1
The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the
priests at Anathoth in the
4
The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
5 "Before I
formed you in the womb I knew [a] you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the
nations."
6 "Ah,
Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a
child."
7 But the LORD
said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I
send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will
rescue you," declares the LORD.
9 Then the LORD
reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put
my words in your mouth. 10
See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to
destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."
11 The word of the
LORD came to me: "What do you see, Jeremiah?"
"I see the branch of an almond tree,"
I replied.
12 The LORD said
to me, "You have seen correctly, for I am watching [b] to see that my word is fulfilled."
13 The word of the
LORD came to me again: "What do you see?"
"I see a boiling pot, tilting away
from the north," I answered.
14 The LORD said
to me, "From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the
land. 15 I am about to
summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms," declares the LORD.
"Their kings will come and set up
their thrones
in the entrance of the gates of
they will come against all her surrounding
walls
and against all the towns of
16 I will
pronounce my judgments on my people
because of their wickedness in forsaking
me,
in burning incense to other gods
and in worshiping what their hands have
made.
17 "Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command
you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. 18 Today I have made you a
fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole
land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of
the land. 19 They will
fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue
you," declares the LORD.
1
The word of the LORD came to me: 2
"Go and proclaim in the hearing of
" 'I remember the devotion of your
youth,
how as a bride you loved me
and followed me through the desert,
through a land not sown.
3
the firstfruits
of his harvest;
all who devoured her were held guilty,
and disaster overtook them,' "
declares the LORD.
4 Hear the word of
the LORD, O house of Jacob,
all you clans of the house of
5 This is what the
LORD says:
"What fault did your fathers find in
me,
that they strayed so far from me?
They followed worthless idols
and became worthless themselves.
6 They did not
ask, 'Where is the LORD,
who brought us up out of Egypt
and led us through the barren wilderness,
through a land of deserts and rifts,
a land of drought and darkness, [a]
a land where no one travels and no one
lives?'
7 I brought you
into a fertile land
to eat its fruit and rich produce.
But you came and defiled my land
and made my inheritance detestable.
8 The priests did
not ask,
'Where is the LORD ?'
Those who deal with the law did not know
me;
the leaders rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,
following worthless idols.
9 "Therefore
I bring charges against you again,"
declares the LORD.
"And I will bring charges against
your children's children.
10 Cross over to
the coasts of Kittim [b] and look,
send to Kedar [c] and observe closely;
see if there has ever been anything like
this:
11 Has a nation
ever changed its gods?
(Yet they are not gods at all.)
But my people have exchanged their [d] Glory
for worthless idols.
12 Be appalled at
this, O heavens,
and shudder with great horror,"
declares the LORD.
13 "My people
have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
14 Is
Why then has he become plunder?
15 Lions have
roared;
they have growled at him.
They have laid
waste his land;
his towns are burned and deserted.
16 Also, the men
of
have shaved the crown of your head. [f]
17 Have you not
brought this on yourselves
by forsaking the LORD your God
when he led you in the way?
18 Now why go to
to drink water from the Shihor [g] ?
And why go to
to drink water from the River [h] ?
19 Your wickedness
will punish you;
your backsliding will rebuke you.
Consider then and realize
how evil and bitter it is for you
when you forsake the LORD your God
and have no awe of me,"
declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.
20 "Long ago
you broke off your yoke
and tore off your bonds;
you said, 'I will not serve you!'
Indeed, on every high hill
and under every spreading tree
you lay down as a prostitute.
21 I had planted
you like a choice vine
of sound and reliable stock.
How then did you turn against me
into a corrupt, wild vine?
22 Although you
wash yourself with soda
and use an abundance of soap,
the stain of your guilt is still before
me,"
declares the Sovereign LORD.
23 "How can
you say, 'I am not defiled;
I have not run after the Baals'?
See how you behaved in the valley;
consider what you have done.
You are a swift she-camel
running here and there,
24 a wild donkey
accustomed to the desert,
sniffing the wind in her craving—
in her heat who can restrain her?
Any males that pursue her need not tire
themselves;
at mating time they will find her.
25 Do not run
until your feet are bare
and your throat is dry.
But you said, 'It's no use!
I love foreign gods,
and I must go after them.'
26
"As a thief is disgraced when he is caught,
so the house of
they, their kings and their officials,
their priests and their prophets.
27 They say to
wood, 'You are my father,'
and to stone, 'You gave me birth.'
They have turned their backs to me
and not their faces;
yet when they are in trouble, they say,
'Come and save us!'
28 Where then are
the gods you made for yourselves?
Let them come if they can save you
when you are in trouble!
For you have as many gods
as you have towns, O
29 "Why do
you bring charges against me?
You have all rebelled against me,"
declares the LORD.
30 "In vain I
punished your people;
they did not respond to correction.
Your sword has devoured your prophets
like a ravening lion.
31 "You of
this generation, consider the word of the LORD :
"Have I been a desert to
or a land of great darkness?
Why do my people say, 'We are free to
roam;
we will come to you no more'?
32 Does a maiden
forget her jewelry,
a bride her wedding ornaments?
Yet my people have forgotten me,
days without number.
33 How skilled you
are at pursuing love!
Even the worst of women can learn from
your ways.
34 On your clothes
men find
the lifeblood of the innocent poor,
though you did not catch them breaking in.
Yet in spite of
all this
35 you say, 'I am
innocent;
he is not angry with me.'
But I will pass judgment on you
because you say, 'I have not sinned.'
36 Why do you go
about so much,
changing your ways?
You will be disappointed by
as you were by
37 You will also
leave that place
with your hands on your head,
for the LORD has rejected those you trust;
you will not be helped by them.
1
"If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him and marries another
man,
should he return to her again?
Would not the land be completely defiled?
But you have lived as a prostitute with
many lovers—
would you now return to me?"
declares the LORD.
2 "Look up to
the barren heights and see.
Is there any place where you have not been
ravished?
By the roadside you sat waiting for
lovers,
sat like a nomad [a] in the desert.
You have defiled the land
with your prostitution and wickedness.
3 Therefore the
showers have been withheld,
and no spring rains have fallen.
Yet you have the brazen look of a
prostitute;
you refuse to blush with shame.
4 Have you not
just called to me:
'My Father, my friend from my youth,
5 will you always
be angry?
Will your wrath continue forever?'
This is how you talk,
but you do all the evil you can."
6
During the reign of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, "Have you seen what
faithless
11 The LORD said
to me, "Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful
" 'Return,
faithless
'I will frown on you no longer,
for I am merciful,' declares the LORD,
'I will not be angry forever.
13 Only acknowledge your guilt—
you have rebelled against the LORD your
God,
you have scattered your favors to foreign
gods
under every spreading tree,
and have not obeyed me,' "
declares the LORD.
14 "Return,
faithless people," declares the LORD, "for I am your husband. I will
choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to
19
"I myself said,
" 'How gladly would I treat you like
sons
and give you a desirable land,
the most beautiful inheritance of any
nation.'
I thought you would call me 'Father'
and not turn away from following me.
20 But like a
woman unfaithful to her husband,
so you have been unfaithful to me, O house
of
declares the LORD.
21 A cry is heard
on the barren heights,
the weeping and pleading of the people of
because they have perverted their ways
and have forgotten the LORD their God.
22 "Return,
faithless people;
I will cure you of backsliding."
"Yes, we will come to you,
for you are the LORD our God.
23 Surely the
idolatrous commotion on the hills
and mountains is a deception;
surely in the LORD our God
is the salvation of
24 From our youth
shameful gods have consumed
the fruits of our fathers' labor—
their flocks and herds,
their sons and daughters.
25 Let us lie down
in our shame,
and let our disgrace cover us.
We have sinned against the LORD our God,
both we and our fathers;
from our youth till this day
we have not obeyed the LORD our God."
1 "If you
will return, O Israel,
return to me,"
declares the LORD.
"If you put your detestable idols out
of my sight
and no longer go astray,
2 and if in a
truthful, just and righteous way
you swear, 'As surely as the LORD lives,'
then the nations will be blessed by him
and in him they will glory."
3 This is what the
LORD says to the men of
"Break up your unplowed ground
and do not sow among thorns.
4 Circumcise
yourselves to the LORD,
circumcise your hearts,
you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem,
or my wrath will break out and burn like
fire
because of the evil you have done—
burn with no one to quench it.
5
"Announce in
'Sound the trumpet throughout the land!'
Cry aloud and say:
'Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities!'
6 Raise the signal
to go to
Flee for safety without delay!
For I am bringing
disaster from the north,
even terrible destruction."
7 A lion has come
out of his lair;
a destroyer of nations has set out.
He has left his place
to lay waste your
land.
Your towns will lie in ruins
without inhabitant.
8 So put on
sackcloth,
lament and wail,
for the fierce anger of the LORD
has not turned away from us.
9 "In that
day," declares the LORD,
"the king and the officials will lose
heart,
the priests will be horrified,
and the prophets will be appalled."
10 Then I said,
"Ah, Sovereign LORD, how completely you have deceived this people and
11 At that time
this people and
13 Look! He
advances like the clouds,
his chariots come like a whirlwind,
his horses are
swifter than eagles.
Woe to us! We are ruined!
14 O
How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?
15 A voice is
announcing from Dan,
proclaiming disaster from the hills of
Ephraim.
16 "Tell this
to the nations,
proclaim it to
'A besieging army is coming from a distant
land,
raising a war cry against the cities of
17 They surround
her like men guarding a field,
because she has rebelled against me,'
"
declares the LORD.
18
"Your own conduct and actions
have brought this upon you.
This is your punishment.
How bitter it is!
How it pierces to the heart!"
19 Oh, my anguish,
my anguish!
I writhe in pain.
Oh, the agony of my heart!
My heart pounds within me,
I cannot keep silent.
For I have heard the sound of the trumpet;
I have heard the battle cry.
20 Disaster
follows disaster;
the whole land lies in ruins.
In an instant my tents are destroyed,
my shelter in a moment.
21 How long must I
see the battle standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 "My people
are fools;
they do not know me.
They are senseless children;
they have no understanding.
They are skilled in doing evil;
they know not how to do good."
23 I looked at the
earth,
and it was formless and empty;
and at the heavens,
and their light was gone.
24 I looked at the
mountains,
and they were quaking;
all the hills were swaying.
25 I looked, and
there were no people;
every bird in the sky had flown away.
26 I looked, and
the fruitful land was a desert;
all its towns lay in ruins
before the LORD, before his fierce anger.
27 This is what
the LORD says:
"The whole land will be ruined,
though I will not destroy it completely.
28 Therefore the earth will mourn
and the heavens above grow dark,
because I have spoken and will not relent,
I have decided and will not turn
back."
29 At the sound of
horsemen and archers
every town takes to flight.
Some go into the thickets;
some climb up among the rocks.
All the towns are deserted;
no one lives in them.
30 What are you
doing, O devastated one?
Why dress yourself in scarlet
and put on jewels of gold?
Why shade your eyes with paint?
You adorn yourself in vain.
Your lovers despise you;
they seek your life.
31 I hear a cry as
of a woman in labor,
a groan as of one bearing her first child—
the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping
for breath,
stretching out her hands and saying,
"Alas! I am fainting;
my life is given over to murderers."
1
"Go up and down the streets of
look around and consider,
search through her squares.
If you can find but one person
who deals honestly and seeks the truth,
I will forgive this city.
2 Although they
say, 'As surely as the LORD lives,'
still they are swearing falsely."
3 O LORD, do not
your eyes look for truth?
You struck them, but they felt no pain;
you crushed them, but they refused
correction.
They made their faces harder than stone
and refused to repent.
4 I thought,
"These are only the poor;
they are foolish,
for they do not know the way of the LORD,
the requirements of their God.
5 So I will go to
the leaders
and speak to them;
surely they know the way of the LORD,
the requirements of their God."
But with one accord they too had broken
off the yoke
and torn off the bonds.
6 Therefore a lion
from the forest will attack them,
a wolf from the desert will ravage them,
a leopard will lie in wait near their
towns
to tear to pieces any who venture out,
for their rebellion is
great
and their backslidings many.
7
"Why should I forgive you?
Your children have forsaken me
and sworn by gods that are not gods.
I supplied all their needs,
yet they committed adultery
and thronged to the houses of prostitutes.
8 They are
well-fed, lusty stallions,
each neighing for another man's wife.
9 Should I not
punish them for this?"
declares the LORD.
"Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?
10 "Go
through her vineyards and ravage them,
but do not destroy them completely.
Strip off her branches,
for these people do not belong to the
LORD.
11 The house of
have been utterly unfaithful to me,"
declares the LORD.
12 They have lied
about the LORD;
they said, "He will do nothing!
No harm will come to us;
we will never see sword or famine.
13 The prophets
are but wind
and the word is not in them;
so let what they say be done to
them."
14 Therefore this
is what the LORD God Almighty says:
"Because the people have spoken these
words,
I will make my words in your mouth a fire
and these people the wood it consumes.
15 O house of
"I am bringing a distant nation
against you—
an ancient and enduring nation,
a people whose language you do not know,
whose speech you do not understand.
16 Their quivers
are like an open grave;
all of them are mighty warriors.
17 They will
devour your harvests and food,
devour your sons and daughters;
they will devour your flocks and herds,
devour your vines and fig trees.
With the sword they will destroy
the fortified cities in which you trust.
18 "Yet even
in those days," declares the LORD, "I will not destroy you
completely. 19 And when the
people ask, 'Why has the LORD our God done all this to us?' you will tell them,
'As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in
your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own.'
20 "Announce
this to the house of Jacob
and proclaim it in
21 Hear this, you
foolish and senseless people,
who have eyes but do not
see,
who have ears but do not hear:
22 Should you not
fear me?" declares the LORD.
"Should you not tremble in my
presence?
I made the sand a boundary for the sea,
an everlasting barrier it cannot cross.
The waves may roll, but they cannot
prevail;
they may roar, but they cannot cross it.
23 But these
people have stubborn and rebellious hearts;
they have turned aside and gone away.
24 They do not say
to themselves,
'Let us fear the LORD our God,
who gives autumn and spring rains in
season,
who assures us of the regular weeks of
harvest.'
25 Your
wrongdoings have kept these away;
your sins have deprived you of good.
26 "Among my
people are wicked men
who lie in wait like men who snare birds
and like those who set traps to catch men.
27 Like cages full
of birds,
their houses are full of deceit;
they have become rich and powerful
28 and have grown
fat and sleek.
Their evil deeds have no limit;
they do not plead the case of the
fatherless to win it,
they do not defend the rights of the poor.
29 Should I not
punish them for this?"
declares the LORD.
"Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?
30 "A
horrible and shocking thing
has happened in the land:
31 The prophets
prophesy lies,
the priests rule by their own authority,
and my people love it this way.
But what will you do in the end?
1 "Flee for safety, people of Benjamin!
Flee from
Sound the trumpet in Tekoa!
Raise the signal over Beth Hakkerem!
For disaster looms out of the north,
even terrible destruction.
2 I will destroy
the Daughter of Zion,
so beautiful and delicate.
3 Shepherds with
their flocks will come against her;
they will pitch their tents around her,
each tending his own portion."
4 "Prepare
for battle against her!
Arise, let us attack at noon!
But, alas, the daylight is fading,
and the shadows of evening grow long.
5 So arise, let us
attack at night
and destroy her fortresses!"
6 This is what the
LORD Almighty says:
"Cut down the trees
and build siege ramps against
This city must be punished;
it is filled with oppression.
7 As a well pours
out its water,
so she pours out her wickedness.
Violence and destruction resound in her;
her sickness and wounds are ever before
me.
8 Take warning, O
Jerusalem,
or I will turn away from you
and make your land desolate
so no one can live in it."
9 This is what the
LORD Almighty says:
"Let them glean the remnant of
as thoroughly as a vine;
pass your hand over the branches again,
like one gathering grapes."
10 To whom can I
speak and give warning?
Who will listen to me?
Their ears are closed [a]
so they cannot hear.
The word of the LORD is offensive to them;
they find no pleasure in it.
11 But I am full
of the wrath of the LORD,
and I cannot hold it in.
"Pour it out on the children in the
street
and on the young men gathered together;
both husband and wife will be caught in
it,
and the old, those weighed down with
years.
12 Their houses
will be turned over to others,
together with their fields and their
wives,
when I stretch out my hand
against those who live in the land,"
declares the LORD.
13 "From the
least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
14 They dress the
wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
'Peace, peace,' they say,
when there is no peace.
15 Are they
ashamed of their loathsome conduct?
No, they have no shame at all;
they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
they will be brought down when I punish
them,"
says the LORD.
16 This is what
the LORD says:
"Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, 'We will not walk in it.'
17 I appointed
watchmen over you and said,
'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!'
But you said, 'We will not listen.'
18 Therefore hear, O nations;
observe, O witnesses,
what will happen to them.
19 Hear, O earth:
I am bringing disaster on this people,
the fruit of their schemes,
because they have not listened to my words
and have rejected my law.
20 What do I care
about incense from
or sweet calamus
from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;
your sacrifices do not please me."
21 Therefore this
is what the LORD says:
"I will put obstacles before this
people.
Fathers and sons alike will stumble over
them;
neighbors and friends will perish."
22 This is what
the LORD says:
"Look, an army is coming
from the land of the north;
a great nation is being stirred up
from the ends of the earth.
23 They are armed
with bow and spear;
they are cruel and show no mercy.
They sound like the roaring sea
as they ride on their horses;
they come like men in battle formation
to attack you, O Daughter of Zion."
24 We have heard
reports about them,
and our hands hang limp.
Anguish has gripped us,
pain like that of a woman in labor.
25 Do not go out
to the fields
or walk on the roads,
for the enemy has a sword,
and there is terror on every side.
26 O my people,
put on sackcloth
and roll in ashes;
mourn with bitter wailing
as for an only son,
for suddenly the destroyer
will come upon us.
27 "I have
made you a tester of metals
and my people the ore,
that you may observe
and test their ways.
28 They are all
hardened rebels,
going about to slander.
They are bronze and iron;
they all act corruptly.
29 The bellows
blow fiercely
to burn away the lead with fire,
but the refining goes on in vain;
the wicked are not purged out.
30 They are called
rejected silver,
because the LORD has rejected them."
1
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD :
2 "Stand at the gate
of the LORD's house and there proclaim this message:
" 'Hear the word of the LORD, all you
people of
9 " 'Will you
steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, [a] burn incense to Baal and follow other gods
you have not known, 10 and
then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say,
"We are safe"-safe to do all these detestable things? 11 Has this house, which bears my
Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.
12 " 'Go now
to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name,
and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people
16 "So do not
pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with
me, for I will not listen to you. 17
Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of
20 " 'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: My anger and
my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of
the field and on the fruit of the ground, and it will burn and not be quenched.
21 " 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go
ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat
yourselves! 22 For when I
brought your forefathers out of
27 "When you
tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they
will not answer. 28
Therefore say to them, 'This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God
or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their
lips. 29 Cut off your hair
and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the LORD has
rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.
30
" 'The people of
1 " 'At that
time, declares the LORD, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the
bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem
will be removed from their graves. 2
They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens,
which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and
worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like refuse
lying on the ground. 3
Wherever I banish them, all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death
to life, declares the LORD Almighty.'
4
"Say to them, 'This is what the LORD says:
" 'When men
fall down, do they not get up?
When a man turns away, does he not return?
5 Why then have
these people turned away?
Why does
They cling to deceit;
they refuse to return.
6 I have listened
attentively,
but they do not say what is right.
No one repents of his wickedness,
saying, "What have I done?"
Each pursues his own course
like a horse charging into battle.
7 Even the stork
in the sky
knows her appointed seasons,
and the dove, the swift and the thrush
observe the time of their migration.
But my people do not know
the requirements of the LORD.
8 " 'How can
you say, "We are wise,
for we have the law of the LORD,"
when actually the lying pen of the scribes
has handled it falsely?
9 The wise will be
put to shame;
they will be dismayed and trapped.
Since they have rejected the word of the
LORD,
what kind of wisdom do they have?
10 Therefore I
will give their wives to other men
and their fields to new owners.
From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
11 They dress the
wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
"Peace, peace," they say,
when there is no peace.
12 Are they
ashamed of their loathsome conduct?
No, they have no shame at all;
they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
they will be brought down when they are
punished,
says the LORD.
13 " 'I will
take away their harvest,
declares the LORD.
There will be no grapes on the vine.
There will be no figs on the tree,
and their leaves will wither.
What I have given them
will be taken from them. [a] ' "
14
"Why are we sitting here?
Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities
and perish there!
For the LORD our God has doomed us to
perish
and given us poisoned water to drink,
because we have sinned against him.
15 We hoped for
peace
but no good has come,
for a time of healing
but there was only terror.
16 The snorting of
the enemy's horses
is heard from Dan;
at the neighing of their stallions
the whole land trembles.
They have come to devour
the land and everything in it,
the city and all who live there."
17 "See, I
will send venomous snakes among you,
vipers that cannot be charmed,
and they will bite you,"
declares the LORD.
18 O my Comforter [b] in sorrow,
my heart is faint within me.
19 Listen to the
cry of my people
from a land far away:
"Is the LORD not in
Is her King no longer there?"
"Why have they provoked me to anger
with their images,
with their worthless foreign idols?"
20 "The
harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we are not saved."
21 Since my people
are crushed, I am crushed;
I mourn, and horror grips me.
22 Is there no
balm in
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no healing
for the wound of my people?
1 Oh, that my head
were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears!
I would weep day and night
for the slain of my people.
2 Oh, that I had
in the desert
a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,
a crowd of unfaithful people.
3 "They make
ready their tongue
like a bow, to shoot lies;
it is not by truth
that they triumph [a] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
they do not acknowledge me,"
declares the LORD.
4 "Beware of
your friends;
do not trust your brothers.
For every brother is a deceiver, [b]
and every friend a slanderer.
5 Friend deceives
friend,
and no one speaks the truth.
They have taught their tongues to lie;
they weary themselves with sinning.
6 You [c] live in the midst of deception;
in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge
me,"
declares the LORD.
7 Therefore this
is what the LORD Almighty says:
"See, I will refine and test them,
for what else can I do
because of the sin of my people?
8 Their tongue is
a deadly arrow;
it speaks with deceit.
With his mouth each speaks cordially to
his neighbor,
but in his heart he sets a trap for him.
9 Should I not
punish them for this?"
declares the LORD.
"Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?"
10 I will weep and
wail for the mountains
and take up a lament concerning the desert
pastures.
They are desolate and untraveled,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
The birds of the air have fled
and the animals are gone.
11 "I will
make
a haunt of jackals;
and I will lay
waste the towns of
so no one can live there."
12 What man is
wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the LORD and can
explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no
one can cross?
13 The LORD said,
"It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they
have not obeyed me or followed my law. 14
Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have
followed the Baals, as their fathers taught
them." 15 Therefore,
this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "See, I will make
this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water. 16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they
nor their fathers have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I
have destroyed them."
17 This is what
the LORD Almighty says:
"Consider now! Call for the wailing
women to come;
send for the most skillful of them.
18 Let them come
quickly
and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
and water streams from our eyelids.
19 The sound of
wailing is heard from
'How ruined we are!
How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
because our houses are in ruins.' "
20 Now, O women,
hear the word of the LORD;
open your ears to the words of his mouth.
Teach your daughters how to wail;
teach one another a lament.
21 Death has climbed
in through our windows
and has entered our fortresses;
it has cut off the children from the
streets
and the young men from the public squares.
22 Say, "This
is what the LORD declares:
" 'The dead bodies of men will lie
like refuse on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
with no one to gather them.' "
23 This is what
the LORD says:
"Let not the wise man boast of his
wisdom
or the strong man boast of his strength
or the rich man boast of his riches,
24 but let him who
boasts boast about this:
that he understands and knows me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises
kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,"
declares the LORD.
25 "The days
are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will punish all who are
circumcised only in the flesh- 26
Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in
the desert in distant places. [d] For all these nations are really
uncircumcised, and even the whole house of
1
Hear what the LORD says to you, O house of
"Do not learn the ways of the nations
or be terrified by signs in the sky,
though the nations are terrified by them.
3 For the customs
of the peoples are worthless;
they cut a tree out of the forest,
and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
4 They adorn it
with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so it will not totter.
5 Like a scarecrow
in a melon patch,
their idols cannot speak;
they must be carried
because they cannot walk.
Do not fear them;
they can do no harm
nor can they do any good."
6 No one is like
you, O LORD;
you are great,
and your name is mighty in power.
7 Who should not
revere you,
O King of the nations?
This is your due.
Among all the wise men of the nations
and in all their kingdoms,
there is no one like you.
8 They are all
senseless and foolish;
they are taught by worthless wooden idols.
9 Hammered silver
is brought from Tarshish
and gold from Uphaz.
What the craftsman and goldsmith have made
is then dressed in blue and purple—
all made by skilled workers.
10 But the LORD is
the true God;
he is the living God, the eternal King.
When he is angry, the earth trembles;
the nations cannot endure his wrath.
11 "Tell them
this: 'These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from
the earth and from under the heavens.' " [a]
12 But God made
the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his wisdom
and stretched out the heavens by his
understanding.
13 When he
thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;
he makes clouds rise from the ends of the
earth.
He sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his
storehouses.
14 Everyone is
senseless and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.
His images are a fraud;
they have no breath in them.
15 They are
worthless, the objects of mockery;
when their judgment comes, they will
perish.
16 He who is the
Portion of Jacob is not like these,
for he is the Maker of all things,
including
the LORD Almighty is his name.
17
Gather up your belongings to leave the land,
you who live under siege.
18 For this is
what the LORD says:
"At this time I will hurl out
those who live in this land;
I will bring distress on them
so that they may be captured."
19 Woe to me
because of my injury!
My wound is incurable!
Yet I said to myself,
"This is my sickness, and I must
endure it."
20 My tent is
destroyed;
all its ropes are snapped.
My sons are gone from me and are no more;
no one is left now to pitch my tent
or to set up my shelter.
21 The shepherds
are senseless
and do not inquire of the LORD;
so they do not prosper
and all their flock is scattered.
22 Listen! The
report is coming—
a great commotion from the land of the
north!
It will make the towns of
a haunt of jackals.
23
I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own;
it is not for man to direct his steps.
24 Correct me,
LORD, but only with justice—
not in your anger,
lest you reduce me to nothing.
25 Pour out your
wrath on the nations
that do not acknowledge you,
on the peoples who do not call on your
name.
For they have devoured
Jacob;
they have devoured him completely
and destroyed his homeland.
1
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD :
2 "Listen to the terms
of this covenant and tell them to the people of
I answered, "Amen, LORD."
6 The LORD said to
me, "Proclaim all these words in the towns of
9 Then the LORD
said to me, "There is a conspiracy among the people of
14 "Do not
pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them, because I will
not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress.
15 "What is
my beloved doing in my temple
as she works out her evil schemes with
many?
Can consecrated meat avert your punishment ?
When you engage in your wickedness,
then you rejoice. [a] "
16 The LORD called
you a thriving olive tree
with fruit beautiful in form.
But with the roar of a mighty storm
he will set it on fire,
and its branches will be broken.
17 The LORD
Almighty, who planted you, has decreed disaster for you, because the house of
18
Because the LORD revealed their plot to me, I knew it, for at that time he
showed me what they were doing. 19
I had been like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; I did not realize that they
had plotted against me, saying,
"Let us destroy the tree and its
fruit;
let us cut him off from the land of the
living,
that his name be remembered no more."
20 But, O LORD
Almighty, you who judge righteously
and test the heart and mind,
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you I have committed my cause.
21 "Therefore
this is what the LORD says about the men of Anathoth
who are seeking your life and saying, 'Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD
or you will die by our hands'- 22
therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish them. Their young
men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine. 23 Not
even a remnant will be left to them, because I will bring disaster on the men
of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.' "
1
You are always righteous, O LORD,
when I bring a case before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your
justice:
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the faithless live at ease?
2 You have planted
them, and they have taken root;
they grow and bear fruit.
You are always on their lips
but far from their hearts.
3 Yet you know me,
O LORD;
you see me and test my thoughts about you.
Drag them off like sheep to be butchered!
Set them apart for the day of slaughter!
4 How long will
the land lie parched [a]
and the grass in every field be withered?
Because those who live in it are wicked,
the animals and birds have perished.
Moreover, the people are saying,
"He will not see what happens to
us."
5 "If
you have raced with men on foot
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in safe country, [b]
how will you manage in the thickets by [c] the
6 Your brothers,
your own family—
even they have betrayed you;
they have raised a loud cry against you.
Do not trust them,
though they speak well of you.
7 "I will
forsake my house,
abandon my inheritance;
I will give the one I love
into the hands of her enemies.
8 My inheritance
has become to me
like a lion in the forest.
She roars at me;
therefore I hate her.
9 Has not my
inheritance become to me
like a speckled bird of prey
that other birds of prey surround and
attack?
Go and gather all the wild beasts;
bring them to devour.
10 Many shepherds
will ruin my vineyard
and trample down my field;
they will turn my pleasant field
into a desolate wasteland.
11 It will be made
a wasteland,
parched and desolate before me;
the whole land will be laid waste
because there is no one who cares.
12 Over all the
barren heights in the desert
destroyers will swarm,
for the sword of the LORD will devour
from one end of the land to the other;
no one will be safe.
13 They will sow
wheat but reap thorns;
they will wear themselves out but gain
nothing.
So bear the shame of your harvest
because of the LORD's
fierce anger."
14 This is what
the LORD says: "As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I
gave my people
1
This is what the LORD said to me: "Go and buy a linen belt and put it
around your waist, but do not let it touch water." 2 So I bought a belt, as the LORD directed, and
put it around my waist.
3 Then the word of
the LORD came to me a second time: 4
"Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to
Perath [a] and hide it there in a crevice in the
rocks." 5 So I went
and hid it at Perath, as the LORD told me.
6 Many days later
the LORD said to me, "Go now to Perath and get
the belt I told you to hide there." 7
So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it
from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely
useless.
8 Then the word of
the LORD came to me: 9
"This is what the LORD says: 'In the same way I will ruin the pride of
12
"Say to them: 'This is what the LORD, the God of
Israel, says: Every wineskin should be filled with wine.' And if they say to
you, 'Don't we know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?' 13 then tell them, 'This is what
the LORD says: I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land,
including the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets and
all those living in Jerusalem. 14
I will smash them one against the other, fathers and sons alike, declares the
LORD. I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying
them.' "
15
Hear and pay attention,
do not be arrogant,
for the LORD has spoken.
16 Give glory to
the LORD your God
before he brings the darkness,
before your feet stumble
on the darkening hills.
You hope for light,
but he will turn it to thick darkness
and change it to deep gloom.
17 But if you do
not listen,
I will weep in secret
because of your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly,
overflowing with tears,
because the LORD's
flock will be taken captive.
18 Say to the king
and to the queen mother,
"Come down from your thrones,
for your glorious crowns
will fall from your heads."
19 The cities in
the
and there will be no one to open them.
All
carried completely away.
20 Lift up your
eyes and see
those who are coming from the north.
Where is the flock that was entrusted to
you,
the sheep of which you boasted?
21 What will you
say when the LORD sets over you
those you cultivated as your special
allies?
Will not pain grip you
like that of a woman in labor?
22 And if you ask
yourself,
"Why has this happened to me?"—
it is because of
your many sins
that your skirts have been torn off
and your body mistreated.
23 Can the
Ethiopian [b] change his skin
or the leopard its spots?
Neither can you do good
who are accustomed to doing evil.
24 "I will
scatter you like chaff
driven by the desert wind.
25 This is your
lot,
the portion I have decreed for you,"
declares the LORD,
"because you have forgotten me
and trusted in false gods.
26 I will pull up
your skirts over your face
that your shame may be seen-
27 your adulteries
and lustful neighings,
your shameless prostitution!
I have seen your detestable acts
on the hills and in the fields.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will you be unclean?"
1
This is the word of the LORD to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
2 "
her cities languish;
they wail for the land,
and a cry goes up from
3 The nobles send
their servants for water;
they go to the cisterns
but find no water.
They return with their jars unfilled;
dismayed and despairing,
they cover their heads.
4 The ground is
cracked
because there is no rain in the land;
the farmers are dismayed
and cover their heads.
5 Even the doe in
the field
deserts her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
6 Wild donkeys
stand on the barren heights
and pant like jackals;
their eyesight fails
for lack of pasture."
7 Although our
sins testify against us,
O LORD, do something for the sake of your
name.
For our backsliding is great;
we have sinned against you.
8 O Hope of
its Savior in times of distress,
why are you like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler who stays only a night?
9 Why are you like
a man taken by surprise,
like a warrior powerless to save?
You are among us, O LORD,
and we bear your name;
do not forsake us!
10 This is what
the LORD says about this people:
"They greatly love to wander;
they do not restrain their feet.
So the LORD does not accept them;
he will now remember their wickedness
and punish them for their sins."
11 Then the LORD
said to me, "Do not pray for the well-being of this people. 12 Although they fast, I will not
listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I
will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and
plague." 13 But I
said, "Ah, Sovereign LORD, the prophets keep telling them, 'You will not
see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this
place.' "
14 Then the LORD
said to me, "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent
them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false
visions, divinations, idolatries [a] and the delusions of their own minds. 15 Therefore, this is what the
LORD says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send
them, yet they are saying, 'No sword or famine will touch this land.' Those
same prophets will perish by sword and famine. 16 And the people they are prophesying to will be
thrown out into the streets of
17 "Speak
this word to them:
" 'Let my eyes overflow with tears
night and day without ceasing;
for my virgin daughter—my people—
has suffered a grievous wound,
a crushing blow.
18 If I go into
the country,
I see those slain by the sword;
if I go into the city,
I see the ravages of famine.
Both prophet and priest
have gone to a land they know not.' "
19 Have you
rejected
Do you despise
Why have you afflicted us
so that we cannot be healed?
We hoped for peace
but no good has come,
for a time of healing
but there is only terror.
20 O LORD, we
acknowledge our wickedness
and the guilt of our fathers;
we have indeed sinned against you.
21 For the sake of
your name do not despise us;
do not dishonor your glorious throne.
Remember your covenant with us
and do not break it.
22 Do any of the
worthless idols of the nations bring rain?
Do the skies themselves send down showers?
No, it is you, O LORD our God.
Therefore our hope is in you,
for you are the one who does all this.
1 Then the LORD
said to me: "Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart
would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go! 2 And if they ask you, 'Where
shall we go?' tell them, 'This is what the LORD says:
" 'Those
destined for death, to death;
those for the sword, to the sword;
those for starvation, to starvation;
those for captivity, to captivity.'
3 "I will
send four kinds of destroyers against them," declares the LORD, "the
sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds of the air and the beasts
of the earth to devour and destroy. 4
I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what
Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of
5
"Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem?
Who will mourn for you?
Who will stop to ask how you are?
6 You have
rejected me," declares the LORD.
"You keep on backsliding.
So I will lay hands on you and destroy
you;
I can no longer show compassion.
7 I will winnow
them with a winnowing fork
at the city gates of the land.
I will bring bereavement and destruction
on my people,
for they have not changed their ways.
8 I will make
their widows more numerous
than the sand of the sea.
At midday I will bring a destroyer
against the mothers of their young men;
suddenly I will bring down on them
anguish and terror.
9 The mother of
seven will grow faint
and breathe her last.
Her sun will set while it is still day;
she will be disgraced and humiliated.
I will put the survivors to the sword
before their enemies,"
declares the LORD.
10 Alas, my
mother, that you gave me birth,
a man with whom the whole land strives and
contends!
I have neither lent nor borrowed,
yet everyone curses me.
11 The LORD said,
"Surely I will deliver you for a good
purpose;
surely I will make your enemies plead with
you
in times of disaster and times of
distress.
12 "Can a man
break iron—
iron from the north—or bronze?
13 Your wealth and
your treasures
I will give as plunder, without charge,
because of all your sins
throughout your country.
14 I will enslave
you to your enemies
in [a] a land you do not know,
for my anger will kindle a fire
that will burn against you."
15 You understand,
O LORD;
remember me and care for me.
Avenge me on my persecutors.
You are long-suffering—do not take me
away;
think of how I suffer reproach for your
sake.
16 When your words
came, I ate them;
they were my joy and my heart's delight,
for I bear your name,
O LORD God Almighty.
17 I never sat in
the company of revelers,
never made merry with them;
I sat alone because your hand was on me
and you had filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unending
and my wound grievous and incurable?
Will you be to me like a deceptive brook,
like a spring that fails?
19 Therefore this
is what the LORD says:
"If you repent, I will restore you
that you may serve me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
you will be my spokesman.
Let this people turn to you,
but you must not turn to them.
20 I will make you
a wall to this people,
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you
but will not overcome you,
for I am with you
to rescue and save you,"
declares the LORD.
21 "I will
save you from the hands of the wicked
and redeem you from the grasp of the
cruel."
1
Then the word of the LORD came to me: 2
"You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place." 3 For this is
what the LORD says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the
women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers: 4 "They will die of deadly diseases. They
will not be mourned or buried but will be like refuse lying on the ground. They
will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the
birds of the air and the beasts of the earth."
5 For this is what
the LORD says: "Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not
go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and
my pity from this people," declares the LORD. 6 "Both high and low will die in
this land. They will not be buried or mourned, and no one will cut
himself or shave his head for them. 7
No one will offer food to comfort those who mourn for the dead—not even for a
father or a mother—nor will anyone give them a drink to console them.
8 "And do not
enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink. 9 For this is what the LORD
Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days I will
bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and
bridegroom in this place.
10 "When you
tell these people all this and they ask you, 'Why has the LORD decreed such a
great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed
against the LORD our God?' 11
then say to them, 'It is because your fathers forsook me,' declares the LORD,
'and followed other gods and served and worshiped them. They forsook me and did
not keep my law. 12 But you
have behaved more wickedly than your fathers. See how each of you is following
the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying me. 13 So I will throw you out of
this land into a land neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you
will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.'
14 "However,
the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when men will no longer
say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,'
15 but they will say, 'As
surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the
north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.' For I will
restore them to the land I gave their forefathers.
16 "But now I
will send for many fishermen," declares the LORD, "and they will
catch them. After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them
down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks. 17 My eyes are on all their ways;
they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin
concealed from my eyes. 18
I will repay them double for their wickedness and their sin, because they have
defiled my land with the lifeless forms of their vile images and have filled my
inheritance with their detestable idols."
19 O LORD, my
strength and my fortress,
my refuge in time of distress,
to you the nations will come
from the ends of the earth and say,
"Our fathers possessed nothing but
false gods,
worthless idols that did them no good.
20 Do men make
their own gods?
Yes, but they are not gods!"
21
"Therefore I will teach them—
this time I will teach them
my power and might.
Then they will know
that my name is the LORD.
1
"
inscribed with a flint point,
on the tablets of their hearts
and on the horns of their altars.
2 Even their
children remember
their altars and Asherah
poles [a]
beside the spreading trees
and on the high hills.
3 My mountain in
the land
and your [b] wealth and all your treasures
I will give away as plunder,
together with your high places,
because of sin throughout your country.
4 Through your own
fault you will lose
the inheritance I gave you.
I will enslave you to your enemies
in a land you do not know,
for you have kindled my anger,
and it will burn forever."
5 This is what the
LORD says:
"Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who depends on flesh for his strength
and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
6 He will be like
a bush in the wastelands;
he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the
desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
7 "But
blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
8 He will be like
a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."
9 The heart is
deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
10 "I the
LORD search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward a man according to his conduct,
according to what his deeds deserve."
11 Like a
partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay
is the man who gains riches by unjust
means.
When his life is half gone, they will
desert him,
and in the end he will prove to be a fool.
12 A glorious
throne, exalted from the beginning,
is the place of our sanctuary.
13 O LORD, the
hope of
all who forsake you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be
written in the dust
because they have forsaken the LORD,
the spring of living water.
14 Heal me, O
LORD, and I will be healed;
save me and I will be saved,
for you are the one I praise.
15 They keep
saying to me,
"Where is the word of the LORD ?
Let it now be fulfilled!"
16 I have not run
away from being your shepherd;
you know I have not desired the day of
despair.
What passes my lips is open before you.
17 Do not be a
terror to me;
you are my refuge in the day of disaster.
18 Let my
persecutors be put to shame,
but keep me from shame;
let them be terrified,
but keep me from terror.
Bring on them the day of disaster;
destroy them with double destruction.
19
This is what the LORD said to me: "Go and stand at the gate of the people,
through which the kings of
1
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD :
2 "Go down to the
potter's house, and there I will give you my message." 3 So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw
him working at the wheel. 4
But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter
formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
5 Then the word of
the LORD came to me: 6
"O house of
11 "Now
therefore say to the people of
13 Therefore this
is what the LORD says:
"Inquire among the nations:
Who has ever heard anything like this?
A most horrible thing has been done
by Virgin Israel.
14 Does the snow
of
ever vanish from its rocky slopes?
Do its cool waters from distant sources
ever cease to flow? [a]
15 Yet my people
have forgotten me;
they burn incense to worthless idols,
which made them stumble in their ways
and in the ancient paths.
They made them walk in bypaths
and on roads not built up.
16 Their land will
be laid waste,
an object of lasting scorn;
all who pass by will be appalled
and will shake their heads.
17 Like a wind
from the east,
I will scatter them before their enemies;
I will show them my back and not my face
in the day of their disaster."
18 They said,
"Come, let's make plans against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by
the priest will not be lost, nor will counsel from the wise, nor the word from
the prophets. So come, let's attack him with our tongues and pay no attention
to anything he says."
19 Listen to me, O
LORD;
hear what my accusers are saying!
20 Should good be
repaid with evil?
Yet they have dug a pit for me.
Remember that I stood before you
and spoke in their behalf
to turn your wrath away from them.
21 So give their
children over to famine;
hand them over to the power of the sword.
Let their wives be made childless and
widows;
let their men be put to death,
their young men slain by the sword in
battle.
22 Let a cry be
heard from their houses
when you suddenly bring invaders against
them,
for they have dug a pit to capture me
and have hidden snares for my feet.
23 But you know, O
LORD,
all their plots to kill me.
Do not forgive their crimes
or blot out their sins from your sight.
Let them be overthrown before you;
deal with them in the time of your anger.
1 This is what the
LORD says: "Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take along some of the
elders of the people and of the priests 2
and go out to the
7 " 'In this place I will ruin [a] the plans of
10 "Then
break the jar while those who go with you are watching, 11 and say to them, 'This is
what the LORD Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as
this potter's jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury the dead in
Topheth until there is no more room. 12 This is what I will do to this
place and to those who live here, declares the LORD. I will make this city like
Topheth. 13
The houses in Jerusalem and those of the kings of Judah will be defiled like
this place, Topheth—all the houses where they burned
incense on the roofs to all the starry hosts and poured out drink offerings to
other gods.' "
14 Jeremiah then
returned from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to
prophesy, and stood in the court of the LORD's temple
and said to all the people, 15
"This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'Listen! I am
going to bring on this city and the villages around it every disaster I
pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked and would not listen to
my words.' "
1
When the priest Pashhur son of Immer,
the chief officer in the temple of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these
things, 2 he had Jeremiah
the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin at the LORD's temple. 3
The next day, when Pashhur released him from the
stocks, Jeremiah said to him, "The LORD's name
for you is not Pashhur, but Magor-Missabib.
[a] 4 For this is what the LORD says: 'I will make
you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyes you will
see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will hand all
7
O LORD, you deceived [b] me, and I was deceived [c] ;
you overpowered me and prevailed.
I am ridiculed all day long;
everyone mocks me.
8 Whenever I
speak, I cry out
proclaiming violence and destruction.
So the word of the LORD has brought me
insult and reproach all day long.
9 But if I say,
"I will not mention him
or speak any more in his name,"
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot.
10 I hear many
whispering,
"Terror on every side!
Report him! Let's report him!"
All my friends
are waiting for me to slip, saying,
"Perhaps he will be deceived;
then we will prevail over him
and take our revenge on him."
11 But the LORD is
with me like a mighty warrior;
so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
They will fail and be thoroughly
disgraced;
their dishonor will never be forgotten.
12 O LORD
Almighty, you who examine the righteous
and probe the heart and mind,
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you I have committed my cause.
13 Sing to the
LORD!
Give praise to the LORD!
He rescues the life of the needy
from the hands of the wicked.
14 Cursed be the
day I was born!
May the day my mother bore me not be
blessed!
15 Cursed be the
man who brought my father the news,
who made him very glad, saying,
"A child is born to you—a son!"
16 May that man be
like the towns
the LORD overthrew without pity.
May he hear wailing in the morning,
a battle cry at noon.
17 For he did not
kill me in the womb,
with my mother as my grave,
her womb enlarged forever.
18 Why did I ever
come out of the womb
to see trouble and sorrow
and to end my days in shame?
1
The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malkijah and the
priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. They said: 2 "Inquire now of the LORD
for us because Nebuchadnezzar [a] king of
3 But Jeremiah
answered them, "Tell Zedekiah, 4
'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I am about to turn against you
the weapons of war that are in your hands, which you are using to fight the
king of Babylon and the Babylonians [b] who are outside the wall besieging you. And
I will gather them inside this city. 5
I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm in
anger and fury and great wrath. 6
I will strike down those who live in this city—both men and animals—and they
will die of a terrible plague. 7
After that, declares the LORD, I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials
and the people in this city who survive the plague, sword and famine, to
Nebuchadnezzar king of
8
"Furthermore, tell the people, 'This is what the
LORD says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 Whoever stays in this city will
die by the sword, famine or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the
Babylonians who are besieging you will live; he will escape with his life. 10 I have determined to do this
city harm and not good, declares the LORD. It will be
given into the hands of the king of
11 "Moreover,
say to the royal house of Judah, 'Hear the word of the LORD; 12 O house of David, this is what
the LORD says:
" 'Administer justice every morning;
rescue from the hand of his oppressor
the one who has been robbed,
or my wrath will break out and burn like
fire
because of the evil you have done—
burn with no one to quench it.
13 I am against
you,
you who live above this valley
on the rocky plateau,
declares the LORD—
you who say, "Who can come against
us?
Who can enter our refuge?"
14 I will punish
you as your deeds deserve,
declares the LORD.
I will kindle a fire in your forests
that will consume everything around you.' "
1
This is what the LORD says: "Go down to the palace of the king of
6 For this is what
the LORD says about the palace of the king of
"Though you are like Gilead to me,
like the summit of
I will surely make you like a desert,
like towns not inhabited.
7 I will send
destroyers against you,
each man with his weapons,
and they will cut up your fine cedar beams
and throw them into the fire.
8 "People
from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, 'Why has the
LORD done such a thing to this great city?' 9 And the answer will be: 'Because they have forsaken
the covenant of the LORD their God and have worshiped and served other gods.'
"
10 Do not weep for
the dead king or mourn his loss;
rather, weep bitterly for him who is
exiled,
because he will never return
nor see his native land again.
11 For this is
what the LORD says about Shallum [a] son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as
king of Judah but has gone from this place: "He will never return. 12 He will die in the place where
they have led him captive; he will not see this land again."
13 "Woe to
him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,
his upper rooms by injustice,
making his countrymen work
for nothing,
not paying them for their labor.
14 He says, 'I
will build myself a great palace
with spacious upper rooms.'
So he makes large windows in it,
panels it with cedar
and decorates it in red.
15
"Does it make you a king
to have more and more cedar?
Did not your father have food and drink?
He did what was right and just,
so all went well with him.
16 He defended the
cause of the poor and needy,
and so all went well.
Is that not what it means to know
me?"
declares the LORD.
17 "But your
eyes and your heart
are set only on dishonest gain,
on shedding innocent blood
and on oppression and extortion."
18 Therefore this
is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim son of Josiah
king of
"They will not mourn for him:
'Alas, my brother! Alas,
my sister!'
They will not mourn for him:
'Alas, my master! Alas,
his splendor!'
19 He will have
the burial of a donkey—
dragged away and thrown
outside the gates of
20 "Go up to
let your voice be heard in
cry out from Abarim,
for all your allies are crushed.
21 I warned you
when you felt secure,
but you said, 'I will not listen!'
This has been your way from your youth;
you have not obeyed me.
22 The wind will
drive all your shepherds away,
and your allies will go into exile.
Then you will be ashamed and disgraced
because of all your wickedness.
23 You who live in
'
who are nestled in cedar buildings,
how you will groan when pangs come upon
you,
pain like that of a woman in labor!
24 "As surely
as I live," declares the LORD, "even if you,
Jehoiachin [c] son of Jehoiakim
king of
28 Is this man Jehoiachin a despised, broken pot,
an object no one wants?
Why will he and his children be hurled
out,
cast into a land they do not know?
29 O land, land, land,
hear the word of the LORD!
30 This is what
the LORD says:
"Record this man as if childless,
a man who will not prosper in his
lifetime,
for none of his offspring will prosper,
none will sit on the throne of David
or rule anymore in
1
"Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my
pasture!" declares the LORD. 2
Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who
tend my people: "Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away
and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the
evil you have done," declares the LORD. 3 "I myself will gather the remnant of my
flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them
back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. 4 I will place shepherds over
them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor
will any be missing," declares the LORD.
5 "The days
are coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will raise up to David [a] a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
6 In his days
and
This is the name by which he will be
called:
The LORD Our Righteousness.
7 "So then,
the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when people will no longer
say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,'
8 but they will say, 'As
surely as the LORD lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the
land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.'
Then they will live in their own land."
9
Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me;
all my bones tremble.
I am like a drunken man,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the LORD
and his holy words.
10 The land is
full of adulterers;
because of the curse [b] the land lies
parched [c]
and the pastures in the desert are
withered.
The prophets follow an evil course
and use their power unjustly.
11 "Both
prophet and priest are godless;
even in my temple I find their
wickedness,"
declares the LORD.
12 "Therefore
their path will become slippery;
they will be banished to darkness
and there they will fall.
I will bring disaster on them
in the year they are punished,"
declares the LORD.
13 "Among the
prophets of
I saw this repulsive thing:
They prophesied by Baal
and led my people
14 And among the
prophets of
I have seen something horrible:
They commit adultery and live a lie.
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one turns from his wickedness.
They are all like
the people of
15 Therefore, this
is what the LORD Almighty says concerning the prophets:
"I will make them eat bitter food
and drink poisoned water,
because from the prophets of
ungodliness has spread throughout the
land."
16 This is what
the LORD Almighty says:
"Do not listen to what the prophets
are prophesying to you;
they fill you with false hopes.
They speak visions from their own minds,
not from the mouth of the LORD.
17 They keep
saying to those who despise me,
'The LORD says: You will have peace.'
And to all who follow the stubbornness of
their hearts
they say, 'No harm will come to you.'
18 But which of
them has stood in the council of the LORD
to see or to hear his word?
Who has listened and heard his word?
19 See, the storm of the LORD
will burst out in wrath,
a whirlwind swirling down
on the heads of the wicked.
20 The anger of
the LORD will not turn back
until he fully accomplishes
the purposes of his heart.
In days to come
you will understand it clearly.
21 I did not send
these prophets,
yet they have run with their message;
I did not speak to them,
yet they have prophesied.
22 But if they had
stood in my council,
they would have proclaimed my words to my
people
and would have turned them from their evil
ways
and from their evil deeds.
23 "Am I only
a God nearby,"
declares the LORD,
"and not a God far away?
24 Can anyone hide in secret places
so that I cannot see him?"
declares the LORD.
"Do not I fill heaven and
earth?"
declares the LORD.
25 "I have
heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my
name. They say, 'I had a dream! I had a dream!' 26 How long will this continue in the hearts of these
lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds? 27 They think the dreams they
tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their fathers
forgot my name through Baal worship. 28
Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word
speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?" declares the LORD. 29
"Is not my word like fire," declares the LORD, "and like a
hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?
30
"Therefore," declares the LORD, "I am against the prophets who
steal from one another words supposedly from me. 31 Yes," declares the LORD, "I am against the
prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, 'The LORD declares.' 32 Indeed, I am against those who
prophesy false dreams," declares the LORD. "They tell them and lead
my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them.
They do not benefit these people in the least," declares the LORD.
33 "When these people, or a prophet or a priest, ask you, 'What is the oracle [d] of the LORD ?' say to them, 'What oracle? [e] I will forsake you, declares the LORD.' 34 If a prophet or a priest or anyone else claims, 'This is the oracle of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his household. 35 This is what each of you keeps on saying to his friend or relative: 'What is the LORD's answer?' or 'What has the LORD spoken?' 36 But you must not mention 'the oracle of the LORD ' again, because every man's own word becomes his oracle and so you distort the words of the living God, the LORD Almighty, our God. 37 This is what you keep saying to a prophet: 'What is the LORD's answer to you?' or 'What has the LORD spoken?' 38 Although you claim, 'This is the oracle of the LORD,' this is what the LORD says: You used the words, 'This is the oracle of the LORD,' even though I told you that you must not claim, 'This is the oracle of the LORD.' 39 Therefore, I will surely forget you and cast you out of my presence along with the city I gave to you and your fathers. 40 I will bring upon you everlasting disgrace—everlasting shame that will not be forgotten."
1
After Jehoiachin [a] son of Jehoiakim
king of
3 Then the LORD
asked me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?"
"Figs," I answered. "The
good ones are very good, but the poor ones are so bad they cannot be
eaten."
4 Then the word of
the LORD came to me: 5
"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Like these good figs, I
regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the
land of the Babylonians. [b] 6
My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I
will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down;
I will plant them and not uproot them. 7
I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my
people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their
heart.
8 " 'But like
the poor figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten,' says the LORD, 'so will
I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the survivors from
Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt. 9 I will make them abhorrent and
an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, an object
of ridicule and cursing, wherever I banish them. 10 I will send the sword, famine and plague against
them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their fathers.' "
1
The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of
4 And though the
LORD has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have
not listened or paid any attention. 5
They said, "Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil
practices, and you can stay in the land the LORD gave to you and your fathers
for ever and ever. 6 Do not
follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not provoke me to anger with
what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you."
7 "But you
did not listen to me," declares the LORD, "and you have provoked me
with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves."
8 Therefore the
LORD Almighty says this: "Because you have not listened to my words, 9 I will
summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of
12 "But when
the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of
15
This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: "Take from my hand
this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I
send you drink it. 16 When
they drink it, they will stagger and go mad because of the sword I will send
among them."
17 So I took the
cup from the LORD's hand and made all the nations to
whom he sent me drink it: 18
Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a ruin
and an object of horror and scorn and cursing, as they are today; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his
attendants, his officials and all his people, 20 and all the foreign people there; all the kings of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines (those of Ashkelon,
Gaza, Ekron, and the people left at Ashdod 21 Edom, Moab and Ammon; 22
all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; the kings of the
coastlands across the sea; 23
Dedan, Tema, Buz and all who are in distant places [c] ; 24
all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the foreign people who live in the
desert; 25 all the kings of
Zimri, Elam and Media; 26 and all the kings of the north, near and far, one
after the other—all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. And after all of
them, the king of Sheshach [d] will drink it too.
27 "Then tell
them, 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of
Israel, says: Drink, get drunk and vomit, and fall to rise no more because of
the sword I will send among you.' 28
But if they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink, tell them, 'This is what the LORD Almighty says: You must drink it! 29 See, I am beginning to bring
disaster on the city that bears my Name, and will you indeed go unpunished? You
will not go unpunished, for I am calling down a sword upon all who live on the
earth, declares the LORD Almighty.'
30 "Now
prophesy all these words against them and say to them:
" 'The LORD will roar from on high;
he will thunder from his holy dwelling
and roar mightily against his land.
He will shout like those who tread the
grapes,
shout against all who live on the earth.
31 The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth,
for the LORD will bring charges against
the nations;
he will bring judgment on all mankind
and put the wicked to the sword,' "
declares the LORD.
32 This is what
the LORD Almighty says:
"Look! Disaster is spreading
from nation to nation;
a mighty storm is rising
from the ends of the earth."
33 At that time
those slain by the LORD will be everywhere—from one end of the earth to the
other. They will not be mourned or gathered up or buried, but will be like
refuse lying on the ground.
34 Weep and wail,
you shepherds;
roll in the dust, you leaders of the
flock.
For your time to be slaughtered has come;
you will fall and be shattered like fine
pottery.
35 The shepherds
will have nowhere to flee,
the leaders of the flock no place to
escape.
36 Hear the cry of
the shepherds,
the wailing of the leaders of the flock,
for the LORD is destroying their pasture.
37 The peaceful
meadows will be laid waste
because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
38 Like a lion he
will leave his lair,
and their land will become desolate
because of the sword [e] of the oppressor
and because of the LORD's
fierce anger.
1
Early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of
7 The priests, the
prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of
the LORD. 8 But as soon as
Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him
to say, the priests, the prophets and all the people seized him and said,
"You must die! 9 Why
do you prophesy in the LORD's name that this house
will be like
10 When the
officials of
12 Then Jeremiah
said to all the officials and all the people: "The LORD sent me to
prophesy against this house and this city all the things you have heard. 13 Now reform your ways and your
actions and obey the LORD your God. Then the LORD will relent and not bring the
disaster he has pronounced against you. 14
As for me, I am in your hands; do with me whatever you think is good and right.
15 Be assured, however,
that if you put me to death, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on
yourselves and on this city and on those who live in it, for in truth the LORD
has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing."
16 Then the
officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, "This
man should not be sentenced to death! He has spoken to us in the name of the
LORD our God."
17 Some of the
elders of the land stepped forward and said to the entire assembly of people, 18 "Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of
" '
the temple hill a mound overgrown with
thickets.' [a]
19 "Did
Hezekiah king of
20 (Now Uriah son
of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim was another man who prophesied in the name of the
LORD; he prophesied the same things against this city and this land as Jeremiah
did. 21 When King Jehoiakim and all his officers and officials heard his
words, the king sought to put him to death. But Uriah heard of it and fled in
fear to
24 Furthermore, Ahikam son of Shaphan supported
Jeremiah, and so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.
1
Early in the reign of Zedekiah [a] son of Josiah king of
8 " '
"If, however, any nation or kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of
12 I gave the same
message to Zedekiah king of
16 Then I said to
the priests and all these people, "This is what the LORD says: Do not
listen to the prophets who say, 'Very soon now the articles from the LORD's house will be brought back from
1
In the fifth month of that same year, the fourth year, early in the reign of
Zedekiah king of Judah, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, said to me in the house of the
LORD in the presence of the priests and all the people: 2 "This is what the LORD Almighty, the God
of Israel, says: 'I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I will bring
back to this place all the articles of the LORD's
house that Nebuchadnezzar king of
5 Then the prophet
Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah before the
priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD. 6 He said, "Amen! May the
LORD do so! May the LORD fulfill the words you have prophesied by bringing the
articles of the LORD's house and all the exiles back
to this place from
10 Then the
prophet Hananiah took the yoke off the neck of the
prophet Jeremiah and broke it, 11
and he said before all the people, "This is what the LORD says: 'In the
same way will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon off the neck
of all the nations within two years.' " At this,
the prophet Jeremiah went on his way.
12 Shortly after
the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke off the neck
of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 13 "Go and tell Hananiah, 'This is what the LORD says: You have broken a
wooden yoke, but in its place you will get a yoke of iron. 14 This is what the LORD
Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will put an iron yoke on the necks of all
these nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of
15 Then the
prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet,
"Listen, Hananiah! The LORD has not sent you,
yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies. 16 Therefore, this is what the LORD says: 'I am about
to remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you are going to die,
because you have preached rebellion against the LORD.' "
17 In the seventh
month of that same year, Hananiah the prophet died.
1
This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from
4 This is what the
LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from
10 This is what
the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for
15 You may say,
"The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon," 16 but this is what the LORD says
about the king who sits on David's throne and all the people who remain in this
city, your countrymen who did not go with you into exile- 17 yes, this is what the LORD
Almighty says: "I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and
I will make them like poor figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. 18 I will pursue them with the
sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of
the earth and an object of cursing and horror, of scorn and reproach, among all
the nations where I drive them. 19
For they have not listened to my words," declares
the LORD, "words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the
prophets. And you exiles have not listened either," declares the LORD.
20 Therefore, hear
the word of the LORD, all you exiles whom I have sent away from
24
Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite,
25 "This is what the
LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You sent letters in your own name to
all the people in
29 Zephaniah the
priest, however, read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet. 30 Then the word of the LORD came
to Jeremiah: 31 "Send
this message to all the exiles: 'This is what the LORD says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send
him, and has led you to believe a lie, 32
this is what the LORD says: I will surely punish Shemaiah
the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no
one left among this people, nor will he see the good things I will do for my
people, declares the LORD, because he has preached rebellion against me.' "
1
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD :
2 "This is what the
LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Write in a book all the words I have spoken to
you. 3 The days are
coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back
from captivity [a] and restore them to the land I gave their
forefathers to possess,' says the LORD."
4 These are the
words the LORD spoke concerning
" 'Cries of fear are heard—
terror, not peace.
6 Ask and see:
Can a man bear children?
Then why do I see every strong man
with his hands on his stomach like a woman
in labor,
every face turned deathly pale?
7 How awful that
day will be!
None will be like it.
It will be a time of trouble for Jacob,
but he will be saved out of it.
8 " 'In that
day,' declares the LORD Almighty,
'I will break the yoke off their necks
and will tear off their bonds;
no longer will foreigners enslave them.
9 Instead, they
will serve the LORD their God
and David their king,
whom I will raise up for them.
10 " 'So do not fear, O Jacob my servant;
do not be dismayed, O Israel,'
declares the LORD.
'I will surely save you out of a distant
place,
your descendants from the land of their
exile.
Jacob will again have peace and security,
and no one will make him afraid.
11 I am with you
and will save you,'
declares the LORD.
'Though I completely destroy all the
nations
among which I scatter you,
I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you but only with
justice;
I will not let you go entirely
unpunished.'
12 "This is
what the LORD says:
" 'Your
wound is incurable,
your injury beyond healing.
13 There is no one
to plead your cause,
no remedy for your sore,
no healing for you.
14 All your allies
have forgotten you;
they care nothing for you.
I have struck you as an enemy would
and punished you as would the cruel,
because your guilt is so great
and your sins so many.
15 Why do you cry
out over your wound,
your pain that has no cure?
Because of your great guilt and many sins
I have done these things to you.
16 " 'But all
who devour you will be devoured;
all your enemies will go into exile.
Those who plunder you will be plundered;
all who make spoil of you I will despoil.
17 But I will
restore you to health
and heal your wounds,'
declares the LORD,
'because you are called an outcast,
18 "This is
what the LORD says:
" 'I will restore the fortunes of
Jacob's tents
and have compassion on his dwellings;
the city will be rebuilt on her ruins,
and the palace will stand in its proper
place.
19 From them will
come songs of thanksgiving
and the sound of rejoicing.
I will add to their numbers,
and they will not be decreased;
I will bring them honor,
and they will not be disdained.
20 Their children
will be as in days of old,
and their community will be established
before me;
I will punish all who oppress them.
21 Their leader
will be one of their own;
their ruler will arise from among them.
I will bring him near and he will come
close to me,
for who is he who will devote himself
to be close to me?'
declares the LORD.
22
" 'So you will be my people,
and I will be your God.' "
23 See, the storm of the LORD
will burst out in wrath,
a driving wind swirling down
on the heads of the wicked.
24 The fierce
anger of the LORD will not turn back
until he fully accomplishes
the purposes of his heart.
In days to come
you will understand this.
1 "At that
time," declares the LORD, "I will be the God of all the clans of
2 This is what the
LORD says:
"The people who survive the sword
will find favor in the desert;
I will come to give rest to
3 The LORD
appeared to us in the past, [a] saying:
"I have loved you with an everlasting
love;
I have drawn you with loving-kindness.
4 I will build you
up again
and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel.
Again you will take up your tambourines
and go out to dance with the joyful.
5 Again you will
plant vineyards
on the hills of
the farmers will plant them
and enjoy their fruit.
6 There will be a
day when watchmen cry out
on the hills of Ephraim,
'Come, let us go up to
to the LORD our God.' "
7 This is what the
LORD says:
"Sing with joy for Jacob;
shout for the foremost of the nations.
Make your praises heard, and say,
'O LORD, save your people,
the remnant of
8 See, I will
bring them from the land of the north
and gather them from the ends of the
earth.
Among them will be the blind and the lame,
expectant mothers and women in labor;
a great throng will return.
9 They will come
with weeping;
they will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead them beside streams of water
on a level path where they will not
stumble,
because I am
and Ephraim is my firstborn son.
10 "Hear the
word of the LORD, O nations;
proclaim it in distant coastlands:
'He who scattered
and will watch over his flock like a
shepherd.'
11 For the LORD
will ransom Jacob
and redeem them from the hand of those
stronger than they.
12 They will come
and shout for joy on the heights of
they will rejoice in the bounty of the
LORD—
the grain, the new wine and the oil,
the young of the flocks and herds.
They will be like a well-watered garden,
and they will sorrow no more.
13 Then maidens
will dance and be glad,
young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into gladness;
I will give them comfort and joy instead
of sorrow.
14 I will satisfy
the priests with abundance,
and my people will be filled with my
bounty,"
declares the LORD.
15 This is what
the LORD says:
"A voice is heard in Ramah,
mourning and great weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because her children are no more."
16 This is what
the LORD says:
"Restrain your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears,
for your work will be rewarded,"
declares the LORD.
"They will return from the land of
the enemy.
17 So there is hope for your future,"
declares the LORD.
"Your children will return to their
own land.
18 "I have
surely heard Ephraim's moaning:
'You disciplined me like an unruly calf,
and I have been disciplined.
Restore me, and I will return,
because you are the LORD my God.
19 After I
strayed,
I repented;
after I came to understand,
I beat my breast.
I was ashamed and humiliated
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.'
20 Is not Ephraim
my dear son,
the child in whom I delight?
Though I often speak against him,
I still remember him.
Therefore my heart yearns for him;
I have great compassion for him,"
declares the LORD.
21 "Set up
road signs;
put up guideposts.
Take note of the highway,
the road that you take.
Return, O Virgin Israel,
return to your towns.
22 How long will
you wander,
O unfaithful daughter?
The LORD will create a new thing on earth—
a woman will surround [b] a man."
23 This is what
the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "When I bring them back from
captivity, [c] the people in the land of Judah and in its
towns will once again use these words: 'The LORD bless you, O righteous
dwelling, O sacred mountain.' 24
People will live together in Judah and all its towns—farmers and those who move
about with their flocks. 25
I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint."
26 At this I awoke
and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me.
27 "The days
are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will plant the house of
'The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children's teeth are set on edge.'
30 Instead,
everyone will die for his own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—his own teeth will
be set on edge.
31 "The time
is coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will make a new covenant
with the house of
and with the house of
32 It will not be
like the covenant
I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to [d] them, [e] "
declares the LORD.
33 "This is
the covenant I will make with the house of
after that time," declares the LORD.
"I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 No longer will
a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the
LORD,'
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,"
declares the LORD.
"For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no
more."
35 This is what
the LORD says,
he who appoints the sun
to shine by day,
who decrees the moon and stars
to shine by night,
who stirs up the sea
so that its waves roar—
the LORD Almighty is his name:
36 "Only if
these decrees vanish from my sight,"
declares the LORD,
"will the descendants of
to be a nation before me."
37 This is what
the LORD says:
"Only if the heavens above can be
measured
and the foundations of the earth below be searched out
will I reject all the descendants of
because of all they have done,"
declares the LORD.
38 "The days
are coming," declares the LORD, "when this city will be rebuilt for
me from the
1
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of
Zedekiah king of
3 Now Zedekiah
king of
6 Jeremiah said,
"The word of the LORD came to me: 7
Hanamel son of Shallum your
uncle is going to come to you and say, 'Buy my field at Anathoth,
because as nearest relative it is your right and duty to buy it.'
8 "Then, just
as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in
the courtyard of the guard and said, 'Buy my field at Anathoth
in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.'
"I knew that this was the word of the
LORD; 9 so I bought the
field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel
and weighed out for him seventeen shekels [b] of silver. 10 I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and
weighed out the silver on the scales. 11
I took the deed of purchase—the sealed copy containing the terms and
conditions, as well as the unsealed copy- 12 and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in
the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the
witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard
of the guard.
13 "In their
presence I gave Baruch these instructions: 14 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel,
says: Take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of
purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time. 15 For this is what the LORD
Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be
bought in this land.'
16 "After I
had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah,
I prayed to the LORD :
17 "Ah,
Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and
outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. 18 You show love to thousands but bring the punishment
for the fathers' sins into the laps of their children after them. O great and
powerful God, whose name is the LORD Almighty, 19 great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds.
Your eyes are open to all the ways of men; you reward everyone according to his
conduct and as his deeds deserve. 20
You performed miraculous signs and wonders in
24 "See how
the siege ramps are built up to take the city. Because of the sword, famine and
plague, the city will be handed over to the Babylonians who are attacking it.
What you said has happened, as you now see. 25 And though the city will be handed over to the
Babylonians, you, O Sovereign LORD, say to me, 'Buy the field with silver and
have the transaction witnessed.' "
26 Then the word
of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 27
"I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? 28 Therefore, this is what the
LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the Babylonians and to
Nebuchadnezzar king of
30 "The
people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their
youth; indeed, the people of Israel have done nothing but provoke me with what
their hands have made, declares the LORD. 31 From the day it was built until now, this city has
so aroused my anger and wrath that I must remove it from my sight. 32 The people of
36 "You are
saying about this city, 'By the sword, famine and plague it will be handed over
to the king of Babylon'; but this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 37 I will surely gather them from
all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will
bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. 38 They will be my people, and I
will be their God. 39 I
will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me
for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 I will make an everlasting
covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to
them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away
from me. 41 I will rejoice
in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart
and soul.
42 "This is
what the LORD says: As I have brought all this great
calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised
them. 43 Once more fields
will be bought in this land of which you say, 'It is a desolate waste, without
men or animals, for it has been handed over to the Babylonians.' 44 Fields will be bought for
silver, and deeds will be signed, sealed and witnessed in the
1
While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of
the LORD came to him a second time: 2
"This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it
and established it—the LORD is his name: 3
'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things
you do not know.' 4 For
this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the houses in this city
and the royal palaces of Judah that have been torn down to be used against the
siege ramps and the sword 5
in the fight with the Babylonians [a] : 'They will be filled with the dead bodies of
the men I will slay in my anger and wrath. I will hide my face from this city
because of all its wickedness.
6
" 'Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my
people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. 7 I will bring
10 "This is
what the LORD says: 'You say about this place, "It is a desolate waste,
without men or animals." Yet in the towns of Judah and the streets of
Jerusalem that are deserted, inhabited by neither men nor animals, there will
be heard once more 11 the
sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices
of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD, saying,
"Give thanks to the LORD Almighty,
for the LORD is good;
his love endures forever."
For I will restore the fortunes of the land
as they were before,' says the LORD.
12 "This is
what the LORD Almighty says: 'In this place, desolate and without men or
animals—in all its towns there will again be pastures for shepherds to rest
their flocks. 13 In the
towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, in the
territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem and in the towns of
Judah, flocks will again pass under the hand of the one who counts them,' says
the LORD.
14 " 'The
days are coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will fulfill the gracious promise
I made to the house of
15 " 'In
those days and at that time
I will make a righteous Branch sprout from
David's line;
he will do what is just and right in the
land.
16 In those days
and
This is the name by which it [c] will be called:
The LORD Our Righteousness.'
17 For this is
what the LORD says: 'David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne
of the house of Israel, 18
nor will the priests, who are Levites, ever fail to have a man to stand before
me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present
sacrifices.' "
19 The word of the
LORD came to Jeremiah: 20
"This is what the LORD says: 'If you can break my covenant with the day
and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their
appointed time, 21 then my covenant
with David my servant—and my covenant with the Levites who are priests
ministering before me—can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant
to reign on his throne. 22
I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister
before me as countless as the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand
on the seashore.' "
23 The word of the
LORD came to Jeremiah: 24
"Have you not noticed that these people are saying, 'The LORD has rejected
the two kingdoms [d] he chose'? So they despise my people and no
longer regard them as a nation. 25
This is what the LORD says: 'If I have not established my covenant with day and
night and the fixed laws of heaven and earth, 26 then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and
David my servant and will not choose one of his sons to rule over the
descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes [e] and have compassion on them.' "
1
While Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms and
peoples in the empire he ruled were fighting against Jerusalem and all its
surrounding towns, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD :
2 "This is what the
LORD, the God of Israel, says: Go to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, 'This
is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of
Babylon, and he will burn it down. 3
You will not escape from his grasp but will surely be captured and handed over
to him. You will see the king of
4 " 'Yet hear the promise of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of
6 Then Jeremiah
the prophet told all this to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, 7 while the army of the king of
Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah that were
still holding out—Lachish and Azekah. These were the
only fortified cities left in
8
The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant
with all the people in
12 Then the word
of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 13
"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with
your forefathers when I brought them out of
17
"Therefore, this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed me; you have
not proclaimed freedom for your fellow countrymen. So I now proclaim 'freedom'
for you, declares the LORD -'freedom' to fall by the sword, plague and famine.
I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 The men who have violated my
covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me,
I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces. 19 The leaders of
21
"I will hand Zedekiah king of
1
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD during the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of
3 So I went to get
Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons—the whole
family of the Recabites. 4 I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the
room of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah
the man of God. It was next to the room of the officials, which was over that
of Maaseiah son of Shallum
the doorkeeper. 5 Then I
set bowls full of wine and some cups before the men of the Recabite
family and said to them, "Drink some wine."
6 But they replied,
"We do not drink wine, because our forefather Jonadab
son of Recab gave us this command: 'Neither you nor your descendants must ever drink wine. 7 Also you must never build
houses, sow seed or plant vineyards; you must never have any of these things,
but must always live in tents. Then you will live a long time in the land where
you are nomads.' 8 We have
obeyed everything our forefather Jonadab son of Recab commanded us. Neither we nor our wives nor our sons
and daughters have ever drunk wine 9
or built houses to live in or had vineyards, fields or crops. 10 We have lived in tents and
have fully obeyed everything our forefather Jonadab
commanded us. 11 But when
Nebuchadnezzar king of
12 Then the word
of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying: 13
"This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go and tell the
men of
17
"Therefore, this is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
'Listen! I am going to bring on
18 Then Jeremiah
said to the family of the Recabites, "This is
what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: 'You have obeyed the command
of your forefather Jonadab and have followed all his
instructions and have done everything he ordered.' 19 Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God
of Israel, says: 'Jonadab son of Recab
will never fail to have a man to serve me.' "
1
In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of
4 So Jeremiah
called Baruch son of Neriah, and while Jeremiah
dictated all the words the LORD had spoken to him, Baruch wrote them on the
scroll. 5 Then Jeremiah
told Baruch, "I am restricted; I cannot go to the LORD's
temple. 6 So you go to the
house of the LORD on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll
the words of the LORD that you wrote as I dictated. Read them to all the people
of Judah who come in from their towns. 7
Perhaps they will bring their petition before the
LORD, and each will turn from his wicked ways, for the anger and wrath
pronounced against this people by the LORD are great."
8 Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet told him to do;
at the LORD's temple he read the words of the LORD
from the scroll. 9 In the
ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of
Josiah king of
11 When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son
of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the
scroll, 12 he went down to
the secretary's room in the royal palace, where all the officials were sitting:
Elishama the secretary, Delaiah
son of Shemaiah, Elnathan
son of Acbor, Gemariah son
of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah,
and all the other officials. 13
After Micaiah told them everything he had heard
Baruch read to the people from the scroll, 14 all the officials sent Jehudi
son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah,
the son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, "Bring the
scroll from which you have read to the people and come." So Baruch son of Neriah went to them with the scroll in his hand. 15 They said to him, "Sit
down, please, and read it to us."
So Baruch read it to them. 16 When they heard all these
words, they looked at each other in fear and said to Baruch, "We must
report all these words to the king." 17 Then they asked Baruch, "Tell us, how did you come to write all this? Did Jeremiah dictate
it?"
18
"Yes," Baruch replied, "he dictated all these words to me, and I
wrote them in ink on the scroll."
19 Then the
officials said to Baruch, "You and Jeremiah, go
and hide. Don't let anyone know where you are."
20 After they put
the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary,
they went to the king in the courtyard and reported everything to him. 21 The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and Jehudi
brought it from the room of Elishama the secretary
and read it to the king and all the officials standing beside him. 22 It was the ninth month and the
king was sitting in the winter apartment, with a fire burning in the firepot in
front of him. 23 Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the
king cut them off with a scribe's knife and threw them into the firepot, until
the entire scroll was burned in the fire. 24 The king and all his attendants who heard all these
words showed no fear, nor did they tear their clothes.
25 Even though Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would
not listen to them. 26
Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the
king, Seraiah son of Azriel
and Shelemiah son of Abdeel
to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD had hidden
them.
27 After the king
burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah's
dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 28 "Take another scroll and write on it all the
words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim
king of
32 So Jeremiah
took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah,
and as Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of
1
Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of
3 King Zedekiah,
however, sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah
with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah
the prophet with this message: "Please pray to the LORD our God for
us."
4 Now Jeremiah was
free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. 5 Pharaoh's army had marched out
of
6 Then the word of
the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7
"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of
9 "This is
what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, 'The Babylonians will
surely leave us.' They will not! 10
Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian [c] army that is attacking you and only wounded
men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn this city
down."
11 After the
Babylonian army had withdrawn from
14
"That's not true!" Jeremiah said. "I am not deserting to
the Babylonians." But Irijah would not listen to
him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15 They were angry with Jeremiah
and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which
they had made into a prison.
16 Jeremiah was
put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time. 17 Then King Zedekiah sent for
him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked him privately, "Is
there any word from the LORD ?"
"Yes," Jeremiah replied,
"you will be handed over to the king of
18 Then Jeremiah
said to King Zedekiah, "What crime have I committed against you or your
officials or this people, that you have put me in prison? 19 Where are your prophets who
prophesied to you, 'The king of
21 King Zedekiah
then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and
given bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread in the
city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
1 Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal [a] son of Shelemiah,
and Pashhur son of Malkijah
heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people when he said, 2 "This is what the LORD says: 'Whoever
stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes
over to the Babylonians [b] will live. He will escape with his life; he
will live.' 3 And this is
what the LORD says: 'This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the
king of
4 Then the
officials said to the king, "This man should be put to death. He is
discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people,
by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these
people but their ruin."
5 "He is in
your hands," King Zedekiah answered. "The king can do nothing to
oppose you."
6 So they took
Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah,
the king's son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah
by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud,
and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.
7 But Ebed-Melech, a Cushite, [c] an official [d] in the royal palace, heard that they had
put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate,
8 Ebed-Melech
went out of the palace and said to him, 9
"My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to
Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern, where he will starve
to death when there is no longer any bread in the city."
10 Then the king
commanded Ebed-Melech the Cushite,
"Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of
the cistern before he dies."
11 So Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went to a room under
the treasury in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothes from
there and let them down with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. 12 Ebed-Melech
the Cushite said to Jeremiah, "Put these old
rags and worn-out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes." Jeremiah did
so, 13 and they pulled him
up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in
the courtyard of the guard.
14
Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the
third entrance to the temple of the LORD. "I am going to ask you
something," the king said to Jeremiah. "Do not hide anything from
me."
15 Jeremiah said
to Zedekiah, "If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did
give you counsel, you would not listen to me."
16 But King
Zedekiah swore this oath secretly to Jeremiah: "As surely as the LORD
lives, who has given us breath, I will neither kill you nor hand you over to
those who are seeking your life."
17 Then Jeremiah
said to Zedekiah, "This is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel,
says: 'If you surrender to the officers of the king of
19 King Zedekiah
said to Jeremiah, "I am afraid of the Jews who have gone over to the
Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will
mistreat me."
20 "They will
not hand you over," Jeremiah replied. "Obey the LORD by doing what I
tell you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared. 21 But if you refuse to
surrender, this is what the LORD has revealed to me: 22 All the women left in the
palace of the king of
" 'They
misled you and overcame you—
those trusted friends of yours.
Your feet are sunk in the mud;
your friends have deserted you.'
23
"All your wives and children will be brought out to the Babylonians.
You yourself will not escape from their hands but will be captured by the king
of
24 Then Zedekiah
said to Jeremiah, "Do not let anyone know about this conversation, or you
may die. 25 If the
officials hear that I talked with you, and they come to you and say, 'Tell us
what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us
or we will kill you,' 26
then tell them, 'I was pleading with the king not to send me back to Jonathan's
house to die there.' "
27 All the officials
did come to Jeremiah and question him, and he told them everything the king had
ordered him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had heard his
conversation with the king.
28 And Jeremiah
remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day
1
This is how
5 But the
Babylonian [c] army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in
the plains of
8 The Babylonians [d] set fire to the royal palace and the houses
of the people and broke down the walls of
11 Now
Nebuchadnezzar king of
15 While Jeremiah
had been confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to
him: 16 "Go and tell Ebed-Melech the Cushite, 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I
am about to fulfill my words against this city through disaster, not
prosperity. At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes. 17 But I will rescue you on that
day, declares the LORD; you will not be handed over to those you fear. 18 I will save you; you will not
fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the LORD.' "
1
The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan
commander of the imperial guard had released him at Ramah. He had found
Jeremiah bound in chains among all the captives from
Then the commander gave him provisions and
a present and let him go. 6
So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and stayed with
him among the people who were left behind in the land.
7
When all the army officers and their men who were still in the open country
heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah
son of Ahikam as governor over the land and had put
him in charge of the men, women and children who were the poorest in the land
and who had not been carried into exile to Babylon, 8 they came to Gedaliah
at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah,
Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah,
Seraiah son of Tanhumeth,
the sons of Ephai the Netophathite,
and Jaazaniah [b] the son of the Maacathite,
and their men. 9 Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son
of Shaphan, took an oath to reassure them and their
men. "Do not be afraid to serve the Babylonians, [c] " he said. "Settle down in the land
and serve the king of
11 When all the
Jews in Moab, Ammon, Edom and all the other countries
heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son
of Shaphan, as governor over them, 12 they all came back to the land
of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah,
from all the countries where they had been scattered. And they harvested an
abundance of wine and summer fruit.
13 Johanan son of Kareah and all the
army officers still in the open country came to Gedaliah
at Mizpah 14
and said to him, "Don't you know that Baalis
king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah
to take your life?" But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them.
15 Then Johanan son of Kareah said
privately to Gedaliah in Mizpah,
"Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah,
and no one will know it. Why should he take your life and cause all the Jews
who are gathered around you to be scattered and the remnant of
16 But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah,
"Don't do such a thing! What you are saying about Ishmael is not true."
1 In the seventh
month Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood and had been one of the
king's officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of
Ahikam at Mizpah. While
they were eating together there, 2
Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were
with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with
the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor
over the land. 3 Ishmael
also killed all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Babylonian [a] soldiers who were there.
4 The day after Gedaliah's assassination, before anyone knew about it, 5 eighty men who had shaved off
their beards, torn their clothes and cut themselves came from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria, bringing grain offerings and
incense with them to the house of the LORD. 6 Ishmael son of Nethaniah
went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he
went. When he met them, he said, "Come to Gedaliah
son of Ahikam." 7 When they went into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them
and threw them into a cistern. 8
But ten of them said to Ishmael, "Don't kill us!
We have wheat and barley, oil and honey, hidden in a field." So he let
them alone and did not kill them with the others. 9 Now the cistern where he threw all the bodies of the
men he had killed along with Gedaliah was the one
King Asa had made as part of his defense against Baasha king of
10 Ishmael made
captives of all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah—the
king's daughters along with all the others who were left there, over whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael
son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to
cross over to the Ammonites.
11 When Johanan son of Kareah and all the
army officers who were with him heard about all the crimes Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed, 12 they took all their men and went to fight Ishmael
son of Nethaniah. They caught up with him near the
great pool in
16
Then Johanan son of Kareah
and all the army officers who were with him led away all the survivors from Mizpah whom he had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after he had assassinated Gedaliah
son of Ahikam: the soldiers, women, children and
court officials he had brought from
1 Then all the
army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah [a] son of Hoshaiah,
and all the people from the least to the greatest approached 2 Jeremiah the prophet and said
to him, "Please hear our petition and pray to the LORD your God for this
entire remnant. For as you now see, though we were once many,
now only a few are left. 3
Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should
do."
4 "I have
heard you," replied Jeremiah the prophet. "I will certainly pray to
the LORD your God as you have requested; I will tell you everything the LORD
says and will keep nothing back from you."
5 Then they said
to Jeremiah, "May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we
do not act in accordance with everything the LORD your God sends you to tell
us. 6 Whether it is
favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the LORD our God, to whom we are sending
you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the LORD our God."
7 Ten days later
the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah. 8
So he called together Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him and all
the people from the least to the greatest. 9 He said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God
of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your petition, says: 10 'If you stay in this land, I
will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you,
for I am grieved over the disaster I have inflicted on you. 11 Do not be afraid of the king
of
13 "However,
if you say, 'We will not stay in this land,' and so disobey the LORD your God, 14 and if you say, 'No, we will
go and live in Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the trumpet or be
hungry for bread,' 15 then
hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah. This is what the LORD Almighty,
the God of Israel, says: 'If you are determined to go to Egypt and you do go to
settle there, 16 then the
sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow
you into Egypt, and there you will die. 17
Indeed, all who are determined to go to
19 "O remnant
of
1 When Jeremiah
finished telling the people all the words of the LORD their God—everything the
LORD had sent him to tell them- 2
Azariah son of Hoshaiah and
Johanan son of Kareah and
all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, "You are lying! The LORD our God
has not sent you to say, 'You must not go to
4 So Johanan son of Kareah and all the
army officers and all the people disobeyed the LORD's
command to stay in the
8 In Tahpanhes the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 9 "While the Jews are
watching, take some large stones with you and bury them in clay in the brick
pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh's palace in Tahpanhes.
10 Then say to them, 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I
will send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of
1
This word came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews living in Lower Egypt—in Migdol, Tahpanhes and Memphis [a] —and in Upper Egypt [b] : 2
"This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You saw the
great disaster I brought on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah. Today they
lie deserted and in ruins 3
because of the evil they have done. They provoked me to anger by burning
incense and by worshiping other gods that neither they nor you nor your fathers
ever knew. 4 Again and
again I sent my servants the prophets, who said, 'Do not do this detestable
thing that I hate!' 5 But
they did not listen or pay attention; they did not turn from their wickedness
or stop burning incense to other gods. 6
Therefore, my fierce anger was poured out; it raged against the towns of
7 "Now this
is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Why bring such great
disaster on yourselves by cutting off from
11
"Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am
determined to bring disaster on you and to destroy all
15 Then all the
men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with
all the women who were present—a large assembly—and all the people living in Lower
and Upper Egypt, [c] said to Jeremiah, 16 "We will not listen to the message you have
spoken to us in the name of the LORD! 17
We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the
Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our
fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of
19 The women
added, "When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink
offerings to her, did not our husbands know that we were making cakes like her
image and pouring out drink offerings to her?"
20 Then Jeremiah
said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him, 21 "Did not the LORD
remember and think about the incense burned in the towns of Judah and the
streets of Jerusalem by you and your fathers, your kings and your officials and
the people of the land? 22
When the LORD could no longer endure your wicked actions and the detestable
things you did, your land became an object of cursing and a desolate waste
without inhabitants, as it is today. 23
Because you have burned incense and have sinned against the LORD and have not
obeyed him or followed his law or his decrees or his stipulations, this
disaster has come upon you, as you now see."
24 Then Jeremiah
said to all the people, including the women, "Hear the word of the LORD,
all you people of
"Go ahead then, do what you promised!
Keep your vows! 26 But hear
the word of the LORD, all Jews living in
29 " 'This
will be the sign to you that I will punish you in this place,' declares the
LORD, 'so that you will know that my threats of harm against you will surely
stand.' 30 This is what the
LORD says: 'I am going to hand Pharaoh Hophra king of
Egypt over to his enemies who seek his life, just as I handed Zedekiah king of
Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the enemy who was seeking his
life.' "
1
This is what Jeremiah the prophet told Baruch son of Neriah
in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of
Judah, after Baruch had written on a scroll the words Jeremiah was then
dictating: 2 "This is
what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: 3 You said, 'Woe to me! The LORD has added sorrow
to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest.' "
4 The LORD said,
"Say this to him: 'This is what the LORD says: I
will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the
land. 5 Should you then
seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all
people, declares the LORD, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your
life.' "
1
This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the
nations:
2 Concerning
This is the message against the army of
Pharaoh Neco king of
3 "Prepare
your shields, both large and small,
and march out for battle!
4 Harness the
horses,
mount the steeds!
Take your positions
with helmets on!
Polish your spears,
put on your armor!
5 What do I see?
They are terrified,
they are retreating,
their warriors
are defeated.
They flee in haste
without looking back,
and there is terror on every side,"
declares the LORD.
6 "The swift
cannot flee
nor the strong escape.
In the north by the River Euphrates
they stumble and fall.
7
"Who is this that rises like the
like rivers of surging waters?
8
like rivers of surging waters.
She says, 'I will rise and cover the
earth;
I will destroy cities and their people.'
9 Charge, O
horses!
Drive furiously, O charioteers!
March on, O warriors—
men of
men of
10 But that day
belongs to the LORD, the Lord Almighty—
a day of vengeance, for vengeance on his
foes.
The sword will devour till it is
satisfied,
till it has quenched its thirst with
blood.
For the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will
offer sacrifice
in the land of the north by the River
Euphrates.
11 "Go up to
O Virgin Daughter of Egypt.
But you multiply remedies in vain;
there is no healing for you.
12 The nations
will hear of your shame;
your cries will fill the earth.
One warrior will stumble over another;
both will fall down together."
13 This is the
message the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of
Nebuchadnezzar king of
14 "Announce
this in
proclaim it also in
'Take your positions and get ready,
for the sword devours those around you.'
15 Why will your
warriors be laid low?
They cannot stand, for the LORD will push
them down.
16 They will
stumble repeatedly;
they will fall over each other.
They will say, 'Get up,
let us go back
to our own people and our native lands,
away from the sword of the oppressor.'
17 There they will
exclaim,
'Pharaoh king of
he has missed his opportunity.'
18 "As surely
as I live," declares the King,
whose name is the LORD Almighty,
"one will come who is like Tabor
among the mountains,
like
19 Pack your
belongings for exile,
you who live in
for
and lie in ruins without inhabitant.
20 "
but a gadfly is coming
against her from the north.
21 The mercenaries
in her ranks
are like fattened calves.
They too will turn and flee together,
they will not stand their ground,
for the day of disaster is coming upon
them,
the time for them to be punished.
22
as the enemy advances in force;
they will come against her with axes,
like men who cut down trees.
23 They will chop
down her forest,"
declares the LORD,
"dense though it be.
They are more numerous than locusts,
they cannot be counted.
24 The Daughter of
handed over to the people of the
north."
25 The LORD
Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "I am about to bring punishment on Amon god of
27 "Do not
fear, O Jacob my servant;
do not be dismayed, O Israel.
I will surely save you out of a distant
place,
your descendants from the land of their
exile.
Jacob will again have peace and security,
and no one will make him afraid.
28 Do not fear, O
Jacob my servant,
for I am with you," declares the LORD.
"Though I completely destroy all the
nations
among which I scatter you,
I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you but only with
justice;
I will not let you go entirely unpunished."
1
This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the
Philistines before Pharaoh attacked
2 This is what the
LORD says:
"See how the waters are rising in the
north;
they will become an overflowing torrent.
They will overflow the land and everything
in it,
the towns and those who live in them.
The people will cry out;
all who dwell in the land will wail
3
at the sound of the hoofs of galloping steeds,
at the noise of enemy chariots
and the rumble of their wheels.
Fathers will not turn to help their
children;
their hands will hang limp.
4 For the day has come
to destroy all the Philistines
and to cut off all survivors
who could help
The LORD is about to destroy the
Philistines,
the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor. [a]
5
O remnant on the plain,
how long will you cut yourselves?
6 " 'Ah,
sword of the LORD,' you cry,
'how long till you rest?
Return to your scabbard;
cease and be still.'
7 But how can it
rest
when the LORD has commanded it,
when he has ordered it
to attack
1
Concerning
This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of
Israel, says:
"Woe to Nebo, for it will be ruined.
Kiriathaim will
be disgraced and captured;
the stronghold [a] will be disgraced and shattered.
2
in Heshbon [b] men will plot her downfall:
'Come, let us put an end to that nation.'
You too, O Madmen, [c] will be silenced;
the sword will pursue you.
3 Listen to the
cries from Horonaim,
cries of great havoc and destruction.
4
her little ones will cry out. [d]
5 They go up the
way to Luhith,
weeping bitterly as they go;
on the road down to Horonaim
anguished cries over the destruction are
heard.
6 Flee! Run for
your lives;
become like a bush [e] in the desert.
7 Since you trust
in your deeds and riches,
you too will be taken captive,
and Chemosh will
go into exile,
together with his priests and officials.
8 The destroyer
will come against every town,
and not a town will escape.
The valley will be ruined
and the plateau destroyed,
because the LORD has spoken.
9 Put salt on
for she will be laid waste [f] ;
her towns will become desolate,
with no one to live in them.
10
"A curse on him who is lax in doing the LORD's
work!
A curse on him who keeps his sword from
bloodshed!
11 "Moab has
been at rest from youth,
like wine left on its dregs,
not poured from one jar to another—
she has not gone into exile.
So she tastes as she did,
and her aroma is unchanged.
12 But days are
coming,"
declares the LORD,
"when I will send men who pour from
jars,
and they will pour her out;
they will empty her jars
and smash her jugs.
13 Then
as the house of
when they trusted in
14 "How can
you say, 'We are warriors,
men valiant in battle'?
15
her finest young men will go down in the
slaughter,"
declares the King, whose name is the LORD
Almighty.
16 "The fall
of
her calamity will come quickly.
17 Mourn for her,
all who live around her,
all who know her fame;
say, 'How broken is the mighty scepter,
how broken the glorious staff!'
18 "Come down
from your glory
and sit on the parched ground,
O inhabitants of the Daughter of Dibon,
for he who destroys
will come up against you
and ruin your fortified cities.
19 Stand by the
road and watch,
you who live in Aroer.
Ask the man fleeing and the woman
escaping,
ask them, 'What has happened?'
20
Wail and cry out!
Announce by the Arnon
that
21 Judgment has
come to the plateau—
to
22 to Dibon, Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,
23 to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,
24
to Kerioth and Bozrah—
to all the towns of
25
her arm is broken,"
declares the LORD.
26 "Make her
drunk,
for she has defied the LORD.
Let
let her be an object of ridicule.
27 Was not
Was she caught among thieves,
that you shake your head in scorn
whenever you speak of her?
28 Abandon your
towns and dwell among the rocks,
you who live in
Be like a dove that makes its nest
at the mouth of a cave.
29 "We have
heard of
her overweening pride and conceit,
her pride and arrogance
and the haughtiness of her heart.
30 I know her
insolence but it is futile,"
declares the LORD,
"and her boasts accomplish nothing.
31 Therefore I
wail over
for all
I moan for the men of Kir
Hareseth.
32 I weep for you,
as Jazer weeps,
O vines of Sibmah.
Your branches spread as far as the sea;
they reached as far as the
The destroyer has fallen
on your ripened fruit and grapes.
33 Joy and
gladness are gone
from the orchards and fields of
I have stopped the flow of wine from the
presses;
no one treads them with shouts of joy.
Although there are shouts,
they are not shouts of joy.
34 "The sound
of their cry rises
from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz,
from Zoar as far
as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah,
for even the waters of Nimrim
are dried up.
35 In
to those who make offerings on the high
places
and burn incense to their gods,"
declares the LORD.
36 "So my
heart laments for
it laments like a flute for the men of Kir Hareseth.
The wealth they acquired is gone.
37 Every head is
shaved
and every beard cut off;
every hand is slashed
and every waist is covered with sackcloth.
38 On all the
roofs in
and in the public squares
there is nothing but mourning,
for I have broken
like a jar that no one wants,"
declares the LORD.
39 "How shattered
she is! How they wail!
How
an object of horror to all those around
her."
40 This is what
the LORD says:
"Look! An eagle is swooping down,
spreading its wings over
41 Kerioth [h] will be captured
and the strongholds taken.
In that day the hearts of
will be like the heart of a woman in
labor.
42
because she defied the LORD.
43 Terror and pit
and snare await you,
O people of
declares the LORD.
44 "Whoever
flees from the terror
will fall into a pit,
whoever climbs out of the pit
will be caught in a snare;
for I will bring upon Moab
the year of her punishment,"
declares the LORD.
45 "In the
shadow of Heshbon
the fugitives stand helpless,
for a fire has gone out from Heshbon,
a blaze from the midst of Sihon;
it burns the foreheads of
the skulls of the noisy boasters.
46 Woe to you, O
Moab!
The people of Chemosh
are destroyed;
your sons are taken into exile
and your daughters into captivity.
47 "Yet I
will restore the fortunes of
in days to come,"
declares the LORD.
Here ends the judgment on
1
Concerning the Ammonites:
This is what the LORD says:
"Has
Has she no heirs?
Why then has Molech
[a] taken possession of Gad?
Why do his people live in its towns?
2 But the days are
coming,"
declares the LORD,
"when I will sound the battle cry
against Rabbah
of the Ammonites;
it will become a mound of ruins,
and its surrounding villages will be set
on fire.
Then
those who drove her out,"
says the LORD.
3 "Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is destroyed!
Cry out, O inhabitants of Rabbah!
Put on sackcloth and mourn;
rush here and there inside the walls,
for Molech will
go into exile,
together with his priests and officials.
4 Why do you boast
of your valleys,
boast of your valleys so fruitful?
O unfaithful daughter,
you trust in your riches and say,
'Who will attack me?'
5 I will bring
terror on you
from all those around you,"
declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.
"Every one of you will be driven
away,
and no one will gather the fugitives.
6 "Yet
afterward, I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites,"
declares the LORD.
7
Concerning
This is what the LORD Almighty says:
"Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?
Has counsel perished from the prudent?
Has their wisdom decayed?
8 Turn and flee,
hide in deep caves,
you who live in Dedan,
for I will bring disaster on Esau
at the time I punish him.
9 If grape pickers
came to you,
would they not leave a few grapes?
If thieves came during the night,
would they not steal only as much as they
wanted?
10 But I will
strip Esau bare;
I will uncover his hiding places,
so that he cannot conceal himself.
His children, relatives and neighbors will
perish,
and he will be no more.
11 Leave your
orphans; I will protect their lives.
Your widows too can trust in me."
12 This is what
the LORD says: "If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink
it, why should you go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but must drink
it. 13 I swear by
myself," declares the LORD, "that Bozrah will
become a ruin and an object of horror, of reproach and of cursing; and all its
towns will be in ruins forever."
14 I have heard a
message from the LORD :
An envoy was sent to the nations to say,
"Assemble yourselves to attack it!
Rise up for battle!"
15 "Now I
will make you small among the nations,
despised among men.
16 The terror you
inspire
and the pride of your heart have deceived
you,
you who live in the clefts of the rocks,
who occupy the heights of the hill.
Though you build your nest as high as the
eagle's,
from there I will bring you down,"
declares the LORD.
17
"
all who pass by will be appalled and will
scoff
because of all its wounds.
18 As
along with their neighboring towns,"
says the LORD,
"so no one will live there;
no man will dwell in it.
19
"Like a lion coming up from
to a rich pastureland,
I will chase
Who is the chosen one I will appoint for
this?
Who is like me and who can challenge me?
And what shepherd can stand against
me?"
20 Therefore, hear
what the LORD has planned against
what he has purposed against those who
live in Teman:
The young of the flock will be dragged
away;
he will completely destroy their pasture
because of them.
21 At the sound of
their fall the earth will tremble;
their cry will resound to the
22 Look! An eagle
will soar and swoop down,
spreading its wings over Bozrah.
In that day the hearts of
will be like the heart of a woman in
labor.
23
Concerning
"Hamath and
Arpad are dismayed,
for they have heard bad news.
They are disheartened,
troubled like [c] the restless sea.
24
she has turned to flee
and panic has gripped her;
anguish and pain have
seized her,
pain like that of a woman in labor.
25 Why has the
city of renown not been abandoned,
the town in which I delight?
26 Surely, her young men will fall in the streets;
all her soldiers will be silenced in that
day,"
declares the LORD Almighty.
27 "I will
set fire to the walls of
it will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad."
28
Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of
This is what the LORD says:
"Arise, and attack Kedar
and destroy the people of the East.
29 Their tents and
their flocks will be taken;
their shelters will be carried off
with all their goods and camels.
Men will shout to them,
'Terror on every side!'
30 "Flee
quickly away!
Stay in deep caves, you who live in Hazor,"
declares the LORD.
"Nebuchadnezzar king of
he has devised a plan against you.
31 "Arise and
attack a nation at ease,
which lives in confidence,"
declares the LORD,
"a nation that has neither gates nor
bars;
its people live alone.
32 Their camels
will become plunder,
and their large herds will be booty.
I will scatter to the winds those who are
in distant places [d]
and will bring disaster on them from every
side,"
declares the LORD.
33
"Hazor will become a haunt of jackals,
a desolate place forever.
No one will live there;
no man will dwell in it."
34
This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning
35 This is what
the LORD Almighty says:
"See, I will break the bow of
the mainstay of their might.
36 I will bring
against
from the four quarters of the heavens;
I will scatter them to the four winds,
and there will not be a nation
where
37 I will shatter
before those who seek their lives;
I will bring disaster upon them,
even my fierce anger,"
declares the LORD.
"I will pursue them with the sword
until I have made an end of them.
38 I will set my
throne in
and destroy her king and officials,"
declares the LORD.
39 "Yet I
will restore the fortunes of
in days to come,"
declares the LORD.
1
This is the word the LORD spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning
2 "Announce
and proclaim among the nations,
lift up a banner and proclaim it;
keep nothing back, but say,
'
Bel will be put
to shame,
Marduk filled
with terror.
Her images will be put to shame
and her idols filled with terror.'
3 A nation from
the north will attack her
and lay waste her land.
No one will live in it;
both men and animals will flee away.
4 "In those
days, at that time,"
declares the LORD,
"the people of
will go in tears to seek the LORD their
God.
5 They will ask
the way to
and turn their faces toward it.
They will come and bind themselves to the
LORD
in an everlasting covenant
that will not be forgotten.
6
"My people have been lost sheep;
their shepherds have led them astray
and caused them to roam on the mountains.
They wandered over mountain and hill
and forgot their own resting place.
7 Whoever found
them devoured them;
their enemies said, 'We are not guilty,
for they sinned against the LORD, their
true pasture,
the LORD, the hope of their fathers.'
8 "Flee out
of
leave the land of the Babylonians,
and be like the goats that lead the flock.
9 For I will stir
up and bring against
an alliance of great nations from the land
of the north.
They will take up their positions against
her,
and from the north she will be captured.
Their arrows will be like skilled warriors
who do not return empty-handed.
10 So
all who plunder her will have their
fill,"
declares the LORD.
11 "Because
you rejoice and are glad,
you who pillage my inheritance,
because you frolic like a heifer threshing
grain
and neigh like stallions,
12 your mother
will be greatly ashamed;
she who gave you birth will be disgraced.
She will be the least of the nations—
a wilderness, a dry land, a desert.
13 Because of the LORD's anger she will not be inhabited
but will be completely desolate.
All who pass
because of all her wounds.
14 "Take up
your positions around
all you who draw the bow.
Shoot at her! Spare no arrows,
for she has sinned against the LORD.
15 Shout against
her on every side!
She surrenders, her towers fall,
her walls are
torn down.
Since this is the vengeance of the LORD,
take vengeance on her;
do to her as she has done to others.
16 Cut off from
and the reaper with his sickle at
harvest.
Because of the sword of the oppressor
let everyone return to his own people,
let everyone flee to his own land.
17
"
that lions have chased away.
The first to devour him
was the king of Assyria;
the last to crush his bones
was Nebuchadnezzar king of
18 Therefore this
is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
"I will punish the king of
as I punished the king of
19 But I will
bring
and he will graze on
his appetite will be satisfied
on the hills of Ephraim and
20 In those days,
at that time,"
declares the LORD,
"search will be made for
but there will be none,
and for the sins of Judah,
but none will be found,
for I will forgive the remnant I spare.
21 "Attack
the
and those who live in Pekod.
Pursue, kill and completely destroy [c] them,"
declares the LORD.
"Do everything I have commanded you.
22 The noise of
battle is in the land,
the noise of great destruction!
23 How broken and
shattered
is the hammer of the whole earth!
How desolate is
among the nations!
24 I set a trap for
you, O Babylon,
and you were caught before you knew it;
you were found and captured
because you opposed the LORD.
25 The LORD has
opened his arsenal
and brought out the weapons of his wrath,
for the Sovereign LORD Almighty has work
to do
in the land of the Babylonians.
26 Come against
her from afar.
Break open her granaries;
pile her up like heaps of grain.
Completely destroy her
and leave her no remnant.
27 Kill all her
young bulls;
let them go down to the slaughter!
Woe to them! For their day has come,
the time for them to be punished.
28 Listen to the
fugitives and refugees from
declaring in
how the LORD our God has taken vengeance,
vengeance for his temple.
29 "Summon
archers against
all those who draw the bow.
Encamp all around her;
let no one escape.
Repay her for her deeds;
do to her as she has done.
For she has defied the
LORD,
the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore, her
young men will fall in the streets;
all her soldiers will be silenced in that
day,"
declares the LORD.
31 "See, I am against you, O arrogant one,"
declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty,
"for your day has come,
the time for you to be punished.
32 The arrogant
one will stumble and fall
and no one will help her up;
I will kindle a fire in her towns
that will consume all who are around
her."
33 This is what
the LORD Almighty says:
"The people of
and the people of
All their captors hold them fast,
refusing to let them go.
34 Yet their
Redeemer is strong;
the LORD Almighty is his name.
He will vigorously defend their cause
so that he may bring rest to their land,
but unrest to those who live in
35 "A sword
against the Babylonians!"
declares the LORD—
"against those who live in
and against her officials and wise men!
36 A sword against
her false prophets!
They will become fools.
A sword against her warriors!
They will be filled with terror.
37 A sword against
her horses and chariots
and all the foreigners in her ranks!
They will become women.
A sword against her treasures!
They will be plundered.
38 A drought on [d] her waters!
They will dry up.
For it is a land of
idols,
idols that will go mad with terror.
39 "So desert
creatures and hyenas will live there,
and there the owl will dwell.
It will never again be inhabited
or lived in from generation to generation.
40 As God
overthrew
along with their neighboring towns,"
declares the LORD,
"so no one will live there;
no man will dwell in it.
41
"Look! An army is coming from the north;
a great nation and many kings
are being stirred up from the ends of the
earth.
42 They are armed
with bows and spears;
they are cruel and without mercy.
They sound like the roaring sea
as they ride on their horses;
they come like men in battle formation
to attack you, O Daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of
and his hands hang limp.
Anguish has gripped him,
pain like that of a woman in labor.
44 Like a lion
coming up from
to a rich pastureland,
I will chase
Who is the chosen one I will appoint for
this?
Who is like me and who can challenge me?
And what shepherd can stand against
me?"
45 Therefore, hear
what the LORD has planned against
what he has purposed against the land of
the Babylonians:
The young of the flock will be dragged
away;
he will completely destroy their pasture
because of them.
46 At the sound of
Babylon's capture the earth will tremble;
its cry will resound among the nations.
Jeremiah 51
1 This is what the LORD says:
"See, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer
against
2 I will send foreigners to
to winnow her and to devastate her land;
they will oppose her on every side
in the day of her disaster.
3 Let not the archer string his bow,
nor let him put on his armor.
Do not spare her young men;
completely destroy [b] her army.
4 They will fall down slain in
fatally wounded in her streets.
5 For
by their God, the LORD Almighty,
though their land [d] is full of guilt
before the Holy One of Israel.
6 "Flee from
Run for your lives!
Do not be destroyed because of her sins.
It is time for the LORD's vengeance;
he will pay her what she deserves.
7
she made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine;
therefore they have now gone mad.
8
Wail over her!
Get balm for her pain;
perhaps she can be healed.
9 " 'We would have healed Babylon,
but she cannot be healed;
let us leave her and each go to his own land,
for her judgment reaches to the skies,
it rises as high as the clouds.'
10 " 'The LORD has vindicated
us;
come, let us tell in
what the LORD our God has done.'
11 "Sharpen the arrows,
take up the shields!
The LORD has stirred up the kings of the Medes,
because his purpose is to destroy
The LORD will take vengeance,
vengeance for his temple.
12 Lift up a banner against the walls of
Reinforce the guard,
station the watchmen,
prepare an ambush!
The LORD will carry out his purpose,
his decree against the people of
13 You who live by many waters
and are rich in treasures,
your end has come,
the time for you to be cut off.
14 The LORD Almighty has sworn by himself:
I will surely fill you with men, as with a swarm of locusts,
and they will shout in triumph over you.
15 "He made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his wisdom
and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
16 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;
he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
17 "Every man is senseless and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.
His images are a fraud;
they have no breath in them.
18 They are worthless, the objects of mockery;
when their judgment comes, they will perish.
19 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these,
for he is the Maker of all things,
including the tribe of his inheritance—
the LORD Almighty is his name.
20 "You are my war club,
my weapon for battle—
with you I shatter nations,
with you I destroy kingdoms,
21 with you I shatter horse and rider,
with you I shatter chariot and driver,
22 with you I shatter man and woman,
with you I shatter old man and youth,
with you I shatter young man and maiden,
23 with you I shatter shepherd and flock,
with you I shatter farmer and oxen,
with you I shatter governors and officials.
24 "Before your eyes I will repay
25 "I am against you, O destroying mountain,
you who destroy the whole earth,"
declares the LORD.
"I will stretch out my hand against you,
roll you off the cliffs,
and make you a burned-out mountain.
26 No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone,
nor any stone for a foundation,
for you will be desolate forever,"
declares the LORD.
27 "Lift up a banner in the land!
Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Prepare the nations for battle against her;
summon against her these kingdoms:
Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a commander against her;
send up horses like a swarm of locusts.
28 Prepare the nations for battle against her—
the kings of the Medes,
their governors and all their officials,
and all the countries they rule.
29 The land trembles and writhes,
for the LORD's purposes against
to lay waste the
so that no one will live there.
30
they remain in their strongholds.
Their strength is exhausted;
they have become like women.
Her dwellings are set on fire;
the bars of her gates are broken.
31 One courier follows another
and messenger follows messenger
to announce to the king of
that his entire city is captured,
32 the river crossings seized,
the marshes set on fire,
and the soldiers terrified."
33 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
"The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor
at the time it is trampled;
the time to harvest her will soon come."
34 "Nebuchadnezzar king of
he has thrown us into confusion,
he has made us an empty jar.
Like a serpent he has swallowed us
and filled his stomach with our delicacies,
and then has spewed us out.
35 May the violence done to our flesh [f] be upon
say the inhabitants of
"May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,"
says
36 Therefore, this is what the LORD says:
"See, I will defend your cause
and avenge you;
I will dry up her sea
and make her springs dry.
37
a haunt of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,
a place where no one lives.
38 Her people all roar like young lions,
they growl like lion cubs.
39 But while they are aroused,
I will set out a feast for them
and make them drunk,
so that they shout with laughter—
then sleep forever and not awake,"
declares the LORD.
40 "I will bring them down
like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and goats.
41 "How Sheshach
[g] will be captured,
the boast of the whole earth seized!
What a horror
among the nations!
42 The sea will rise over
its roaring waves will cover her.
43 Her towns will be desolate,
a dry and desert land,
a land where no one lives,
through which no man travels.
44 I will punish Bel in
and make him spew out what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him.
And the wall of
45 "Come out of her, my people!
Run for your lives!
Run from the fierce anger of the LORD.
46 Do not lose heart or be afraid
when rumors are heard in the land;
one rumor comes this year, another the next,
rumors of violence in the land
and of ruler against ruler.
47 For the time will surely come
when I will punish the idols of
her whole land will be disgraced
and her slain will all lie fallen within her.
48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
will shout for joy over Babylon,
for out of the north
destroyers will attack her,"
declares the LORD.
49 "
just as the slain in all the earth
have fallen because of
50 You who have escaped the sword,
leave and do not linger!
Remember the LORD in a distant land,
and think on
51 "We are disgraced,
for we have been insulted
and shame covers our faces,
because foreigners have entered
the holy places of the LORD's house."
52 "But days are coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will punish her idols,
and throughout her land
the wounded will groan.
53 Even if
and fortifies her lofty stronghold,
I will send destroyers against her,"
declares the LORD.
54 "The sound of a cry comes from
the sound of great destruction
from the land of the Babylonians. [h]
55 The LORD will destroy
he will silence her noisy din.
Waves of enemies will rage like great waters;
the roar of their voices will resound.
56 A destroyer will come against
her warriors will be captured,
and their bows will be broken.
For the LORD is a God of retribution;
he will repay in full.
57 I will make her officials and wise men drunk,
her governors, officers and warriors as well;
they will sleep forever and not awake,"
declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty.
58 This is what the LORD Almighty says:
"
and her high gates set on fire;
the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing,
the nations' labor is only fuel for the flames."
59 This is the message Jeremiah gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of
Mahseiah, when he went to
The words of Jeremiah end here.
Jeremiah 52
The Fall
of
1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and
he reigned in
Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of
4 So in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth day
of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of
6 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the
city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat. 7 Then
the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled. They left the city
at night through the gate between the two walls near the king's garden, though
the Babylonians [a] were surrounding
the city. They fled toward the Arabah, [b] 8 but the Babylonian [c] army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him
in the plains of
He was taken to the king of
12 On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth
year of Nebuchadnezzar king of
17 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the movable
stands and the bronze Sea that were at the temple of the LORD and they carried
all the bronze to
20 The bronze from the two pillars, the Sea and the twelve
bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands, which King Solomon had made for
the temple of the LORD, was more than could be weighed. 21 Each of the pillars
was eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference [e] ; each was four fingers thick, and hollow. 22
The bronze capital on top of the one pillar was five cubits [f] high and was decorated with a network and
pomegranates of bronze all around. The other pillar, with its pomegranates, was
similar. 23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; the total number
of pomegranates above the surrounding network was a hundred.
24 The commander of the guard took as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank
and the three doorkeepers. 25 Of those still in the city, he took the officer
in charge of the fighting men, and seven royal advisers. He also took the
secretary who was chief officer in charge of conscripting the people of the
land and sixty of his men who were found in the city. 26 Nebuzaradan
the commander took them all and brought them to the king of
So
in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews;
29 in Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year,
832 people from
30 in his twenty-third year,
745 Jews taken into exile by Nebuzaradan
the commander of the imperial guard.
There were 4,600 people in all.
Jehoiachin Released
31 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of