Babylon, saying, Jehovah doth set thee as Zedekiah, and as Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted with fire;

This will happen to them because they have done what is shameful in Israel. They have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives and have spoken lies while claiming my authority. They have spoken words that I did not command them to speak. I know what they have done. I have been a witness to it,' says the Lord."

So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who has been acting like a prophet among you?

Send to all those who have been taken away, saying, This is what the Lord has said about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has been acting as a prophet to you, and I did not send him, and has made you put your faith in what is false;

The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,

Ask, I pray you, and see, is a male bringing forth? Wherefore have I seen every man, His hands on his loins, as a travailing woman, And all faces have been turned to paleness?

Alas, what a terrible time of trouble it is! There has never been any like it. It is a time of trouble for the descendants of Jacob, but some of them will be rescued out of it.

As for you, My servant Jacob,
do not be afraid—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
and do not be dismayed, Israel,
for without fail I will save you from far away,
your descendants, from the land of their captivity!
Jacob will return and have calm and quiet
with no one to frighten him.

For I will be with you—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
to save you!
I will bring destruction on all the nations
where I have scattered you;
however, I will not bring destruction on you.
I will discipline you justly,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished.

all loving thee have forgotten thee, Thee they do not seek, For with the stroke of an enemy I smote thee, The chastisement of a fierce one, Because of the abundance of thy iniquity, Mighty have been thy sins!

What! -- thou criest concerning thy breach! Incurable is thy pain, Because of the abundance of thy iniquity, Mighty have been thy sins! I have done these to thee.

Therefore all consuming thee are consumed, And all thine adversaries -- all of them -- Into captivity do go, And thy spoilers have been for a spoil, And all thy plunderers I give up to plunder.

But I will bring you health
and will heal you of your wounds—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
for they call you Outcast,
Zion whom no one cares about.

Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I turn back to the captivity of the tents of Jacob, And his dwelling places I pity, And the city hath been built on its heap, And the palace according to its ordinance remaineth.

And his sons have been as aforetime, And his company before Me is established, And I have seen after all his oppressors.

And his honourable one hath been of himself, And his ruler from his midst goeth forth, And I have caused him to draw near, And he hath drawn nigh unto Me, For who is he who hath pledged his heart To draw nigh unto Me? An affirmation of Jehovah.

And ye have been to Me for a people, And I am to you for God.

Again do I build thee, And thou hast been built, O virgin of Israel, Again thou puttest on thy tabrets, And hast gone out in the chorus of the playful.

With weeping they come in, And with supplications I bring them, I cause them to go unto streams of waters, In a right way -- they stumble not in it, For I have been to Israel for a father, And Ephraim -- My first-born is he.

And they have come in, And have sung in the high place of Zion, And flowed unto the goodness of Jehovah, For wheat, and for new wine, and for oil, And for the young of the flock and herd, And their soul hath been as a watered garden, And they add not to grieve any more.

Thus saith Jehovah: A voice hath been heard in Ramah, the wail of very bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they are not.

This is what the Lord says:

Keep your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears,
for the reward for your work will come—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
and your children will return from the enemy’s land.

There is hope for your future—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
and your children will return to their own territory.

I have heard Ephraim moaning,
“You disciplined me, and I have been disciplined
like an untrained calf.
Restore me, and I will return,
for you, Lord, are my God.

For after my turning back I repented, And after my being instructed I struck on the thigh, I have been ashamed, I have also blushed, For I have borne the reproach of my youth.

Is Ephraim a dear son unto me? is he a child of delights? For whilst I have been speaking against him, I do constantly remember him still. Therefore my bowels are troubled for him: I will certainly have mercy upon him, saith Jehovah.

On this I have awaked, and I behold, and my sleep hath been sweet to me.

And it hath been, as I watched over them to pluck up, And to break down, and to throw down, And to destroy, and to afflict; So do I watch over them to build, and to plant, An affirmation of Jehovah.

In those days they will no longer say, The fathers have been tasting bitter grapes and the children's teeth are put on edge.

For this is the covenant that I make, With the house of Israel, after those days, An affirmation of Jehovah, I have given My law in their inward part, And on their heart I do write it, And I have been to them for God, And they are to me for a people.

If this fixed order departs from My presence—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
then also Israel’s descendants will cease
to be a nation before Me forever.

Lo, days are coming, an affirmation of Jehovah, And the city hath been built to Jehovah, From the tower of Hananeel to the gate of the corner.

The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah -- it is the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar,

And then the forces of the king of Babylon are laying siege against Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet hath been shut up in the court of the prison that is in the house of the king of Judah,

For Zedekiah, king of Judah, had had him shut up, saying, Why have you, as a prophet, been saying, The Lord has said, See, I will give this town into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will take it;

Zedekiah, king of Judah, won't escape from the Chaldeans, for he has surely been given over to the king of Babylon. He will speak to him face to face and look at him eye to eye.

And Jeremiah saith, 'A word of Jehovah hath been unto me saying,

Lo, the mounts -- they have come in to the city to capture it, and the city hath been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it, because of the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence; and that which Thou hast spoken hath come to pass, and lo, Thou art seeing;

Yet Thou hast said unto me, O Lord Jehovah, Buy for thee the field with money, and cause witnesses to testify -- and the city hath been given into the hand of the Chaldeans!'

The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come in and set this city on fire and burn it, along with the houses on whose roofs incense has been offered to Baal and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods to provoke Me to anger.