Chapter 1
Jeremiah1. The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in
Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
2 to whom the word of Jehovah came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon,
king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah,
unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of
Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
4. Now the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest
forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet
unto the nations.
6 Then said I, Ah, Lord Jehovah! behold, I know not how to speak; for I
am a child.
7 But Jehovah said unto me, Say not, I am a child; for to whomsoever I
shall send thee thou shalt go, and whatsoever I shall command thee thou
shalt speak.
8 Be not afraid because of them; for I am with thee to deliver thee,
saith Jehovah.
9 Then Jehovah put forth his hand, and touched my mouth; and Jehovah said
unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth:
10 see, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms,
to pluck up and to break down and to destroy and to overthrow, to build and
to plant.
11. Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what
seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond-tree.
12 Then said Jehovah unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I watch over my
word to perform it.
13 And the word of Jehovah came unto me the second time, saying, What
seest thou? And I said, I see a boiling caldron; and the face thereof is
from the north.
14 Then Jehovah said unto me, Out of the north evil shall break forth
upon all the inhabitants of the land.
15 For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north,
saith Jehovah; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne
at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls
thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.
16 And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their
wickedness, in that they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto
other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
17 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all
that I command thee: be not dismayed at them, lest I dismay thee before
them.
18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a fortified city, and an iron
pillar, and brazen walls, against the whole land, against the kings of
Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and
against the people of the land.
19 And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against
thee: for I am with thee, saith Jehovah, to deliver thee.
Jeremiah
Chapter 21. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,
2 Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, I
remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals;
how thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
3 Israel [was] holiness unto Jehovah, the first-fruits of his increase:
all that devour him shall be held guilty; evil shall come upon them, saith
Jehovah.
4 Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O house of Jacob, and all the families of
the house of Israel:
5 thus saith Jehovah, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me,
that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are
become vain?
6 Neither said they, Where is Jehovah that brought us up out of the land
of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and
of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a
land that none passed through, and where no man dwelt?
7 And I brought you into a plentiful land, to eat the fruit thereof and
the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made my
heritage an abomination.
8 The priests said not, Where is Jehovah? and they that handle the law
knew me not: the rulers also transgressed against me, and the prophets
prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
9. Wherefore I will yet contend with you, saith Jehovah, and with your
children's children will I contend.
10 For pass over to the isles of Kittim, and see; and send unto Kedar,
and consider diligently; and see if there hath been such a thing.
11 Hath a nation changed [its] gods, which yet are no gods? but my people
have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye
very desolate, saith Jehovah.
13 For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the
fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns,
that can hold no water.
14. Is Israel a servant? is he a home-born [slave]? why is he become a
prey?
15 The young lions have roared upon him, and yelled; and they have made
his land waste: his cities are burned up, without inhabitant.
16 The children also of Memphis and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of
thy head.
17 Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken
Jehovah thy God, when he led thee by the way?
18 And now what hast thou to do in the way to Egypt, to drink the waters
of the Shihor? or what hast thou to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the
waters of the River?
19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall
reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter,
that thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, and that my fear is not in thee,
saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.
20. For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bonds; and thou
saidst, I will not serve; for upon every high hill and under every green
tree thou didst bow thyself, playing the harlot.
21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art
thou turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine unto me?
22 For though thou wash thee with lye, and take thee much soap, yet thine
iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord Jehovah.
23 How canst thou say, I am not defiled, I have not gone after the
Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: [thou art] a
swift dromedary traversing her ways;
24 a wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind in her
desire; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will
not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.
25 Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but
thou saidst, It is in vain; no, for I have loved strangers, and after them
will I go.
26 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;
27 who say to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast
brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their
face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.
28 But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if
they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number
of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.
29. Wherefore will ye contend with me? ye all have transgressed against
me, saith Jehovah.
30 In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction:
your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
31 O generation, see ye the word of Jehovah. Have I been a wilderness
unto Israel? or a land of thick darkness? wherefore say my people, We are
broken loose; we will come no more unto thee?
32 Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my
people have forgotten me days without number.
33 How trimmest thou thy way to seek love! therefore even the wicked
women hast thou taught thy ways.
34 Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent
poor: thou didst not find them breaking in; but it is because of all these
things.
35 Yet thou saidst, I am innocent; surely his anger is turned away from
me. Behold, I will enter into judgment with thee, because thou sayest, I
have not sinned.
36 Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou shalt be
ashamed of Egypt also, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
37 From thence also shalt thou go forth, with thy hands upon thy head:
for Jehovah hath rejected those in whom thou trustest, and thou shalt not
prosper with them.
Jeremiah
Chapter 31. They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become
another man's, will he return unto her again? will not that land be greatly
polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return
again to me, saith Jehovah.
2 Lift up thine eyes unto the bare heights, and see; where hast thou not
been lain with? By the ways hast thou sat for them, as an Arabian in the
wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy
wickedness.
3 Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no
latter rain; yet thou hast a harlot's forehead, thou refusedst to be
ashamed.
4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My Father, thou art the guide
of my youth?
5 Will he retain [his anger] for ever? will he keep it to the end?
Behold, thou hast spoken and hast done evil things, and hast had thy way.
6. Moreover Jehovah said unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou
seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every
high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
7 And I said after she had done all these things, She will return unto
me; but she returned not: and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
8 And I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Israel had
committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorcement,
yet treacherous Judah her sister feared not; but she also went and played
the harlot.
9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that the
land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned
unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith Jehovah.
11 And Jehovah said unto me, Backsliding Israel hath showed herself more
righteous than treacherous Judah.
12. Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou
backsliding Israel, saith Jehovah; I will not look in anger upon you; for I
am merciful, saith Jehovah, I will not keep [anger] for ever.
13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against
Jehovah thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every
green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith Jehovah.
14 Return, O backsliding children, saith Jehovah; for I am a husband unto
you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will
bring you to Zion:
15 and I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who shall feed
you with knowledge and understanding.
16 And it shall come to pass, when ye are multiplied and increased in the
land, in those days, saith Jehovah, they shall say no more, The ark of the
covenant of Jehovah; neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they
remember it; neither shall they miss it; neither shall it be made any more.
17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah; and all
the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of Jehovah, to
Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their
evil heart.
18 In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel,
and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that
I gave for an inheritance unto your fathers.
19 But I said, How I will put thee among the children, and give thee a
pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of the nations! and I said,
Ye shall call me My Father, and shall not turn away from following me.
20. Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye
dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah.
21 A voice is heard upon the bare heights, the weeping [and] the
supplications of the children of Israel; because they have perverted their
way, they have forgotten Jehovah their God.
22 Return, ye backsliding children, I will heal your backslidings.
Behold, we are come unto thee; for thou art Jehovah our God.
23 Truly in vain is [the help that is looked for] from the hills, the
tumult on the mountains: truly in Jehovah our God is the salvation of
Israel.
24 But the shameful thing hath devoured the labor of our fathers from our
youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we
have sinned against Jehovah our God, we and our fathers, from our youth
even unto this day; and we have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God.
Jeremiah
Chapter 41. If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith Jehovah, if thou wilt return unto
me, and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight; then
shalt thou not be removed;
2 and thou shalt swear, As Jehovah liveth, in truth, in justice, and in
righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him
shall they glory.
3. For thus saith Jehovah to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, Break up
your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to Jehovah, and take away the foreskins of your
heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth
like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your
doings.
5. Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the
trumpet in the land: cry aloud and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go
into the fortified cities.
6 Set up a standard toward Zion: flee for safety, stay not; for I will
bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
7 A lion is gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations; he is
on his way, he is gone forth from his place, to make thy land desolate,
that thy cities be laid waste, without inhabitant.
8 For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger
of Jehovah is not turned back from us.
9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith Jehovah, that the heart of
the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall
be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.
10 Then said I, Ah, Lord Jehovah! surely thou hast greatly deceived this
people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword
reacheth unto the life.
11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A hot
wind from the bare heights in the wilderness toward the daughter of my
people, not to winnow, nor to cleanse;
12 a full wind from these shall come for me: now will I also utter
judgments against them.
13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots [shall be] as the
whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are
ruined.
14 O Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be
saved. How long shall thine evil thoughts lodge within thee?
15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth evil from the hills of
Ephraim:
16 make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem,
[that] watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against
the cities of Judah.
17 As keepers of a field are they against her round about, because she
hath been rebellious against me, saith Jehovah.
18 Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is
thy wickedness; for it is bitter, for it reacheth unto thy heart.
19. My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is
disquieted in me; I cannot hold my peace; because thou hast heard, O my
soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is laid
waste: suddenly are my tents destroyed, [and] my curtains in a moment.
21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 For my people are foolish, they know me not; they are sottish
children, and they have no understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to
do good they have no knowledge.
23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was waste and void; and the heavens,
and they had no light.
24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills
moved to and fro.
25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens
were fled.
26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all the
cities thereof were broken down at the presence of Jehovah, [and] before
his fierce anger.
27 For thus saith Jehovah, The whole land shall be a desolation; yet will
I not make a full end.
28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black;
because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and I have not repented,
neither will I turn back from it.
29 Every city fleeth for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they go
into the thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city is forsaken, and
not a man dwelleth therein.
30 And thou, when thou art made desolate, what wilt thou do? Though thou
clothest thyself with scarlet, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of
gold, though thou enlargest thine eyes with paint, in vain dost thou make
thyself fair; [thy] lovers despise thee, they seek thy life.
31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, the anguish as of
her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion,
that gaspeth for breath, that spreadeth her hands, [saying], Woe is me now!
for my soul fainteth before the murderers.
Jeremiah
Chapter 51. Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and
know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there
be any that doeth justly, that seeketh truth; and I will pardon her.
2 And though they say, As Jehovah liveth; surely they swear falsely.
3 O Jehovah, do not thine eyes look upon truth? thou hast stricken them,
but they were not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused
to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they
have refused to return.
4 Then I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish; for they know not
the way of Jehovah, nor the law of their God:
5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they
know the way of Jehovah, and the law of their God. But these with one
accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
6 Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, a wolf of the
evenings shall destroy them, a leopard shall watch against their cities;
every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces; because their
transgressions are many, [and] their backslidings are increased.
7 How can I pardon thee? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them
that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery,
and assembled themselves in troops at the harlots' houses.
8 They were as fed horses roaming at large; every one neighed after his
neighbor's wife.
9 Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah; and shall not my
soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10. Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take
away her branches; for they are not Jehovah's.
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very
treacherously against me, saith Jehovah.
12 They have denied Jehovah, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil
come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:
13 and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus
shall it be done unto them.
14 Wherefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, Because ye speak this
word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood,
and it shall devour them.
15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith
Jehovah: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient naion, a nation whose
language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.
16 Their quiver is an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.
17 And they shall eat up thy harvest, and thy bread, [which] thy sons and
thy daughters should eat; they shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds; they
shall eat up thy vines and thy fig-trees; they shall beat down thy
fortified cities, wherein thou trustest, with the sword.
18 But even in those days, saith Jehovah, I will not make a full end with
you.
19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah
our God done all these things unto us? then shalt thou say unto them, Like
as ye have forsaken me, and served foreign gods in your land, so shall ye
serve strangers in a land that is not yours.
20. Declare ye this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah,
saying,
21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; that have
eyes, and see not; that have ears, and hear not:
22 Fear ye not me? saith Jehovah: will ye not tremble at my presence, who
have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that
it cannot pass it? and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can
they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it.
23 But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are
revolted and gone.
24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, that
giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; that preserveth
unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
25. Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have
withholden good from you.
26 For among my people are found wicked men: they watch, as fowlers lie
in wait; they set a trap, they catch men.
27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit:
therefore they are become great, and waxed rich.
28 They are waxed fat, they shine: yea, they overpass in deeds of
wickedness; they plead not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that
they may prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
29 Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah; shall not my soul
be avenged on such a nation as this?
30 A wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land:
31 the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their
means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end
thereof?
Jeremiah
Chapter 61. Flee for safety, ye children of Benjamin, out of the midst of
Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise up a signal on
Beth-haccherem; for evil looketh forth from the north, and a great
destruction.
2 The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, will I cut off.
3 Shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their
tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place.
4 Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto
us! for the day declineth, for the shadows of the evening are stretched
out.
5 Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces.
6 For thus hath Jehovah of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast up a
mound against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly
oppression in the midst of her.
7 As a well casteth forth its waters, so she casteth forth her
wickedness: violence and destruction is heard in her; before me continually
is sickness and wounds.
8 Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul be alienated from thee;
lest I make thee a desolation, a land not inhabited.
9. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of
Israel as a vine: turn again thy hand as a grape-gatherer into the baskets.
10 To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? behold, their
ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of Jehovah
is become unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
11 Therefore I am full of the wrath of Jehovah; I am weary with holding
in: pour it out upon the children in the street, and upon the assembly of
young men together; for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the
aged with him that is full of days.
12 And their houses shall be turned unto others, their fields and their
wives together; for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the
land, saith Jehovah.
13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is
given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one
dealeth falsely.
14 They have healed also the hurt of my people slightly, saying, Peace,
peace; when there is no peace.
15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were
not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall
among them that fall; at the time that I visit them they shall be cast
down, saith Jehovah.
16 Thus saith Jehovah, Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old
paths, where is the good way; and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for
your souls: but they said, We will not walk [therein].
17 And I set watchmen over you, [saying], Hearken to the sound of the
trumpet; but they said, We will not hearken.
18. Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among
them.
19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the
fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words; and
as for my law, they have rejected it.
20 To what purpose cometh there to me frankincense from Sheba, and the
sweet cane from a far country? your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor
your sacrifices pleasing unto me.
21 Therefore thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will lay stumbling-blocks
before this people; and the fathers and the sons together shall stumble
against them; the neighbor and his friend shall perish.
22 Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, a people cometh from the north country;
and a great nation shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the
earth.
23 They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy;
their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride upon horses, every one set
in array, as a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Zion.
24 We have heard the report thereof; our hands wax feeble: anguish hath
taken hold of us, [and] pangs as of a woman in travail.
25 Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the
enemy, [and] terror, are on every side.
26 O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself
in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation;
for the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.
27 I have made thee a trier [and] a fortress among my people; that thou
mayest know and try their way.
28 They are all grievous revolters, going about with slanders; they are
brass and iron: they all of them deal corruptly.
29 The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed of the fire: in vain
do they go on refining; for the wicked are not plucked away.
30 Refuse silver shall men them, because Jehovah hath rejected them.
Jeremiah 7
1. The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,
2 Stand in the gate of Jehovah's house, and proclaim there this word, and
say, Hear the word of Jehovah, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these
gates to worship Jehovah.
3 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and
your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of Jehovah, the temple
of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, are these.
5 For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly
execute justice between a man and his neighbor;
6 if ye oppress not the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, and
shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to
your own hurt:
7 then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave
to your fathers, from of old even for evermore.
8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn
incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods that ye have not known,
10 and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my
name, and say, We are delivered; that ye may do all these abominations?
11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in
your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, saith Jehovah.
12 But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my
name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of
my people Israel.
13 And now, because ye have done all these works, saith Jehovah, and I
spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I
called you, but ye answered not:
14 therefore will I do unto the house which is called by my name, wherein
ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I
did to Shiloh.
15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your
brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
16. Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor
prayer for them, neither make intercession to me; for I will not hear thee.
17 Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets
of Jerusalem?
18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the
women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour
out drink-offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
19 Do they provoke me to anger? saith Jehovah; [do they] not [provoke]
themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?
20 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, mine anger and my wrath
shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the
trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn,
and shall not be quenched.
21. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your
burnt-offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat ye flesh.
22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that
I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings or
sacrifices:
23 but this thing I commanded them, saying, Hearken unto my voice, and I
will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk ye in all the way
that I command you, that it may be well with you.
24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in [their
own] counsels [and] in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went
backward, and not forward.
25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt
unto this day, I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily
rising up early and sending them:
26 yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but made their
neck stiff: they did worse than their fathers.
27 And thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not
hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer
thee.
28 And thou shalt say unto them, This is the nation that hath not
hearkened to the voice of Jehovah their God, nor received instruction:
truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.
29. Cut off thy hair, [O Jerusalem], and cast it away, and take up a
lamentation on the bare heights; for Jehovah hath rejected and forsaken the
generation of his wrath.
30 For the children of Judah have done that which is evil in my sight,
saith Jehovah: they have set their abominations in the house which is
called by my name, to defile it.
31 And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley
of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire;
which I commanded not, neither came it into my mind.
32 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that it shall no more
be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of
Slaughter: for they shall bury in Topheth, till there be no place [to
bury].
33 And the dead bodies of this people shall be food for the birds of the
heavens, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall frighten them
away.
34 Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the
streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the
voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land shall
become a waste.
Jeremiah
Chapter 81. At that time, saith Jehovah, they shall bring out the bones of the
kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests,
and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, out of their graves;
2 and they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the
host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, and
after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and which they
have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried, they shall be
for dung upon the face of the earth.
3 And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue that
remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places whither I have
driven them, saith Jehovah of hosts.
4. Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah: Shall men fall,
and not rise up again? Shall one turn away, and not return?
5 Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual
backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
6 I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repenteth him
of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turneth to his
course, as a horse that rusheth headlong in the battle.
7 Yea, the stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed times; and the
turtle-dove and the swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming;
but my people know not the law of Jehovah.
8 How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of Jehovah is with us? But,
behold, the false pen of the scribes hath wrought falsely.
9 The wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they
have rejected the word of Jehovah; and what manner of wisdom is in them?
10 Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to
them that shall possess them: for every one from the least even unto the
greatest is given to covetousness; from the prophet even unto the priest
every one dealeth falsely.
11 And they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly,
saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were
not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall
among them that fall; in the time of their visitation they shall be cast
down, saith Jehovah.
13. I will utterly consume them, saith Jehovah: there shall be no grapes
on the vine, nor figs on the fig-tree, and the leaf shall fade; and [the
things that] I have given them shall pass away from them.
14 Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the
fortified cities, and let us be silent there; for Jehovah our God hath put
us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned
against Jehovah.
15 We looked for peace, but no good came; [and] for a time of healing,
and, behold, dismay!
16 The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan: at the sound of the
neighing of his strong ones the whole land trembleth; for they are come,
and have devoured the land and all that is in it; the city and those that
dwell therein.
17 For, behold, I will send serpents, adders, among you, which will not
be charmed; and they shall bite you, saith Jehovah.
18 Oh that I could comfort myself against sorrow! my heart is faint
within me.
19 Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land
that is very far off: is not Jehovah in Zion? is not her King in her? Why
have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with foreign
vanities?
20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt: I mourn; dismay
hath taken hold on me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? why then is
not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
Jeremiah
Chapter 91. Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I
might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
2 Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men; that
I might leave my people, and go from them! for they are all adulterers, an
assembly of treacherous men.
3 And they bend their tongue, [as it were] their bow, for falsehood; and
they are grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed from
evil to evil, and they know not me, saith Jehovah.
4 Take ye heed every one of his neighbor, and trust ye not in any
brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will
go about with slanders.
5 And they will deceive every one his neighbor, and will not speak the
truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves
to commit iniquity.
6 Thy habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to
know me, saith Jehovah.
7 Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and
try them; for how [else] should I do, because of the daughter of my people?
8 Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh
peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in his heart he layeth wait
for him.
9 Shall I not visit them for these things? saith Jehovah; shall not my
soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10 For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the
pastures of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so
that none passeth through; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle;
both the birds of the heavens and the beasts are fled, they are gone.
11 And I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling-place of jackals; and I
will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.
12. Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and [who is] he to whom
the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken, that he may declare it? wherefore is the
land perished and burned up like a wilderness, so that none passeth
through?
13 And Jehovah saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set
before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein,
14 but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after
the Baalim, which their fathers taught them;
15 therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I
will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of
gall to drink.
16 I will scatter them also among the nations, whom neither they nor
their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them, till I have
consumed them.
17 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning
women, that they may come; and send for the skilful women, that they may
come:
18 and let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes
may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.
19 For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we ruined! we are
greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because they have
cast down our dwellings.
20 Yet hear the word of Jehovah, O ye women, and let your ear receive the
word of his mouth; and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her
neighbor lamentation.
21 For death is come up into our windows, it is entered into our palaces;
to cut off the children from without, [and] the young men from the streets.
22 Speak, Thus saith Jehovah, The dead bodies of men shall fall as dung
upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman; and none
shall gather [them].
23. Thus saith Jehovah, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither
let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his
riches;
24 but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he hath understanding,
and knoweth me, that I am Jehovah who exerciseth lovingkindness, justice,
and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith
Jehovah.
25 Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will punish all them that
are circumcised in [their] uncircumcision:
26 Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and
all that have the corners [of their hair] cut off, that dwell in the
wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of
Israel are uncircumcised in heart.
Jeremiah
Chapter 101. Hear ye the word which Jehovah speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
2 thus saith Jehovah, Learn not the way of the nations, and be not
dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the nations are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cutteth a tree out
of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the axe.
4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and
with hammers, that it move not.
5 They are like a palm-tree, of turned work, and speak not: they must
needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they
cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.
6 There is none like unto thee, O Jehovah; thou art great, and thy name
is great in might.
7 Who should not fear thee, O King of the nations? for to thee doth it
appertain; forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all
their royal estate, there is none like unto thee.
8 But they are together brutish and foolish: the instruction of idols! it
is but a stock.
9 There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and
gold from Uphaz, the work of the artificer and of the hands of the
goldsmith; blue and purple for their clothing; they are all the work of
skilful men.
10 But Jehovah is the true God; he is the living God, and an everlasting
King: at his wrath the earth trembleth, and the nations are not able to
abide his indignation.
11 Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens
and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the
heavens.
12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by
his wisdom, and by his understanding hath he stretched out the heavens:
13 when he uttereth his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the
heavens, and he causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he
maketh lightnings for the rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his
treasuries.
14 Every man is become brutish [and is] without knowledge; every
goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image; for his molten image is
falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
15 They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation
they shall perish.
16 The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the former of all
things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: Jehovah of hosts is his
name.
17. Gather up thy wares out of the land, O thou that abidest in the siege.
18 For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of
the land at this time, and will distress them, that they may feel [it].
19 Woe is me because of my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly
this is [my] grief, and I must bear it.
20 My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken: my children are
gone forth from me, and they are not: there is none to spread my tent any
more, and to set up my curtains.
21 For the shepherds are become brutish, and have not inquired of
Jehovah: therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks are
scattered.
22 The voice of tidings, behold, it cometh, and a great commotion out of
the north country, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a
dwelling-place of jackals.
23 O Jehovah, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in
man that walketh to direct his steps.
24 O Jehovah, correct me, but in measure: not in thine anger, lest thou
bring me to nothing.
25 Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that know thee not, and upon the
families that call not on thy name: for they have devoured Jacob, yea, they
have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.
Jeremiah
Chapter 111. The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,
2 Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah,
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
3 and say thou unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Cursed
be the man that heareth not the words of this covenant,
4 which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out
of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and
do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people,
and I will be your God;
5 that I may establish the oath which I sware unto your fathers, to give
them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day. Then answered I,
and said, Amen, O Jehovah.
6 And Jehovah said unto me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of
Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the words of this
covenant, and do them.
7 For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought
them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and
protesting, saying, Obey my voice.
8 Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in
the stubbornness of their evil heart: therefore I brought upon them all the
words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did them
not.
9 And Jehovah said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah,
and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
10 They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who
refused to hear my words; and they are gone after other gods to serve them:
the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I
made with their fathers.
11. Therefore thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will bring evil upon them,
which they shall not be able to escape; and they shall cry unto me, but I
will not hearken unto them.
12 Then shall the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem go and
cry unto the gods unto which they offer incense: but they will not save
them at all in the time of their trouble.
13 For according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah; and
according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars
to the shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal.
14 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor
prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me
because of their trouble.
15 What hath my beloved to do in my house, seeing she hath wrought
lewdness [with] many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee? when thou
doest evil, then thou rejoicest.
16 Jehovah called thy name, A green olive-tree, fair with goodly fruit:
with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the
branches of it are broken.
17 For Jehovah of hosts, who planted thee, hath pronounced evil against
thee, because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah,
which they have wrought for themselves in provoking me to anger by offering
incense unto Baal.
18. And Jehovah gave me knowledge of it, and I knew it: then thou showedst
me their doings.
19 But I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter; and I knew
not that they had devised devices against me, [saying], Let us destroy the
tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the
living, that his name may be no more remembered.
20 But, O Jehovah of hosts, who judgest righteously, who triest the heart
and the mind, I shall see thy vengeance on them; for unto thee have I
revealed my cause.
21 Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the men of Anathoth, that seek
thy life, saying, Thou shalt not prophesy in the name of Jehovah, that thou
die not by our hand;
22 therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Behold, I will punish them: the
young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die
by famine;
23 and there shall be no remnant unto them: for I will bring evil upon
the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation.
Jeremiah
Chapter 121. Righteous art thou, O Jehovah, when I contend with thee; yet would I
reason the cause with thee: wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper?
wherefore are all they at ease that deal very treacherously?
2 Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root; they grow, yea, they
bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their heart.
3 But thou, O Jehovah, knowest me; thou seest me, and triest my heart
toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them
for the day of slaughter.
4 How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of the whole country
wither? for the wickedness of them that dwell therein, the beasts are
consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our latter
end.
5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how
canst thou contend with horses? and though in a land of peace thou art
secure, yet how wilt thou do in the pride of the Jordan?
6 For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have
dealt treacherously with thee; even they have cried aloud after thee:
believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee.
7. 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.
8 My heritage is become unto me as a lion in the forest: she hath uttered
her voice against me; therefore I have hated her.
9 Is my heritage unto me as a speckled bird of prey? are the birds of
prey against her round about? go ye, assemble all the beasts of the field,
bring them to devour.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my
portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate
wilderness.
11 They have made it a desolation; it mourneth unto me, being desolate;
the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.
12 Destroyers are come upon all the bare heights in the wilderness; for
the sword of Jehovah devoureth from the one end of the land even to the
other end of the land: no flesh hath peace.
13 They have sown wheat, and have reaped thorns; they have put themselves
to pain, and profit nothing: and ye shall be ashamed of your fruits,
because of the fierce anger of Jehovah.
14. Thus saith Jehovah against all mine evil neighbors, that touch the
inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit: behold, I will
pluck them up from off their land, and will pluck up the house of Judah
from among them.
15 And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them up, I will
return and have compassion on them; and I will bring them again, every man
to his heritage, and every man to his land.
16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of
my people, to swear by my name, As Jehovah liveth; even as they taught my
people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built up in the midst of my
people.
17 But if they will not hear, then will I pluck up that nation, plucking
up and destroying it, saith Jehovah.
Jeremiah
Chapter 131. Thus saith Jehovah unto me, Go, and buy thee a linen girdle, and put it
upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
2 So I bought a girdle according to the word of Jehovah, and put it upon
my loins.
3 And the word of Jehovah came unto me the second time, saying,
4 Take the girdle that thou hast bought, which is upon thy loins, and
arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.
5 So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as Jehovah commanded me.
6 And it came to pass after many days, that Jehovah said unto me, Arise,
go to the Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded
thee to hide there.
7 Then I went to the Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the
place where I had hid it; and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was
profitable for nothing.
8 Then the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
9 Thus saith Jehovah, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah,
and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10 This evil people, that refuse to hear my words, that walk in the
stubbornness of their heart, and are gone after other gods to serve them,
and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is profitable for
nothing.
11 For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to
cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah,
saith Jehovah; that they may be unto me for a people, and for a name, and
for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.
12. Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word: Thus saith Jehovah,
the God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall
say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled
with wine?
13 Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will fill
all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David's
throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, with drunkenness.
14 And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the
sons together, saith Jehovah: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have
compassion, that I should not destroy them.
15 Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud; for Jehovah hath spoken.
16 Give glory to Jehovah your God, before he cause darkness, and before
your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he
turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
17 But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret for [your]
pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because
Jehovah's flock is taken captive.
18 Say thou unto the king and to the queen-mother, Humble yourselves, sit
down; for your headtires are come down, even the crown of your glory.
19 The cities of the South are shut up, and there is none to open them:
Judah is carried away captive, all of it; it is wholly carried away
captive.
20 Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is
the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
21 What wilt thou say, when he shall set over thee as head those whom
thou hast thyself taught to be friends to thee? shall not sorrows take hold
of thee, as of a woman in travail?
22. And if thou say in thy heart, Wherefore are these things come upon me?
for the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts uncovered, and thy heels
suffer violence.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may
ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
24 Therefore will I scatter them, as the stubble that passeth away, by
the wind of the wilderness.
25 This is thy lot, the portion measured unto thee from me, saith
Jehovah; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
26 Therefore will I also uncover thy skirts upon thy face, and thy shame
shall appear.
27 I have seen thine abominations, even thine adulteries, and thy
neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, on the hills in the field. Woe
unto thee, O Jerusalem! thou wilt not be made clean; how long shall it yet
be?
Jeremiah
Chapter 141. The word of Jehovah that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought.
2 Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish, they sit in black upon
the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
3 And their nobles send their little ones to the waters: they come to the
cisterns, and find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are
put to shame and confounded, and cover their heads.
4 Because of the ground which is cracked, for that no rain hath been in
the land, the plowmen are put to shame, they cover their heads.
5 Yea, the hind also in the field calveth, and forsaketh [her young],
because there is no grass.
6 And the wild asses stand on the bare heights, they pant for air like
jackals; their eyes fail, because there is no herbage.
7 Though our iniquities testify against us, work thou for thy name's
sake, O Jehovah; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against
thee.
8 O thou hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in the time of trouble, why
shouldest thou be as a sojourner in the land, and as a wayfaring man that
turneth aside to tarry for a night?
9 Why shouldest thou be as a man affrighted, as a mighty man that cannot
save? yet thou, O Jehovah, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy
name; leave us not.
10. Thus saith Jehovah unto this people, Even so have they loved to
wander; they have not refrained their feet: therefore Jehovah doth not
accept them; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.
11 And Jehovah said unto me, Pray not for this people for [their] good.
12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer
burnt-offering and meal-offering, I will not accept them; but I will
consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.
13 Then said I, Ah, Lord Jehovah! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye
shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you
assured peace in this place.
14 Then Jehovah said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name; I
sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake I unto them:
they prophesy unto you a lying vision, and divination, and a thing of
nought, and the deceit of their own heart.
15 Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the prophets that prophesy in
my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be
in this land: By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets
of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none
to bury them-- them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for
I will pour their wickedness upon them.
17. And thou shalt say this word unto them, Let mine eyes run down with
tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my
people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous wound.
18 If I go forth into the field, then, behold, the slain with the sword!
and if I enter into the city, then, behold, they that are sick with famine!
for both the prophet and the priest go about in the land, and have no
knowledge.
19 Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul loathed Zion? why hast
thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but
no good came; and for a time of healing, and, behold, dismay!
20 We acknowledge, O Jehovah, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our
fathers; for we have sinned against thee.
21 Do not abhor [us], for thy name's sake; do not disgrace the throne of
thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.
22 Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain?
or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O Jehovah our God?
therefore we will wait for thee; for thou hast made all these things.
Jeremiah
Chapter 151. Then said Jehovah unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet
my mind would not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let
them go forth.
2 And it shall come to pass, when they say unto thee, Whither shall we go
forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith Jehovah: Such as are for
death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as
are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to
captivity.
3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith Jehovah: the sword to
slay, and the dogs to tear, and the birds of the heavens, and the beasts of
the earth, to devour and to destroy.
4 And I will cause them to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of
the earth, because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for
that which he did in Jerusalem.
5 For who will have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who will bemoan thee?
or who will turn aside to ask of thy welfare?
6 Thou hast rejected me, saith Jehovah, thou art gone backward: therefore
have I stretched out my hand against thee, and destroyed thee; I am weary
with repenting.
7 And I have winnowed them with a fan in the gates of the land; I have
bereaved [them] of children, I have destroyed my people; they returned not
from their ways.
8 Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas; I have
brought upon them against the mother of the young men a destroyer at
noonday: I have caused anguish and terrors to fall upon her suddenly.
9 She that hath borne seven languisheth; she hath given up the ghost; her
sun is gone down while it was yet day; she hath been put to shame and
confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before
their enemies, saith Jehovah.
10. Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a
man of contention to the whole earth! I have not lent, neither have men
lent to me; [yet] every one of them doth curse me.
11 Jehovah said, Verily I will strengthen thee for good; verily I will
cause the enemy to make supplication unto thee in the time of evil and in
the time of affliction.
12 Can one break iron, even iron from the north, and brass?
13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give for a spoil without price,
and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
14 And I will make [them] to pass with thine enemies into a land which
thou knowest not; for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn
upon you.
15. O Jehovah, thou knowest; remember me, and visit me, and avenge me of
my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy
sake I have suffered reproach.
16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy words were unto me a
joy and the rejoicing of my heart: for I am called by thy name, O Jehovah,
God of hosts.
17 I sat not in the assembly of them that make merry, nor rejoiced; I sat
alone because of thy hand; for thou hast filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be
healed? wilt thou indeed be unto me as a deceitful [brook], as waters that
fail?
19 Therefore thus saith Jehovah, If thou return, then will I bring thee
again, that thou mayest stand before me; and if thou take forth the
precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: they shall return unto
thee, but thou shalt not return unto them.
20 And I will make thee unto this people a fortified brazen wall; and
they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee; for
I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith Jehovah.
21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will
redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.
Jeremiah
Chapter 161. The word of Jehovah came also unto me, saying,
2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or
daughters, in this place.
3 For thus saith Jehovah concerning the sons and concerning the daughters
that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them,
and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land:
4 They shall die grievous deaths: they shall not be lamented, neither
shall they be buried; they shall be as dung upon the face of the ground;
and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their dead
bodies shall be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of
the earth.
5 For thus saith Jehovah, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither
go to lament, neither bemoan them; for I have taken away my peace from this
people, saith Jehovah, even lovingkindness and tender mercies.
6 Both great and small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried,
neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves
bald for them;
7 neither shall men break [bread] for them in mourning, to comfort them
for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink
for their father or for their mother.
8 And thou shalt not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to
eat and to drink.
9 For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will
cause to cease out of this place, before your eyes and in your days, the
voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and
the voice of the bride.
10. And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt show this people all these
words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath Jehovah pronounced all
this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin
that we have committed against Jehovah our God?
11 Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me,
saith Jehovah, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and
have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;
12 and ye have done evil more than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk
every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, so that ye hearken not
unto me:
13 therefore will I cast you forth out of this land into the land that ye
have not known, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other
gods day and night; for I will show you no favor.
14. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that it shall no more
be said, As Jehovah liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of
the land of Egypt;
15 but, As Jehovah liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from
the land of the north, and from all the countries whither he had driven
them. And I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their
fathers.
16 Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith Jehovah, and they shall
fish them up; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall
hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the clefts
of the rocks.
17 For mine eyes are upon all their ways; they are not hid from my face,
neither is their iniquity concealed from mine eyes.
18 And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double,
because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable
things, and have filled mine inheritance with their abominations.
19 O Jehovah, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of
affliction, unto thee shall the nations come from the ends of the earth,
and shall say, Our fathers have inherited nought but lies, [even] vanity
and things wherein there is no profit.
20 Shall a man make unto himself gods, which yet are no gods?
21 Therefore, behold, I will cause them to know, this once will I cause
them to know my hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is
Jehovah.
Jeremiah
Chapter 171. The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, [and] with the point of
a diamond: it is graven upon the tablet of their heart, and upon the horns
of your altars;
2 whilst their children remember their altars and their Asherim by the
green trees upon the high hills.
3 O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy
treasures for a spoil, [and] thy high places, because of sin, throughout
all thy borders.
4 And thou, even of thyself, shalt discontinue from thy heritage that I
gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which
thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger which shall burn
for ever.
5. Thus saith Jehovah: Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh
flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from Jehovah.
6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when
good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt
land and not inhabited.
7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in Jehovah, and whose trust Jehovah
is.
8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreadeth out its
roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat cometh, but its leaf shall
be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall
cease from yielding fruit.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt:
who can know it?
10 I, Jehovah, search the mind, I try the heart, even to give every man
according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.
11 As the partridge that sitteth on [eggs] which she hath not laid, so is
he that getteth riches, and not by right; in the midst of his days they
shall leave him, and at his end he shall be a fool.
12. A glorious throne, [set] on high from the beginning, is the place of
our sanctuary.
13 O Jehovah, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be put to
shame. They that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they
have forsaken Jehovah, the fountain of living waters.
14 Heal me, O Jehovah, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be
saved: for thou art my praise.
15 Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of Jehovah? let it come
now.
16 As for me, I have not hastened from being a shepherd after thee;
neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of
my lips was before thy face.
17 Be not a terror unto me: thou art my refuge in the day of evil.
18 Let them be put to shame that persecute me, but let not me be put to
shame; let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed; bring upon them
the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
19. Thus said Jehovah unto me: Go, and stand in the gate of the children
of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by which they go
out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;
20 and say unto them, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and
all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these
gates:
21 Thus saith Jehovah, Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the
sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;
22 neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day,
neither do ye any work: but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your
fathers.
23 But they hearkened not, neither inclined their ear, but made their
neck stiff, that they might not hear, and might not receive instruction.
24 And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith
Jehovah, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the
sabbath day, but to hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein;
25 then shall there enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes
sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they,
and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and
this city shall remain for ever.
26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places
round about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowland,
and from the hill-country, and from the South, bringing burnt-offerings,
and sacrifices, and meal-offerings, and frankincense, and bringing
[sacrifices of] thanksgiving, unto the house of Jehovah.
27 But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not
to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day;
then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the
palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.
Jeremiah
Chapter 181. The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,
2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee
to hear my words.
3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he was making a
work on the wheels.
4 And when the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of
the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter
to make it.
5 Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,
6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith Jehovah.
Behold, as the clay in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of
Israel.
7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a
kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it;
8 if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, I
will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a
kingdom, to build and to plant it;
10 if they do that which is evil in my sight, that they obey not my
voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit
them.
11. Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I frame evil against you,
and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way,
and amend your ways and your doings.
12 But they say, It is in vain; for we will walk after our own devices,
and we will do every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart.
13 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Ask ye now among the nations, who hath
heard such things; the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.
14 Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field? [or] shall
the cold waters that flow down from afar be dried up?
15 For my people have forgotten me, they have burned incense to false
[gods]; and they have been made to stumble in their ways, in the ancient
paths, to walk in bypaths, in a way not cast up;
16 to make their land an astonishment, and a perpetual hissing; every one
that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and shake his head.
17 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.
18. Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for
the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor
the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and
let us not give heed to any of his words.
19 Give heed to me, O Jehovah, and hearken to the voice of them that
contend with me.
20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my
soul. Remember how I stood before thee to speak good for them, to turn away
thy wrath from them.
21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over
to the power of the sword; and let their wives become childless, and
widows; and let their men be slain of death, [and] their young men smitten
of the sword in battle.
22 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop
suddenly upon them; for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares
for my feet.
23 Yet, Jehovah, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me;
forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight; but
let them be overthrown before thee; deal thou with them in the time of
thine anger.
Jeremiah
Chapter 191. Thus said Jehovah, Go, and buy a potter's earthen bottle, and [take] of
the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests;
2 and go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the
entry of the gate Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell
thee;
3 and say, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants
of Jerusalem: thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I
will bring evil upon this place, which whosoever heareth, his ears shall
tingle.
4 Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have
burned incense in it unto other gods, that they knew not, they and their
fathers and the kings of Judah; and have filled this place with the blood
of innocents,
5 and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire
for burnt-offerings unto Baal; which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither
came it into my mind:
6 therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that this place shall
no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The
valley of Slaughter.
7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place;
and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the
hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies will I give to be
food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth.
8 And I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing; every one
that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the
plagues thereof.
9 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of
their daughters; and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend, in
the siege and in the distress, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek
their life, shall distress them.
10. Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with
thee,
11 and shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Even so will I
break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that
cannot be made whole again; and they shall bury in Topheth, till there be
no place to bury.
12 Thus will I do unto this place, saith Jehovah, and to the inhabitants
thereof, even making this city as Topheth:
13 and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah,
which are defiled, shall be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses
upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and
have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods.
14 Then came Jeremiah from Topheth, whither Jehovah had sent him to
prophesy; and he stood in the court of Jehovah's house, and said to all the
people:
15 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring
upon this city and upon all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced
against it; because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear
my words.
Jeremiah
Chapter 201. Now Pashhur, the son of Immer the priest, who was chief officer in the
house of Jehovah, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.
2 Then Pashhur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that
were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of Jehovah.
3 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashhur brought forth Jeremiah
out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, Jehovah hath not called thy
name Pashhur, but Magor-missabib.
4 For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself,
and to all thy friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies,
and thine eyes shall behold it; and I will give all Judah into the hand of
the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall
slay them with the sword.
5 Moreover I will give all the riches of this city, and all the gains
thereof, and all the precious things thereof, yea, all the treasures of the
kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies; and they shall
make them a prey, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.
6 And thou, Pashhur, and all that dwell in thy house shall go into
captivity; and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and
there shalt thou be buried, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast
prophesied falsely.
7. O Jehovah, thou hast persuaded me, and I was persuaded; thou art
stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am become a laughing-stock all the
day, every one mocketh me.
8 For as often as I speak, I cry out; I cry, Violence and destruction!
because the word of Jehovah is made a reproach unto me, and a derision, all
the day.
9 And if I say, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his
name, then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my
bones, and I am weary with forbearing, and I cannot [contain].
10 For I have heard the defaming of many, terror on every side. Denounce,
and we will denounce him, [say] all my familiar friends, they that watch
for my fall; peradventure he will be persuaded, and we shall prevail
against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.
11 But Jehovah is with me as a mighty one [and] a terrible: therefore my
persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail; they shall be
utterly put to shame, because they have not dealt wisely, even with an
everlasting dishonor which shall never be forgotten.
12 But, O Jehovah of hosts, that triest the righteous, that seest the
heart and the mind, let me see thy vengeance on them; for unto thee have I
revealed my cause.
13 Sing unto Jehovah, praise ye Jehovah; for he hath delivered the soul
of the needy from the hand of evil-doers.
14. Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my
mother bare me be blessed.
15 Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A
man-child is born unto thee; making him very glad.
16 And let that man be as the cities which Jehovah overthrew, and
repented not: and let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at
noontime;
17 because he slew me not from the womb; and so my mother would have been
my grave, and her womb always great.
18 Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that
my days should be consumed with shame?
Jeremiah
Chapter 211. The word which came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, when king Zedekiah sent
unto him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah,
the priest, saying,
2 Inquire, I pray thee, of Jehovah for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon maketh war against us: peradventure Jehovah will deal with us
according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us.
3 Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah:
4 Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Behold, I will turn back the
weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king
of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans that besiege you, without the walls;
and I will gather them into the midst of this city.
5 And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with
a strong arm, even in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation.
6 And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they
shall die of a great pestilence.
7 And afterward, saith Jehovah, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah,
and his servants, and the people, even such as are left in this city from
the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and
into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with
the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have
mercy.
8. And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I set
before you the way of life and the way of death.
9 He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine,
and by the pestilence; but he that goeth out, and passeth over to the
Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him
for a prey.
10 For I have set my face upon this city for evil, and not for good,
saith Jehovah: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and
he shall burn it with fire.
11 And touching the house of the king of Judah, hear ye the word of
Jehovah:
12 O house of David, thus saith Jehovah, Execute justice in the morning,
and deliver him that is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my
wrath go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of
the evil of your doings.
13 Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, [and] of the
rock of the plain, saith Jehovah; you that say, Who shall come down against
us? or who shall enter into our habitations?
14 And I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith
Jehovah; and I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all
that is round about her.
Jeremiah
Chapter 221. Thus said Jehovah: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak
there this word,
2 And say, Hear the word of Jehovah, O king of Judah, that sittest upon
the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in
by these gates.
3 Thus saith Jehovah: Execute ye justice and righteousness, and deliver
him that is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no
violence, to the sojourner, the fatherless, nor the widow; neither shed
innocent blood in this place.
4 For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates
of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots
and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.
5 But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith Jehovah,
that this house shall become a desolation.
6 For thus saith Jehovah concerning the house of the king of Judah: Thou
art Gilead unto me, [and] the head of Lebanon; [yet] surely I will make
thee a wilderness, [and] cities which are not inhabited.
7 And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons;
and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man
to his neighbor, Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus unto this great city?
9 Then they shall answer, Because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah
their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.
10. Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him; but weep sore for him
that goeth away; for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.
11 For thus saith Jehovah touching Shallum the son of Josiah, king of
Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, [and] who went forth out
of this place: He shall not return thither any more.
12 But in the place whither they have led him captive, there shall he
die, and he shall see this land no more.
13 Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his
chambers by injustice; that useth his neighbor's service without wages, and
giveth him not his hire;
14 that saith, I will build me a wide house and spacious chambers, and
cutteth him out windows; and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with
vermilion.
15 Shalt thou reign, because thou strivest to excel in cedar? Did not thy
father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? then it was well
with him.
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Was not
this to know me? saith Jehovah.
17 But thine eyes and thy heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for
shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
18 Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah,
king of Judah: they shall not lament for him, [saying], Ah my brother! or,
Ah sister! They shall not lament for him, [saying] Ah lord! or, Ah his
glory!
19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth
beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
20. Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry
from Abarim; for all thy lovers are destroyed.
21 I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear.
This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice.
22 The wind shall feed all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into
captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy
wickedness.
23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how
greatly to be pitied shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as
of a woman in travail!
24 As I live, saith Jehovah, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of
Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;
25 and I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and
into the hand of them of whom thou art afraid, even into the hand of
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another
country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.
27 But to the land whereunto their soul longeth to return, thither shall
they not return.
28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken vessel? is he a vessel wherein
none delighteth? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast
into the land which they know not?
29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of Jehovah.
30 Thus saith Jehovah, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not
prosper in his days; for no more shall a man of his seed prosper, sitting
upon the throne of David, and ruling in Judah.
Jeremiah
Chapter 231. Woe unto the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of my
pasture! saith Jehovah.
2 Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, against the shepherds
that feed my people: Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and
have not visited them; behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your
doings, saith Jehovah.
3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries
whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and
they shall be fruitful and multiply.
4 And I will set up shepherds over them, who shall feed them; and they
shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be lacking, saith
Jehovah.
5 Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a
righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall
execute justice and righteousness in the land.
6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and
this is his name whereby he shall be called: Jehovah our righteousness.
7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that they shall no
more say, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of
the land of Egypt;
8 but, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up and who led the seed of the
house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries
whither I had driven them. And they shall dwell in their own land.
9. Concerning the prophets. My heart within me is broken, all my bones
shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome,
because of Jehovah, and because of his holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land
mourneth; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. And their course is
evil, and their might is not right;
11 for both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found
their wickedness, saith Jehovah.
12 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery places in the
darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein; for I will bring evil
upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith Jehovah.
13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by
Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
14 In the prophets of Jerusalem also I have seen a horrible thing: they
commit adultery, and walk in lies; and they strengthen the hands of
evil-doers, so that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of
them become unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
15 Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts concerning the prophets: Behold,
I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall; for
from the prophets of Jerusalem is ungodliness gone forth into all the land.
16 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the
prophets that prophesy unto you: they teach you vanity; they speak a vision
of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of Jehovah.
17 They say continually unto them that despise me, Jehovah hath said, Ye
shall have peace; and unto every one that walketh in the stubbornness of
his own heart they say, No evil shall come upon you.
18 For who hath stood in the council of Jehovah, that he should perceive
and hear his word? who hath marked my word, and heard it?
19 Behold, the tempest of Jehovah, [even his] wrath, is gone forth, yea,
a whirling tempest: it shall burst upon the head of the wicked.
20 The anger of Jehovah shall not return, until he have executed, and
till he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye
shall understand it perfectly.
21 I sent not these prophets, yet they ran: I spake not unto them, yet
they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my council, then had they caused my people to
hear my words, and had turned them from their evil way, and from the evil
of their doings.
23 Am I a God at hand, saith Jehovah, and not a God afar off?
24 Can any hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him?
saith Jehovah. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith Jehovah.
25 I have heard what the prophets have said, that prophesy lies in my
name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
26 How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy
lies, even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart?
27 that think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which
they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers forgat my name for
Baal.
28 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath
my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the straw to the wheat?
saith Jehovah.
29 Is not my word like fire? saith Jehovah; and like a hammer that
breaketh the rock in pieces?
30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith Jehovah, that
steal my words every one from his neighbor.
31 Behold, I am against the prophets, saith Jehovah, that use their
tongues, and say, He saith.
32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy lying dreams, saith Jehovah,
and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their
vain boasting: yet I sent them not, nor commanded them; neither do they
profit this people at all, saith Jehovah.
33. And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee,
saying, What is the burden of Jehovah? then shalt thou say unto them, What
burden! I will cast you off, saith Jehovah.
34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall
say, The burden of Jehovah, I will even punish that man and his house.
35 Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbor, and every one to his
brother, What hath Jehovah answered? and, What hath Jehovah spoken?
36 And the burden of Jehovah shall ye mention no more: for every man's
own word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living
God, of Jehovah of hosts our God.
37 Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath Jehovah answered thee?
and, What hath Jehovah spoken?
38 But if ye say, The burden of Jehovah; therefore thus saith Jehovah:
Because ye say this word, The burden of Jehovah, and I have sent unto you,
saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of Jehovah;
39 therefore, behold, I will utterly forget you, and I will cast you off,
and the city that I gave unto you and to your fathers, away from my
presence:
40 and I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual
shame, which shall not be forgotten.
Jeremiah
Chapter 241. Jehovah showed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs set before the
temple of Jehovah, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried
away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes
of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought
them to Babylon.
2 One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first-ripe; and
the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so
bad.
3 Then said Jehovah unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs;
the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, that cannot be eaten, they
are so bad.
4 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
5 Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so will I
regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the
land of the Chaldeans, for good.
6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them
again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I
will plant them, and not pluck them up.
7 And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Jehovah: and they
shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return unto me
with their whole heart.
8 And as the bad figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad, surely
thus saith Jehovah, So will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his
princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them
that dwell in the land of Egypt:
9 I will even give them up to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms
of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse,
in all places whither I shall drive them.
10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them,
till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their
fathers.
Jeremiah
Chapter 251. The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in
the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (the same was
the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon,)
2 which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to
all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying:
3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even
unto this day, these three and twenty years, the word of Jehovah hath come
unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising up early and speaking; but ye
have not hearkened.
4 And Jehovah hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising up
early and sending them, (but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear
to hear,)
5 saying, Return ye now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of
your doings, and dwell in the land that Jehovah hath given unto you and to
your fathers, from of old and even for evermore:
6 and go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and
provoke me not to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no
hurt.
7 Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith Jehovah; that ye may provoke
me to anger with the work of your hands to your own hurt.
8. Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Because ye have not heard my
words,
9 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith
Jehovah, and [I will send] unto Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my
servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants
thereof, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly
destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual
desolations.
10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of
gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound
of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.
11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and
these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I
will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith Jehovah, for their
iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it desolate for
ever.
13 And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced
against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath
prophesied against all the nations.
14 For many nations and great kings shall make bondmen of them, even of
them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to
the work of their hands.
15. For thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, unto me: take this cup of
the wine of wrath at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send
thee, to drink it.
16 And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be mad, because of the
sword that I will send among them.
17 Then took I the cup at Jehovah's hand, and made all the nations to
drink, unto whom Jehovah had sent me:
18 [to wit], Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof,
and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a
hissing, and a curse, as it is this day;
19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his
people;
20 and all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of the Uz,
and all the kings of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron,
and the remnant of Ashdod;
21 Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon;
22 and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings
of the isle which is beyond the sea;
23 Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that have the corners [of their
hair] cut off;
24 and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people
that dwell in the wilderness;
25 and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the
kings of the Medes;
26 and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and
all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and
the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
27 And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of
Israel: Drink ye, and be drunken, and spew, and fall, and rise no more,
because of the sword which I will send among you.
28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thy hand to drink,
then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Ye shall surely
drink.
29 For, lo, I begin to work evil at the city which is called by my name;
and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished; for I will
call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith Jehovah of
hosts.
30. Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto
them, Jehovah will roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy
habitation; he will mightily roar against his fold; he will give a shout,
as they that tread [the grapes], against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 A noise shall come even to the end of the earth; for Jehovah hath a
controversy with the nations; he will enter into judgment with all flesh:
as for the wicked, he will give them to the sword, saith Jehovah.
32 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation
to nation, and a great tempest shall be raised up from the uttermost parts
of the earth.
33 And the slain of Jehovah shall be at that day from one end of the
earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented,
neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the face of the
ground.
34 Wail, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow [in ashes], ye principal of
the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are fully
come, and ye shall fall like a goodly vessel.
35 And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the
flock to escape.
36 A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and the wailing of the principal
of the flock! for Jehovah layeth waste their pasture.
37 And the peaceable folds are brought to silence because of the fierce
anger of Jehovah.
38 He hath left his covert, as the lion; for their land is become an
astonishment because of the fierceness of the oppressing [sword], and
because of his fierce anger.
Jeremiah
Chapter 261. In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of
Judah, came this word from Jehovah, saying,
2 Thus saith Jehovah: Stand in the court of Jehovah's house, and speak
unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in Jehovah's house, all
the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word.
3 It may be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way; that
I may repent me of the evil which I purpose to do unto them because of the
evil of their doings.
4 And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah: If ye will not
hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,
5 to hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I send unto
you, even rising up early and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;
6 then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a
curse to all the nations of the earth.
7. And the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah
speaking these words in the house of Jehovah.
8 And it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that
Jehovah had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests
and the prophets and all the people laid hold on him, saying, Thou shalt
surely die.
9 Why hast thou prophesied in the name of Jehovah, saying, This house
shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant?
And all the people were gathered unto Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah.
10 And when the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from
the king's house unto the house of Jehovah; and they sat in the entry of
the new gate of Jehovah's [house].
11 Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all
the people, saying, This man is worthy of death; for he hath prophesied
against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.
12 Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people,
saying, Jehovah sent me to prophesy against this house and against this
city all the words that ye have heard.
13 Now therefore amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of
Jehovah your God; and Jehovah will repent him of the evil that he hath
pronounced against you.
14 But as for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as is good and
right in your eyes.
15 Only know ye for certain that, if ye put me to death, ye will bring
innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the
inhabitants thereof; for of a truth Jehovah hath sent me unto you to speak
all these words in your ears.
16. Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the
prophets: This man is not worthy of death; for he hath spoken to us in the
name of Jehovah our God.
17 Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the
assembly of the people, saying,
18 Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah;
and he spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of
hosts: Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps,
and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.
19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? did he not
fear Jehovah, and entreat the favor of Jehovah, and Jehovah repented him of
the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus should we commit great
evil against our own souls.