Most Popular Bible Verses in Jeremiah
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Chapter
Jeremiah Rank:
For I know the plans I have for you”
and incurable—who can understand it?
“Look, the days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when I will make a new covenant
The word of the Lord came to me:
Call to Me and I will answer you
I set you apart before you were born.
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.
This is what the Lord says:
Ask about the ancient paths:
Which is the way to what is good?
Then take it
and find rest for yourselves.
But they protested, “We won’t!”
It also came throughout the days of Jehoiakim
for I will be with you to deliver you.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
But I protested, “Oh no, Lord, God! Look, I don’t know how to speak
“when I will raise up a Righteous Branch of David.
He will reign wisely as king
and administer justice and righteousness in the land.
You will seek Me
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you.
the firstfruits of His harvest.
All who ate of it found themselves guilty;
disaster came on them.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
This is what the Lord says:
who makes human flesh his strength
and turns his heart from the Lord is cursed.
“Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s declaration. “I will put My teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.
Your words became a delight to me
and the joy of my heart,
for I am called by Your name,
Yahweh God of Hosts.
Then the word of the Lord came to me, asking, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
I replied, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”
He is the living God
The earth quakes at His wrath,
and the nations cannot endure His rage.
But look, you keep trusting in deceitful words that cannot help.
whose confidence indeed is the Lord, is blessed.
Then the Lord said to me:
for you will go to everyone I send you to
and speak whatever I tell you.
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
Then the Lord reached out His hand, touched my mouth,
You are to say this to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens
This is what the Lord says:
the strong man must not boast in his strength;
the wealthy man must not boast in his wealth.
over nations and kingdoms
to uproot and tear down,
to destroy and demolish,
to build and plant.
but don’t let me be put to shame.
Let them be terrified, but don’t let me be terrified.
Bring on them the day of disaster;
shatter them with total
Again the word of the Lord came to me inquiring, “What do you see?”
And I replied, “I see a boiling pot,
This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant they broke even though I had married them”
A wolf from an arid plain will ravage them.
A leopard
Anyone who leaves them will be torn to pieces
because their rebellious acts are many,
their unfaithful deeds numerous.
The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I watch over My word to accomplish it.”
that a man’s way of life is not his own;
no one who walks determines his own steps.
Then the Lord said to me, “Disaster will be poured out
Declare in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:
Cry out loudly and say:
Assemble yourselves,
and let’s flee to the fortified cities.
over the mountains,
a dirge over the wilderness grazing land,
for they have been so scorched
that no one passes through.
The sound of cattle is no longer heard.
From the birds of the sky to the animals,
everything has fled—they have gone away.
Today, I am the One who has made you a fortified city,
Indeed, I am about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
at the entrance to Jerusalem’s gates.
They will attack all her surrounding walls
and all the other cities of Judah.
“Do you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known?
so she pours out her evil.
Violence and destruction
Sickness and wounds keep coming to My attention.
They will fight against you but never prevail over you,
This is the Lord’s declaration.
“I will pronounce My judgments against them for all the evil they did when they abandoned Me to burn incense to other gods and to worship the works of their own hands.
“Now, get ready. Stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not be intimidated by them
Will He be endlessly infuriated?”
This is what you have said,
but you have done the evil things
you are capable of.
they will be dismayed and snared.
They have rejected the word of the Lord,
so what wisdom do they really have?
Run for cover! Don’t stand still!
For I am bringing disaster from the north—
a great destruction.
“I have heard what the prophets who prophesy a lie in My name have said, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’
Your children have abandoned Me
and sworn by those who are not gods.
I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery;
they gashed themselves
Every goldsmith is put to shame
by his carved image,
for his cast images are a lie;
there is no breath in them.
“Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, though I did not send them, and who say, ‘There will never be sword or famine in this land.’ By sword and famine these prophets will meet their end.
This is what the Lord said to me, “Go and stand at the People’s Gate, through which the kings of Judah enter and leave, as well as at all the gates of Jerusalem.
They have exhausted themselves but have no profit.
Be put to shame by your harvests
because of the Lord’s burning anger.
a jackals’ den.
I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,
an uninhabited place.
or I will turn away from you;
I will make you a desolation,
a land without inhabitants.
Then the cities of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods they have been burning incense to, but they certainly will not save them in their time of disaster.
the waters in the heavens are in turmoil,
and He causes the clouds to rise
from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
and brings the wind from His storehouses.
“But return to My place that was at Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at first.
that is, all the kingdoms of the world which are on the face of the earth.
Finally, the king of Sheshach
that they went so far from Me,
followed worthless idols,
and became worthless themselves?
In the days of King Josiah the Lord asked me, “Have you seen what unfaithful Israel has done? She has ascended every high hill and gone under every green tree to prostitute herself there.
for My gaze takes in all their ways.
Then do you come and stand before Me in this house
I will smash them against each other, fathers and sons alike”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “I will allow no mercy, pity, or compassion to keep Me from destroying them.”
a destroyer of nations has set out.
He has left his lair
to make your land a waste.
Your cities will be reduced to uninhabited ruins.
because He is the One who formed all things.
Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;
Yahweh of Hosts is His name.
This is what the Lord says: “Concerning all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people, Israel, I am about to uproot them
who brought us from the land of Egypt,
who led us through the wilderness,
through a land of deserts and ravines,
through a land of drought and darkness,
a land no one traveled through
and where no one lived?”
Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Announce to them: Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah, all Judah, and all the residents of Jerusalem who enter through these gates.
For this is what the Lord says:
the land’s residents at this time
and bringing them such distress
that they will feel it.
and I did not celebrate with them.
Because Your hand was on me, I sat alone,
for You filled me with indignation.
“Send a message to all the exiles, saying: This is what the Lord says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Because Shemaiah prophesied to you, though I did not send him, and made you trust a lie,
I
The people they are prophesying to will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. There will be no one to bury them
I thought: After she has done all these things, she will return to Me.
This is what the Lord of Hosts says:
as thoroughly as a vine.
Pass your hand once more like a grape gatherer
over the branches.
nestled among the cedars,
how you will groan
agony like a woman in labor.
to eat its fruit and bounty,
but after you entered, you defiled My land;
you made My inheritance
but do not finish them off.
Prune away her shoots,
for they do not belong to the Lord.
Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:
their fields to new occupants,
for from the least to the greatest,
everyone is making profit dishonestly.
From prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Now, because you have done all these things”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and because I have spoken to you time and time again
“As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf,
If they will diligently learn the ways of My people
I will first repay them double for their guilt
The experts in the law no longer knew Me,
and the rulers
The prophets prophesied by
and followed useless idols.
mourn and wail,
for the Lord’s burning anger
has not turned away from us.
Your gods are indeed as numerous as your cities, Judah,
all my tent cords are snapped.
My sons have departed from me and are no more.
I have no one to pitch my tent again
or to hang up my curtains.
Who is the man wise enough to understand this?
Send someone to Kedar
see if there has ever been anything like this:
Indifferent to
How long will this continue in the minds of the prophets prophesying lies, prophets of the deceit of their own minds?
that they will listen?
Look, their ear is uncircumcised,
so they cannot pay attention.
See, the word of the Lord has become contemptible to them—
they find no pleasure in it.
This is what the Lord says: Watch yourselves; do not pick up a load and bring it in through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will bring a case against your children’s children.
they don’t seek the Lord.
Therefore they have not prospered,
and their whole flock is scattered.
I am severely wounded!
I exclaimed, “This is my intense suffering,
but I must bear it.”
of My dear
claiming, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.
not in Your anger,
or You will reduce me to nothing.
Then people will come from the cities of Judah and from the area around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and from the Judean foothills, from the hill country and from the Negev
But the Lord said to me, “These prophets are prophesying a lie in My name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, worthless divination, the deceit
be shocked and utterly appalled.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
my wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
You truly have become like a mirage to me—
water that is not reliable.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself
on such a nation as this?
This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices, and eat the meat yourselves,
Go, proclaim these words to the north, and say:
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will not look on you with anger,
for I am unfailing in My love.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will not be angry forever.
Through their dreams that they tell one another, they plan to cause My people to forget My name as their fathers forgot My name through Baal worship.
At the time of their punishment
they will be destroyed.
The Lord said, “It is because they abandoned My instruction
They have placed their detestable things
Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah didn’t return to Me with all her heart
This is the Lord’s declaration.
“On that day”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“the king and the officials will lose their courage. The priests will tremble in fear, and the prophets will be scared speechless.”
I said, “Oh no, Lord God, You have certainly deceived
After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion
I am tired of holding it back.
Pour it out on the children in the street,
on the gang of young men as well.
For both husband and wife will be captured,
the old with the very old.
Yet they have dug a pit for me.
Remember how I stood before You
to speak good on their behalf,
to turn Your anger from them.
The word of the Lord came to me:
(But they were not gods!
Yet My people have exchanged their
for useless idols.
and she leaves him to marry another,
can he ever return to her?
Wouldn’t such a land
But you!
You have played the prostitute with many partners
can you return to Me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
The Lord announced to me, “Unfaithful Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
Instead, they followed the stubbornness of their hearts
“At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, ‘A searing wind
Hear the word that the Lord has spoken to
have dealt very treacherously with Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
“Return, you faithless children”
what I did to Shiloh I will do to the house that is called by My name
I am against those who prophesy false dreams”
to be in My house,
having carried out so many evil schemes?
Can holy meat
so you can rejoice?
Then You helped me to see their deeds,
They weren’t at all ashamed.
They can no longer feel humiliation.
Therefore, they will fall among the fallen.
When I punish them, they will collapse,”
says the Lord.
Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
you will stand in My presence.
And if you speak noble words,
rather than worthless ones,
you will be My spokesman.
It is they who must return to you;
you must not return to them.
a great commotion
The cities of Judah will be made desolate,
a jackals’ den.
a flourishing olive tree,
beautiful with well-formed fruit.
He has set fire to it,
and its branches are consumed
with a great roaring sound.
claiming, “Peace, peace,”
when there is no peace.
I will give you shepherds who are loyal to Me,
This is what the Lord says:
and the foundations of the earth below explored,
I will reject all of Israel’s descendants
because of all they have done—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
At that time Jerusalem will be called, Yahweh’s Throne,
“As I live,” says the Lord, “though you, Coniah
have also broken your skull.
The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven,
your own apostasies will reprimand you.
Think it over and see how evil and bitter
for you to abandon the Lord your God
and to have no fear of Me.
This is the declaration
of the Lord God of Hosts.
I will drive you from My presence, just as I drove out all of your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
There will be no grapes on the vine,
no figs on the fig tree,
and even the leaf will wither.
Whatever I have given them will be lost to them.
I
You insisted, “I will not serve!”
On every high hill
and under every green tree
you lie down like a prostitute.
look—those slain by the sword!
If I enter the city,
look—those ill
For both prophet and priest
travel to a land they do not know.
everyone is making profit dishonestly.
From prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
their fields and wives as well,
for I will stretch out My hand
against the inhabitants of the land.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
his chariots are like a storm.
His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for we are ruined!
“Go and announce directly to Jerusalem that this is what the Lord says:
your love as a bride—
how you followed Me in the wilderness,
in a land not sown.
from the very best seed.
How then could you turn into
a degenerate, foreign vine?
who tests
let me see Your vengeance on them,
for I have presented my case to You.
and this time I will make them know
My power and My might;
then they will know that My name is Yahweh.”
and insisted, “It won’t happen.
Harm won’t come to us;
we won’t see sword or famine.”
When you multiply and increase in the land,
by abandoning the Lord your God
while He was leading you along the way?
“The Lord of Hosts who planted you
even if I bring a case against You.
Yet, I wish to contend with You:
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the treacherous live at ease?
to this people.
They will fight against you
but will not overcome you,
for I am with you
to save you and deliver you.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
you have rebelled against the Lord your God.
You have scattered your favors to strangers
under every green tree
and have not obeyed My voice.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Someone cuts down a tree from the forest;
it is worked by the hands of a craftsman with a chisel.
I am about to gather them from all the lands where I have banished them in My anger, rage and great wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them live in safety.
by traveling along the way to Egypt
to drink the waters of the Nile?
What will you gain
by traveling along the way to Assyria
to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
“As for you, do not pray for these people.
grief has settled on me.
My heart is sick.
Therefore, here is what the Lord says concerning the people of Anathoth
In those days the house of Judah will join with the house of Israel,
they have roared loudly.
They have laid waste his land.
His cities are in ruins, without inhabitants.
They weren’t at all ashamed.
They can no longer feel humiliation.
Therefore, they will fall among the fallen.
When I punish them, they will collapse,
says the Lord.
Or can the skies alone give showers?
Are You not the Lord our God?
We therefore put our hope in You,
for You have done all these things.
and use a great amount of soap,
the stain of your sin is still in front of Me.
This is the Lord God’s declaration.
from far away against you,
house of Israel.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
It is an established nation,
an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know
and whose speech you do not understand.
Don’t disdain Your glorious throne.
Remember Your covenant
do not break it.
Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “Look, My anger—My burning wrath—is about to be poured out on this place,
I didn’t know that they had devised plots against me:
“Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit;
let’s cut him off from the land of the living
so that his name will no longer be remembered.”
Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to feed this people wormwood
for the Lord’s word is not in them.
This will in fact happen to them.
and give you a desirable land,
the most beautiful inheritance
I thought: You will call Me, my Father,
and never turn away from Me.
before He brings darkness,
before your feet stumble
on the mountains at dusk.
You wait for light,
but He brings darkest gloom
and makes thick darkness.
Let my eyes overflow with tears;
day and night may they not stop,
for the virgin daughter of my people
has been destroyed by a great disaster,
an extremely severe wound.
and your throat from thirst.
But you say, “It’s hopeless;
I love strangers,
and I will continue to follow them.”
Don’t you see how they behave in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
I will heal your unfaithfulness.
“Here we are, coming to You,
for You are the Lord our God.
This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim
that don’t recognize You
and on the families
that don’t call on Your name,
for they have consumed Jacob;
they have consumed him and finished him off
and made his homeland desolate.
Oh, the pain in
My heart pounds;
I cannot be silent.
For you, my soul,
have heard the sound of the ram’s horn—
the shout of battle.
The prophet who has only a dream should recount the dream, but the one who has My word should speak My word truthfully, for what is straw compared to grain?”—this is the Lord’s declaration.
At the sound of the neighing of mighty steeds,
the whole land quakes.
They come to devour the land and everything in it,
the city and all its residents.
so you have betrayed
This is the Lord’s declaration.
“As for the prophet, priest, or people who say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ I will punish that man and his household.
I will scatter them among the nations
However, I did give them this command: Obey Me, and then I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must follow every way I command you so that it may go well with you.
This is what the Lord of Hosts says:
send for the skillful women.
I have not followed the Baals”?
Look at your behavior in the valley;
acknowledge what you have done.
You are a swift young camel
twisting and turning on her way,
Gather together; let us enter the fortified cities
and perish there,
for the Lord our God has destroyed
He has given us poisoned water to drink,
because we have sinned against the Lord.
They have built the high places of Topheth
so that you will be delivered.
How long will you harbor
malicious thoughts within you?
my refuge in a time of distress,
the nations will come to You
from the ends of the earth, and they will say,
“Our fathers inherited only lies,
worthless idols
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble
what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?
They will have no remnant, for I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth
Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: “I am about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword; their sons and daughters will die by famine.
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem.
Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire
and burn with no one to extinguish it
because of your evil deeds.
but we have not been saved.
Look and take note;
search in her squares.
If you find one person,
any who acts justly,
who seeks to be faithful,
then I will forgive her.
for a time of healing, but there was only terror.
“Then you are to say to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Drink,
and pour the sword’s power on them.
Let their wives become childless and widowed,
their husbands slain by deadly disease,
their young men struck down by the sword in battle.
Therefore, this is what the Lord God of Hosts says:
I am going to make My words
become fire in your mouth.
These people are the wood,
and the fire will consume them.
a wind too strong for this comes at My call.
the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy,
for they have perverted their way;
they have forgotten the Lord their God.
You must not carry a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day or do any work,
You are great;
Your name is great in power.
and fortify her tall fortresses,
destroyers will come against her from Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
She sniffs the wind in the heat of her desire.
Who can control her passion?
All who look for her will not become tired;
they will find her in her mating season.
so the house of Israel has been put to shame.
They, their kings, their officials,
their priests, and their prophets
for when I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak with them
their idols cannot speak.
They must be carried
Do not fear them for they can do no harm
and they cannot do any good.
they do not know Me.
They are foolish children,
without understanding.
They are skilled in doing what is evil,
but they do not know how to do what is good.”
and gold from Uphaz
from the hands of a goldsmith,
the work of a craftsman.
Their clothing is blue and purple,
all the work of skilled artisans.
this is the Lord’s declaration—
when I will punish her carved images,
and the wounded will groan
throughout her land.
Let them rise up and save you
in your time of disaster if they can,
for your gods are as numerous as your cities, Judah.
Is there no physician there?
So why has the healing of my dear
not come about?
>
this is the Lord’s declaration—
then also Israel’s descendants will cease
to be a nation before Me forever.
But are they really provoking Me?”
this is the Lord’s declaration—
you will return to Me,
if you remove your detestable idols
from My presence
and do not waver,
Where have you not been immoral?
You sat waiting for them beside the highways
like a nomad in the desert.
You have defiled the land
with your prostitution and wickedness.
commotion from the mountains,
but the salvation of Israel
is only in the Lord our God.
“Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am about to bring on them disaster that they cannot escape.
and to a stone, “You gave birth to me.”
For they have turned their back to Me
and not their face,
yet in their time of disaster
“Rise up and save us!”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Do you not tremble before Me,
the One who set the sand as the boundary of the sea,
an enduring barrier that it cannot cross?
The waves surge, but they cannot prevail.
They roar but cannot pass over it.
They have grown and produced fruit.
You are ever on their lips,
but far from their conscience.
and escape, for the leaders of the flock.
from a far away land,
“Is the Lord no longer in Zion,
her King not within her?”
Why have they provoked me to anger
with their carved images,
with their worthless foreign idols?
you foolish and senseless
They have eyes, but they don’t see.
They have ears, but they don’t hear.
and the grass of every field wither?
Because of the evil of its residents,
animals and birds have been swept away,
for the people have said,
“He cannot see what our end will be.”
why there has been no spring rain.
You have the brazen look
and refuse to be ashamed.
poisonous vipers
They will bite you.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
that he understands and knows Me
that I am Yahweh, showing faithful love,
justice, and righteousness on the earth,
for I delight in these things.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
It is fastened with hammer and nails,
so it won’t totter.
instructed by worthless idols
made of wood!
out of Jerusalem!
Sound the ram’s horn
raise a smoke signal
for disaster threatens from the north,
even great destruction.
because the whole land is destroyed.
Suddenly my tents are destroyed,
my tent curtains, in a moment.
King of the nations?
It is what You deserve.
For among all the wise people of the nations
and among all their kingdoms,
there is no one like You.
and redeem you from the control of the ruthless.
they have trampled My plot of land.
They have turned My desirable plot
into a desolate wasteland.
I will bring on you everlasting shame and humiliation
Yet they didn’t listen or pay attention
The Lord said to me, “A conspiracy has been discovered among the men of Judah
Pay attention to
Teach your daughters a lament
and one another a dirge,
have brought this on you.
This is your punishment. It is very bitter,
because it has reached your heart!
I have deserted My inheritance.
I have given the love of My life
into the hands of her enemies.
They will consume your sons and your daughters.
They will consume your flocks and your herds.
They will consume your vines and your fig trees.
They will destroy with the sword
your fortified cities
You must say to the prophet: What has the Lord answered you? and What has the Lord spoken?
They have returned to the sins of their ancestors
You must tell them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let a curse be on the man who does not obey the words of this covenant,
the destroyers have come,
for the Lord has a sword that devours
from one end of the earth to the other.
No one has peace.
and the priests rule by their own authority.
My people love it like this.
But what will you do at the end of it?
the shameful one
what our fathers have worked for—
their flocks and their herds,
their sons and their daughters.
Yet they would not obey or pay attention; each one followed the stubbornness of his evil heart.
If
let our disgrace cover us.
We have sinned against the Lord our God,
both we and our fathers,
from the time of our youth even to this day.
We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”
‘Let’s fear the Lord our God,
who gives the rain,
who guarantees to us the fixed weeks of the harvest.’
I am about to bring disaster on these people,
the fruit of their own plotting,
for they have paid no attention to My word.
They have rejected My instruction.
They have turned aside and have gone away.
You test whether my heart is with You.
Drag the wicked away like sheep to slaughter
and set them apart for the day of killing.
which I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt,
The Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Obey the words of this covenant and carry them out.
and you witnesses,
learn what the charge is against them.
They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Though I taught them time and time again,
For I strongly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt until today, warning them time and time again,
in order to establish the oath I swore to your ancestors,
I answered, “Amen, Lord.”
Proclaim to Jerusalem:
Those who besiege are coming
from a distant land;
they raise their voices
against the cities of Judah.
“For this is what the Lord says: Just as I have brought all this great disaster on these people,
“Listen to the words of this covenant
kings and princes will enter through the gates of this city. They will sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses
knows her seasons.
The turtledove, swallow, and crane
are aware of their migration,
but My people do not know
the requirements of the Lord.
so that our eyes may overflow with tears,
our eyelids soaked with weeping.
like those who guard a field,
because she has rebelled against Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Molech
They watch like fowlers lying in wait.
They set a trap;
they catch men.
like a lion in the forest.
She has roared against Me.
Therefore, I hate her.
It mourns, desolate, before Me.
All the land is desolate,
but no one takes it to heart.
“But even in those days”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“I will not finish you off.
even they were treacherous to you;
even they have cried out loudly after you.
Do not have confidence in them,
though they speak well of you.
You must say, ‘Lord, You have threatened to cut off
All of you have rebelled against Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Are birds of prey circling her?
Go, gather all the wild animals;
bring them to devour her.
Your sins have withheld My bounty from you,
the skies above will grow dark.
I have spoken; I have planned,
and I will not relent or turn back from it.
a refiner
so you may know and assay their way of life.
so their houses are full of deceit.
Therefore they have grown powerful and rich.
of my dear
I mourn; horror has taken hold of me.
“This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Correct your ways and your deeds,
that you dress yourself in scarlet,
that you adorn yourself with gold jewelry,
that you enlarge your eyes with paint?
You beautify yourself for nothing.
Your lovers reject you;
they want to take your life.
When people ask, ‘For what offense has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ You will respond to them: Just as you abandoned Me
A measuring line will once again stretch out straight to the hill of Gareb
For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
do not sow among the thorns.
and said: Listen for the sound of the ram’s horn.
But they protested, “We won’t listen!”
my innermost being will weep in secret
because of your pride.
My eyes will overflow with tears,
for the Lord’s flock
This is what the Lord says:
a great nation will be awakened
from the remote regions of the earth.
I am going to place stumbling blocks before these people;
fathers and sons together will stumble over them;
friends and neighbors will also perish.
in truth,
then the nations will be blessed
and will pride themselves in Him.
They have also excelled in evil matters.
They have not taken up cases,
such as the case of the fatherless, so they might prosper,
and they have not defended the rights of the needy.
“You are to say to them: This is what the Lord says:
If they turn away, do they not return?
They do not speak what is right.
No one regrets his evil,
asking, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone has stayed his course
like a horse rushing into battle.
Do not trust deceitful words, chanting: This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.
You have struck them, but they felt no pain.
You finished them off,
but they refused to accept discipline.
They made their faces harder than rock,
and they refused to return.
and roll in the dust.
Mourn as you would for an only son,
a bitter lament,
for suddenly the destroyer
“However, if you listen to Me, says the Lord, and do not bring loads through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day and consecrate the Sabbath day and do no work on it,
my eyes a fountain of tears,
I would weep day and night
over the slain of my dear
“For the Judeans have done what is evil in My sight.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “They have set up their detestable things
Let us destroy her fortresses.”
Cut off the hair of your sacred vow
They will be exposed
all their deadly plots against me.
Do not wipe out their guilt;
do not blot out their sin before You.
Let them be forced to stumble before You;
deal with them in the time of Your anger.
at the sound of the horseman and the archer.
They enter the thickets
and climb among the rocks.
Every city is abandoned;
no inhabitant is left.
How devastated we are.
We are greatly ashamed,
for we have abandoned the land;
our dwellings have been torn down.
and we are discouraged.
Distress has seized us—
pain like a woman in
They are cruel and show no mercy.
Their voice roars like the sea,
and they ride on horses,
lined up like men in battle formation
against you, Daughter Zion.
when You suddenly bring raiders against them,
for they have dug a pit to capture me
and have hidden snares for my feet.
“Now therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to this city about which you said, ‘It has been handed over to Babylon’s king through sword, famine, and plague’:
“At that time”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of her officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the residents of Jerusalem will be brought out of their graves.
Since the day your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent all My servants the prophets
Instead, if you really change your ways and your actions, if you act justly toward one another,
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself
on such a nation as this?
For this is what the Lord says:
but I will not finish it off.
All its cities were torn down
because of the Lord
and His burning anger.
Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair on their temples.
“Stand in the gate of the house of the Lord
For this is what the Lord of Hosts says:
raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem.
This city must be punished.
There is nothing but oppression within her.
However, they wouldn’t listen to Me or pay attention but became obstinate;
Death will be chosen over life
and speak to them.
Surely they know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.
However, these also had broken the yoke
and torn off the chains.
don’t walk on the road.
For the enemy has a sword;
terror is on every side.
Why is Jerusalem always turning away?
They take hold of deceit;
they refuse to return.
This is what the Lord says:
a lament with bitter weeping—
Rachel weeping for her children,
refusing to be comforted for her children
because they are no more.
You must therefore declare to them: This is the nation that would not listen to the voice of the Lord their God and would not accept discipline. Truth
rise up, let’s attack at noon.
Woe to us, for the day is passing;
the evening shadows grow long.
if you no longer oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow
for the Lord has rejected them.
this is what the Lord says: I am about to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. There will not be even one of his descendants living among these people,
lies and not faithfulness prevail in the land,
for they proceed from one evil to another,
and they do not take Me into account.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
they will pitch their tents all around her.
Each will pasture his own portion.
They have abandoned Me,
the fountain of living water,
and dug cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.
it has entered our fortresses,
cutting off children from the streets,
young men from the squares.
I will allow you to live in this place, the land I gave to your ancestors
No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
spreading slander.
They are bronze and iron;
all of them are corrupt.
blasting the lead with fire.
The refining is completely in vain;
the evil ones are not separated out.
“Look, the days are coming”—the Lord’s declaration—“when the city
Oh, Lord God! You Yourself made the heavens and earth
They wouldn’t listen or pay attention but became obstinate,
There will be none like it!
It will be a time of trouble for Jacob,
but he will be delivered out of it.
Then I thought:
they have played the fool.
For they don’t understand the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.
You will call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
Speak as follows:
This is what the Lord says:
like manure on the surface of the field,
like newly cut grain
with no one to gather it.
“When you speak all these things to them, they will not listen to you. When you call to them, they will not answer you.
In fact, I will hand you over to those you dread,
Take a humble seat,
for your glorious crowns
have fallen from your heads.
“The days are coming”—the Lord’s declaration—“when I will punish all the circumcised yet uncircumcised:
“Am I a God who is only near”
The whole valley—the corpses, the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley
“Look, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh.
I am against the prophets”—the Lord’s declaration—“who use their own tongues to make a declaration.
even in My house I have found their evil.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
in the wilderness,
I would abandon my people
and depart from them,
for they are all adulterers,
a solemn assembly of treacherous people.
Don’t trust any brother,
for every brother will certainly deceive,
and every friend spread slander.
If you do not listen to Me to consecrate the Sabbath day by not carrying a load while entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, I will set fire to its gates,
“Now when these people or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you will respond to them: What is the burden? I will throw you away”—this is the Lord’s declaration.
This is what the Lord says:
or be terrified by signs in the heavens,
although the nations are terrified by them,
and will heal you of your wounds—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
for they call you Outcast,
Zion whom no one cares about.
I will hurl you and the mother who gave birth
or sweet cane
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;
your sacrifices do not please Me.
or speak any longer in His name,”
His message becomes a fire burning in my heart,
shut up in my bones.
I become tired of holding it in,
and I cannot prevail.
no one tells the truth.
They have taught their tongues to speak lies;
they wear themselves out doing wrong.
they speak deception.
With his mouth
a man speaks peaceably with his friend,
but inwardly he sets up an ambush.
“As for you, you are to prophesy all these things to them, and say to them:
He raises His voice from His holy dwelling.
He roars loudly over His grazing land;
He calls out with a shout, like those who tread grapes,
against all the inhabitants of the earth.
and Israel will dwell securely.
This is what He will be named:
Yahweh Our Righteousness.
In their deception they refuse to know Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
The words of Jeremiah,
or a leopard his spots?
If so, you might be able to do what is good,
you who are instructed in evil.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself
on such a nation as this?
You seized me and prevailed.
I am a laughingstock all the time;
everyone ridicules me.
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!”
“This is what the Lord of Hosts says:
from nation to nation.
A great storm is stirred up
from the ends of the earth.”
Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says:
for what else can I do
because of My dear
For this is what the Lord says: “When 70 years for Babylon are complete,
no one can help them.
All of Judah has been taken into exile,
taken completely into exile.
Do You detest
Why do You strike us
with no hope of healing for us?
We hoped for peace,
but there was nothing good;
for a time of healing,
but there was only terror.
But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ then this is what the Lord says: Because you have said, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ and I specifically told you not to say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’
the guilt of our fathers;
indeed, we have sinned against You.
All the officials of the king of Babylon entered and sat at the Middle Gate: Nergal-sharezer, Samgar, Nebusarsechim
“Is not My word like fire”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and like a hammer that pulverizes rock?
This is the text of the letter
because the Lord brings a case against
He enters into judgment with all flesh.
As for the wicked, He hands them over to the sword—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
this is the Lord’s declaration—
“when I will fulfill the good promises
that I have spoken
concerning the house of Israel
and the house of Judah.
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, released him at Ramah.
Can a man hide himself in secret places where I cannot see him?”
but I will bring them back with consolation.
I will lead them to wadis filled with water
by a smooth way where they will not stumble,
for I am Israel’s Father,
and Ephraim is My firstborn.
and tell it among the far off coastlands!
Say: The One who scattered Israel will gather him.
He will watch over him as a shepherd guards his flock,
those coming from the north.
Where is the flock entrusted to you,
the sheep that were your pride?
This is what the Lord says:
the fixed order of moon and stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar
Yahweh of Hosts is His name:
with an iron stylus.
With a diamond point
it is engraved on the tablet of their hearts
and on the horns of their
save me, and I will be saved,
for You are my praise.
“At that time”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“I will be the God of all the families of Israel,
Therefore, take note! I am against the prophets”
This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are making you worthless. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the Lord’s mouth.
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah
This whole land will become a desolate ruin, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for 70 years.
close friends as leaders over you,
ones you yourself trained?
Won’t labor pains seize you,
as they do a woman in labor?
I will give them a heart to know Me,
I test the heart
to give to each according to his way,
according to what his actions deserve.
The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah
For this is what the Lord says:
shout for the chief of the nations!
Proclaim, praise, and say,
“Lord, save Your people,
the remnant of Israel!”
a jar no one wants?
Why are he and his descendants hurled out
and cast into a land they have not known?
“I will make an everlasting covenant with them:
I saw a horrible thing:
They commit adultery and walk in lies.
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,
and none turns his back on evil.
They are all like Sodom
Jerusalem’s residents are like Gomorrah.
Seek the welfare of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf,
the law of the Lord is with us’?
In fact, the lying pen of scribes
has produced falsehood.
established the world
and spread out the heavens by His understanding.
Zedekiah son of Josiah
and it was formless and empty.
I looked to the heavens,
and their light was gone.
Virgin Israel.
You will take up your tambourines again
and go out in joyful dancing.
After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had deported Jeconiah
This is what the Lord says:
a man who will not be successful in his lifetime.
None of his descendants will succeed
in sitting on the throne of David
or ruling again in Judah.
“I will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands where I have banished them, and I will return them to their grazing land. They will become fruitful and numerous.
“The days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when I will sow the house of Israel
This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen undergarment
This is what the Lord says:
the people who survived the sword.
When Israel went to find rest,
“In those days, it will never again be said:
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.
At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, tear down, and destroy it.
Then the Lord said to me: “Even if
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord.
Those slain by the Lord
“I am about to send for many fishermen”
through unrighteousness,
his upper rooms through injustice,
who makes his fellow man serve without pay
and will not give him his wages,
that I gave you.
I will make you serve your enemies
in a land you do not know,
for you have set My anger on fire;
it will burn forever.
“However, take note! The days are coming”—the Lord’s declaration—“when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’
is like a partridge that hatches eggs it didn’t lay.
In the middle of his days
his riches will abandon him,
so in the end he will be a fool.
This is what the Lord says: “Go, buy a potter’s clay
This is what the Lord says: Administer justice and righteousness.
I will take delight in them to do what is good for them, and with all My heart and mind I will faithfully plant them in this land.
At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur
In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah,
This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and make all the nations I am sending you to, drink from it.
Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer
cry out, daughters of Rabbah!
Clothe yourselves with sackcloth,
run back and forth within your walls,
because Milcom will go into exile
together with his priests and officials.
“Why have these things happened to me?”
It is because of your great guilt
that your skirts have been stripped off,
your body exposed.
I will give them one heart
or a bride her wedding sash?
Yet My people have forgotten Me
for countless days.
Concerning the prophets:
and all my bones tremble.
I have become like a drunkard,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord,
because of His holy words.
But no longer refer to
This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon:
The hosts of heaven cannot be counted; the sand of the sea cannot be measured.
For I am already bringing disaster on the city that bears My name,
and their Asherah poles, by the green trees
on the high hills—
In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army and laid siege to it.
they will be radiant with joy
because of
because of the grain, the new wine, the fresh oil,
and because of the young of the flocks and herds.
Their life will be like an irrigated garden,
and they will no longer grow weak from hunger.
proclaim and raise up a signal flag;
proclaim, and hide nothing.
Say: Babylon is captured;
Bel
Marduk is devastated;
her idols are put to shame;
her false gods, devastated.
all who abandon You
will be put to shame.
All who turn away from Me
will be written in the dirt,
for they have abandoned
the Lord, the fountain of living water.
I will cause a Righteous Branch
to sprout up for David,
and He will administer justice
and righteousness in the land.
“House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay?”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel.
establish signposts!
Keep the highway in mind,
the way you have traveled.
Return, Virgin Israel!
Return to these cities of yours.
save your lives, each of you!
Don’t perish because of her guilt.
For this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance—
He will pay her what she deserves.
“You disciplined me, and I have been disciplined
like an untrained calf.
Restore me, and I will return,
for you, Lord, are my God.
while young and old men rejoice together.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
give them consolation,
and bring happiness out of grief.
But when he was at the Benjamin Gate,
Jeremiah replied, “The word of the Lord came to me:
About Edom, this is what the Lord of Hosts says:
Has counsel perished from the prudent?
Has their wisdom rotted away?
Yahweh, act for Your name’s sake.
Indeed, our rebellions
we have sinned against You.
On the tenth day of the fifth month—which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, entered Jerusalem as the representative of
I am going to send for all the families of the north’
it sends its roots out toward a stream,
it doesn’t fear when heat comes,
and its foliage remains green.
It will not worry in a year of drought
or cease producing fruit.
a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child.
The cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands:
Woe is me, for my life is weary
because of the murderers!
for the days are certainly coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when I will restore the fortunes
Rather, each will die for his own wrongdoing.
the Lord’s business deceitfully
and the one who withholds
his sword from bloodshed is cursed.
“Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who shepherd My people: You have scattered My flock, banished them, and have not attended to them.
At another time I announce that I will build and plant a nation or a kingdom.
About the Ammonites,
Is he without an heir?
Why then has Milcom
and his people settled in their cities?
They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, something I have never commanded or mentioned; I never entertained the thought.
hear the word of the Lord!
This is the word that came to Jeremiah for all the Jews living in the land of Egypt—at Migdol,
This is what the Lord says:
and against the population of Leb-qamai.
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom
When the 70 years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, and I will make it a ruin forever.
and Jerusalem will dwell securely,
and this is what she will be named:
Yahweh Our Righteousness.
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.
faithless daughter?
For the Lord creates something new in the land
a female
your heinous prostitution
on the hills, in the fields—
I have seen your detestable acts.
Woe to you, Jerusalem!
You are unclean—
for how long yet?
remember me and take note of me.
Avenge me against my persecutors.
In Your patience,
Know that I suffer disgrace for Your honor.
At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah
that you gave birth to me,
a man who incites dispute and conflict
in all the land.
I did not lend or borrow,
yet everyone curses me.
But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, diviners,
“Say this to them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Every jar should be filled with wine. Then they will respond to you, ‘Don’t we know that every jar should be filled with wine?’
yet they ran with a message.
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.
Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal
While he was still confined in the guard’s courtyard,
Then they came to the king at the courtyard, having deposited the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and reported everything in the hearing of the king.
In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah,
“For this is what the Lord says: David will never fail to have a man sitting on the throne of the house of Israel.
“This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple and speak all the words I have commanded you to speak to all Judah’s cities that are coming to worship there. Do not hold back a word.
For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Don’t let your prophets who are among you
Yet I will certainly bring health
I will surely forget you
My weapons of war.
With you I will smash nations;
with you I will bring kingdoms to ruin.
then it went well.
Is this not what it means to know Me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “Write down on a scroll all the words that I have spoken to you,
They will serve the Lord their God and I will raise up David their king for them.”
Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah had urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.
This is what each man is to say to his friend and to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’
Then certain ones said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah,
her gates languish.
Her people are on the ground in mourning;
Jerusalem’s cry rises up.
“The Lord who made the earth,
what I have decreed for you—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
because you have forgotten Me
and trusted in Falsehood.
pay attention to the word of the Lord!
Have I been a wilderness to Israel
or a land of dense darkness?
Why do My people claim,
“We will go where we want;
we will no longer come to You”?
“This is what the Lord said to me: Make chains and yoke bars
Roll in the dust,
Because the days of your slaughter have come,
you will fall and become shattered like a precious vase.
“Micah the Moreshite
Jerusalem will become ruins,
and the temple mount a forested hill.’
blow a ram’s horn among the nations;
set apart the nations against her.
Summon kingdoms against her—
Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a marshal against her;
bring up horses like a swarm
to destroy all the Philistines,
to cut off from Tyre and Sidon
every remaining ally.
Indeed, the Lord is about to destroy the Philistines,
the remnant of the islands of Caphtor.
So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah the king’s son, which was in the guard’s courtyard, lowering Jeremiah with ropes. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.
By My great strength and outstretched arm,
About Damascus:
for they have heard a bad report and are agitated;
in the sea there is anxiety that cannot be calmed.
This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and announce this word there.
In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family and one of the king’s chief officers, came with 10 men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. They ate a meal together there in Mizpah,
And I replied, “Oh no, Lord God! The prophets are telling them, ‘You won’t see sword or suffer famine. I will certainly give you true peace in this place.’”
You show faithful love to thousands but lay the fathers’ sins on their sons’ laps after them,
I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and they will eat each other’s flesh in the siege and distress that their enemies, those who want to take their life, inflict on them.
About Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco, Egypt’s king,
with the blood of the innocent poor.
You did not catch them breaking and entering.
But in spite of all these things
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.
Then the officials and all the people told the priests and prophets, “This man doesn’t deserve the death sentence, for he has spoken to us in the name of Yahweh our God!”
and My people will be satisfied with My goodness.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning Jehoiakim
“Woe, my brother!” or “Woe, my sister!”
They will not mourn for him, saying,
“Woe, lord! Woe, his majesty!”
So Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put him in the stocks at the Upper Benjamin Gate in the Lord’s temple.
a delightful child?
Whenever I speak against him,
I certainly still think about him.
Therefore, My inner being yearns for him;
I will truly have compassion on him.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
About Moab,
Kiriathaim will be put to shame;
The fortress will be put to shame and dismayed!
This is what the Lord says:
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.
their shepherds have led them astray,
guiding them the wrong way in the mountains.
They have wandered from mountain to hill;
they have forgotten their resting place.
the land mourns because of the curse,
and the grazing lands in the wilderness have dried up.
Their way of life
and their power is not rightly used
So the king commanded Ebed-melech, the Cushite, “Take from here 30 men under your authority and pull Jeremiah the prophet up from the cistern before he dies.”
As for the prophet who prophesies peace—only when the word of the prophet comes true will the prophet be recognized as one the Lord has truly sent.”
Instead, we will do everything we said we would: burn incense to the queen of heaven
If they ask you, ‘Where will we go?’ you must tell them: This is what the Lord says:
those destined for the sword, to the sword.
Those destined for famine, to famine;
those destined for captivity, to captivity.
If they fast, I will not hear their cry of despair. If they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. Rather, I will finish them off by sword, famine, and plague.”
Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king and reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.
Both great and small will die in this land without burial. No lament will be made for them, nor will anyone cut himself or
for their land has become a desolation
because of the sword
because of His burning anger.
On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison.
So Jeremiah summoned Baruch
However, all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, all the women standing by—a great assembly—and all the people who were living in the land of Egypt at Pathros answered Jeremiah,
I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them.
Another man was also prophesying in the name of Yahweh—Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim.
for I satisfy the thirsty person and feed all those who are weak.”
Then all the commanders of the armies, along with Johanan son of Kareah,
But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.
Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal
But Ebed-melech, a Cushite court official employed in the king’s palace, heard Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate,
I will gather them from remote regions of the earth
the blind and the lame will be with them,
along with those who are pregnant and those about to give birth.
They will return here as a great assembly!
your presumptuous heart has deceived you.
You who live in the clefts of the rock,
you who occupy the mountain summit,
though you elevate your nest like the eagle,
even from there I will bring you down.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
this is the Lord’s declaration—
the Israelites and Judeans will come together,
weeping as they come,
and will seek the Lord their God.
For this is what the Lord says concerning Shallum
So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the wheel.
because they have abandoned Me and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in it to other gods that they, their fathers, and the kings of Judah have never known. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.
One basket contained very good figs, like early figs,
making the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine;
therefore, the nations go mad.
They burn incense to false idols
that make them stumble in their ways
on the ancient roads
and walk on new paths, not the highway.
and go out to the Valley of Hinnom
So now, say to the men of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem: This is what the Lord says: I am about to bring harm to you and make plans against you. Turn now, each from your evil way, and correct your ways and your deeds.
I will give up your wealth
and all your treasures as plunder
because of the sin of your high places
in all your borders.
The officials then said to the king, “This man ought to die, because he is weakening the morale of the warriors who remain in this city and of all the people by speaking to them in this way. This man is not seeking the well-being of this people, but disaster.”
The corpses of these people will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land, with no one to scare them away.
and gave the purchase agreement to Baruch
This was after King Jeconiah,
The word the Lord spoke about Babylon,
“Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘Because you have not obeyed My words,
The sound of great destruction
from the land of the Chaldeans!
This is the Lord’s declaration.
You have turned your back,
so I have stretched out My hand against you
and destroyed you.
I am tired of showing compassion.
do not mourn for him.
Weep bitterly for the one
for he will never return again
and see his native land.
a sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the groom and the bride,
for the Lord is good;
His faithful love endures forever
as they bring thank offerings to the temple of the Lord. For I will restore the fortunes
a day of vengeance to avenge Himself
against His adversaries.
The sword will devour and be satisfied;
it will drink its fill of their blood,
because it will be a sacrifice
in the northern land by the Euphrates River.
At that time, the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the guard’s courtyard
its Savior in time of distress,
why are You like a foreigner in the land,
like a traveler stopping only for the night?
Watch! Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, is coming to you to say, ‘Buy my field in Anathoth
along with her governors, officials, and warriors.
Then they will fall asleep forever
and never wake up.
This is the King’s declaration;
Yahweh of Hosts is His name.
This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “When I restore their fortunes,
This is the Lord’s declaration.
The judgment on Moab ends here.
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
in the hill country of Ephraim,
“Get up, let’s go up to Zion,
to Yahweh our God!”
So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant
“Therefore, take note! Days are coming”
These evil people, who refuse to listen to Me, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts,
However, the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains
they would have enabled My people to hear My words
and would have turned them back from their evil ways
and their evil deeds.
This is what the Lord says:
and show compassion on his dwellings.
Every city will be rebuilt on its mound;
every citadel will stand on its proper site.
I will make him vomit what he swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him;
even Babylon’s wall will fall.
His anger is sure to turn away from me.”
But I will certainly judge you
because you have said, “I have not sinned.”
But they replied, “We do not drink wine, for Jonadab,
“Ask the Lord on our behalf, since Nebuchadnezzar
Fields will be purchased with silver, the transaction written on a scroll and sealed,
This is the Lord’s declaration.
“Terror is on every side!
Report him; let’s report him!”
Everyone I trusted
“Perhaps he will be deceived
so that we might prevail against him
and take our vengeance on him.”
The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will become impure like that place Topheth—all the houses on whose rooftops they have burned incense to the whole heavenly host
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim
This is what the Lord says concerning these people:
they never rest their feet.
So the Lord does not accept them.
Now He will remember their guilt
and punish their sins.
“This is what the Lord says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night so that day and night cease to come at their regular time,
Send word to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon
I will be found by you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and I will restore your fortunes
I will eliminate the sound of joy and gladness from them—the voice of the groom and the bride,
After I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief.
I was ashamed and humiliated
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.”
Fill the quivers!
The Lord has put it into the mind
of the kings of the Medes
because His plan is aimed at Babylon
to destroy her,
for it is the Lord’s vengeance,
vengeance for His temple.
Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on David’s throne, and his corpse will be thrown out to be exposed to the heat of day and the frost of night.
I saw something disgusting:
They prophesied by
and led My people Israel astray.
“Take a scroll,
Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly shamed,
an everlasting humiliation that will never be forgotten.
This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says to Ahab son of Kolaiah and to Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, the ones prophesying a lie to you in My name:
This is what the Lord says: If I do not keep My covenant with the day and with the night and fail to establish the fixed order of heaven and earth,
he has crushed me.
He has set me aside like an empty dish;
he has swallowed me like a sea monster;
he filled his belly with my delicacies;
he has vomited me out,”
Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of these people.
About Kedar
and destroy the people of the east!
this is the Lord’s declaration—
you devastate the whole earth.
I will stretch out My hand against you,
roll you down from the cliffs,
and turn you into a charred mountain.
“The days are coming”—the Lord’s declaration—“when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’
they would not accept discipline.
Your own sword has devoured your prophets
like a ravaging lion.
However, if that nation I have made an announcement about turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the disaster I had planned to do to it.
I will restore the fortunes
I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sound of joy and gladness and the voices of the groom and the bride,
This is the word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch son of Neriah
They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like manure on the face of the earth.
Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says concerning the prophets:
and give them poisoned water to drink,
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness
Based on what happens to them, all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will create a curse
The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the nations:
When all the commanders of the armies in the field—they and their men—heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over the land and that he had put him in charge of the men, women, and children from the poorest of the land who had not been deported to Babylon,
The letter was sent by Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah
As for those who disobeyed My covenant,
constantly changing your ways!
You will be put to shame by Egypt
just as you were put to shame by Assyria.
This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the Philistines
he went down to the scribe’s chamber in the king’s palace. All the officials were sitting there—Elishama the scribe, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor,
established the world
and spread out the heavens by His understanding.
Say: Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem.
“From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon,
Just as underwear clings to one’s waist, so I fastened the whole house of Israel and of Judah to Me”
they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. The commanders included Ishmael
but, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other countries where I
since no rain has fallen on the land.
The farmers are ashamed;
they cover their heads.
So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and I weighed out to him the money
But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless.
Then at the Lord’s temple, in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe,
while the king of Babylon’s army was attacking Jerusalem and all of Judah’s remaining cities—against Lachish and Azekah,
the wail of the leaders of the flock,
for the Lord is destroying their pasture.
all the kings of the land of Uz;
all the kings of the land of the Philistines—Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;
You are to say: Hear the word of the Lord, king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David—you, your officers, and your people who enter these gates.
Wail for her;
get balm
perhaps she can be healed.
“When you tell these people all these things, they will say to you, ‘Why has the Lord declared all this great disaster against us?
I will keep My eyes on them for their good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not demolish them; I will plant them and not uproot them.
and against those living in Pekod.
Put them to the sword;
completely destroy them—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
do everything I have commanded you.
This is the word the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to defeat the land of Egypt:
I will purify them from all the wrongs they have committed against Me,
Didn’t your father eat and drink
and administer justice and righteousness?
Then it went well with him.
This is what Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah son of Neriah son of Mahseiah,
until He has completely fulfilled the purposes of His heart.
In time to come you will understand it clearly.
But as for you, do you seek great things for yourself? Stop seeking! For I am about to bring disaster on every living creature’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘but I will grant you your life like the spoils of war
So I bought underwear as the Lord instructed me and put it on.
‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will repel the weapons of war in your hands,
all the kings of Sidon,
and the kings of the coastlands across the sea;
And you will say to them: This is what the Lord says: I am about to fill all who live in this land—the kings who reign for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the residents of Jerusalem—with drunkenness.
like a warrior unable to save?
Yet You are among us, Yahweh,
and we are called by Your name.
Don’t leave us!
As soon as Jehudi would read three or four columns, Jehoiakim would cut the scroll
“Look, it will be like a lion coming from the thickets
he cannot see when good comes
but dwells in the parched places in the wilderness,
in a salt land where no one lives.
“This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: You
You are to say to them: This is what the Lord says: If you do not listen to Me by living according to My instruction that I set before you
except your own dishonest profit,
shedding innocent blood
and committing extortion and oppression.
Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt,
Or does cold water flowing from a distance ever fail?
to see and hear His word?
Who has paid attention to His word and obeyed?
Speaking through Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gave orders concerning Jeremiah, saying:
a jackals’ den,
a desolation and an object of scorn,
without inhabitant.
Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters to men in marriage so that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease.
“On that day”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts—“I will break his yoke from your neck
I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh
Jeremiah wrote on one scroll about all the disaster that would come to Babylon;
with spacious upper rooms.”
He will cut windows
and it will be paneled with cedar
and painted with vermilion.
In the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army. They laid siege to the city and built a siege wall all around it.
House of David, this is what the Lord says:
and rescue the victim of robbery
from the hand of his oppressor,
or My anger will flare up like fire
and burn unquenchably
because of their evil deeds.
The prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord did not send you, but you have led these people to trust in a lie.
When Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies
“But you must say to this people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, I am presenting to you the way of life and the way of death.
and redeemed him from the power of one stronger than he.
and I have not longed for the fatal day.
You know my words were spoken in Your presence.
“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah I sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.
For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am about to eliminate from this place, before your very eyes and in your time, the sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the groom and the bride.
80 men came from Shechem, Shiloh,
When he saw them, Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers fled. They left the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate between the two walls. They left along the route to the Arabah.
The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call you Pashhur, but Magor-missabib,
I proclaim, “Violence and destruction!”
because the word of the Lord has become for me
constant disgrace and derision.
inhabitant of Daughter Egypt!
For Memphis will become a desolation,
uninhabited ruins.
“Therefore, take note! The days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.
at the gates of the land.
I made them childless; I destroyed My people.
They would not turn from their ways.
The Lord sent all His servants the prophets to you time and time again,
this is the Lord’s declaration—
when I will make the shout of battle
against Rabbah of the Ammonites.
It will become a desolate mound,
and its villages will be burned down.
Israel will dispossess their dispossessors,
says the Lord.
This is what the Lord says: I am about to hand over Pharaoh Hophra,
Then the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord had hidden them.
the men, women, children, king’s daughters, and everyone whom Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, had allowed to remain with Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan,
whether a male can give birth.
Why then do I see every man
with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor
and every face turned pale?
then Azariah
against Babylon.
Her warriors will be captured,
their bows shattered,
for the Lord is a God of retribution;
He will certainly repay.
I will spoil the plans of Judah and Jerusalem in this place. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, by the hand of those who want to take their life. I will provide their corpses as food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.
They go to the cisterns;
they find no water;
their containers return empty.
They are ashamed and humiliated;
they cover their heads.
Meanwhile, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah
“This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
panting for air like jackals.
Their eyes fail
because there are no green plants.
Yes, this is what the Lord says:
of dread—there is no peace.
“For this is what the Lord says: Don’t enter a house where a mourning feast is taking place.
Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah, the scribe, and he wrote on it at Jeremiah’s dictation
I will make them an object of horror
These are the words the Lord spoke to Israel and Judah.
The Lord said:
I will certainly intercede for you
in a time of trouble,
in your time of distress, with the enemy.
I recorded it on a scroll,
Race furiously, you chariots!
Let the warriors go out—
Cush and Put,
who are able to handle shields,
and the Ludim,
who are able to handle and string the bow.
a perpetual object of scorn;
everyone who passes by it will be horrified
and shake his head.
his ruler will issue from him.
I will invite him to Me, and he will approach Me,
for who would otherwise risk his life to approach Me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
When Jeremiah had not yet turned to go, Nebuzaradan said to him: “Return
“After I had given the purchase agreement to Baruch, son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord:
Jeremiah came back from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, stood in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple,
But King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan son of Achbor
The word of the Lord came to me:
However, if it does what is evil in My sight by not listening to My voice, I will relent concerning the good I had said I would do to it.
Wrath has gone out,
a whirling storm.
It will whirl about the heads of the wicked.
Wrath has gone out,
a churning storm.
It will whirl about the heads of the wicked.
“Then you are to shatter the jar in the presence of the people traveling with you,
The first who devoured him was the king of Assyria;
the last one who crushed his bones
was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
When Jeremiah had finished speaking to all the people all the words of the Lord their God—all these words the Lord their God had sent him to give them—
The prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the temple of the Lord.
Ashkelon will become silent,
a remnant of their valley.
How long will you gash yourself?
“This is what the Lord says: In this place, which you say is a ruin,
In the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month,
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come!”
an assembly of great nations from the north country.
They will line up in battle formation against her;
from there she will be captured.
Their arrows will be like those of a skilled
who does not return empty-handed.
for this is what the Lord says, ‘I am about to make you a terror to both yourself and those you love.
“This is what the Lord says: Just like this I will ruin the great pride of both Judah and Jerusalem.
“Take the underwear that you bought and are wearing,
‘The Lord has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada the priest to be the chief officer
Since it was the ninth month, the king was sitting in his winter quarters
Perhaps they will listen and return—each from his evil way of life—so that I might relent
with your hands on your head
since the Lord has rejected those you trust;
you will not succeed even with their help.
Then the city was broken into, and all the warriors fled. They left the city by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. They made their way along the route to the Arabah.
He finished the address the Lord had commanded him to deliver to all the people. Then the priests, the prophets, and all the people took hold of him, yelling, “You must surely die!
Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt.
Food won’t be provided for the mourner
In the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, on the ninth day of the month, the city was broken into.
The commander of the guards also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of the second rank, and the three doorkeepers.
He will smash the sacred pillars of the sun temple
For by Myself I have sworn”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“Bozrah
because they have committed an outrage
and your lovers
Then you will be ashamed and humiliated
because of all your evil.
and you are to proclaim to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I will shatter these people and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be mended. They will bury the dead in Topheth because there is no other place for burials.
Jeremiah therefore said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If indeed you surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon,
“I will ordain four kinds
For this is what the Lord says:
your wound most severe.
For if you conscientiously carry out this word, then kings sitting on David’s throne will enter through the gates of this palace
Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies took the whole remnant of Judah,
Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
Who has heard things like these?
Virgin Israel has done a most terrible thing.
Now the Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillars for the Lord’s temple and the water carts and the bronze reservoir that were in the Lord’s temple,
They keep on saying to those who despise Me, ‘The Lord has said: You will have peace.’
But if you do not obey these words, then I swear by Myself”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“that this house will become a ruin.”
and ostriches will also live in her.
It will never again be inhabited
or lived in through all generations.
the praise
What a horror Babylon has become
among the nations!
This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet about Elam
Praise the Lord,
for He rescues the life of the needy
from the hand of evil people.
this is the Lord’s declaration—
for I will be with you.
I will bring destruction on all the nations
where I have banished you,
but I will not bring destruction on you.
I will discipline you with justice,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished.
I will pursue them with sword, famine, and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth—a curse and a desolation, an object of scorn and a disgrace among all the nations where I have banished them.
she breathed her last breath.
Her sun set while it was still day;
she was ashamed and humiliated.
The rest of them I will give over to the sword
in the presence of their enemies.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
turning their faces to this road.
They will come and join themselves
in an everlasting covenant
they plan harm against her in Heshbon:
Come, let’s cut her off from nationhood.
Also, Madmen,
the sword will pursue you.
but rather, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of the north
and warned him, “Don’t you realize that Baalis, king of the Ammonites, has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah
The prophet Jeremiah spoke concerning all the people of Judah and all the residents of Jerusalem as follows:
He announced, ‘Turn, each of you, from your
rich in treasures,
your end has come,
your life thread is cut.
and they will be dried up.
For it is a land of carved images,
and they go mad because of terrifying things.
To Shemaiah the Nehelamite you are to say,
You did more evil than your fathers.
against the walls of Babylon;
fortify the watch post;
set the watchmen in place;
prepare the ambush.
For the Lord has both planned and accomplished
what He has threatened
against those who live in Babylon.
gives birth and abandons her fawn
since there is no grass.
raise your voice in Bashan;
cry out from Abarim,
for all your lovers
Yahweh of Hosts is His name.
He will fervently plead their case
so that He might bring rest to the earth
but turmoil to those who live in Babylon.
“Go to the house of the Rechabites, speak to them,
As when Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown along with their neighbors,”
and all your adversaries—all of them—
will go off into exile.
Those who plunder you will be plundered,
and all who raid you will be raided.
a sound of celebration.
I will multiply them, and they will not decrease;
I will honor them, and they will not be insignificant.
So now, correct your ways and deeds
“As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and does not place its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish by sword, famine, and plague”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“until through him I have destroyed it.
I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah
this is the Lord’s declaration—
one will search for Israel’s guilt,
but there will be none,
and for Judah’s sins,
but they will not be found,
for I will forgive
depart from the Chaldeans’ land.
Be like the rams that lead the flock.
“There is a cry from Heshbon to Elealeh; they raise their voices as far as Jahaz
settled like wine on its dregs.
He hasn’t been poured from one container to another
or gone into exile.
So his taste has remained the same,
and his aroma hasn’t changed.
I will fight against you
Proclaim it in Memphis and in Tahpanhes!
Say: Take positions! Prepare yourself,
for the sword devours all around you.
Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah at Tahpanhes:
“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Go, speak to Zedekiah, king of Judah, and tell him: This is what the Lord says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon,
As for you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house, you will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon. There you will die, and there you will be buried, you and all your friends that you prophesied falsely
this is the Lord’s declaration—
and your children will return to their own territory.
you will be captured also.
Chemosh
with his priests and officials.
each with his weapons.
They will cut down the choicest of your cedars
and throw them into the fire.
“This is what the Lord says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans will live. He will keep his life like the spoils of war and will live.’
This city will bear on My behalf a name of joy, praise, and glory
the One great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are on all the ways of the sons of men in order to give to each person according to his ways and the result of his deeds.
all who string the bow;
camp all around her; let none escape.
Repay her according to her deeds;
just as she has done, do the same to her,
for she has acted arrogantly against the Lord,
against the Holy One of Israel.
Look! It will be like an eagle soaring upward, then swooping down and spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman with contractions.
Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live and will retain his life like the spoils of war.
but she could not be healed.
Abandon her!
Let each of us go to his own land,
for her judgment extends to the sky
and reaches as far as the clouds.
with more than the weeping for Jazer.
Your tendrils have extended to the sea;
they have reached to the sea and to Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen on your summer fruit and grape harvest.
Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape from the Chaldeans; indeed, he will certainly be handed over to Babylon’s king. They will speak face to face
King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance of the Lord’s temple. The king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something; don’t hide anything from me.”
And I will restore to this place Jeconiah
Then you will answer them: Because your fathers abandoned Me”
from the four corners of the heavens,
and I will scatter them to all these winds.
There will not be a nation
to which Elam’s banished ones will not go.
“I will repay Babylon and all the residents of Chaldea for all their evil they have done in Zion before your very eyes.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
The Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to punish Amon, god of Thebes,
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?”
But Ahikam
Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards,
those Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he deported Jeconiah
For I have turned
But Jeremiah answered, “This is what you are to say to Zedekiah:
The officials were angry at Jeremiah and beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan
I will bring on that land all My words I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book that Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations.
Indeed, every head is bald and every beard clipped;
Afterward’”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“‘King Zedekiah of Judah, his officers, and the people—those in this city who survive the plague, the sword, and the famine—I will hand over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon,
let your widows trust in Me.
a desolation forever.
No one will live there;
no human being will even stay in it as a temporary resident.
to see only struggle and sorrow,
to end my life in shame?
‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will rebuild and not demolish you,
Therefore, My heart moans like flutes for Moab,
So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations drink from it, everyone the Lord sent me to.
on the mountains of Samaria;
the planters will plant and will enjoy the fruit.
I will show them
on the day of their calamity.
and I will make them drunk so that they revel.
Then they will fall asleep forever
and never wake up.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I set jars filled with wine and some cups before the sons of the house of the Rechabites and said to them, “Drink wine!”
and their neighboring towns
this is the Lord’s declaration—
so no one will live there;
no human being will even stay in it
as a temporary resident.
When all the Judeans in Moab
When Micaiah son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll,
they sit in their strongholds.
Their might is exhausted;
they have become like women.
Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze,
her gate bars are shattered.
“Look, it will be like a lion coming from the thickets
is cut down and smashed!
What a horror Babylon has become
among the nations!
wouldn’t they leave some gleanings?
Were thieves to come in the night,
they would destroy only what they wanted.
Then Ishmael took captive all the remnant of the people of Mizpah including the daughters of the king—all those who remained in Mizpah over whom Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set off to cross over to the Ammonites.
This is what Yahweh of Hosts says:
and her high gates consumed by fire.
The peoples will have labored for nothing;
the nations will exhaust themselves only to feed the fire.
so that my mother might have been my grave,
her womb eternally pregnant.
“As for the word you spoke to us in the name of Yahweh, we are not going to listen to you!
Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men, assuring them, “Don’t be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you.
“Have you not noticed what these people have said? They say, ‘The Lord has rejected the two families He had chosen.’
They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who executed him with the sword and threw his corpse into the burial place of the common people.
and against all the foreigners among them,
and they will be like women.
A sword is against her treasuries,
and they will be plundered.
or a foundation stone from you,
because you will become desolate forever.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
and he will feed on Carmel and Bashan;
he will be satisfied
in the hill country of Ephraim and of Gilead.
but then Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the 10 men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword; he killed the one the king of Babylon had appointed in the land.
Just as I watched over them to uproot and to tear them down, to demolish and to destroy, and to cause disaster, so will I be attentive to build and to plant them,”
Perhaps when the house of Judah hears about all the disaster I am planning to bring on them, each one of them will turn from his evil way. Then I will forgive their wrongdoing
because of all the evil the Israelites and Judeans have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their kings,
For this is what the Lord says concerning the house of the king of Judah:
or the summit of Lebanon,
but I will certainly turn you into a wilderness,
uninhabited cities.
and from the land of Moab.
I have stopped the flow of wine from the winepresses;
no one will tread with shouts of joy.
The shouting is not a shout of joy.
in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, deported 745 Jews. All together 4,600 people were deported.
He will take Zedekiah to Babylon where he will stay until I attend to him’—this is the Lord’s declaration. ‘You will fight the Chaldeans, but you will not succeed’?”
and they went to the land of Egypt because they did not obey the voice of the Lord. They went as far as Tahpanhes.
However, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and he gave them vineyards and fields at that time.
For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says:
at the time it is trampled.
In just a little while her harvest time will come.
so you must go and read from the scroll—which you wrote at my dictation
Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies with him then took from Mizpah all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam—men, soldiers, women, children, and court officials whom he brought back from Gibeon.
The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him.
Jeremiah therefore went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah,
and I brought them into the temple of the Lord to a chamber occupied by the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, a man of God,
because you sing in triumph—
you who plundered My inheritance—
because you frolic like a young cow treading grain
and neigh like stallions,
“Therefore, this is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed Me by proclaiming freedom, each man for his brother and for his neighbor. I hereby proclaim freedom for you”
Then all the officials sent word to Baruch through Jehudi son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi, saying, “Bring the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll and went to them.
and by listening to the words of My servants the prophets
This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “I am about to send against them sword, famine, and plague
in a land you do not know,
for My anger will kindle a fire
that will burn against you.
At Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all Judah’s nobles.
The Chaldeans who are going to fight against this city will come, set this city on fire, and burn it along with the houses where incense has been burned to Baal on their rooftops and where drink offerings have been poured out to other gods to provoke Me to anger.
this is the Lord’s declaration.
I will kindle a fire in its forest
that will consume everything around it.’”
Jeremiah the prophet and said, “May our petition come before you;
than the sand of the seas.
I brought a destroyer at noon
against the mother of young men.
I suddenly released on her
agitation and terrors.
At Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes and also slaughtered the Judean commanders.
As they heard all these words, the king and all of his servants did not become terrified
All nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until the time for his own land comes, and then many nations and great kings will enslave him.
because we have heard insults.
Humiliation covers our faces
because foreigners have entered
the holy places of the Lord’s temple.
So I sent you all My servants the prophets time and time again,
The prophet Hananiah then took the yoke bar from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it.
‘They will be brought to Babylon and will remain there until I attend to them again.’
They will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant
Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:
Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all the people of Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord and plead for the Lord’s favor,
“This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to bring on this city—and on all its dependent villages—all the disaster that I spoke against it, for they have become obstinate, not obeying My words.’”
don’t let him put on
Don’t spare her young men;
completely destroy her entire army!
because fire has come out from Heshbon
and a flame from within Sihon.
It will devour Moab’s forehead
and the skull of the noisemakers.
So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.
and tell them: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will place his throne on these stones that I have embedded, and he will pitch his pavilion over them.
“Then my cousin Hanamel came to the guard’s courtyard as the Lord had said and urged me, ‘Please buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for you own the right of inheritance and redemption. Buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.
The Levitical priests will never fail to have a man always before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices.”
For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’
Then Jeremiah said to all the officials and the people, “The Lord sent me to prophesy all the words that you have heard against this temple and city.
So I went to the Euphrates and dug up the underwear and got it from the place where I had hidden it, but it was ruined—of no use at all.
your flowing valley,
you faithless daughter?
You who trust in your treasures
and boast, “Who can attack me?”
Time and time again
great pride, indeed—
his insolence, arrogance, pride,
and haughty heart.
Rather, Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Chaldeans to put us to death or to deport us to Babylon!”
King Zedekiah later sent for him and received him, and in his house privately asked him, “Is there a word from the Lord?”
“There is,” Jeremiah responded, and he continued, “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”
I will make this temple like Shiloh.
“And to the house of the king of Judah say this: ‘Hear the word of the Lord!
“The words of Jonadab, son of Rechab, have been carried out. He commanded his sons not to drink wine, and they have not drunk to this very day because they have obeyed their ancestor’s command. But I have spoken to you time and time again,
it will make her land desolate.
No one will be living in it—
both man and beast will escape.
come, let’s tell in Zion
what the Lord our God has accomplished.
she who bore you will be put to shame.
Look! She will lag behind all
a dry land, a wilderness,
These included:
who brought the news to my father, saying,
“A male child is born to you,”
bringing him great joy.
Fields will be bought in this land about which you are saying,
Their adversaries said, “We’re not guilty;
instead, they have sinned against the Lord,
their righteous grazing land,
the hope of their ancestors,
I will send the sword, famine, and plague
Some of the elders of the land stood up
But some of the poorest people of the land Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, left to be vinedressers and farmers.
He will silence her mighty voice.
Their waves roar like abundant waters;
the tumult of their voice resounds,
and brought out His weapons of wrath,
because it is a task of the Lord God of Hosts
in the land of the Chaldeans.
So King Zedekiah gave orders, and Jeremiah was placed in the guard’s courtyard.
Kerioth,
resident of the daughter of Dibon,
for the destroyer of Moab has come against you;
he has destroyed your fortresses.
Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, Nebushazban the Rab-saris, Nergal-sharezer the Rab-mag, and all the captains of the king of Babylon
So Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet had commanded him. At the Lord’s temple he read the Lord’s words from the scroll.
dragged off and thrown
outside the gates of Jerusalem.
For many nations and great kings will enslave them, and I will repay them according to their deeds
Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying: “Why are you prophesying, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, I am about to hand this city over to Babylon’s king, and he will capture it.
this is the King’s declaration;
Yahweh of Hosts is His name.
He will come like Tabor among the mountains
and like Carmel by the sea.
The Chaldeans next burned down the king’s palace and the people’s houses and tore down the walls of Jerusalem.
Save your lives, each of you,
from the Lord’s burning anger.
But you have changed your minds
“This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: You have seen all the disaster I brought against Jerusalem and all Judah’s cities; look, they are a ruin today without an inhabitant in them
and the strongholds seized.
In that day the heart of Moab’s warriors
will be like the heart of a woman with contractions.
then also My covenant with My servant David
they no longer look for you,
for I have struck you as an enemy would,
with the discipline
because of your enormous guilt
and your innumerable sins.
So I will hurl you from this land into a land that you and your fathers are not familiar with.
Who will show sympathy toward you?
Who will turn aside
to ask about your welfare?
When you have finished reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River.
Because of the Lord’s anger, it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that He finally banished them from His presence. Nevertheless, Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
like slippery paths in the gloom.
They will be driven away and fall down there,
for I will bring disaster on them,
the year of their punishment.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Therefore, hear the plans that the Lord has drawn up against Edom and the strategies He has devised against the people of Teman:
And the women said,
And I will take away the remnant of Judah,
So Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies did not obey the voice of the Lord to stay in the land of Judah.
You said, “I will not listen.”
This has been your way since youth;
indeed, you have never listened to Me.
They left, stopping in Geruth Chimham,
Judah and all its cities will live in it together—also farmers and those who move
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his carved image,
for his cast images are a lie;
there is no breath in them.
the rumbling of his chariots,
and the clatter of their wheels,
fathers will not turn back for their sons,
because they will be utterly helpless
I
Do not follow other gods to serve them and to worship them,
“Go say to Hananiah: This is what the Lord says, ‘You broke a wooden yoke bar, but in its place you will make an iron yoke bar.’
and seeing the heart
let me see Your vengeance on them,
for I have presented my case to You.