The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the
priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
to whom the word of Jehovah came in the days of
Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his
reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the
son of Josiah, king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of
Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, unto the carrying away of
Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. Now the
word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Before I
formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of
the womb I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the
nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord Jehovah! behold, I
know not how to speak; for I am a child. But
Jehovah said unto me, Say not, I am a child; for to whomsoever I shall
send thee thou will go, and whatsoever I shall command thee thou will
speak. Be not afraid because of them; for I am
with thee to deliver thee, says Jehovah. Then
Jehovah put forth his hand, and touched my mouth; and Jehovah said unto
me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth:
see, I have this day set thee over the nations
and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy and to
overthrow, to build and to plant. Moreover the
word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I
said, I see a rod of an almond-tree. Then said
Jehovah unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I watch over my word to perform
it. And the word of Jehovah came unto me the
second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a boiling caldron;
and the face thereof is from the north. Then
Jehovah said unto me, Out of the north evil shall break forth upon all the
inhabitants of the land. For, lo, I will call
all the families of the kingdoms of the north, says Jehovah; and they
shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entrance of the
gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and
against all the cities of Judah. And I will
utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, in that
they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and
worshipped the works of their own hands. Thou
therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I
command thee: be not dismayed at them, lest I dismay thee before them.
For, behold, I have made thee this day a
fortified city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls, against the whole
land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the
priests thereof, and against the people of the land.
And they shall fight against thee; but they
shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee, says Jehovah, to
deliver thee.
And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,
Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying,
Thus says Jehovah, I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the
love of thine espousals; how thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a
land that was not sown. Israel was
holiness unto Jehovah, the first-fruits of his increase: all that devour
him shall be held guilty; evil shall come upon them, says Jehovah.
Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O house of Jacob,
and all the families of the house of Israel: thus
says Jehovah, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that
they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become
vain? Neither said they, Where is Jehovah that
brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the
wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of
drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that none passed
through, and where no man dwelt? And I brought
you into a plentiful land, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness
thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made my heritage an
abomination. The priests said not, Where is
Jehovah? and they that handle the law knew me not: the rulers also
transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked
after things that do not profit. Wherefore I will
yet contend with you, says Jehovah, and with your children's children
will I contend. For pass over to the isles of
Kittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently; and see if
there hath been such a thing. Hath a nation
changed its gods, which yet are no gods? but my people have changed
their glory for that which doth not profit. Be
astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very
desolate, says Jehovah. For my people have
committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters,
and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
Is Israel a servant? is he a home-born
slave? why is he become a prey? The young
lions have roared upon him, and yelled; and they have made his land waste:
his cities are burned up, without inhabitant.
The children also of Memphis and Tahpanhes have
broken the crown of thy head. Hast thou not
procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God,
when he led thee by the way? And now what hast
thou to do in the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor? or what
hast thou to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?
Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy
backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil
thing and a bitter, that thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, and that my
fear is not in thee, says the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.
For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and
burst thy bonds; and thou saidst, I will not serve; for upon every high
hill and under every green tree thou didst bow thyself, playing the
harlot. Yet I had planted thee a noble vine,
wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate branches
of a foreign vine unto me? For though thou wash
thee with lye, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked
before me, says the Lord Jehovah. How canst
thou say, I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baalim? see thy way
in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary
traversing her ways; a wild ass used to the
wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind in her desire; in her occasion who
can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in
her month they shall find her. Withhold thy foot
from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, It is in
vain; no, for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.
As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is
the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their
priests, and their prophets; who say to a stock,
Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they
have turned their back unto me, and not their face; but in the time of
their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.
But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee?
let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for
according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.
Wherefore will ye contend with me? ye all have
transgressed against me, says Jehovah. In vain
have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword
hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
O generation, see ye the word of Jehovah. Have I
been a wilderness unto Israel? or a land of thick darkness? wherefore say
my people, We are broken loose; we will come no more unto thee?
Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride
her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
How trimmest thou thy way to seek love!
therefore even the wicked women hast thou taught thy ways.
Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the
souls of the innocent poor: thou didst not find them breaking in; but it
is because of all these things. Yet thou saidst,
I am innocent; surely his anger is turned away from me. Behold, I will
enter into judgment with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.
Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy
way? thou will be ashamed of Egypt also, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
From thence also will thou go forth, with thy
hands upon thy head: for Jehovah hath rejected those in whom thou
trustest, and thou will not prosper with them.
They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go
from him, and become another man's, will he return unto her again? will
not that land be greatly polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with
many lovers; yet return again to me, says Jehovah.
Lift up thine eyes unto the bare heights, and
see; where hast thou not been lain with? By the ways hast thou sat for
them, as an Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land
with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.
Therefore the showers have been withholden, and
there hath been no latter rain; yet thou hast a harlot's forehead, thou
refusedst to be ashamed. Wilt thou not from this
time cry unto me, My Father, thou art the guide of my youth?
Will he retain his anger for ever? will he
keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and hast done evil things,
and hast had thy way. Moreover Jehovah said unto
me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding
Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every
green tree, and there hath played the harlot. And
I said after she had done all these things, She will return unto me; but
she returned not: and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
And I saw, when, for this very cause that
backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given
her a bill of divorcement, yet treacherous Judah her sister feared not;
but she also went and played the harlot. And it
came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that the land was
polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
And yet for all this her treacherous sister
Judah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, says
Jehovah. And Jehovah said unto me, Backsliding
Israel hath showed herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
Go, and proclaim these words toward the north,
and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, says Jehovah; I will not look
in anger upon you; for I am merciful, says Jehovah, I will not keep
anger for ever. Only acknowledge thine
iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against Jehovah thy God, and hast
scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have
not obeyed my voice, says Jehovah. Return, O
backsliding children, says Jehovah; for I am a husband unto you: and I
will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to
Zion: and I will give you shepherds according to
my heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
And it shall come to pass, when ye are
multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says Jehovah, they
shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of Jehovah; neither shall it
come to mind; neither shall they remember it; neither shall they miss it;
neither shall it be made any more. At that time
they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah; and all the nations shall
be gathered unto it, to the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem: neither shall
they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.
In those days the house of Judah shall walk with
the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the
north to the land that I gave for an inheritance unto your fathers.
But I said, How I will put thee among the
children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of
the nations! and I said, Ye shall call me My Father, and shall not turn
away from following me. Surely as a wife
treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously
with me, O house of Israel, says Jehovah. A
voice is heard upon the bare heights, the weeping and the
supplications of the children of Israel; because they have perverted their
way, they have forgotten Jehovah their God.
Return, ye backsliding children, I will heal
your backslidings. Behold, we are come unto thee; for thou art Jehovah our
God. Truly in vain is the help that is looked
for from the hills, the tumult on the mountains: truly in Jehovah our
God is the salvation of Israel. But the shameful
thing hath devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth, their flocks
and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
Let us lie down in our shame, and let our
confusion cover us; for we have sinned against Jehovah our God, we and our
fathers, from our youth even unto this day; and we have not obeyed the
voice of Jehovah our God.
If thou wilt return, O Israel, says Jehovah, if
thou wilt return unto me, and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out
of my sight; then will thou not be removed; and
thou will swear, As Jehovah liveth, in truth, in justice, and in
righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him
shall they glory. For thus says Jehovah to the
men of Judah and to Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not
among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to Jehovah,
and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants
of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn so that none can
quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem;
and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry aloud and say, Assemble
yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities.
Set up a standard toward Zion: flee for safety,
stay not; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
A lion is gone up from his thicket, and a
destroyer of nations; he is on his way, he is gone forth from his place,
to make thy land desolate, that thy cities be laid waste, without
inhabitant. For this gird you with sackcloth,
lament and wail; for the fierce anger of Jehovah is not turned back from
us. And it shall come to pass at that day, says
Jehovah, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the
princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall
wonder. Then said I, Ah, Lord Jehovah! surely
thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall
have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the life.
At that time shall it be said to this people and
to Jerusalem, A hot wind from the bare heights in the wilderness toward
the daughter of my people, not to winnow, nor to cleanse;
a full wind from these shall come for me: now
will I also utter judgments against them.
Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his
chariots shall be as the whirlwind: his horses are swifter than
eagles. Woe unto us! for we are ruined. O
Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How
long shall thine evil thoughts lodge within thee?
For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth
evil from the hills of Ephraim: make ye mention
to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers
come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of
Judah. As keepers of a field are they against
her round about, because she hath been rebellious against me, says
Jehovah. Thy way and thy doings have procured
these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness; for it is bitter, for it
reacheth unto thy heart. My anguish, my anguish!
I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I cannot hold
my peace; because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet,
the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction
is cried; for the whole land is laid waste: suddenly are my tents
destroyed, and my curtains in a moment.
How long shall I see the standard, and hear the
sound of the trumpet? For my people are foolish,
they know me not; they are sottish children, and they have no
understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no
knowledge. I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was
waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled,
and all the hills moved to and fro. I beheld,
and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful field was a
wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of
Jehovah, and before his fierce anger. For
thus says Jehovah, The whole land shall be a desolation; yet will I not
make a full end. For this shall the earth mourn,
and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed
it, and I have not repented, neither will I turn back from it.
Every city fleeth for the noise of the horsemen
and bowmen; they go into the thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every
city is forsaken, and not a man dwelleth therein.
And thou, when thou art made desolate, what wilt
thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with scarlet, though thou deckest
thee with ornaments of gold, though thou enlargest thine eyes with paint,
in vain dost thou make thyself fair; thy lovers despise thee, they
seek thy life. For I have heard a voice as of a
woman in travail, the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first
child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that gaspeth for breath, that
spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul fainteth
before the murderers.
Run ye to and fro through the streets of
Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if
ye can find a man, if there be any that doeth justly, that seeketh truth;
and I will pardon her. And though they say, As
Jehovah liveth; surely they swear falsely. O
Jehovah, do not thine eyes look upon truth? thou hast stricken them, but
they were not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to
receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they
have refused to return. Then I said, Surely these
are poor; they are foolish; for they know not the way of Jehovah, nor the
law of their God: I will get me unto the great
men, and will speak unto them; for they know the way of Jehovah, and the
law of their God. But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and
burst the bonds. Wherefore a lion out of the
forest shall slay them, a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them, a
leopard shall watch against their cities; every one that goeth out thence
shall be torn in pieces; because their transgressions are many, and
their backslidings are increased. How can I
pardon thee? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no
gods: when I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and
assembled themselves in troops at the harlots' houses.
They were as fed horses roaming at large; every
one neighed after his neighbor's wife. Shall I
not visit for these things? says Jehovah; and shall not my soul be
avenged on such a nation as this? Go ye up upon
her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her branches;
for they are not Jehovah's. For the house of
Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me,
says Jehovah. They have denied Jehovah, and
said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see
sword nor famine: and the prophets shall become
wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.
Wherefore thus says Jehovah, the God of hosts,
Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth
fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O
house of Israel, says Jehovah: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient
nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest
what they say. Their quiver is an open
sepulchre, they are all mighty men. And they
shall eat up thy harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy
daughters should eat; they shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds; they
shall eat up thy vines and thy fig-trees; they shall beat down thy
fortified cities, wherein thou trustest, with the sword.
But even in those days, says Jehovah, I will
not make a full end with you. And it shall come
to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah our God done all these
things unto us? then will thou say unto them, Like as ye have forsaken
me, and served foreign gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a
land that is not yours. Declare ye this in the
house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
Hear now this, O foolish people, and without
understanding; that have eyes, and see not; that have ears, and hear not:
Fear ye not me? says Jehovah: will ye not
tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea,
by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it? and though the waves
thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet
can they not pass over it. But this people hath
a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.
Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear
Jehovah our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its
season; that preserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
Your iniquities have turned away these things,
and your sins have withholden good from you. For
among my people are found wicked men: they watch, as fowlers lie in wait;
they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage is
full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are
become great, and waxed rich. They are waxed
fat, they shine: yea, they overpass in deeds of wickedness; they plead not
the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and the
right of the needy do they not judge. Shall I
not visit for these things? says Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on
such a nation as this? A wonderful and horrible
thing is come to pass in the land: the prophets
prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people
love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?
Flee for safety, ye children of Benjamin, out of
the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise up a
signal on Beth-haccherem; for evil looketh forth from the north, and a
great destruction. The comely and delicate one,
the daughter of Zion, will I cut off. Shepherds
with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents
against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place.
Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go
up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day declineth, for the shadows of the
evening are stretched out. Arise, and let us go
up by night, and let us destroy her palaces. For
thus hath Jehovah of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast up a mound
against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly
oppression in the midst of her. As a well casteth
forth its waters, so she casteth forth her wickedness: violence and
destruction is heard in her; before me continually is sickness and wounds.
Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul be
alienated from thee; lest I make thee a desolation, a land not inhabited.
Thus says Jehovah of hosts, They shall
thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn again thy hand as a
grape-gatherer into the baskets. To whom shall I
speak and testify, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised,
and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of Jehovah is become unto them a
reproach; they have no delight in it. Therefore
I am full of the wrath of Jehovah; I am weary with holding in: pour it out
upon the children in the street, and upon the assembly of young men
together; for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with
him that is full of days. And their houses shall
be turned unto others, their fields and their wives together; for I will
stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, says Jehovah.
For from the least of them even unto the
greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet
even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
They have healed also the hurt of my people
slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
Were they ashamed when they had committed
abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush:
therefore they shall fall among them that fall; at the time that I visit
them they shall be cast down, says Jehovah.
Thus says Jehovah, Stand ye in the ways and
see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way; and walk therein,
and ye shall find rest for your souls: but they said, We will not walk
therein. And I set watchmen over you,
saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet; but they said, We will
not hearken. Therefore hear, ye nations, and
know, O congregation, what is among them. Hear,
O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of
their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words; and as for
my law, they have rejected it. To what purpose
cometh there to me frankincense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far
country? your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices
pleasing unto me. Therefore thus says Jehovah,
Behold, I will lay stumbling-blocks before this people; and the fathers
and the sons together shall stumble against them; the neighbor and his
friend shall perish. Thus says Jehovah, Behold,
a people cometh from the north country; and a great nation shall be
stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.
They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel,
and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride upon
horses, every one set in array, as a man to the battle, against thee, O
daughter of Zion. We have heard the report
thereof; our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and
pangs as of a woman in travail. Go not forth
into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy,
and terror, are on every side. O daughter
of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make
thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the
destroyer shall suddenly come upon us. I have
made thee a trier and a fortress among my people; that thou mayest
know and try their way. They are all grievous
revolters, going about with slanders; they are brass and iron: they all of
them deal corruptly. The bellows blow fiercely;
the lead is consumed of the fire: in vain do they go on refining; for the
wicked are not plucked away. Refuse silver shall
men them, because Jehovah hath rejected them.
The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah,
saying, Stand in the gate of Jehovah's house, and
proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of Jehovah, all ye of
Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship Jehovah.
Thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel,
Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this
place. Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The
temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, are
these. For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and
your doings; if ye thoroughly execute justice between a man and his
neighbor; if ye oppress not the sojourner, the
fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place,
neither walk after other gods to your own hurt:
then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in
the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even for evermore.
Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot
profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit
adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after
other gods that ye have not known, and come and
stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are
delivered; that ye may do all these abominations?
Is this house, which is called by my name,
become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,
says Jehovah. But go ye now unto my place which
was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what
I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
And now, because ye have done all these works,
says Jehovah, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye
heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not:
therefore will I do unto the house which is
called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to
you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. And
I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren,
even the whole seed of Ephraim. Therefore pray
not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither
make intercession to me; for I will not hear thee.
Seest thou not what they do in the cities of
Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The
children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead
the dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out
drink-offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
Do they provoke me to anger? says Jehovah;
do they not provoke themselves, to the confusion of their
own faces? Therefore thus says the Lord
Jehovah: Behold, mine anger and my wrath shall be poured out upon this
place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon
the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
Thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel:
Add your burnt-offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat ye flesh.
For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded
them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning
burnt-offerings or sacrifices: but this thing I
commanded them, saying, Hearken unto my voice, and I will be your God, and
ye shall be my people; and walk ye in all the way that I command you, that
it may be well with you. But they hearkened not,
nor inclined their ear, but walked in their own counsels and
in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not
forward. Since the day that your fathers came
forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day, I have sent unto you all my
servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:
yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined
their ear, but made their neck stiff: they did worse than their fathers.
And thou will speak all these words unto them;
but they will not hearken to thee: thou will also call unto them; but
they will not answer thee. And thou will say
unto them, This is the nation that hath not hearkened to the voice of
Jehovah their God, nor received instruction: truth is perished, and is cut
off from their mouth. Cut off thy hair, O
Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare
heights; for Jehovah hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his
wrath. For the children of Judah have done that
which is evil in my sight, says Jehovah: they have set their abominations
in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.
And they have built the high places of Topheth,
which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their
daughters in the fire; which I commanded not, neither came it into my
mind. Therefore, behold, the days come, says
Jehovah, that it shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the
son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter: for they shall bury in
Topheth, till there be no place to bury.
And the dead bodies of this people shall be food
for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth; and none
shall frighten them away. Then will I cause to
cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the
voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and
the voice of the bride; for the land shall become a waste.
At that time, says Jehovah, they shall bring out
the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the
bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves;
and they shall spread them before the sun, and
the moon, and all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which
they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have
sought, and which they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be
buried, they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
And death shall be chosen rather than life by all
the residue that remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places
whither I have driven them, says Jehovah of hosts.
Moreover thou will say unto them, Thus says
Jehovah: Shall men fall, and not rise up again? Shall one turn away, and
not return? Why then is this people of Jerusalem
slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they
refuse to return. I hearkened and heard, but they
spake not aright: no man repenteth him of his wickedness, saying, What
have I done? every one turneth to his course, as a horse that rusheth
headlong in the battle. Yea, the stork in the
heavens knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle-dove and the swallow
and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the
law of Jehovah. How do ye say, We are wise, and
the law of Jehovah is with us? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes
hath wrought falsely. The wise men are put to
shame, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of
Jehovah; and what manner of wisdom is in them?
Therefore will I give their wives unto others,
and their fields to them that shall possess them: for every one from the
least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness; from the prophet
even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
And they have healed the hurt of the daughter of
my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
Were they ashamed when they had committed
abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush:
therefore shall they fall among them that fall; in the time of their
visitation they shall be cast down, says Jehovah.
I will utterly consume them, says Jehovah:
there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig-tree, and the
leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass
away from them. Why do we sit still? assemble
yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us be
silent there; for Jehovah our God hath put us to silence, and given us
water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against Jehovah.
We looked for peace, but no good came;
and for a time of healing, and, behold, dismay!
The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan: at
the sound of the neighing of his strong ones the whole land trembleth; for
they are come, and have devoured the land and all that is in it; the city
and those that dwell therein. For, behold, I
will send serpents, adders, among you, which will not be charmed; and they
shall bite you, says Jehovah. Oh that I could
comfort myself against sorrow! my heart is faint within me.
Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of
my people from a land that is very far off: is not Jehovah in Zion? is not
her King in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven
images, and with foreign vanities? The harvest
is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I
hurt: I mourn; dismay hath taken hold on me. Is
there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? why then is not the
health of the daughter of my people recovered?
Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a
fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the
daughter of my people! Oh that I had in the
wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people,
and go from them! for they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous
men. And they bend their tongue, as it
were their bow, for falsehood; and they are grown strong in the land,
but not for truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not
me, says Jehovah. Take ye heed every one of his
neighbor, and trust ye not in any brother; for every brother will utterly
supplant, and every neighbor will go about with slanders.
And they will deceive every one his neighbor, and
will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies;
they weary themselves to commit iniquity. Thy
habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know
me, says Jehovah. Therefore thus says Jehovah
of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how else
should I do, because of the daughter of my people?
Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaketh
deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in his
heart he layeth wait for him. Shall I not visit
them for these things? says Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on such
a nation as this? For the mountains will I take
up a weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the wilderness a
lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none passeth through;
neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the birds of the
heavens and the beasts are fled, they are gone.
And I will make Jerusalem heaps, a
dwelling-place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a
desolation, without inhabitant. Who is the wise
man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of
Jehovah hath spoken, that he may declare it? wherefore is the land
perished and burned up like a wilderness, so that none passeth through?
And Jehovah says, Because they have forsaken my
law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked
therein, but have walked after the stubbornness
of their own heart, and after the Baalim, which their fathers taught them;
therefore thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God
of Israel, Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and
give them water of gall to drink. I will scatter
them also among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have
known; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them.
Thus says Jehovah of hosts, Consider ye, and
call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for the skilful
women, that they may come: and let them make
haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with
tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters. For
a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we ruined! we are greatly
confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because they have cast down
our dwellings. Yet hear the word of Jehovah, O
ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth; and teach your
daughters wailing, and every one her neighbor lamentation.
For death is come up into our windows, it is
entered into our palaces; to cut off the children from without, and
the young men from the streets. Speak, Thus
says Jehovah, The dead bodies of men shall fall as dung upon the open
field, and as the handful after the harvestman; and none shall gather
them. Thus says Jehovah, Let not the
wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his
might, let not the rich man glory in his riches;
but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he
hath understanding, and knoweth me, that I am Jehovah who exerciseth
lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these
things I delight, says Jehovah. Behold, the
days come, says Jehovah, that I will punish all them that are circumcised
in their uncircumcision: Egypt, and
Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that have
the corners of their hair cut off, that dwell in the wilderness;
for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are
uncircumcised in heart.
Hear ye the word which Jehovah speaketh unto
you, O house of Israel: thus says Jehovah,
Learn not the way of the nations, and be not dismayed at the signs of
heaven; for the nations are dismayed at them.
For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for
one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman
with the axe. They deck it with silver and with
gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
They are like a palm-tree, of turned work, and
speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid
of them; for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.
There is none like unto thee, O Jehovah; thou
art great, and thy name is great in might. Who
should not fear thee, O King of the nations? for to thee doth it
appertain; forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all
their royal estate, there is none like unto thee.
But they are together brutish and foolish: the
instruction of idols! it is but a stock. There
is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold
from Uphaz, the work of the artificer and of the hands of the goldsmith;
blue and purple for their clothing; they are all the work of skilful men.
But Jehovah is the true God; he is the living
God, and an everlasting King: at his wrath the earth trembleth, and the
nations are not able to abide his indignation.
Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have
not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and
from under the heavens. He hath made the earth
by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and by his
understanding hath he stretched out the heavens:
when he uttereth his voice, there is a tumult
of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the
ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain, and bringeth forth
the wind out of his treasuries. Every man is
become brutish and is without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to
shame by his graven image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is
no breath in them. They are vanity, a work of
delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he
is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance:
Jehovah of hosts is his name. Gather up thy
wares out of the land, O thou that abidest in the siege.
For thus says Jehovah, Behold, I will sling
out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and will distress them, that
they may feel it. Woe is me because of
my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is my grief,
and I must bear it. My tent is destroyed, and
all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth from me, and they are
not: there is none to spread my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
For the shepherds are become brutish, and have
not inquired of Jehovah: therefore they have not prospered, and all their
flocks are scattered. The voice of tidings,
behold, it cometh, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make
the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling-place of jackals.
O Jehovah, I know that the way of man is not in
himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
O Jehovah, correct me, but in measure: not in
thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that know
thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have
devoured Jacob, yea, they have devoured him and consumed him, and have
laid waste his habitation.
The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah,
saying, Hear ye the words of this covenant, and
speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
and say thou unto them, Thus says Jehovah, the
God of Israel: Cursed be the man that heareth not the words of this
covenant, which I commanded your fathers in the
day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron
furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I
command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God;
that I may establish the oath which I sware unto
your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this
day. Then answered I, and said, Amen, O Jehovah.
And Jehovah said unto me, Proclaim all these
words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying,
Hear ye the words of this covenant, and do them.
For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in
the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this
day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice.
Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but
walked every one in the stubbornness of their evil heart: therefore I
brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them
to do, but they did them not. And Jehovah said
unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the
inhabitants of Jerusalem. They are turned back
to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words; and
they are gone after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the
house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.
Therefore thus says Jehovah, Behold, I will
bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and they
shall cry unto me, but I will not hearken unto them.
Then shall the cities of Judah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem go and cry unto the gods unto which they offer
incense: but they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble.
For according to the number of thy cities are
thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem
have ye set up altars to the shameful thing, even altars to burn incense
unto Baal. Therefore pray not thou for this
people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them; for I will not hear them
in the time that they cry unto me because of their trouble.
What hath my beloved to do in my house, seeing
she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed
from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest.
Jehovah called thy name, A green olive-tree,
fair with goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled
fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.
For Jehovah of hosts, who planted thee, hath
pronounced evil against thee, because of the evil of the house of Israel
and of the house of Judah, which they have wrought for themselves in
provoking me to anger by offering incense unto Baal.
And Jehovah gave me knowledge of it, and I knew
it: then thou showedst me their doings. But I
was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter; and I knew not that
they had devised devices against me, saying, Let us destroy the
tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the
living, that his name may be no more remembered.
But, O Jehovah of hosts, who judgest
righteously, who triest the heart and the mind, I shall see thy vengeance
on them; for unto thee have I revealed my cause.
Therefore thus says Jehovah concerning the men
of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Thou will not prophesy in the
name of Jehovah, that thou die not by our hand;
therefore thus says Jehovah of hosts, Behold,
I will punish them: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and
their daughters shall die by famine; and there
shall be no remnant unto them: for I will bring evil upon the men of
Anathoth, even the year of their visitation.
Righteous art thou, O Jehovah, when I contend
with thee; yet would I reason the cause with thee: wherefore doth the way
of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they at ease that deal very
treacherously? Thou hast planted them, yea, they
have taken root; they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in
their mouth, and far from their heart. But thou,
O Jehovah, knowest me; thou seest me, and triest my heart toward thee:
pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day
of slaughter. How long shall the land mourn, and
the herbs of the whole country wither? for the wickedness of them that
dwell therein, the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said,
He shall not see our latter end. If thou hast
run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou
contend with horses? and though in a land of peace thou art secure, yet
how wilt thou do in the pride of the Jordan? For
even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt
treacherously with thee; even they have cried aloud after thee: believe
them not, though they speak fair words unto thee.
I have forsaken my house, I have cast off my
heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her
enemies. My heritage is become unto me as a lion
in the forest: she hath uttered her voice against me; therefore I have
hated her. Is my heritage unto me as a speckled
bird of prey? are the birds of prey against her round about? go ye,
assemble all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour.
Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they
have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a
desolate wilderness. They have made it a
desolation; it mourneth unto me, being desolate; the whole land is made
desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.
Destroyers are come upon all the bare heights
in the wilderness; for the sword of Jehovah devoureth from the one end of
the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh hath peace.
They have sown wheat, and have reaped thorns;
they have put themselves to pain, and profit nothing: and ye shall be
ashamed of your fruits, because of the fierce anger of Jehovah.
Thus says Jehovah against all mine evil
neighbors, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel
to inherit: behold, I will pluck them up from off their land, and will
pluck up the house of Judah from among them.
And it shall come to pass, after that I have
plucked them up, I will return and have compassion on them; and I will
bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.
And it shall come to pass, if they will
diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, As Jehovah
liveth; even as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be
built up in the midst of my people. But if they
will not hear, then will I pluck up that nation, plucking up and
destroying it, says Jehovah.
Thus says Jehovah unto me, Go, and buy thee a
linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
So I bought a girdle according to the word of
Jehovah, and put it upon my loins. And the word
of Jehovah came unto me the second time, saying,
Take the girdle that thou hast bought, which is
upon thy loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a
cleft of the rock. So I went, and hid it by the
Euphrates, as Jehovah commanded me. And it came
to pass after many days, that Jehovah said unto me, Arise, go to the
Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide
there. Then I went to the Euphrates, and digged,
and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and, behold, the
girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.
Then the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
Thus says Jehovah, After this manner will I mar
the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
This evil people, that refuse to hear my words,
that walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and are gone after other
gods to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle,
which is profitable for nothing. For as the
girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me
the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, says Jehovah;
that they may be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise,
and for a glory: but they would not hear.
Therefore thou will speak unto them this word:
Thus says Jehovah, the God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with
wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every
bottle shall be filled with wine? Then will
thou say unto them, Thus says Jehovah, Behold, I will fill all the
inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David's throne, and
the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with
drunkenness. And I will dash them one against
another, even the fathers and the sons together, says Jehovah: I will not
pity, nor spare, nor have compassion, that I should not destroy them.
Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud; for
Jehovah hath spoken. Give glory to Jehovah your
God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark
mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of
death, and make it gross darkness. But if ye
will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride; and
mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because Jehovah's flock
is taken captive. Say thou unto the king and to
the queen-mother, Humble yourselves, sit down; for your headtires are come
down, even the crown of your glory. The cities
of the South are shut up, and there is none to open them: Judah is carried
away captive, all of it; it is wholly carried away captive.
Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come
from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful
flock? What wilt thou say, when he shall set
over thee as head those whom thou hast thyself taught to be friends to
thee? shall not sorrows take hold of thee, as of a woman in travail?
And if thou say in thy heart, Wherefore are
these things come upon me? for the greatness of thine iniquity are thy
skirts uncovered, and thy heels suffer violence.
Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the
leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do
evil. Therefore will I scatter them, as the
stubble that passeth away, by the wind of the wilderness.
This is thy lot, the portion measured unto thee
from me, says Jehovah; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in
falsehood. Therefore will I also uncover thy
skirts upon thy face, and thy shame shall appear.
I have seen thine abominations, even thine
adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, on the hills
in the field. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! thou wilt not be made clean; how
long shall it yet be?
The word of Jehovah that came to Jeremiah
concerning the drought. Judah mourneth, and the
gates thereof languish, they sit in black upon the ground; and the cry of
Jerusalem is gone up. And their nobles send
their little ones to the waters: they come to the cisterns, and find no
water; they return with their vessels empty; they are put to shame and
confounded, and cover their heads. Because of
the ground which is cracked, for that no rain hath been in the land, the
plowmen are put to shame, they cover their heads.
Yea, the hind also in the field calveth, and
forsaketh her young, because there is no grass.
And the wild asses stand on the bare heights,
they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail, because there is no
herbage. Though our iniquities testify against
us, work thou for thy name's sake, O Jehovah; for our backslidings are
many; we have sinned against thee. O thou hope
of Israel, the Saviour thereof in the time of trouble, why shouldest thou
be as a sojourner in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside
to tarry for a night? Why shouldest thou be as a
man affrighted, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O Jehovah, art
in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.
Thus says Jehovah unto this people, Even so
have they loved to wander; they have not refrained their feet: therefore
Jehovah doth not accept them; now will he remember their iniquity, and
visit their sins. And Jehovah said unto me,
Pray not for this people for their good.
When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and
when they offer burnt-offering and meal-offering, I will not accept them;
but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the
pestilence. Then said I, Ah, Lord Jehovah!
behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither
shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.
Then Jehovah said unto me, The prophets
prophesy lies in my name; I sent them not, neither have I commanded them,
neither spake I unto them: they prophesy unto you a lying vision, and
divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their own heart.
Therefore thus says Jehovah concerning the
prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say,
Sword and famine shall not be in this land: By sword and famine shall
those prophets be consumed. And the people to
whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because
of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them-them,
their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their
wickedness upon them. And thou will say this
word unto them, Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let
them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a
great breach, with a very grievous wound. If I
go forth into the field, then, behold, the slain with the sword! and if I
enter into the city, then, behold, they that are sick with famine! for
both the prophet and the priest go about in the land, and have no
knowledge. Hast thou utterly rejected Judah?
hath thy soul loathed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no
healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of
healing, and, behold, dismay! We acknowledge, O
Jehovah, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have
sinned against thee. Do not abhor us,
for thy name's sake; do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember,
break not thy covenant with us. Are there any
among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? or can the heavens
give showers? art not thou he, O Jehovah our God? therefore we will wait
for thee; for thou hast made all these things.
Then said Jehovah unto me, Though Moses and
Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not be toward this people: cast
them out of my sight, and let them go forth. And
it shall come to pass, when they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth?
then thou will tell them, Thus says Jehovah: Such as are for death, to
death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for
the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity.
And I will appoint over them four kinds, says
Jehovah: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the birds of the
heavens, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy.
And I will cause them to be tossed to and fro
among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh, the son of
Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
For who will have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem?
or who will bemoan thee? or who will turn aside to ask of thy welfare?
Thou hast rejected me, says Jehovah, thou art
gone backward: therefore have I stretched out my hand against thee, and
destroyed thee; I am weary with repenting. And I
have winnowed them with a fan in the gates of the land; I have bereaved
them of children, I have destroyed my people; they returned not
from their ways. Their widows are increased to
me above the sand of the seas; I have brought upon them against the mother
of the young men a destroyer at noonday: I have caused anguish and terrors
to fall upon her suddenly. She that hath borne
seven languisheth; she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while
it was yet day; she hath been put to shame and confounded: and the residue
of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, says Jehovah.
Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a
man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have not lent,
neither have men lent to me; yet every one of them doth curse me.
Jehovah said, Verily I will strengthen thee for
good; verily I will cause the enemy to make supplication unto thee in the
time of evil and in the time of affliction. Can
one break iron, even iron from the north, and brass?
Thy substance and thy treasures will I give for
a spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
And I will make them to pass with thine
enemies into a land which thou knowest not; for a fire is kindled in mine
anger, which shall burn upon you. O Jehovah,
thou knowest; remember me, and visit me, and avenge me of my persecutors;
take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have
suffered reproach. Thy words were found, and I
did eat them; and thy words were unto me a joy and the rejoicing of my
heart: for I am called by thy name, O Jehovah, God of hosts.
I sat not in the assembly of them that make
merry, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand; for thou hast filled
me with indignation. Why is my pain perpetual,
and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou indeed be
unto me as a deceitful brook, as waters that fail?
Therefore thus says Jehovah, If thou return,
then will I bring thee again, that thou mayest stand before me; and if
thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou will be as my mouth:
they shall return unto thee, but thou will not return unto them.
And I will make thee unto this people a
fortified brazen wall; and they shall fight against thee, but they shall
not prevail against thee; for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver
thee, says Jehovah. And I will deliver thee
out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of
the terrible.
The word of Jehovah came also unto me, saying,
Thou will not take thee a wife, neither will
thou have sons or daughters, in this place. For
thus says Jehovah concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that
are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and
concerning their fathers that begat them in this land:
They shall die grievous deaths: they shall not
be lamented, neither shall they be buried; they shall be as dung upon the
face of the ground; and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by
famine; and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the heavens,
and for the beasts of the earth. For thus says
Jehovah, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament,
neither bemoan them; for I have taken away my peace from this people,
says Jehovah, even lovingkindness and tender mercies.
Both great and small shall die in this land;
they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut
themselves, nor make themselves bald for them;
neither shall men break bread for them in
mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the
cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.
And thou will not go into the house of feasting
to sit with them, to eat and to drink. For thus
says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will cause to cease
out of this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth
and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of
the bride. And it shall come to pass, when thou
will show this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee,
Wherefore hath Jehovah pronounced all this great evil against us? or what
is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against Jehovah
our God? Then will thou say unto them, Because
your fathers have forsaken me, says Jehovah, and have walked after other
gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken
me, and have not kept my law; and ye have done
evil more than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the
stubbornness of his evil heart, so that ye hearken not unto me:
therefore will I cast you forth out of this
land into the land that ye have not known, neither ye nor your fathers;
and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; for I will show you no
favor. Therefore, behold, the days come, says
Jehovah, that it shall no more be said, As Jehovah liveth, that brought up
the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
but, As Jehovah liveth, that brought up the
children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the countries
whither he had driven them. And I will bring them again into their land
that I gave unto their fathers. Behold, I will
send for many fishers, says Jehovah, and they shall fish them up; and
afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from
every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks.
For mine eyes are upon all their ways; they are
not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity concealed from mine eyes.
And first I will recompense their iniquity and
their sin double, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of
their detestable things, and have filled mine inheritance with their
abominations. O Jehovah, my strength, and my
stronghold, and my refuge in the day of affliction, unto thee shall the
nations come from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Our fathers have
inherited nought but lies, even vanity and things wherein there is
no profit. Shall a man make unto himself gods,
which yet are no gods? Therefore, behold, I
will cause them to know, this once will I cause them to know my hand and
my might; and they shall know that my name is Jehovah.
The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron,
and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the tablet of
their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;
whilst their children remember their altars and
their Asherim by the green trees upon the high hills.
O my mountain in the field, I will give thy
substance and all thy treasures for a spoil, and thy high places,
because of sin, throughout all thy borders. And
thou, even of thyself, will discontinue from thy heritage that I gave
thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou
knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger which shall burn for
ever. Thus says Jehovah: Cursed is the man that
trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from
Jehovah. For he shall be like the heath in the
desert, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched
places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited.
Blessed is the man that trusteth in Jehovah, and
whose trust Jehovah is. For he shall be as a
tree planted by the waters, that spreadeth out its roots by the river, and
shall not fear when heat cometh, but its leaf shall be green; and shall
not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding
fruit. The heart is deceitful above all things,
and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?
I, Jehovah, search the mind, I try the heart,
even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of
his doings. As the partridge that sitteth on
eggs which she hath not laid, so is he that getteth riches, and not
by right; in the midst of his days they shall leave him, and at his end he
shall be a fool. A glorious throne, set
on high from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary.
O Jehovah, the hope of Israel, all that forsake
thee shall be put to shame. They that depart from me shall be written in
the earth, because they have forsaken Jehovah, the fountain of living
waters. Heal me, O Jehovah, and I shall be
healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of
Jehovah? let it come now. As for me, I have not
hastened from being a shepherd after thee; neither have I desired the
woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was before thy
face. Be not a terror unto me: thou art my
refuge in the day of evil. Let them be put to
shame that persecute me, but let not me be put to shame; let them be
dismayed, but let not me be dismayed; bring upon them the day of evil, and
destroy them with double destruction. Thus said
Jehovah unto me: Go, and stand in the gate of the children of the people,
whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all
the gates of Jerusalem; and say unto them, Hear
ye the word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:
Thus says Jehovah, Take heed to yourselves,
and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of
Jerusalem; neither carry forth a burden out of
your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work: but hallow ye the
sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. But
they hearkened not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff,
that they might not hear, and might not receive instruction.
And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently
hearken unto me, says Jehovah, to bring in no burden through the gates of
this city on the sabbath day, but to hallow the sabbath day, to do no work
therein; then shall there enter in by the gates
of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in
chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain for ever.
And they shall come from the cities of Judah,
and from the places round about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin,
and from the lowland, and from the hill-country, and from the South,
bringing burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, and meal-offerings, and
frankincense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving, unto the
house of Jehovah. But if ye will not hearken
unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden and enter in
at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in
the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it
shall not be quenched.
The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah,
saying, Arise, and go down to the potter's
house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
Then I went down to the potter's house, and,
behold, he was making a work on the wheels. And
when the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the
potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to
make it. Then the word of Jehovah came to me,
saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you
as this potter? says Jehovah. Behold, as the clay in the potter's hand,
so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel. At what
instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to
pluck up and to break down and to destroy it; if
that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, I will
repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
And at what instant I shall speak concerning a
nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
if they do that which is evil in my sight, that
they obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I
would benefit them. Now therefore, speak to the
men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says
Jehovah: Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against
you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and
your doings. But they say, It is in vain; for
we will walk after our own devices, and we will do every one after the
stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore thus
says Jehovah: Ask ye now among the nations, who hath heard such things;
the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.
Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of
the field? or shall the cold waters that flow down from afar be
dried up? For my people have forgotten me, they
have burned incense to false gods; and they have been made to
stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths, to walk in bypaths, in a way
not cast up; to make their land an
astonishment, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby
shall be astonished, and shake his head. I will
scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the
back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.
Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices
against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor
counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us
smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
Give heed to me, O Jehovah, and hearken to the
voice of them that contend with me. Shall evil
be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember
how I stood before thee to speak good for them, to turn away thy wrath
from them. Therefore deliver up their children
to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword; and let their
wives become childless, and widows; and let their men be slain of death,
and their young men smitten of the sword in battle.
Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou
will bring a troop suddenly upon them; for they have digged a pit to take
me, and hid snares for my feet. Yet, Jehovah,
thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me; forgive not their
iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight; but let them be
overthrown before thee; deal thou with them in the time of thine anger.
Thus said Jehovah, Go, and buy a potter's
earthen bottle, and take of the elders of the people, and of the
elders of the priests; and go forth unto the
valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the gate Harsith,
and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee;
and say, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O kings of
Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God
of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, which whosoever
heareth, his ears shall tingle. Because they
have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense
in it unto other gods, that they knew not, they and their fathers and the
kings of Judah; and have filled this place with the blood of innocents,
and have built the high places of Baal, to burn
their sons in the fire for burnt-offerings unto Baal; which I commanded
not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
therefore, behold, the days come, says Jehovah,
that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son
of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter. And I
will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I
will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand
of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies will I give to be food
for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth.
And I will make this city an astonishment, and a
hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss
because of all the plagues thereof. And I will
cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their
daughters; and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend, in the
siege and in the distress, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek
their life, shall distress them. Then will
thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,
and will say unto them, Thus says Jehovah of
hosts: Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a
potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again; and they shall bury in
Topheth, till there be no place to bury. Thus
will I do unto this place, says Jehovah, and to the inhabitants thereof,
even making this city as Topheth: and the
houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are
defiled, shall be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses upon whose
roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have
poured out drink-offerings unto other gods.
Then came Jeremiah from Topheth, whither
Jehovah had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of Jehovah's
house, and said to all the people: Thus says
Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring upon this city
and upon all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it;
because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.
Now Pashhur, the son of Immer the priest, who
was chief officer in the house of Jehovah, heard Jeremiah prophesying
these things. Then Pashhur smote Jeremiah the
prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of
Benjamin, which was in the house of Jehovah. And
it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashhur brought forth Jeremiah out of
the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, Jehovah hath not called thy name
Pashhur, but Magor-missabib. For thus says
Jehovah, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy
friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes
shall behold it; and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of
Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall slay them
with the sword. Moreover I will give all the
riches of this city, and all the gains thereof, and all the precious
things thereof, yea, all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give
into the hand of their enemies; and they shall make them a prey, and take
them, and carry them to Babylon. And thou,
Pashhur, and all that dwell in thy house shall go into captivity; and thou
will come to Babylon, and there thou will die, and there will thou be
buried, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied falsely.
O Jehovah, thou hast persuaded me, and I was
persuaded; thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am become a
laughing-stock all the day, every one mocketh me.
For as often as I speak, I cry out; I cry,
Violence and destruction! because the word of Jehovah is made a reproach
unto me, and a derision, all the day. And if I
say, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name, then
there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I
am weary with forbearing, and I cannot contain.
For I have heard the defaming of many, terror
on every side. Denounce, and we will denounce him, say all my
familiar friends, they that watch for my fall; peradventure he will be
persuaded, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge
on him. But Jehovah is with me as a mighty one
and a terrible: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they
shall not prevail; they shall be utterly put to shame, because they have
not dealt wisely, even with an everlasting dishonor which shall never be
forgotten. But, O Jehovah of hosts, that triest
the righteous, that seest the heart and the mind, let me see thy vengeance
on them; for unto thee have I revealed my cause.
Sing unto Jehovah, praise ye Jehovah; for he
hath delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evil-doers.
Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not
the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my
father, saying, A man-child is born unto thee; making him very glad.
And let that man be as the cities which Jehovah
overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear a cry in the morning, and
shouting at noontime; because he slew me not
from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb
always great. Wherefore came I forth out of the
womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
The word which came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah,
when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and
Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying,
Inquire, I pray thee, of Jehovah for us; for
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us: peradventure Jehovah
will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up
from us. Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus
shall ye say to Zedekiah: Thus says Jehovah,
the God of Israel, Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in
your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against
the Chaldeans that besiege you, without the walls; and I will gather them
into the midst of this city. And I myself will
fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in
anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation.
And I will smite the inhabitants of this city,
both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence.
And afterward, says Jehovah, I will deliver
Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, even such as are
left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the
famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand
of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he
shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them,
neither have pity, nor have mercy. And unto this
people thou will say, Thus says Jehovah: Behold, I set before you the
way of life and the way of death. He that
abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the
pestilence; but he that goeth out, and passeth over to the Chaldeans that
besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey.
For I have set my face upon this city for evil,
and not for good, says Jehovah: it shall be given into the hand of the
king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
And touching the house of the king of Judah,
hear ye the word of Jehovah: O house of David,
thus says Jehovah, Execute justice in the morning, and deliver him that
is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my wrath go forth like
fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your
doings. Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant
of the valley, and of the rock of the plain, says Jehovah; you
that say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our
habitations? And I will punish you according to
the fruit of your doings, says Jehovah; and I will kindle a fire in her
forest, and it shall devour all that is round about her.
Thus said Jehovah: Go down to the house of the
king of Judah, and speak there this word, And
say, Hear the word of Jehovah, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the
throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by
these gates. Thus says Jehovah: Execute ye
justice and righteousness, and deliver him that is robbed out of the hand
of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence, to the sojourner, the
fatherless, nor the widow; neither shed innocent blood in this place.
For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there
enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of
David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his
people. But if ye will not hear these words, I
swear by myself, says Jehovah, that this house shall become a desolation.
For thus says Jehovah concerning the house of
the king of Judah: Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of
Lebanon; yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and
cities which are not inhabited. And I will
prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons; and they
shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
And many nations shall pass by this city, and
they shall say every man to his neighbor, Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus
unto this great city? Then they shall answer,
Because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah their God, and worshipped
other gods, and served them. Weep ye not for
the dead, neither bemoan him; but weep sore for him that goeth away; for
he shall return no more, nor see his native country.
For thus says Jehovah touching Shallum the son
of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father,
and who went forth out of this place: He shall not return thither
any more. But in the place whither they have
led him captive, there shall he die, and he shall see this land no more.
Woe unto him that buildeth his house by
unrighteousness, and his chambers by injustice; that useth his neighbor's
service without wages, and giveth him not his hire;
that says, I will build me a wide house and
spacious chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is ceiled with
cedar, and painted with vermilion. will thou
reign, because thou strivest to excel in cedar? Did not thy father eat and
drink, and do justice and righteousness? then it was well with him.
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then
it was well. Was not this to know me? says Jehovah.
But thine eyes and thy heart are not but for
thy covetousness, and for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and
for violence, to do it. Therefore thus says
Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: they shall
not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! They
shall not lament for him, saying Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!
He shall be buried with the burial of an ass,
drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy
voice in Bashan, and cry from Abarim; for all thy lovers are destroyed.
I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou
saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that
thou obeyedst not my voice. The wind shall feed
all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then
will thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.
O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest
in the cedars, how greatly to be pitied will thou be when pangs come upon
thee, the pain as of a woman in travail! As I
live, says Jehovah, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were
the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;
and I will give thee into the hand of them that
seek thy life, and into the hand of them of whom thou art afraid, even
into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the
Chaldeans. And I will cast thee out, and thy
mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and
there shall ye die. But to the land whereunto
their soul longeth to return, thither shall they not return.
Is this man Coniah a despised broken vessel? is
he a vessel wherein none delighteth? wherefore are they cast out, he and
his seed, and are cast into the land which they know not?
O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of
Jehovah. Thus says Jehovah, Write ye this man
childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days; for no more shall a
man of his seed prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling in
Judah.
Woe unto the shepherds that destroy and scatter
the sheep of my pasture! says Jehovah.
Therefore thus says Jehovah, the God of Israel,
against the shepherds that feed my people: Ye have scattered my flock, and
driven them away, and have not visited them; behold, I will visit upon you
the evil of your doings, says Jehovah. And I
will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries whither I
have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall
be fruitful and multiply. And I will set up
shepherds over them, who shall feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor
be dismayed, neither shall any be lacking, says Jehovah.
Behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that I
will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and
deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel
shall dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called:
Jehovah our righteousness. Therefore, behold,
the days come, says Jehovah, that they shall no more say, As Jehovah
liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
but, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up and who
led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all
the countries whither I had driven them. And they shall dwell in their own
land. Concerning the prophets. My heart within
me is broken, all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man
whom wine hath overcome, because of Jehovah, and because of his holy
words. For the land is full of adulterers; for
because of swearing the land mourneth; the pastures of the wilderness are
dried up. And their course is evil, and their might is not right;
for both prophet and priest are profane; yea,
in my house have I found their wickedness, says Jehovah.
Wherefore their way shall be unto them as
slippery places in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall
therein; for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their
visitation, says Jehovah. And I have seen
folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal, and caused my
people Israel to err. In the prophets of
Jerusalem also I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and
walk in lies; and they strengthen the hands of evil-doers, so that none
doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them become unto me as
Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
Therefore thus says Jehovah of hosts
concerning the prophets: Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make
them drink the water of gall; for from the prophets of Jerusalem is
ungodliness gone forth into all the land. Thus
says Jehovah of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that
prophesy unto you: they teach you vanity; they speak a vision of their own
heart, and not out of the mouth of Jehovah.
They say continually unto them that despise me,
Jehovah hath said, Ye shall have peace; and unto every one that walketh in
the stubbornness of his own heart they say, No evil shall come upon you.
For who hath stood in the council of Jehovah,
that he should perceive and hear his word? who hath marked my word, and
heard it? Behold, the tempest of Jehovah,
even his wrath, is gone forth, yea, a whirling tempest: it shall
burst upon the head of the wicked. The anger of
Jehovah shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have
performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall understand
it perfectly. I sent not these prophets, yet
they ran: I spake not unto them, yet they prophesied.
But if they had stood in my council, then had
they caused my people to hear my words, and had turned them from their
evil way, and from the evil of their doings. Am
I a God at hand, says Jehovah, and not a God afar off?
Can any hide himself in secret places so that I
shall not see him? says Jehovah. Do not I fill heaven and earth? says
Jehovah. I have heard what the prophets have
said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have
dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of
the prophets that prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceit of their
own heart? that think to cause my people to
forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor,
as their fathers forgat my name for Baal. The
prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word,
let him speak my word faithfully. What is the straw to the wheat? says
Jehovah. Is not my word like fire? says
Jehovah; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets,
says Jehovah, that steal my words every one from his neighbor.
Behold, I am against the prophets, says
Jehovah, that use their tongues, and say, He says.
Behold, I am against them that prophesy lying
dreams, says Jehovah, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by
their lies, and by their vain boasting: yet I sent them not, nor commanded
them; neither do they profit this people at all, says Jehovah.
And when this people, or the prophet, or a
priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of Jehovah? then will
thou say unto them, What burden! I will cast you off, says Jehovah.
And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the
people, that shall say, The burden of Jehovah, I will even punish that man
and his house. Thus shall ye say every one to
his neighbor, and every one to his brother, What hath Jehovah answered?
and, What hath Jehovah spoken? And the burden
of Jehovah shall ye mention no more: for every man's own word shall be his
burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of Jehovah of
hosts our God. Thus will thou say to the
prophet, What hath Jehovah answered thee? and, What hath Jehovah spoken?
But if ye say, The burden of Jehovah; therefore
thus says Jehovah: Because ye say this word, The burden of Jehovah, and I
have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of Jehovah;
therefore, behold, I will utterly forget you,
and I will cast you off, and the city that I gave unto you and to your
fathers, away from my presence: and I will
bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall
not be forgotten.
Jehovah showed me, and, behold, two baskets of
figs set before the temple of Jehovah, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of
Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from
Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. One
basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first-ripe; and the
other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so
bad. Then said Jehovah unto me, What seest thou,
Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very
bad, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad. And
the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Thus
says Jehovah, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so will I regard
the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of
the Chaldeans, for good. For I will set mine
eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I
will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not
pluck them up. And I will give them a heart to
know me, that I am Jehovah: and they shall be my people, and I will be
their God; for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
And as the bad figs, which cannot be eaten, they
are so bad, surely thus says Jehovah, So will I give up Zedekiah the king
of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in
this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt,
I will even give them up to be tossed to and fro
among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a
proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.
And I will send the sword, the famine, and the
pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I
gave unto them and to their fathers.
The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all
the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah,
king of Judah (the same was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon,) which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto
all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying:
From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of
Amon, king of Judah, even unto this day, these three and twenty years, the
word of Jehovah hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising up
early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.
And Jehovah hath sent unto you all his servants
the prophets, rising up early and sending them, (but ye have not
hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear,)
saying, Return ye now every one from his evil
way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that Jehovah
hath given unto you and to your fathers, from of old and even for
evermore; and go not after other gods to serve
them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the work of
your hands; and I will do you no hurt. Yet ye
have not hearkened unto me, says Jehovah; that ye may provoke me to anger
with the work of your hands to your own hurt.
Therefore thus says Jehovah of hosts: Because
ye have not heard my words, behold, I will send
and take all the families of the north, says Jehovah, and I will
send unto Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will
bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and
against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them,
and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
Moreover I will take from them the voice of
mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice
of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.
And this whole land shall be a desolation, and
an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy
years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy
years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that
nation, says Jehovah, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans;
and I will make it desolate for ever. And I
will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it,
even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied
against all the nations. For many nations and
great kings shall make bondmen of them, even of them; and I will
recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of
their hands. For thus says Jehovah, the God of
Israel, unto me: take this cup of the wine of wrath at my hand, and cause
all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and
be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
Then took I the cup at Jehovah's hand, and made
all the nations to drink, unto whom Jehovah had sent me:
to wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of
Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a
desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day;
Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and
his princes, and all his people; and all the
mingled people, and all the kings of the land of the Uz, and all the kings
of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of
Ashdod; Edom, and Moab, and the children of
Ammon; and all the kings of Tyre, and all the
kings of Sidon, and the kings of the isle which is beyond the sea;
Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that have the
corners of their hair cut off; and all
the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in
the wilderness; and all the kings of Zimri, and
all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes;
and all the kings of the north, far and near,
one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the
face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
And thou will say unto them, Thus says
Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink ye, and be drunken, and spew,
and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among
you. And it shall be, if they refuse to take
the cup at thy hand to drink, then will thou say unto them, Thus says
Jehovah of hosts: Ye shall surely drink. For,
lo, I begin to work evil at the city which is called by my name; and
should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished; for I will
call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, says Jehovah of
hosts. Therefore prophesy thou against them all
these words, and say unto them, Jehovah will roar from on high, and utter
his voice from his holy habitation; he will mightily roar against his
fold; he will give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against
all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise shall
come even to the end of the earth; for Jehovah hath a controversy with the
nations; he will enter into judgment with all flesh: as for the wicked, he
will give them to the sword, says Jehovah.
Thus says Jehovah of hosts, Behold, evil shall
go forth from nation to nation, and a great tempest shall be raised up
from the uttermost parts of the earth. And the
slain of Jehovah shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto
the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered,
nor buried; they shall be dung upon the face of the ground.
Wail, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow in
ashes, ye principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and
of your dispersions are fully come, and ye shall fall like a goodly
vessel. And the shepherds shall have no way to
flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.
A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and the
wailing of the principal of the flock! for Jehovah layeth waste their
pasture. And the peaceable folds are brought to
silence because of the fierce anger of Jehovah.
He hath left his covert, as the lion; for their
land is become an astonishment because of the fierceness of the oppressing
sword, and because of his fierce anger.
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the
son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word from Jehovah, saying,
Thus says Jehovah: Stand in the court of
Jehovah's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to
worship in Jehovah's house, all the words that I command thee to speak
unto them; diminish not a word. It may be they
will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way; that I may repent me
of the evil which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their
doings. And thou will say unto them, Thus says
Jehovah: If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set
before you, to hearken to the words of my
servants the prophets, whom I send unto you, even rising up early and
sending them, but ye have not hearkened; then
will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all
the nations of the earth. And the priests and
the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the
house of Jehovah. And it came to pass, when
Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that Jehovah had commanded him to
speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the
people laid hold on him, saying, Thou will surely die.
Why hast thou prophesied in the name of Jehovah,
saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate,
without inhabitant? And all the people were gathered unto Jeremiah in the
house of Jehovah. And when the princes of Judah
heard these things, they came up from the king's house unto the house of
Jehovah; and they sat in the entry of the new gate of Jehovah's
house. Then spake the priests and the
prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is
worthy of death; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have
heard with your ears. Then spake Jeremiah unto
all the princes and to all the people, saying, Jehovah sent me to prophesy
against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.
Now therefore amend your ways and your doings,
and obey the voice of Jehovah your God; and Jehovah will repent him of the
evil that he hath pronounced against you. But
as for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as is good and right in
your eyes. Only know ye for certain that, if ye
put me to death, ye will bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon
this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof; for of a truth Jehovah hath
sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.
Then said the princes and all the people unto
the priests and to the prophets: This man is not worthy of death; for he
hath spoken to us in the name of Jehovah our God.
Then rose up certain of the elders of the land,
and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying,
Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of
Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spake to all the people of Judah, saying,
Thus says Jehovah of hosts: Zion shall be plowed as a field, and
Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high
places of a forest. Did Hezekiah king of Judah
and all Judah put him to death? did he not fear Jehovah, and entreat the
favor of Jehovah, and Jehovah repented him of the evil which he had
pronounced against them? Thus should we commit great evil against our own
souls. And there was also a man that prophesied
in the name of Jehovah, Uriah the son of Shemaiah of Kiriath-jearim; and
he prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the
words of Jeremiah: and when Jehoiakim the king,
with all his mighty-men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king
sought to put him to death; but when Uriah heard it, he was afraid, and
fled, and went into Egypt: and Jehoiakim the
king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and
certain men with him, into Egypt; and they
fetched forth Uriah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king,
who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the
common people. But the hand of Ahikam the son
of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand
of the people to put him to death.
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the
son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word unto Jeremiah from Jehovah,
saying, Thus says Jehovah to me: Make thee
bonds and bars, and put them upon thy neck; and
send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of
the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon,
by the hand of the messengers that come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of
Judah; and give them a charge unto their
masters, saying, Thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Thus
shall ye say unto your masters: I have made the
earth, the men and the beasts that are upon the face of the earth, by my
great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give it unto whom it seemeth
right unto me. And now have I given all these
lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and
the beasts of the field also have I given him to serve him.
And all the nations shall serve him, and his
son, and his son's son, until the time of his own land come: and then many
nations and great kings shall make him their bondman.
And it shall come to pass, that the nation and
the kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,
and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon,
that nation will I punish, says Jehovah, with the sword, and with the
famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
But as for you, hearken ye not to your prophets,
nor to your diviners, nor to your dreams, nor to your soothsayers, nor to
your sorcerers, that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king
of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you,
to remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out, and ye
should perish. But the nation that shall bring
their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, that
nation will I let remain in their own land, says Jehovah; and they
shall till it, and dwell therein. And I spake
to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your
necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people,
and live. Why will ye die, thou and thy people,
by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as Jehovah hath spoken
concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
And hearken not unto the words of the prophets
that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon; for
they prophesy a lie unto you. For I have not
sent them, says Jehovah, but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may
drive you out, and that ye may perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy
unto you. Also I spake to the priests and to
all this people, saying, Thus says Jehovah: Hearken not to the words of
your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of
Jehovah's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they
prophesy a lie unto you. Hearken not unto them;
serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city become a
desolation? But if they be prophets, and if the
word of Jehovah be with them, let them now make intercession to Jehovah of
hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of Jehovah, and in the
house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.
For thus says Jehovah of hosts concerning the
pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning
the residue of the vessels that are left in this city,
which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not,
when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah,
from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;
yea, thus says Jehovah of hosts, the God of
Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Jehovah, and
in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem:
They shall be carried to Babylon, and there
shall they be, until the day that I visit them, says Jehovah; then will I
bring them up, and restore them to this place.
And it came to pass the same year, in the
beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in
the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was of
Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of Jehovah, in the presence of the
priests and of all the people, saying, Thus
speaketh Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the
yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two full
years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of Jehovah's
house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and
carried to Babylon: and I will bring again to
this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the
captives of Judah, that went to Babylon, says Jehovah; for I will break
the yoke of the king of Babylon. Then the
prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the
priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of
Jehovah, even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen:
Jehovah do so; Jehovah perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to
bring again the vessels of Jehovah's house, and all them of the captivity,
from Babylon unto this place. Nevertheless hear
thou now this word that I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the
people: The prophets that have been before me
and before thee of old prophesied against many countries, and against
great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.
The prophet that prophesieth of peace, when the
word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known,
that Jehovah hath truly sent him. Then Hananiah
the prophet took the bar from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake
it. And Hananiah spake in the presence of all
the people, saying, Thus says Jehovah: Even so will I break the yoke of
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon within two full years from off the neck of
all the nations. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.
Then the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah,
after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the bar from off the neck of
the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Go, and tell
Hananiah, saying, Thus says Jehovah: Thou hast