Jeremiah His Calling and Message

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Jeremiah 1:1 - Jeremiah 20:18

Jeremiah 1

The Call of Jeremiah; Almond Rod and Boiling Pot

The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.

The LORD's word came to him in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

Now The LORD's word came to me, saying,

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.Before you were born, I sanctified you.I have appointed you a prophet to the nations."

Then I said, "Ah, Lord The LORD! Behold, I don't know how to speak; for I am a child."

But the LORD said to me, "Don't say, 'I am a child;' for you must go to whomever I send you, and you must say whatever I command you.

Don't be afraid because of them, for I am with you to rescue you," says The LORD.

Then the LORD stretched out his hand, and touched my mouth. Then the LORD said to me, "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.

Behold, I have today set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."

Moreover The LORD's word came to me, saying, "Jeremiah, what do you see?"I said, "I see a branch of an almond tree."

Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well; for I watch over my word to perform it."

The LORD's word came to me the second time, saying, "What do you see?"I said, "I see a boiling cauldron; and it is tipping away from the north."

Then the LORD said to me, "Out of the north, evil will break out on all the inhabitants of the land.

For, behold, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north," says The LORD."They will come, and they will each set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem,and against all its walls all around, and against all the cities of Judah.

I will utter my judgments against them concerning all their wickedness,in that they have forsaken me,and have burned incense to other gods,and worshiped the works of their own hands.

"You therefore put your belt on your waist, arise, and say to them all that I command you. Don't be dismayed at them, lest I dismay you before them.

For, behold, I have made you today a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land.

They will fight against you, but they will not prevail against you; for I am with you", says The LORD, "to rescue you."

Jeremiah 2

Judah Forsakes God

The LORD's word came to me, saying,

"Go, and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, 'The LORD says,"I remember for you the kindness of your youth,the love of your weddings;how you went after me in the wilderness,in a land that was not sown.

Israel was holiness to The LORD,the first fruits of his increase.All who devour him will be held guilty.Evil will come on them,"' says The LORD."

Hear The LORD's word, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel!

The LORD says,"What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me,that they have gone far from me,and have walked after worthless vanity,and have become worthless?

They didn't say, 'Where is the LORD who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,who led us through the wilderness,through a land of deserts and of pits,through a land of drought and of the shadow of death,through a land that no one passed through,and where no man lived?'

I brought you into a plentiful land,to eat its fruit and its goodness;but when you entered, you defiled my land,and made my heritage an abomination.

The priests didn't say, 'Where is The LORD?'and those who handle the law didn't know me.The rulers also transgressed against me,and the prophets prophesied by Baal,and followed things that do not profit.

"Therefore I will yet contend with you," says The LORD,"and I will contend with your children's children.

For pass over to the islands of Kittim, and see;and send to Kedar, and consider diligently;and see if there has been such a thing.

Has a nation changed its gods,which really are no gods?But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.

"Be astonished, you heavens, at this,and be horribly afraid.Be very desolate," says The LORD.

"For my people have committed two evils:they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters,and cut them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Is Israel a slave?Is he born into slavery?Why has he become a captive?

The young lions have roared at him, and yelled.They have made his land waste.His cities are burned up, without inhabitant.

The children also of Memphis and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of your head.

"Haven't you brought this on yourself,in that you have forsaken the LORD your God, when he led you by the way?

Now what do you gain by going to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor?Or why do you to go on the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?

"Your own wickedness will correct you,and your backsliding will rebuke you.Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing,that you have forsaken the LORD your God,and that my fear is not in you," says the Lord, the LORD of Hosts.

"For long ago I broke off your yoke,and burst your bonds.You said, 'I will not serve;'for on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed yourself,playing the prostitute.

Yet I had planted you a noble vine,a pure and faithful seed.How then have you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me?

For though you wash yourself with lye,and use much soap,yet your iniquity is marked before me," says the Lord God.

"How can you say, 'I am not defiled.I have not gone after the Baals'?See your way in the valley.Know what you have done.You are a swift dromedary traversing her ways;

a wild donkey used to the wilderness, that sniffs the wind in her craving.When she is in heat, who can turn her away?All those who seek her will not weary themselves. In her month, they will find her.

"Keep your feet from being bare,and your throat from thirst.But you said, 'It is in vain.No, for I have loved strangers,and I will go after them.'

As the thief is ashamed when he is found,so is the house of Israel ashamed;they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets;

who tell wood, 'You are my father;'and a stone, 'You have given birth to me:'for they have turned their back to me,and not their face;but in the time of their trouble they will say, 'Arise, and save us.'

"But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves?Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble:for you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah.

"Why will you contend with me?You all have transgressed against me," says The LORD.

"I have struck your children in vain.They received no correction.Your own sword has devoured your prophets,like a destroying lion.

Generation, consider The LORD's word.Have I been a wilderness to Israel?Or a land of thick darkness?Why do my people say, 'We have broken loose.We will come to you no more?'

"Can a virgin forget her ornaments,or a bride her attire?Yet my people have forgotten me for days without number.

How well you prepare your way to seek love!Therefore you have even taught the wicked women your ways.

Also the blood of the souls of the innocent poor is found in your skirts.You did not find them breaking in;but it is because of all these things.

"Yet you said, 'I am innocent.Surely his anger has turned away from me.'"Behold, I will judge you,because you say, 'I have not sinned.'

Why do you go about so much to change your ways?You will be ashamed of Egypt also,as you were ashamed of Assyria.

You will also leave that place with your hands on your head;for the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust,and you won't prosper with them.

Jeremiah 3

Judah as the Polluted Land; God's Great Mercy

"They say, 'If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him, and becomes another man's, should he return to her again?' Wouldn't that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the prostitute with many lovers; yet return again to me," says The LORD.

"Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been lain with? You have sat waiting for them by the road, as an Arabian in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and with your wickedness.

Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain; yet you have a prostitute's forehead. You refused to be ashamed.

Will you not from this time cry to me, 'My Father, you are the guide of my youth?'

"'Will he retain his anger forever? Will he keep it to the end?' Behold, you have spoken and have done evil things, and have had your way."

Moreover, the LORD said to me in the days of Josiah the king, "Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and has played the prostitute there.

I said after she had done all these things, 'She will return to me;' but she didn't return; and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

I saw when, for this very cause, that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce, yet treacherous Judah, her sister, had no fear; but she also went and played the prostitute.

Because she took her prostitution lightly, the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with wood.

Yet for all this her treacherous sister, Judah, has not returned to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense," says The LORD.

The LORD said to me, "Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.

Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, 'Return, you backsliding Israel,' says The LORD; 'I will not look in anger on you; for I am merciful,' says The LORD. 'I will not keep anger forever.

Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the LORD your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice,' says The LORD."

"Return, backsliding children," says The LORD; "for I am a husband to you. I will take one of you from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.

I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.

It will come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days," says The LORD, "they will no longer say, 'the ark of The LORD's covenant!' It will not come to mind. They won't remember it. They won't miss it, nor will another be made.

At that time they will call Jerusalem 'The LORD's Throne;' and all the nations will be gathered to it, to The LORD's name, to Jerusalem. They will no longer walk after the stubbornness of their evil heart.

In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance to your fathers.

"But I said, 'How I desire to put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the armies of the nations!' and I said, 'You shall call me "My Father", and shall not turn away from following me.'

"Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so you have dealt treacherously with me, house of Israel," says The LORD.

A voice is heard on the bare heights, the weeping and the petitions of the children of Israel; because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten the LORD their God.

Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backsliding."Behold, we have come to you; for you are the LORD our God.

Truly in vain is help from the hills, the tumult on the mountains. Truly the salvation of Israel is in the LORD our God.

But the shameful thing has devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. We have not obeyed the LORD our God's voice."

Jeremiah 4

Judah's Devastation

"If you will return, Israel," says The LORD, "if you will return to me, and if you will put away your abominations out of my sight; then you will not be removed;

and you will swear, 'As the LORD lives,' in truth, in justice, and in righteousness. The nations will bless themselves in him, and they will glory in him."

For the LORD says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, "Break up your fallow ground, and don't sow among thorns.

Circumcise yourselves to The LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go out like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

Declare in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, 'Blow the trumpet in the land!' Cry aloud and say, 'Assemble yourselves! Let us go into the fortified cities!'

Set up a standard toward Zion. Flee for safety! Don't wait; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction."

A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations. He is on his way. He has gone out from his place, to make your land desolate, that your cities be laid waste, without inhabitant.

For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger of the LORD hasn't turned back from us.

"It will happen at that day," says The LORD, "that the heart of the king will perish, along with the heart of the princes. The priests will be astonished, and the prophets will wonder."

Then I said, "Ah, Lord God! Surely you have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, 'You will have peace;' whereas the sword reaches to the heart."

At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, "A hot wind from the bare heights in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow, nor to cleanse;

a full wind from these will come for me. Now I will also utter judgments against them."

Behold, he will come up as clouds, and his chariots will be as the whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! For we are ruined.

Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long will your evil thoughts lodge within you?

For a voice declares from Dan, and publishes evil from the hills of Ephraim:

"Tell the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, 'Watchers come from a far country, and raise their voice against the cities of Judah.

As keepers of a field, they are against her all around, because she has been rebellious against me,'" says The LORD.

"Your way and your doings have brought these things to you. This is your wickedness; for it is bitter, for it reaches to your heart."

My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart! My heart trembles within me. I can't hold my peace, because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

Destruction on destruction is decreed, for the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, and my curtains gone in a moment.

How long will I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?

"For my people are foolish. They don't know me. They are foolish children, and they have no understanding. They are skillful in doing evil, but they don't know how to do good."

I saw the earth, and, behold, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

I saw the mountains, and behold, they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth.

I saw, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the sky had fled.

I saw, and behold, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of The LORD, before his fierce anger.

For the LORD says, "The whole land will be a desolation; yet will I not make a full end.

For this the earth will mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it. I have planned it, and I have not repented, neither will I turn back from it."

Every city flees for the noise of the horsemen and archers. They go into the thickets, and climb up on the rocks. Every city is forsaken, and not a man dwells therein.

You, when you are made desolate, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with scarlet, though you deck yourself with ornaments of gold, though you enlarge your eyes with makeup, you make yourself beautiful in vain. Your lovers despise you. They seek your life.

For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, the anguish as of her who gives birth to her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, who gasps for breath, who spreads her hands, saying, "Woe is me now! For my soul faints before the murderers."

Jeremiah 5

Jerusalem's Godlessness and Judgment

"Run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in its wide places, if you can find a man, if there is anyone who does justly, who seeks truth, then I will pardon her.

Though they say, 'As the LORD lives,' surely they swear falsely."

O The LORD, don't your eyes look on truth? You have stricken them, but they were not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They have refused to return.

Then I said, "Surely these are poor. They are foolish; for they don't know the way of The LORD, nor the law of their God.

I will go to the great men, and will speak to them; for they know the way of The LORD, and the law of their God." But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.

Therefore a lion out of the forest will kill them, a wolf of the evenings will destroy them, a leopard will watch against their cities. Everyone who goes out there will be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many, and their backsliding has increased.

"How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me, and sworn by what are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the prostitutes' houses.

They were as fed horses roaming at large. Everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife.

Shouldn't I punish them for these things?" says The LORD. "Shouldn't my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

"Go up on her walls, and destroy; but don't make a full end. Take away her branches, for they are not The LORD's.

For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me," says The LORD.

They have denied The LORD, and said, "It is not he. Evil will won't come on us. We won't see sword or famine.

The prophets will become wind, and the word is not in them. Thus it will be done to them."

Therefore The LORD, the God of Armies says, "Because you speak this word, behold, I will make my words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it will devour them.

Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far away, house of Israel," says The LORD. "It is a mighty nation. It is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you don't know and don't understand what they say.

Their quiver is an open tomb. They are all mighty men.

They will eat up your harvest and your bread, which your sons and your daughters should eat. They will eat up your flocks and your herds. They will eat up your vines and your fig trees. They will beat down your fortified cities in which you trust with the sword.

"But even in those days," says The LORD, "I will not make a full end of you.

It will happen, when you say, 'Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?' Then you shall say to them, 'Just as you have forsaken me, and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.'

"Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,

'Hear this now, foolish people without understanding; who have eyes, and don't see; who have ears, and don't hear:

Don't you fear me?' says the LORD 'Won't you tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it can't pass it? Though its waves toss themselves, yet they can't prevail. Though they roar, they still can't pass over it.'

"But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart. They have revolted and gone.

They don't say in their heart, 'Let us now fear the LORD our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; who preserves to us the appointed weeks of the harvest.'

"Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you.

For among my people are found wicked men. They watch, as fowlers lie in wait. They set a trap. They catch men.

As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they have become great, and grew rich.

They have grown fat. They shine; yes, they excel in deeds of wickedness. They don't plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and they don't judge the right of the needy.

"Shouldn't I punish for these things?" says The LORD. "Shouldn't my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

"An astonishing and horrible thing has happened in the land.

The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority; and my people love to have it so. What will you do in the end of it?

Jeremiah 6

Enemies Sent against Jerusalem

"Flee for safety, you children of Benjamin, out of the middle of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa and raise up a signal on Beth Haccherem, for evil looks out from the north with a great destruction.

I will cut off the beautiful and delicate one, the daughter of Zion.

Shepherds with their flocks will come to her. They will pitch their tents against her all around. They will feed everyone in his place."

"Prepare war against her! Arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us! For the day declines, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.

Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces."

For the LORD of Hosts said, "Cut down trees, and cast up a mound against Jerusalem. This is the city to be visited. She is wholly oppression within herself.

As a well produces its waters, so she produces her wickedness. Violence and destruction is heard in her. Sickness and woundes are continually before me.

Be instructed, Jerusalem, lest my soul be alienated from you; lest I make you a desolation, an uninhabited land."

The LORD of Armies says, "They will thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel like a vine. Turn again your hand as a grape gatherer into the baskets."

To whom should I speak and testify, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they can't listen. Behold, The LORD's word has become a reproach to them. They have no delight in it.

Therefore I am full of The LORD's wrath. I am weary with holding it in."Pour it out on the children in the street,and on the assembly of young men together;for even the husband with the wife will be taken,the aged with him who is full of days.

Their houses will be turned to others,their fields and their wives together;for I will stretch out my hand on the inhabitants of the land, says The LORD."

"For from their least even to their greatest, everyone is given to covetousness.From the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely.

They have healed also the hurt of my people superficially,saying, 'Peace, peace!' when there is no peace.

Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?No, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush.Therefore they will fall among those who fall.When I visit them, they will be cast down," says The LORD.

The LORD says, "Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, 'Where is the good way?' and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'

I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not listen!'

Therefore hear, you nations, and know, congregation, what is among them.

Hear, earth! Behold, I will bring evil on this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it.

To what purpose does frankincense from Sheba come to me, and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices are not pleasing to me."

Therefore the LORD says, "Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people. The fathers and the sons together will stumble against them. The neighbor and his friend will perish."

The LORD says, "Behold, a people comes from the north country. A great nation will be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.

They take hold of bow and spear. They are cruel, and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Zion."

We have heard its report. Our hands become feeble. Anguish has taken hold of us, and pains as of a woman in labor.

Don't go out into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and terror are on every side.

Daughter of my people, clothe yourself with sackcloth, and wallow in ashes! Mourn, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation, for the destroyer will suddenly come on us.

"I have made you a tester of metals and a fortress among my people, that you may know and try their way.

They are all grievous rebels, going around to slander. They are brass and iron. All of them deal corruptly.

The bellows blow fiercely. The lead is consumed in the fire. In vain they go on refining, for the wicked are not plucked away.

Men will call them rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them."

Jeremiah 7

Jeremiah's Message at the Temple Gate; Valley of Slaughter

The word that came to Jeremiah from The LORD, saying,

"Stand in the gate of The LORD's house, and proclaim this word there, and say, 'Hear The LORD's word, all you of Judah, who enter in at these gates to worship The LORD.'"

The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel says, "Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.

Don't trust in lying words, saying, 'The LORD's temple, The LORD's temple, The LORD's temple, are these.'

For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbor;

if you don't oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, and don't shed innocent blood in this place, and don't walk after other gods to your own hurt;

then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even forever more.

Behold, you trust in lying words that can't profit.

Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not known,

then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, 'We are delivered;' that you may do all these abominations?

Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it," says The LORD.

"But go now to my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.

Now, because you have done all these works," says The LORD, "and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you didn't hear; and I called you, but you didn't answer;

therefore I will do to the house which is called by my name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.

I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, even the whole offspring of Ephraim.

"Therefore don't pray for this people. Don't lift up a cry or prayer for them or make intercession to me; for I will not hear you.

Don't you see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.

Do they provoke me to anger?" says The LORD. "Don't they provoke themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?"

Therefore thus says the Lord God: "Behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man, on animal, on the trees of the field, and on the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and will not be quenched."

The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel says: "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat.

For I didn't speak to your fathers or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices;

but this thing I commanded them, saying, 'Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.'

But they didn't listen or turn their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them.

Yet they didn't listen to me or incline their ear, but made their neck stiff. They did worse than their fathers.

"You shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall also call to them, but they will not answer you.

You shall tell them, 'This is the nation that has not listened to the LORD their God's voice, nor received instruction. Truth has perished, and is cut off from their mouth.'

Cut off your hair, and throw it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

"For the children of Judah have done that which is evil in my sight," says The LORD. "They have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.

They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I didn't command, nor did it come into my mind.

Therefore behold, the days come", says The LORD, "that it will no more be called 'Topheth' or 'The valley of the son of Hinnom', but 'The valley of Slaughter'; for they will bury in Topheth until there is no place to bury.

The dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth. No one will frighten them away.

Then I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land will become a waste."

Jeremiah 8

The Calamity of the Jews

"At that time," says The LORD, "they will bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of his princes, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves.

They will spread them before the sun, the moon, and all the army of the sky, which they have loved, which they have served, after which they have walked, which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered or be buried. They will be for dung on the surface of the earth.

Death will be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places where I have driven them," says the LORD of Hosts.

"Moreover you shall tell them, 'The LORD says:"'Do men fall, and not rise up again?Does one turn away, and not return?

Why then have the people of Jerusalem fallen back by a perpetual backsliding?They cling to deceit.They refuse to return.

I listened and heard, but they didn't say what is right.No one repents of his wickedness, saying, "What have I done?"Everyone turns to his course,as a horse that rushes headlong in the battle.

Yes, the stork in the sky knows her appointed times.The turtledove, the swallow, and the crane observe the time of their coming;but my people don't know The LORD's law.

"'How do you say, "We are wise, and The LORD's law is with us?"But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has worked falsely.

The wise men are disappointed.They are dismayed and trapped.Behold, they have rejected The LORD's word.What kind of wisdom is in them?

Therefore will I give their wives to others,and their fields to those who will possess them.For everyone from the least even to the greatest is given to covetousness;from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely.

They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying,"Peace, peace," when there is no peace.

Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?No, they were not at all ashamed.They couldn't blush.Therefore they will fall among those who fall.In the time of their visitation they will be cast down, says The LORD.

"'I will utterly consume them, says The LORD.No grapes will be on the vine,no figs on the fig tree,and the leaf will fade.The things that I have given themwill pass away from them.'"

"Why do we sit still?Assemble yourselves,and let us enter into the fortified cities,and let us be silent there;for the LORD our God has put us to silence,and given us water of gall to drink,because we have sinned against The LORD.

We looked for peace, but no good came;and for a time of healing, and behold, dismay!

The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan.The whole land trembles at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones;for they have come, and have devoured the land and all that is in it;the city and those who dwell therein."

"For, behold, I will send serpents,adders among you,which will not be charmed;and they will bite you," says The LORD.

Oh that I could comfort myself against sorrow!My heart is faint within me.

Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land that is very far off:"Isn't the LORD in Zion?Isn't her King in her?""Why have they provoked me to anger with their engraved images,and with foreign idols?"

"The harvest is past.The summer has ended,and we are not saved."

For the hurt of the daughter of my people, I am hurt.I mourn.Dismay has taken hold of me.

Is there no balm in Gilead?Is there no physician there?Why then isn't the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

Jeremiah 9

Jeremiah Laments over Zion

Oh that my head were waters,and my eyes a spring of tears,that I might weep day and nightfor the slain of the daughter of my people!

Oh that I had in the wildernessa lodging place of wayfaring men;that I might leave my people,and go from them!For they are all adulterers,an assembly of treacherous men.

"They bend their tongue,as their bow, for falsehood.They have grown strong in the land,but not for truth;for they proceed from evil to evil,and they don't know me," says The LORD.

"Everyone beware of his neighbor,and don't trust in any brother;for every brother will utterly supplant,and every neighbor will go around with slanders.

Everyone will deceive their neighbors,and will not speak the truth.They have taught their tongue to speak lies.They weary themselves commiting iniquity.

Your habitation is in the middle of deceit.Through deceit, they refuse to know me," says The LORD.

Therefore the LORD of Hosts says,"Behold, I will melt them and test them;for how should I deal with the daughter of my people?

Their tongue is a deadly arrow.It speaks deceit.One speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth,but in his heart, he waits to ambush him.

Shouldn't I punish them for these things?" says The LORD."Shouldn't my soul be avenged on a nation such as this?

I will weep and wail for the mountains,and lament for the pastures of the wilderness,because they are burned up, so that no one passes through;Men can't hear the voice of the livestock.Both the birds of the sky and the animals have fled.They are gone.

"I will make Jerusalem heaps,a dwelling place of jackals.I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,without inhabitant."

Who is wise enough to understand this? Who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it? Why has the land perished and burned up like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?

The LORD says, "Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein,

but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them."

Therefore the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says, "Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.

I will scatter them also among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them."

The LORD of Armies says,"Consider, and call for the mourning women, that they may come;and send for the skillful women, that they may come.

Let them make haste,and take up a wailing for us,that our eyes may run down with tears,and our eyelids gush out with waters.

For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion,'How we are ruined!We are greatly confounded,because we have forsaken the land,because they have cast down our dwellings.'"

Yet hear The LORD's word, you women.Let your ear receive the word of his mouth.Teach your daughters wailing,and everyone her neighbor lamentation.

For death has come up into our windows.It has entered into our palacesto cut off the children from outside,and the young men from the streets.

Speak, "The LORD says,"'The dead bodies of men will fall as dung on the open field,and as the handful after the harvester;and no one will gather them.'"

The LORD says,"Don't let the wise man glory in his wisdom.Don't let the mighty man glory in his might.Don't let the rich man glory in his riches.

But let him who glories glory in this,that he has understanding, and knows me,that I am the LORD who exercises loving kindness, justice, and righteousness, in the earth;for I delight in these things," says The LORD.

"Behold, the days come," says The LORD, "that I will punish all those who are circumcised only in their flesh:

Egypt, Judah, Edom, the children of Ammon, Moab, and all who have the corners of their hair cut off, who dwell in the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart."

Jeremiah 10

The Lord Speaks on Idolatry and Coming Destruction; Jeremiah Prays

Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, house of Israel!

The LORD says,"Don't learn the way of the nations,and don't be dismayed at the signs of the sky;for the nations are dismayed at them.

For the customs of the peoples are vanity;for one cuts a tree out of the forest,the work of the hands of the workman with the ax.

They deck it with silver and with gold.They fasten it with nails and with hammers,so that it can't move.

They are like a palm tree, of turned work,and don't speak.They must be carried,because they can't move.Don't be afraid of them;for they can't do evil,neither is it in them to do good."

There is no one like you, The LORD.You are great,and your name is great in might.

Who shouldn't fear you,King of the nations?For it belongs to you.Because among all the wise men of the nations,and in all their royal estate,there is no one like you.

But they are together brutish and foolish,instructed by idols!It is just wood.

There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish,and gold from Uphaz,the work of the engraver and of the hands of the goldsmith.Their clothing is blue and purple.They are all the work of skillful men.

But the LORD is the true God.He is the living God,and an everlasting King.At his wrath, the earth trembles.The nations aren't able to withstand his indignation.

"You shall say this to them: 'The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.'"

God has made the earth by his power.He has established the world by his wisdom,and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens.

When he utters his voice,the waters in the heavens roar,and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.He makes lightnings for the rain,and brings the wind out of his treasuries.

Every man has become brutish and without knowledge.Every goldsmith is disappointed by his engraved image;for his molten image is falsehood,and there is no breath in them.

They are vanity, a work of delusion.In the time of their visitation they will perish.

The portion of Jacob is not like these;for he is the maker of all things;and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance:The LORD of Armies is his name.

Gather up your wares out of the land,you who live under siege.

For the LORD says,"Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time,and will distress them, that they may feel it."

Woe is me because of my injury!My wound is serious;but I said,"Truly this is my grief, and I must bear it."

My tent has been destroyed,and all my cords are broken.My children have gone away from me, and they are no more.There is no one to spread my tent any more,to set up my curtains.

For the shepherds have become brutish,and have not inquired of The LORD.Therefore they have not prospered,and all their flocks have scattered.

The voice of news, behold, it comes,and a great commotion out of the north country,to make the cities of Judah a desolation,a dwelling place of jackals.

The LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself.It is not in man who walks to direct his steps.

The LORD, correct me, but gently;not in your anger,lest you reduce me to nothing.

Pour out your wrath on the nations that don't know you,and on the families that don't call on your name;for they have devoured Jacob.Yes, they have devoured him, consumed him,and have laid waste his habitation.

Jeremiah 11

Jeremiah Proclaims God's Covenant Is Broken; The Plot against Jeremiah

The word that came to Jeremiah from The LORD, saying,

"Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

and say to them, The LORD, the God of Israel says: 'Cursed is the man who doesn't hear the words of this covenant,

which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace,' saying, 'Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you; so you shall be my people, and I will be your God;

that I may establish the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey,' as it is today."Then answered I, and said, "Amen, The LORD."

The LORD said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, 'Hear the words of this covenant, and do them.

For I earnestly protested to your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, rising early and protesting, saying, "Obey my voice."

Yet they didn't obey, nor turn their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of their evil heart. Therefore I brought on them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they didn't do them.'"

The LORD said to me, "A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.

Therefore the LORD says, 'Behold, I will bring evil on them, which they will not be able to escape; and they will cry to me, but I will not listen to them.

Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to which they offer incense, but they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble.

For according to the number of your cities are your gods, Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have you set up altars to the shameful thing, even altars to burn incense to Baal.'

"Therefore don't pray for this people. Don't lift up cry or prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry to me because of their trouble.

What has my beloved to do in my house,since she has behaved lewdly with many,and the holy flesh has passed from you?When you do evil,then you rejoice."

The LORD called your name, "A green olive tree,beautiful with goodly fruit."With the noise of a great roar he has kindled fire on it,and its branches are broken.

For the LORD of Hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you, because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to themselves in provoking me to anger by offering incense to Baal.

The LORD gave me knowledge of it, and I knew it. Then you showed me their doings.

But I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter. I didn't know that they had devised plans against me, saying,"Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,and let us cut him off from the land of the living,that his name may be no more remembered."

But, the LORD of Hosts, who judges righteously,who tests the heart and the mind,I will see your vengeance on them;for to you I have revealed my cause.

"Therefore the LORD says concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, saying, 'You shall not prophesy in The LORD's name, that you not die by our hand;'

therefore the LORD of Hosts says, 'Behold, I will punish them. The young men will die by the sword. Their sons and their daughters will die by famine.

There will be no remnant to them, for I will bring evil on the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation.'"

Jeremiah 12

Jeremiah's Complaint and God's Answer

You are righteous, The LORD,when I contend with you;yet I would like to reason the cause with you.Why does the way of the wicked prosper?Why are they all at ease who deal very treacherously?

You have planted them. Yes, they have taken root.They grow. Yes, they produce fruit.You are near in their mouth,and far from their heart.

But you, The LORD, know me.You see me, and test my heart toward you.Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

How long will the land mourn,and the herbs of the whole country wither?Because of the wickedness of those who dwell therein,the animals and birds are consumed;because they said,"He won't see our latter end."

"If you have run with the footmen,and they have wearied you,then how can you contend with horses?Though in a land of peace you are secure,yet how will you do in the pride of the Jordan?

For even your brothers, and the house of your father,even they have dealt treacherously with you!Even they have cried aloud after you!Don't believe them,though they speak beautiful words to you.

"I have forsaken my house.I have cast off my heritage.I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.

My heritage has become to me as a lion in the forest.She has uttered her voice against me.Therefore I have hated her.

Is my heritage to me as a speckled bird of prey?Are the birds of prey against her all around?Go, assemble all the animals of the field.Bring them to devour.

Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard.They have trodden my portion under foot.They have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.

They have made it a desolation.It mourns to me, being desolate.The whole land is made desolate,because no one cares.

Destroyers have come on all the bare heights in the wilderness;for the sword of the LORD devours from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land.No flesh has peace.

They have sown wheat,and have reaped thorns.They have exhausted themselves,and profit nothing.You will be ashamed of your fruits,because of The LORD's fierce anger."

The LORD says, "Concerning all my evil neighbors, who touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit: Behold, I will pluck them up from off their land, and will pluck up the house of Judah from among them.

It will happen, that after I have plucked them up, I will return and have compassion on them. I will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.

It will happen, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, 'As the LORD lives;' even as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then will they be built up in the middle of my people.

But if they will not hear, then I will pluck up that nation, plucking up and destroying it," says The LORD.

Jeremiah 13

The Linen Belt and Wineskins; The Threat of Captivity

The LORD said to me, "Go, and buy yourself a linen belt, and put it on your waist, and don't put it in water."

So I bought a belt according to The LORD's word, and put it on my waist.

The LORD's word came to me the second time, saying,

"Take the belt that you have bought, which is on your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock."

So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.

After many days, the LORD said to me, "Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the belt from there, which I commanded you to hide there."

Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and took the belt from the place where I had hidden it; and behold, the belt was ruined. It was profitable for nothing.

Then The LORD's word came to me, saying,

"The LORD says, 'In this way I, will ruin the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.

This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and have gone after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, will even be as this belt, which is profitable for nothing.

For as the belt clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to me,' says The LORD; 'that they may be to me for a people, for a name, for praise, and for glory; but they would not hear.'

"Therefore you shall speak to them this word: 'The LORD, the God of Israel says, "Every bottle should be filled with wine."' They will tell you, 'Do we not certainly know that every bottle should be filled with wine?'

Then tell them, 'The LORD says, "Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.

I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together," says The LORD: "I will not pity, spare, or have compassion, that I should not destroy them."'"

Hear, and give ear.Don't be proud,for the LORD has spoken.

Give glory to the LORD your God,before he causes darkness,and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains,and, while you look for light,he turns it into the shadow of death,and makes it deep darkness.

But if you will not hear it,my soul will weep in secret for your pride.My eye will weep bitterly,and run down with tears,because The LORD's flock has been taken captive.

Say to the king and to the queen mother,"Humble yourselves.Sit down, for your crowns have come down,even the crown of your glory.

The cities of the South is shut up,and there is no one to open them.Judah is carried away captive: all of it.It is wholly carried away captive.

Lift up your eyes,and see those who come from the north.Where is the flock that was given to you,your beautiful flock?

What will you say, when he sets over you as head those whom you have yourself taught to be friends to you?Won't sorrows take hold of you, as of a woman in travail?

If you say in your heart,"Why have these things come on me?"Your skirts are uncovered because of the greatness of your iniquity,and your heels suffer violence.

Can the Ethiopian change his skin,or the leopard his spots?Then may you also do good,who are accustomed to do evil.

"Therefore I will scatter them,as the stubble that passes away,by the wind of the wilderness.

This is your lot,the portion measured to you from me," says The LORD,"because you have forgotten me,and trusted in falsehood."

Therefore will I also uncover your skirts on your face,and your shame will appear.

I have seen your abominations, even your adulteries,and your neighing, the lewdness of your prostitution,on the hills in the field.Woe to you, Jerusalem!You will not be made clean.How long will it yet be?"

Jeremiah 14

Drought, Famine, False Prophets, Prayer for Mercy

This is The LORD's word that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought.

"Judah mourns,and its gates languish.They sit in black on the ground.The cry of Jerusalem goes up.

Their nobles send their little ones to the waters.They come to the cisterns,and find no water.They return with their vessels empty.They are disappointed and confounded,and cover their heads.

Because of the ground which is cracked,because no rain has been in the land,the plowmen are disappointed.They cover their heads.

Yes, the doe in the field also calves and forsakes her young,because there is no grass.

The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights.They pant for air like jackals.Their eyes fail,because there is no vegetation.

Though our iniquities testify against us,work for your name's sake, The LORD;for our rebellions are many.We have sinned against you.

You hope of Israel,its Savior in the time of trouble,why should you be as a foreigner in the land,and as a wayfaring man who turns aside to stay for a night?

Why should you be like a scared man,as a mighty man who can't save?Yet you, The LORD, are in the middle of us,and we are called by your name.Don't leave us.

The LORD says to this people,"Even so they have loved to wander.They have not restrained their feet.Therefore the LORD does not accept them.Now he will remember their iniquity,and punish them for their sins."

The LORD said to me, "Don't pray for this people for their good.

When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and meal offering, I will not accept them; but I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence."

Then I said, "Ah, Lord God! Behold, the prophets tell them, 'You will not see the sword, neither will you have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.'"

Then the LORD said to me, "The prophets prophesy lies in my name. I didn't send them. I didn't command them. I didn't speak to them. They prophesy to you a lying vision, divination, and a thing of nothing, and the deceit of their own heart.

Therefore the LORD says concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name, but I didn't send them, yet they say, 'Sword and famine will not be in this land.' Those prophets will be consumed by sword and famine.

The people to whom they prophesy will be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. They will have no one to bury them-them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters, for I will pour their wickedness on them.

"You shall say this word to them:"'Let my eyes run down with tears night and day,and let them not cease;for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach,with a very grievous wound.

If I go out into the field,then, behold, the slain with the sword!If I enter into the city,then, behold, those who are sick with famine!For both the prophet and the priest go about in the land,and have no knowledge.'"

Have you utterly rejected Judah?Has your soul loathed Zion?Why have you struck us, and there is no healing for us?We looked for peace, but no good came;and for a time of healing, and behold, dismay!

We acknowledge, The LORD, our wickedness,and the iniquity of our fathers;for we have sinned against you.

Do not abhor us, for your name's sake.Do not disgrace the throne of your glory.Remember, and don't break your covenant with us.

Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain?Or can the sky give showers?Aren't you he, the LORD our God?Therefore we will wait for you;for you have made all these things.

Jeremiah 15

Rejection and Judgments to Come; Jeremiah's Prayer

Then the LORD said to me, "Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not be toward this people. Cast them out of my sight, and let them go out!

It will happen, when they tell you, 'Where shall we go out?' Then you shall tell them, 'The LORD says:"Such as are for death, to death;such as are for the sword, to the sword;such as are for the famine, to the famine;and such as are for captivity, to captivity."'

"I will appoint over them four kinds," says The LORD: "the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, the birds of the sky, and the animals of the earth, to devour and to destroy.

I will cause them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.

For who will have pity on you, Jerusalem?Who will mourn you?Who will turn aside to ask of your welfare?

You have rejected me," says The LORD."You have gone backward.Therefore I have stretched out my hand against you,and destroyed you.I am weary of showing compassion.

I have winnowed them with a fan in the gates of the land.I have bereaved them of children.I have destroyed my people.They didn't return from their ways.

Their widows are increased more than the sand of the seas;I have brought on them against the mother of the young men a destroyer at noonday.I have caused anguish and terrors to fall on her suddenly.

She who has borne seven languishes.She has given up the spirit.Her sun has gone down while it was yet day.She has been disappointed and confounded.I will deliver their residue to the sword before their enemies," says The LORD.

Woe is me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife,and a man of contention to the whole earth!I have not lent, neither have men lent to me;yet every one of them curses me.

The LORD said,"Most certainly I will strengthen you for good.Most certainly I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you in the time of eviland in the time of affliction.

Can one break iron,even iron from the north, and brass?

I will give your substance and your treasures for a plunder without price,and that for all your sins,even in all your borders.

I will make them to pass with your enemies into a land which you don't know;for a fire is kindled in my anger,which will burn on you."

The LORD, you know.Remember me, visit me,and avenge me of my persecutors.You are patient, so don't take me away.Know that for your sake I have suffered reproach.

Your words were found,and I ate them.Your words were to me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart,for I am called by your name, The LORD, God of Armies.

I didn't sit in the assembly of those who make merry and rejoice.I sat alone because of your hand,for you have filled me with indignation.

Why is my pain perpetual,and my wound incurable,which refuses to be healed?Will you indeed be to me as a deceitful brook,like waters that fail?

Therefore the LORD says,"If you return, then I will bring you again,that you may stand before me;and if you take out the precious from the vile,you will be as my mouth.They will return to you,but you will not return to them.

I will make you to this people a fortified bronze wall.They will fight against you,but they will not prevail against you;for I am with you to save youand to deliver you," says The LORD.

"I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,and I will redeem you out of the hand of the terrible."

Jeremiah 16

Disaster and Restoration Foretold

The LORD's word came also to me, saying,

"You shall not take a wife, neither shall you have sons or daughters, in this place."

For the LORD says concerning the sons and concerning the daughters who are born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bore them, and concerning their fathers who became their father in this land:

"They will die grievous deaths: they will not be lamented, neither will they be buried. They will be as dung on the surface of the ground. They will be consumed by the sword and by famine. Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth."

For the LORD says, "Don't enter into the house of mourning. Don't go to lament. Don't bemoan them, for I have taken away my peace from this people," says The LORD, "even loving kindness and tender mercies.

Both great and small will die in this land. They will not be buried. Men won't lament for them, cut themselves, or make themselves bald for them.

Men won't break bread for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead. Men won't give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.

"You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and to drink."

For the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel says: "Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.

It will happen, when you tell this people all these words, and they ask you, 'Why has the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us?' or 'What is our iniquity? or 'What is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?'

then you shall tell them, 'Because your fathers have forsaken me,' says The LORD, 'and have walked after other gods, have served them, have worshiped them, have forsaken me, and have not kept my law.

You have done evil more than your fathers, for behold, you each walk after the stubbornness of his evil heart, so that you don't listen to me.

Therefore will I cast you out of this land into the land that you have not known, neither you nor your fathers. There you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.'

"Therefore behold, the days come," says The LORD, "that it will no more be said, 'As the LORD lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;'

but, 'As the LORD lives, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the countries where he had driven them.' I will bring them again into their land that I gave to their fathers.

"Behold, I will send for many fishermen," says The LORD, "and they will fish them up. Afterward I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain, from every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks.

For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from my face. Their iniquity isn't concealed from my eyes.

First I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable things, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations."

The LORD, my strength, and my stronghold,and my refuge in the day of affliction,the nations will come to you from the ends of the earth,and will say,"Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies,vanity and things in which there is no profit.

Should a man make to himself gods,which yet are no gods?"

"Therefore behold, I will cause them to know,this once I will cause them to know my hand and my might.Then they will know that my name is The LORD."

Jeremiah 17

The Sin of Judah; Keeping the Sabbath

"The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron,and with the point of a diamond.It is engraved on the tablet of their heart,and on the horns of your altars.

Even their children remember their altarsand their Asherah poles by the green trees on the high hills.

My mountain in the field,I will give your substance and all your treasures for a plunder,and your high places, because of sin, throughout all your borders.

You, even of yourself, will discontinue from your heritage that I gave you.I will cause you to serve your enemies in the land which you don't know,for you have kindled a fire in my anger which will burn forever."

The LORD says:"Cursed is the man who trusts in man,relies on strength of flesh,and whose heart departs from The LORD.

For he will be like a bush in the desert,and will not see when good comes,but will inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,an uninhabited salt land.

"Blessed is the man who trusts in The LORD,and whose confidence is in The LORD.

For he will be as a tree planted by the waters,who spreads out its roots by the river,and will not fear when heat comes,but its leaf will be green;and will not be concerned in the year of drought.It won't cease from yielding fruit.

The heart is deceitful above all thingsand it is exceedingly corrupt.Who can know it?

"I, The LORD, search the mind.I try the heart,even to give every man according to his ways,according to the fruit of his doings."

As the partridge that sits on eggs which she has not laid,so is he who gets riches, and not by right.In the middle of his days, they will leave him.At his end, he will be a fool.

A glorious throne, set on high from the beginning,is the place of our sanctuary.

The LORD, the hope of Israel,all who forsake you will be disappointed.Those who depart from me will be written in the earth,because they have forsaken The LORD,the spring of living waters.

Heal me, O The LORD, and I will be healed.Save me, and I will be saved;for you are my praise.

Behold, they tell me,"Where is The LORD's word?Let it be fulfilled now."

As for me, I have not hurried from being a shepherd after you.I haven't desired the woeful day. You know.That which came out of my lips was before your face.

Don't be a terror to me.You are my refuge in the day of evil.

Let them be disappointed who persecute me,but let not me be disappointed.Let them be dismayed,but don't let me be dismayed.Bring on them the day of evil,and destroy them with double destruction.

The LORD said this to me: "Go, and stand in the gate of the children of the people, through which the kings of Judah come in and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem.

Tell them, 'Hear The LORD's word, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:

The LORD says, "Be careful, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.

Don't carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day. Don't do any work, but make the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers.

But they didn't listen. They didn't turn their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, and might not receive instruction.

It will happen, if you diligently listen to me," says The LORD, "to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but to make the Sabbath day holy, to do no work therein;

then there will enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on David's throne, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city will remain forever.

They will come from the cities of Judah, and from the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country, and from the South, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, meal offerings, and frankincense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving, to The LORD's house.

But if you will not listen to me to make the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem. It will not be quenched."'"

Jeremiah 18

As the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand

The word which came to Jeremiah from The LORD, saying,

"Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear my words."

Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he was making something on the wheels.

When the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Then The LORD's word came to me, saying,

"House of Israel, can't I do with you as this potter?" says The LORD. "Behold, as the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.

At the instant I speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it;

if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them.

At the instant I speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;

if they do that which is evil in my sight, that they not obey my voice, then I will repent of the good with which I said I would benefit them.

"Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, 'The LORD says: "Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a plan against you. Everyone return from his evil way now, and amend your ways and your doings."'

But they say, 'It is in vain; for we will walk after our own plans, and we will each follow the stubbornness of his evil heart.'"

Therefore the LORD says:"Ask now among the nations,'Who has heard such things?'The virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing.

Will the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field?Will the cold waters that flow down from afar be dried up?

For my people have forgotten me.They have burned incense to false gods.They have been made to stumble in their ways,in the ancient paths,to walk in byways, in a way not built up;

to make their land an astonishment,and a perpetual hissing.Everyone who passes thereby will be astonished,and shake his head.

I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy.I will show them the back, and not the face,in the day of their calamity.

Then they said, "Come, and let us devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law won't perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words."

Give heed to me, The LORD,and listen to the voice of those who contend with me.

Should evil be recompensed for good?For they have dug a pit for my soul.Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them,to turn away your wrath from them.

Therefore deliver up their children to the famine,and give them over to the power of the sword.Let their wives become childless, and widows.Let their men be killed,and their young men struck by the sword in battle.

Let a cry be heard from their houses,when you bring a troop suddenly on them;for they have dug a pit to take me,and hidden snares for my feet.

Yet, The LORD, you know all their counsel against me to kill me.Don't forgive their iniquity.Don't blot out their sin from your sight,Let them be overthrown before you.Deal with them in the time of your anger.

Jeremiah 19

The Broken Jar

Thus said The LORD, "Go, and buy a potter's earthen bottle, and take some of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests;

and go out to the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the gate Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I will tell you.

Say, 'Hear The LORD's word, kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel says, "Behold, I will bring evil on this place, which whoever hears, his ears will tingle.

Because they have forsaken me, and have defiled this place, and have burned incense in it to other gods, that they didn't know, they and their fathers and the kings of Judah; and have filled this place with the blood of innocents,

and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt offerings to Baal; which I didn't command, nor speak, which didn't even enter into my mind:

therefore, behold, the days come," says The LORD, "that this place will no more be called 'Topheth', nor 'The Valley of the son of Hinnom', but 'The valley of Slaughter'.

"'"I will make the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem void in this place. I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. I will give their dead bodies to be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth.

I will make this city an astonishment and a hissing. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues.

I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters. They will each eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies, and those who seek their life, will distress them."'

"Then you shall break the bottle in the sight of the men who go with you,

and shall tell them, 'The LORD of Armies says: "Even so I will break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter's vessel, that can't be made whole again. They will bury in Topheth, until there is no place to bury.

Thus will I do to this place," says The LORD, "and to its inhabitants, even making this city as Topheth.

The houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, will be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the army of the sky, and have poured out drink offerings to other gods."'"

Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of The LORD's house, and said to all the people:

"The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel says, 'Behold, I will bring on this city and on all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.'"

Jeremiah 20

Pashhur Persecutes Jeremiah; Jeremiah Complains

Now Pashhur, the son of Immer the priest, who was chief officer in The LORD's house, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.

Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in The LORD's house.

On the next day, Pashhur released Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, "The LORD has not called your name Pashhur, but Magormissabib.

For the LORD says, 'Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They will fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes will see it. I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them captive to Babylon, and will kill them with the sword.

Moreover I will give all the riches of this city, and all its gains, and all its precious things, yes, I will give all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies. They will make them captives, take them, and carry them to Babylon.

You, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house will go into captivity. You will come to Babylon, and there you will die, and there you will be buried, you, and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.'"

The LORD, you have persuaded me, and I was persuaded.You are stronger than I, and have prevailed.I have become a laughing-stock all day.Everyone mocks me.

For as often as I speak, I cry out;I cry, "Violence and destruction!"because The LORD's word has been made a reproach to me,and a derision, all day.

If I say, I will not make mention of him,or speak any more in his name,then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones,and I am weary with holding it in,and I can't.

For I have heard the defaming of many,"Terror on every side!Denounce, and we will denounce him!"say all my familiar friends,those who watch for my fall."Perhaps he will be persuaded,and we will prevail against him,and we will take our revenge on him."

But the LORD is with me as an awesome mighty one.Therefore my persecutors will stumble,and they won't prevail.They will be utterly disappointed,because they have not dealt wisely,even with an everlasting dishonor which will never be forgotten.

But, the LORD of Hosts, who tests the righteous,who sees the heart and the mind,let me see your vengeance on them;for to you I have revealed my cause.

Sing to The LORD!Praise The LORD,for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evildoers.

Cursed is the day in which I was born.Don't let the day in which my mother bore me be blessed.

Cursed is the man who brought news to my father, saying,"A boy is born to you," making him very glad.

Let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew,and didn't repent.Let him hear a cry in the morning,and shouting at noontime;

because he didn't kill me from the womb.So my mother would have been my grave,and her womb always great.

Why did I come out of the womb to see labor and sorrow,that my days should be consumed with shame?