1:1 The following is a record of what Jeremiah son of Hilkiah prophesied.
1:4 The Lord said to me,
1:5 “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb
Before you were born I set you apart.
I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”
1:6 I answered, “Oh, Lord God,
1:11 Later the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I answered, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”
1:12 Then the Lord said, “You have observed correctly. This means
1:13 The Lord again asked me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a pot of boiling water; it is tipped toward us from the north.”
1:17 “But you, Jeremiah,
2:1 The Lord spoke to me. He said:
2:2 “Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem:
2:4 Now listen to what the Lord has to say, you descendants
all you family groups from the nation
2:5 This is what the Lord says:
“What fault could your ancestors
that they strayed so far from me?
They paid allegiance to
2:6 They did not ask:
‘Where is the Lord who delivered us out of Egypt,
who brought us through the wilderness,
through a land of desert sands and rift valleys,
through a land of drought and deep darkness,
through a land in which no one travels,
and where no one lives?’
2:7 I brought you
so you could enjoy
But when you entered my land, you defiled it;
you made the land I call my own
2:8 Your priests
Those responsible for teaching my law
Your rulers rebelled against me.
Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal.
They all worshiped idols that could not help them.
2:9 “So, once more I will state my case
“I will also state it against your children and grandchildren.
2:10 Go west
Send someone east to Kedar
See if such a thing as this has ever happened:
2:11 Has a nation ever changed its gods
(even though they are not really gods at all)?
But my people have exchanged me, their glorious God,
for a god that cannot help them at all!
2:12 Be amazed at this, O heavens!
Be shocked and utterly dumbfounded,”
says the Lord.
2:13 “Do so because my people have committed a double wrong:
they have rejected me,
the fountain of life-giving water,
and they have dug cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns which cannot even hold water.”
2:14 “Israel is not a slave, is he?
He was not born into slavery, was he?
If not, why then is he being carried off?
2:15 Like lions his enemies roar victoriously over him;
they raise their voices in triumph.
They have laid his land waste;
his cities have been burned down and deserted.
2:16 Even the soldiers
have cracked your skulls, people of Israel.
2:17 You have brought all this on yourself, Israel,
by deserting the Lord your God when he was leading you along the right path.
2:18 What good will it do you
to seek help from the Egyptians?
What good will it do you
to seek help from the Assyrians?
2:19 Your own wickedness will bring about your punishment.
Your unfaithful acts will bring down discipline on you.
Know, then, and realize how utterly harmful
it was for you to reject me, the Lord your God,
to show no respect for me,”
says the Lord God who rules over all.
2:20 “Indeed,
and refused to be subject to me.
You said, ‘I will not serve you.’
Instead, you gave yourself to other gods on every high hill
and under every green tree,
like a prostitute sprawls out before her lovers.
2:21 I planted you in the land
like a special vine of the very best stock.
Why in the world have you turned into something like a wild vine
that produces rotten, foul-smelling grapes?
2:22 You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent.
You can use as much soap as you want.
But the stain of your guilt is still there for me to see,”
says the Lord God.
2:23 “How can you say, ‘I have not made myself unclean.
I have not paid allegiance to
Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom!
Think about the things you have done there!
You are like a flighty, young female camel
that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path.
2:24 You are like a wild female donkey brought up in the wilderness.
In her lust she sniffs the wind to get the scent of a male.
No one can hold her back when she is in heat.
None of the males need wear themselves out chasing after her.
At mating time she is easy to find.
2:25 Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear out
and your throats become dry.
But you say, ‘It is useless for you to try and stop me
because I love those foreign gods
2:26 Just as a thief has to suffer dishonor when he is caught,
so the people of Israel
So will their kings and officials,
their priests and their prophets.
2:27 They say to a wooden idol,
They say to a stone image, ‘You gave birth to me.’
Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me.
Yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’
2:28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves?
Let them save you when you are in trouble.
The sad fact is that
as you have towns, Judah.
2:29 “Why do you try to refute me?
All of you have rebelled against me,”
says the Lord.
2:30 “It did no good for me to punish your people.
They did not respond to such correction.
You slaughtered your prophets
like a voracious lion.”
2:31 You people of this generation,
listen to what the Lord says.
“Have I been like a wilderness to you, Israel?
Have I been like a dark and dangerous land to you?
Why then do you
We will not come to you any more?’
2:32 Does a young woman forget to put on her jewels?
Does a bride forget to put on her bridal attire?
But my people have forgotten me
for more days than can even be counted.
2:33 “My, how good you have become
at chasing after your lovers!
Why, you could even teach prostitutes a thing or two!
2:34 Even your clothes are stained with
the lifeblood of the poor who had not done anything wrong;
you did not catch them breaking into your homes.
Yet, in spite of all these things you have done,
2:35 you say, ‘I have not done anything wrong,
so the Lord cannot really be angry with me any more.’
But, watch out!
because you say, ‘I have not committed any sin.’
2:36 Why do you constantly go about
changing your political allegiances?
You will get no help from Egypt
just as you got no help from Assyria.
2:37 Moreover, you will come away from Egypt
with your hands covering your faces in sorrow and shame
because the Lord will not allow your reliance on them to be successful
and you will not gain any help from them.
3:1 “If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife,
he may not take her back again.
Doing that would utterly defile the land.
But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods.
So what makes you think you can return to me?”
says the Lord.
3:2 “Look up at the hilltops and consider this.
You have had sex with other gods on every one of them.
You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the desert.
You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods.
3:3 That is why the rains have been withheld,
and the spring rains have not come.
Yet in spite of this you are obstinate as a prostitute.
You refuse to be ashamed of what you have done.
3:4 Even now you say to me, ‘You are my father!
You have been my faithful companion ever since I was young.
3:5 You will not always be angry with me, will you?
You will not be mad at me forever, will you?’
That is what you say,
but you continually do all the evil that you can.”
3:6 When Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward Israel has done.
3:12 “Go and shout this message to my people in the countries in the north.
‘Come back to me, wayward Israel,’ says the Lord.
‘I will not continue to look on you with displeasure.
For I am merciful,’ says the Lord.
‘I will not be angry with you forever.
3:13 However, you must confess that you have done wrong,
and that you have rebelled against the Lord your God.
You must confess
and have not obeyed my commands,’ says the Lord.
3:14 “Come back to me, my wayward sons,” says the Lord, “for I am your true master.
3:19 “I thought to myself,
‘Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son!
What a joy it would be for me to give
the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!’
I thought you would call me, ‘Father’
and would never cease being loyal to me.
3:20 But, you have been unfaithful to me, nation of Israel,
like an unfaithful wife who has left her husband,”
says the Lord.
3:21 “A noise is heard on the hilltops.
It is the sound of the people of Israel crying and pleading to their gods.
Indeed they have followed sinful ways;
they have forgotten to be true to the Lord their God.
3:22 Come back to me, you wayward people.
I want to cure your waywardness.
Say,
because you are the Lord our God.
3:23 We know our noisy worship of false gods
on the hills and mountains did not help us.
We know that the Lord our God
is the only one who can deliver Israel.
3:24 From earliest times our worship of that shameful god, Baal,
has taken away
It has taken away our flocks and our herds,
and even our sons and daughters.
3:25 Let us acknowledge
Let us bear the disgrace that we deserve.
For we have sinned against the Lord our God,
both we and our ancestors.
From earliest times to this very day
we have not obeyed the Lord our God.’
4:1 “If you, Israel, want to come back,” says the Lord,
“if you want to come back to me
you must get those disgusting idols
and must no longer go astray.
4:2 You must be truthful, honest and upright
when you take an oath saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’
If you do,
and will make him the object of their boasting.”
4:3 Yes,
to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Like a farmer breaking up hard unplowed ground,
you must break your rebellious will and make a new beginning;
just as a farmer must clear away thorns lest the seed is wasted,
you must get rid of the sin that is ruining your lives.
4:4 Just as ritual circumcision cuts away the foreskin
as an external symbol of dedicated covenant commitment,
you must genuinely dedicate yourselves to the Lord
and get rid of everything that hinders your commitment to me,
people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem.
If you do not,
that no one will be able to extinguish.
That will happen because of the evil you have done.”
4:5 The Lord said,
“Announce
‘Sound the trumpet
Shout out loudly,
‘Gather together! Let us flee into the fortified cities!’
4:6 Raise a signal flag that tells people to go to Zion.
Run for safety! Do not delay!
For I am about to bring disaster out of the north.
It will bring great destruction.
4:7 Like a lion that has come up from its lair
the one who destroys nations has set out from his home base.
He is coming out to lay your land waste.
Your cities will become ruins and lie uninhabited.
4:8 So put on sackcloth!
Mourn and wail, saying,
‘The fierce anger of the Lord
has not turned away from us!’”
4:9 “When this happens,”
“the king and his officials will lose their courage.
The priests will be struck with horror,
and the prophets will be speechless in astonishment.”
4:10 In response to all this
4:11 “At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem
‘A scorching wind will sweep down
from the hilltops in the desert on
It will not be a gentle breeze
for winnowing the grain and blowing away the chaff.
4:12 No,
Yes, even now I, myself, am calling down judgment on them.’
4:13 Look! The enemy is approaching like gathering clouds.
The roar of his chariots is like that of a whirlwind.
His horses move more swiftly than eagles.”
I cry out,
4:14 “Oh people of Jerusalem, purify your hearts from evil
so that you may yet be delivered.
How long will you continue to harbor up
wicked schemes within you?
4:15 For messengers are coming, heralding disaster,
from the city of Dan and from the hills of Ephraim.
4:16 They are saying,
‘Announce to the surrounding nations,
“The enemy is coming!”
Proclaim this message
“Those who besiege cities
They are ready to raise the battle cry against
4:17 They will surround Jerusalem
like men guarding a field
because they have rebelled against me,”
says the Lord.
4:18 “The way you have lived and the things you have done
will bring this on you.
This is the punishment you deserve, and it will be painful indeed.
The pain will be so bad it will pierce your heart.”
4:19 I said,
“Oh, the feeling in the pit of my stomach!
I writhe in anguish.
Oh, the pain in my heart!
My heart pounds within me.
I cannot keep silent.
For I hear the sound of the trumpet;
the sound of the battle cry pierces my soul!
4:20 I see
so that the whole land lies in ruins.
I see our
their
4:21 “How long must I see the enemy’s battle flags
and hear the military signals of their bugles?”
4:22 The Lord answered,
“This will happen
They do not know me.
They are like children who have no sense.
They have no understanding.
They are skilled at doing evil.
They do not know how to do good.”
4:23 “I looked at the land and saw
I looked up at the sky, and its light had vanished.
4:24 I looked at the mountains and saw that they were shaking.
All the hills were swaying back and forth!
4:25 I looked and saw that there were no more people,
and that all the birds in the sky had flown away.
4:26 I looked and saw that the fruitful land had become a desert
and that all of the cities had been laid in ruins.
The Lord had brought this all about
because of his blazing anger.
4:27 All this will happen because the Lord said,
“The whole land will be desolate;
however, I will not completely destroy it.
4:28 Because of this the land will mourn
and the sky above will grow black.
For I have made my purpose known
and I will not relent or turn back from carrying it out.”
4:29 At the sound of the approaching horsemen and archers
the people of every town will flee.
Some of them will hide in the thickets.
Others will climb up among the rocks.
All the cities will be deserted.
No one will remain in them.
4:30 And you, Zion, city doomed to destruction,
you accomplish nothing
decking yourself out in jewels of gold,
and putting on eye shadow!
You are making yourself beautiful for nothing.
Your lovers spurn you.
They want to kill you.
4:31 In fact,
a cry of anguish like that of a woman giving birth to her first baby.
It is the cry of Daughter Zion
reaching out for help,
My life is ebbing away before these murderers!”
5:1 The Lord said,
“Go up and down
Look around and see for yourselves.
Search through its public squares.
See if any of you can find a single person
who deals honestly and tries to be truthful.
If you can,
5:2 These people make promises in the name of the Lord.
But the fact is,
5:3 Lord, I know you look for faithfulness.
But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse.
Even when you nearly destroy them, they refuse to be corrected.
They have become as hardheaded as a rock.
They refuse to change their ways.
5:4 I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way.
They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands.
They do not know what their God requires of them.
5:5 I will go to the leaders
and speak with them.
Surely they know what the Lord demands.
Surely they know what their God requires of them.”
Yet all of them, too, have rejected his authority
and refuse to submit to him.
5:6 So like a lion from the thicket their enemies will kill them.
Like a wolf from the desert they will destroy them.
Like a leopard they will lie in wait outside their cities
and totally destroy anyone who ventures out.
For they have rebelled so much
and done so many unfaithful things.
5:7 The Lord asked,
“How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem?
Your people
and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all.
Even though I supplied all their needs,
They went flocking
5:8 They are like lusty, well-fed
Each of them lusts after
5:9 I will surely punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.
“I will surely bring retribution on such a nation as this!”
5:10 The Lord commanded the enemy,
“March through the vineyards of Israel and Judah and ruin them.
But do not destroy them completely.
Strip off their branches
for these people do not belong to the Lord.
5:11 For the nations of Israel and Judah
have been very unfaithful to me,”
says the Lord.
5:12 “These people have denied what the Lord says.
They have said, ‘That is not so!
No harm will come to us.
We will not experience war and famine.
5:13 The prophets will prove to be full of wind.
The Lord has not spoken through them.
So, let what they say happen to them.’”
5:14 Because of that,
“Because these people have spoken
I will make the words that I put in your mouth like fire.
And I will make this people like wood
which the fiery judgments you speak will burn up.”
5:15 The Lord says,
I am about to bring a nation from far away to attack you.
It will be a nation that was founded long ago
and has lasted for a long time.
It will be a nation whose language you will not know.
Its people will speak words that you will not be able to understand.
5:16 All of its soldiers are strong and mighty.
Their arrows will send you to your grave.
5:17 They will eat up your crops and your food.
They will kill off
They will eat up your sheep and your cattle.
They will destroy your vines and your fig trees.
Their weapons will batter down
the fortified cities you trust in.
5:18 Yet even then
5:20 “Proclaim
Make it known throughout Judah.
5:21 Tell them: ‘Hear this,
you foolish people who have no understanding,
who have eyes but do not discern,
who have ears but do not perceive:
5:22 “You should fear me!” says the Lord.
“You should tremble in awe before me!
I made the sand to be a boundary for the sea,
a permanent barrier that it can never cross.
Its waves may roll, but they can never prevail.
They may roar, but they can never cross beyond that boundary.”
5:23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.
They have turned aside and gone their own way.
5:24 They do not say to themselves,
“Let us revere the Lord our God.
It is he who gives us the autumn rains and the spring rains at the proper time.
It is he who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.”
5:25 Your misdeeds have stopped these things from coming.
Your sins have deprived you of my bounty.’
5:26 “Indeed, there are wicked scoundrels among my people.
They lie in wait like bird catchers hiding in ambush.
They set deadly traps
5:27 Like a cage filled with the birds that have been caught,
their houses are filled with the gains of their fraud and deceit.
That is how they have gotten so rich and powerful.
5:28 That is how
There is no limit to the evil things they do.
They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it.
They do not defend the rights of the poor.
5:29 I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.
“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this!
5:30 “Something horrible and shocking
is going on in the land of Judah:
5:31 The prophets prophesy lies.
The priests exercise power by their own authority.
And my people love to have it this way.
But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes!
6:1 “Run for safety, people of Benjamin!
Get out of Jerusalem!
Sound the trumpet
Light the signal fires at Beth Hakkerem!
For disaster lurks
it will bring great destruction.
6:2 I will destroy
who is as delicate and defenseless as a young maiden.
6:3 Kings will come against it with their armies.
They will encamp in siege all around it.
Each of them will devastate the portion assigned to him.
6:4 They will say,
Come on! Let’s attack it at noon!’
But later they will say,
The day is almost over
and the shadows of evening are getting long.
6:5 So come on, let’s go ahead and attack it by night
and destroy all its fortified buildings.’
6:6 All of this is because
‘Cut down the trees around Jerusalem
and build up a siege ramp against its walls.
This is the city which is to be punished.
Nothing but oppression happens in it.
6:7 As a well continually pours out fresh water
so it continually pours out wicked deeds.
Sounds of violence and destruction echo throughout it.
All I see are sick and wounded people.’
6:8 So
or I will abandon you in disgust
and make you desolate,
a place where no one can live.”
6:9 This is what the Lord who rules over all
“Those who remain in Israel will be
like the grapes thoroughly gleaned
So go over them again, as though you were a grape harvester
passing your hand over the branches one last time.”
6:10 I answered,
“Who would listen
if I spoke to them and warned them?
Their ears are so closed
that they cannot hear!
Indeed,
They do not like it at all.
6:11 I am as full of anger as you are, Lord,
I am tired of trying to hold it in.”
The Lord answered,
“Vent it, then,
and on the young men who are gathered together.
Husbands and wives are to be included,
as well as the old and those who are advanced in years.
6:12 Their houses will be turned over to others
as will their fields and their wives.
For I will unleash my power
against those who live in this land,”
says the Lord.
6:13 “That is because, from the least important to the most important of them,
all of them are greedy for dishonest gain.
Prophets and priests alike,
all of them practice deceit.
6:14 They offer only superficial help
for the harm my people have suffered.
They say, ‘Everything will be all right!’
But everything is not all right!
6:15 Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things?
No, they are not at all ashamed.
They do not even know how to blush!
So they will die, just like others have died.
They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,”
says the Lord.
6:16 The Lord said to his people:
“You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path.
Ask where the old, reliable paths
Ask where the path is that leads to blessing
If you do, you will find rest for your souls.”
But they said, “We will not follow it!”
6:17 The Lord said,
“I appointed prophets as watchmen to warn you,
‘Pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet!’”
But they said, “We will not pay attention!”
6:18 So the Lord said,
“Hear, you nations!
Be witnesses and take note of what will happen to these people.
6:19 Hear this, you peoples of the earth:
‘Take note!
It will come as punishment for their scheming.
For they have paid no attention to what I have said,
and they have rejected my law.
6:20 I take no delight
frankincense that comes from Sheba
or sweet-smelling cane imported from a faraway land.
I cannot accept the burnt offerings they bring me.
I get no pleasure from the sacrifices they offer to me.’
6:21 So, this is what the Lord says:
‘I will assuredly
Parents and children will stumble and fall to their destruction.
Friends and neighbors will die.’
6:22 “This is what the Lord says:
‘Beware! An army
A mighty nation is stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth.
6:23 Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears.
They are cruel and show no mercy.
They sound like the roaring sea
as they ride forth on their horses.
Lined up in formation like men going into battle
to attack you, Daughter Zion.’”
6:24 The people cry out,
We have become helpless with fear!
Anguish grips us,
agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby!
6:25 Do not go out into the countryside.
Do not travel on the roads.
For the enemy is there with sword in hand.
They are spreading terror everywhere.”
6:26 So I said,
and roll in ashes.
Mourn with painful sobs
as though you had lost your only child.
For any moment now
will come against us.”
6:27 The Lord said to me,
“I have made you like a metal assayer
to test my people like ore.
You are to observe them
and evaluate how they behave.”
6:28 I reported,
“All of them are the most stubborn of rebels!
They are as hard as bronze or iron.
They go about telling lies.
They all deal corruptly.
6:29 The fiery bellows of judgment burn fiercely.
But there is too much dross to be removed.
The process of refining them has proved useless.
The wicked have not been purged.
6:30 They are regarded as ‘rejected silver’
because the Lord rejects them.”
7:1 The Lord said to Jeremiah:
7:8 “‘But just look at you!
7:16 Then the Lord said,
7:21 The Lord said to the people of Judah,
7:27 Then the Lord said to me,
7:30 The Lord says, “I have rejected them because
8:1 The Lord says, “When that time comes,
8:4 The Lord said to me,
“Tell them, ‘The Lord says,
Do people not get back up when they fall down?
Do they not turn around when they go the wrong way?
8:5 Why, then, do these people of Jerusalem
continually turn away from me in apostasy?
They hold fast to their deception.
They refuse to turn back to me.
8:6 I have listened to them very carefully,
but they do not speak honestly.
None of them regrets the evil he has done.
None of them says, “I have done wrong!”
All of them persist in their own wayward course
like a horse charging recklessly into battle.
8:7 Even the stork knows
when it is time to move on.
The turtledove, swallow, and crane
recognize
But my people pay no attention
to
8:8 How can you say, “We are wise!
We have the law of the Lord”?
The truth is,
to make it say what it does not really mean.
8:9 Your wise men will be put to shame.
They will be dumbfounded and be brought to judgment.
Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,
what wisdom do they really have?
8:10
and their fields to new owners.
For from the least important to the most important of them,
all of them are greedy for dishonest gain.
Prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
8:11 They offer only superficial help
for the hurt my dear people
They say, “Everything will be all right!”
But everything is not all right!
8:12 Are they ashamed because they have done such disgusting things?
No, they are not at all ashamed!
They do not even know how to blush!
So they will die just like others have died.
They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,
says the Lord.
8:13 I will take away their harvests,
There will be no grapes on their vines.
There will be no figs on their fig trees.
Even the leaves on their trees will wither.
The crops that I gave them will be taken away.’”
8:14 The people say,
“Why are we just sitting here?
Let us gather together inside the fortified cities.
Let us at least die there fighting,
since the Lord our God has condemned us to die.
He has condemned us to drink the poison waters of judgment
because we have sinned against him.
8:15 We hoped for good fortune, but nothing good has come of it.
We hoped for a time of relief, but instead we experience terror.
8:16 The snorting of the enemy’s horses
is already being heard in the city of Dan.
The sound of the neighing of their stallions
causes the whole land to tremble with fear.
They are coming to destroy the land and everything in it!
They are coming to destroy
8:17 The Lord says,
“Yes indeed,
that will be like poisonous snakes which cannot be charmed away.
And they will inflict fatal wounds on you.”
8:18 Then I said,
“There is no cure
I am sick at heart!
8:19 I hear my dear people
throughout the length and breadth of the land.
They are crying, ‘Is the Lord no longer in Zion?
Is her divine King
The Lord answers,
“Why then do they provoke me to anger with their images,
with their worthless foreign idols?”
8:20 “They cry,
and still we have not been delivered.’
8:21 My heart is crushed because my dear people
I go about crying and grieving. I am overwhelmed with dismay.
8:22 There is still medicinal ointment
There is still a physician there!
Why then have my dear people
not been restored to health?
9:1 (8:23)
and my eyes were a fountain full of tears!
If they were, I could cry day and night
for those of my dear people
9:2 (9:1) I wish I had a lodging place in the desert
where I could spend some time like a weary traveler.
Then I would desert my people
and walk away from them
because they are all unfaithful to God,
a congregation
9:3 The Lord says,
“These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows.
Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies.
They have become powerful in the land,
but they have not done so by honest means.
Indeed, they do one evil thing after another
and do not pay attention to me.
9:4 Everyone must be on his guard around his friends.
He must not even trust any of his relatives.
For every one of them will find some way to cheat him.
And all of his friends will tell lies about him.
9:5 One friend deceives another
and no one tells the truth.
These people have trained themselves
They do wrong and are unable to repent.
9:6 They do one act of violence after another,
and one deceitful thing after another.
They refuse to pay attention to me,”
says the Lord.
9:7 Therefore the Lord who rules over all says,
“I will now purify them in the fires of affliction
The wickedness of my dear people
What else can I do?
9:8 Their tongues are like deadly arrows.
They are always telling lies.
Friendly words for their neighbors come from their mouths.
But their minds are thinking up ways to trap them.
9:9 I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.
“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this!”
9:10 I said,
“I will weep and mourn
I will sing a mournful song for the pastures in the wilderness
because they are so scorched no one travels through them.
The sound of livestock is no longer heard there.
Even the birds in the sky and the wild animals in the fields
have fled and are gone.”
9:11 The Lord said,
“I will make Jerusalem
Jackals will make their home there.
I will destroy the towns of Judah
so that no one will be able to live in them.”
9:12 I said,
“Who is wise enough to understand why this has happened?
Who has a word from the Lord that can explain it?
Why does the land lie in ruins?
Why is it as scorched as a desert through which no one travels?”
9:13 The Lord answered, “This has happened because these people have rejected my laws which I gave them. They have not obeyed me or followed those laws.
9:17 The Lord who rules over all
“Take note of what I say.
Call for the women who mourn for the dead!
Summon those who are the most skilled at it!”
9:18 I said, “Indeed,
Let them wail loudly until tears stream from our own eyes
and our eyelids overflow with water.
9:19 For the sound of wailing is soon to be heard in Zion.
They will wail,
For our houses have been torn down
and we must leave our land.’”
9:20 I said,
“So now,
Open your ears to the words from his mouth.
Teach your daughters this mournful song,
and each of you teach your neighbor
9:21 ‘Death has climbed in
It has entered into our fortified houses.
It has taken away our children who play in the streets.
It has taken away our young men who gather in the city squares.’
9:22 Tell your daughters and neighbors, ‘The Lord says,
“The dead bodies of people will lie scattered everywhere
like manure scattered on a field.
They will lie scattered on the ground
like grain that has been cut down but has not been gathered.”’”
9:23
“Wise people should not boast that they are wise.
Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful.
Rich people should not boast that they are rich.
9:24 If people want to boast, they should boast about this:
They should boast that they understand and know me.
They should boast that they know and understand
that I, the Lord, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth
and that I desire people to do these things,”
says the Lord.
9:25 The Lord says, “Watch out!
10:1 You people of Israel,
10:2 The Lord says,
“Do not start following pagan religious practices.
Do not be in awe of signs that occur
even though the nations hold them in awe.
10:3 For the religion
They cut down a tree in the forest,
and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools.
10:4 He decorates it with overlays of silver and gold.
He uses hammer and nails to fasten it
so that it will not fall over.
10:5 Such idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field.
They cannot talk.
They must be carried
because they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them
because they cannot hurt you.
And they do not have any power to help you.”
10:6 I said,
“There is no one like you, Lord.
You are great.
And you are renowned for your power.
10:7 Everyone should revere you, O King of all nations,
because you deserve to be revered.
For there is no one like you
among any of the wise people of the nations nor among any of their kings.
10:8 The people of those nations
Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless!
10:9 Hammered-out silver is brought from Tarshish
and gold is brought from Uphaz
They are the handiwork of carpenters and goldsmiths.
They are clothed in blue and purple clothes.
They are all made by skillful workers.
10:10 The Lord is the only true God.
He is the living God and the everlasting King.
When he shows his anger the earth shakes.
None of the nations can stand up to his fury.
10:11 You people of Israel should tell those nations this:
‘These gods did not make heaven and earth.
They will disappear
10:12 The Lord is the one who
He is the one who by his wisdom established the world.
And by his understanding he spread out the skies.
10:13 When his voice thunders,
He makes the clouds rise from the far-off horizons.
He makes the lightning flash out in the midst of the rain.
He unleashes the wind from the places where he stores it.
10:14 All these idolaters
Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made.
For the image he forges is merely a sham.
There is no breath in any of those idols.
10:15 They are worthless, mere objects to be mocked.
When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.
10:16 The Lord, who is the inheritance
He is the one who created everything.
And the people of Israel are those he claims as his own.
He is known as the Lord who rules over all.”
10:17 Gather your belongings together and prepare to leave the land,
you people of Jerusalem
10:18 For the Lord says, “I will now throw out
those who live in this land.
I will bring so much trouble on them
that they will actually feel it.”
10:19 And I cried out,
Our wound is severe!
We once thought, ‘This is only an illness.
And we will be able to bear it!’
10:20 But our tents have been destroyed.
The ropes that held them in place have been ripped apart.
Our children are gone and are not coming back.
There is no survivor to put our tents back up,
no one left to hang their tent curtains in place.
10:21 For our leaders
They have not sought the Lord’s advice.
So they do not act wisely,
and the people they are responsible for
10:22 Listen! News is coming even now.
The rumble of a great army is heard approaching
It is coming to turn the towns of Judah into rubble,
places where only jackals live.
10:23 Lord, we know that people do not control their own destiny.
It is not in their power to determine what will happen to them.
10:24 Correct us, Lord, but only in due measure.
Do not punish us in anger or you will reduce us to nothing.
10:25 Vent your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge you.
Vent it on the peoples
For they have destroyed the people of Jacob.
They have completely destroyed them
and left their homeland in utter ruin.
11:1 The Lord said to Jeremiah:
11:6 The Lord said to me, “Announce all the following words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of my covenant with you
11:9 The Lord said to me, “The people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem have plotted rebellion against me!
11:15 The Lord says to the people of Judah,
“What right do you have to be in my temple, my beloved people?
Many of you have done wicked things.
Can your acts of treachery be so easily canceled by sacred offerings
that you take joy in doing evil even while you make them?
11:16 I, the Lord, once called
one that produced beautiful fruit.
But I will set you
fire that will blaze with a mighty roar.
Then all your branches will be good for nothing.
11:17 For though I, the Lord who rules over all,
I now decree that disaster will come on you
because the nations of Israel and Judah have done evil
and have made me angry by offering sacrifices to the god Baal.”
11:18 The Lord gave me knowledge, that I might have understanding.
Then he showed me what the people were doing.
11:19 Before this I had been like a docile lamb ready to be led to the slaughter.
I did not know they were making plans to kill me.
I did not know they were saying,
“Let’s destroy the tree along with its fruit!
Let’s remove Jeremiah
so people will not even be reminded of him any more.”
11:20 So I said to the Lord,
“O Lord who rules over all,
You examine people’s hearts and minds.
I want to see you pay them back for what they have done
because I trust you to vindicate my cause.”
11:21 Then the Lord told me about
12:1 Lord, you have always been fair
whenever I have complained to you.
However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice.
Why are wicked people successful?
Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?
12:2 You plant them like trees and they put down their roots.
They grow prosperous and are very fruitful.
They always talk about you,
but they really care nothing about you.
12:3 But you, Lord, know all about me.
You watch me and test my devotion to you.
Drag these wicked men away like sheep to be slaughtered!
Appoint a time when they will be killed!
12:4 How long must the land be parched
and the grass in every field be withered?
How long
because of the wickedness of the people who live in this land?
For these people boast,
“God
12:5 The Lord answered,
“If you have raced on foot against men and they have worn you out,
how will you be able to compete with horses?
And if you feel secure only
how will you manage in the thick undergrowth along the Jordan River?
12:6 As a matter of fact,
and the members of your own family have betrayed you too.
Even they have plotted to do away with you.
So do not trust them even when they say kind things
12:7 “I will abandon my nation.
I will forsake the people I call my own.
I will turn my beloved people
over to the power
12:8 The people I call my own
like a lion
They have roared defiantly
So I will treat them as though I hate them.
12:9 The people I call my own attack me like birds of prey or like hyenas.
But other birds of prey are all around them.
Let all the nations gather together like wild beasts.
Let them come and destroy these people I call my own.
12:10 Many foreign rulers
They will trample all over my chosen land.
They will turn my beautiful land
into a desolate wasteland.
12:11 They will lay it waste.
It will lie parched
The whole land will be laid waste.
But no one living in it will pay any heed.
12:12 A destructive army
over the hilltops in the desert.
For the Lord will use them as his destructive weapon
against
No one will be safe.
12:13 My people will sow wheat, but will harvest weeds.
They will work until they are exhausted, but will get nothing from it.
They will be disappointed in their harvests
because the Lord will take them away in his fierce anger.
12:14 “I, the Lord, also have something to say concerning
13:1 The Lord said to me, “Go and buy some linen shorts
13:8 Then the Lord said to me,
13:12 “So tell them,
13:15 Then I said to the people of Judah,
“Listen and pay attention! Do not be arrogant!
For the Lord has spoken.
13:16 Show the Lord your God the respect that is due him.
Do it before he brings the darkness of disaster.
Do it before you stumble
like a traveler on the mountains at twilight.
Do it before he turns the light of deliverance you hope for
into the darkness and gloom of exile.
13:17 But if you will not pay attention to this warning,
I will weep alone because of your arrogant pride.
I will weep bitterly and my eyes will overflow with tears
because you, the Lord’s flock,
13:18 The Lord told me,
“Tell the king and the queen mother,
‘Surrender your thrones,
for your glorious crowns
will be removed
13:19 The gates of the towns in southern Judah will be shut tight.
No one will be able to go in or out of them.
All Judah will be carried off into exile.
They will be completely carried off into exile.’”
13:20 Then I said,
“Look up, Jerusalem,
the enemy
Where now is the flock of people that were entrusted to your care?
Where now are the ‘sheep’ that you take such pride in?
13:21 What will you say
that you, yourself, had actually prepared as such?
Then anguish and agony will grip you
like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.
13:22 You will probably ask yourself,
‘Why have these things happened to me?
Why have I been treated like a disgraced adulteress
whose skirt has been torn off and her limbs exposed?’
It is because you have sinned so much.
13:23 But there is little hope for you ever doing good,
you who are so accustomed to doing evil.
Can an Ethiopian
Can a leopard remove its spots?
13:24 “The Lord says,
‘That is why I will scatter your people
that is blown away by a desert wind.
13:25 This is your fate,
the destiny to which I have appointed you,
because you have forgotten me
and have trusted in false gods.
13:26 So I will pull your skirt up over your face
and expose you to shame like a disgraced adulteress!
13:27 People of Jerusalem,
your shameless prostitution to, and your lustful pursuit of, other gods.
I have seen your disgusting acts of worship
on the hills throughout the countryside.
You are doomed to destruction!
How long will you continue to be unclean?’”
14:1 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah
14:2 “The people of Judah are in mourning.
The people in her cities are pining away.
They lie on the ground expressing their sorrow.
Cries of distress come up to me
14:3 The leading men of the cities send their servants for water.
They go to the cisterns,
They return with their containers
Disappointed and dismayed, they bury their faces in their hands.
14:4 They are dismayed because the ground is cracked
because there has been no rain in the land.
The farmers, too, are dismayed
and bury their faces in their hands.
14:5 Even the doe abandons her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
14:6 Wild donkeys stand on the hilltops
and pant for breath like jackals.
Their eyes are strained looking for food,
because there is none to be found.”
14:7 Then I said,
“O Lord, intervene for the honor of your name
even though our sins speak out against us.
Indeed,
We have sinned against you.
14:8 You have been the object of Israel’s hopes.
You have saved them when they were in trouble.
Why have you become like a resident foreigner
Why have you become like a traveler who only stops in to spend the night?
14:9 Why should you be like someone who is helpless,
like a champion
You are indeed with us,
and we belong to you.
Do not abandon us!”
14:10 Then the Lord spoke about these people.
“They truly
They cannot keep from running away from me.
So I am not pleased with them.
I will now call to mind
and punish them for their sins.”
14:11 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for good to come to these people!
14:13 Then I said, “Oh, Lord God,
14:14 Then the Lord said to me, “Those prophets are prophesying lies while claiming my authority!
14:17 “Tell these people this, Jeremiah:
‘My eyes overflow with tears
day and night without ceasing.
For my people, my dear children,
They have suffered a serious wound.
14:18 If I go out into the countryside,
I see those who have been killed in battle.
If I go into the city,
I see those who are sick because of starvation.
For both prophet and priest go about their own business
in the land without having any real understanding.’”
14:19 Then I said,
“Lord,
Do you despise
Why have you struck us with such force
that we are beyond recovery?
We hope for peace, but nothing good has come of it.
We hope for a time of relief from our troubles, but experience terror.
14:20 Lord, we confess that we have been wicked.
We confess that our ancestors have done wrong.
We have indeed
14:21 For the honor of your name,
Do not treat with disdain the place where your glorious throne sits.
Be mindful of your covenant with us. Do not break it!
14:22 Do any of the worthless idols
Do the skies themselves send showers?
Is it not you, O Lord our God, who does this?
So we put our hopes in you
because you alone do all this.”
15:1 Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for
“Those who are destined to die of disease will go to death by disease.
Those who are destined to die in war will go to death in war.
Those who are destined to die of starvation will go to death by starvation.
Those who are destined to go into exile will go into exile.”
15:3 “I will punish them in four different ways: I will have war kill them. I will have dogs drag off their dead bodies. I will have birds and wild beasts devour and destroy their corpses.
15:5 The Lord cried out,
“Who in the world
Who will grieve over you?
Who will stop long enough
to inquire about how you are doing?
15:6 I, the Lord, say:
You keep turning your back on me.’
So I have unleashed my power against you
I have grown tired of feeling sorry for you!”
15:7 The Lord continued,
“In every town in the land I will purge them
like straw blown away by the wind.
I will destroy my people.
I will kill off their children.
I will do so because they did not change their behavior.
15:8 Their widows will become in my sight more numerous
than the grains of sand on the seashores.
At noontime I will bring a destroyer
against the mothers of their young men.
I will cause anguish
to fall suddenly upon them.
15:9 The mother who had seven children
All the breath will go out of her.
Her pride and joy will be taken from her in the prime of their life.
It will seem as if the sun had set while it was still day.
She will suffer shame and humiliation.
I will cause any of them who are still left alive
to be killed in war by the onslaughts of their enemies,”
says the Lord.
15:10 I said,
“Oh, mother, how I regret
I am always starting arguments and quarrels with the people of this land.
I have not lent money to anyone and I have not borrowed from anyone.
Yet all of these people are treating me with contempt.”
15:11 The Lord said,
“Jerusalem,
I will surely
15:12 Can you people who are like iron and bronze
break that iron fist from the north?
15:13 I will give away your wealth and your treasures as plunder.
I will give it away free of charge for the sins you have committed throughout your land.
15:14 I will make you serve your enemies
For my anger is like a fire that will burn against you.”
15:15 I said,
“Lord, you know how I suffer.
Take thought of me and care for me.
Pay back for me those who have been persecuting me.
Do not be so patient with them that you allow them to kill me.
Be mindful of how I have put up with their insults for your sake.
15:16 As your words came to me I drank them in,
and they filled my heart with joy and happiness
because I belong to you.
15:17 I did not spend my time in the company of other people,
laughing and having a good time.
I stayed to myself because I felt obligated to you
and because I was filled with anger at what they had done.
15:18 Why must I continually suffer such painful anguish?
Why must I endure the sting of their insults like an incurable wound?
Will you let me down when I need you
like a brook one goes to for water, but that cannot be relied on?”
15:19 Because of this, the Lord said,
“You must repent of such words and thoughts!
If you do, I will restore you to the privilege of serving me.
If you say what is worthwhile instead of what is worthless,
I will again allow you to be my spokesman.
They must become as you have been.
You must not become like them.
15:20 I will make you as strong as a wall to these people,
a fortified wall of bronze.
They will attack you,
but they will not be able to overcome you.
For I will be with you to rescue you and deliver you,”
says the Lord.
15:21 “I will deliver you from the power of the wicked.
I will free you from the clutches of violent people.”
16:1 The Lord said to me,
16:2 “Do not get married and do not have children here in this land.
16:3 For I, the Lord, tell you what will happen to
16:5 “Moreover I, the Lord, tell you:
16:8 “‘Do not go to a house where people are feasting and sit down to eat and drink with them either.
16:9 For I, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all, tell you what will happen.
16:10 “When you tell these people about all this,
16:14 Yet
16:16 But for now I, the Lord, say:
16:19 Then I said,
“Lord, you give me strength and protect me.
You are the one I can run to for safety when I am in trouble.
Nations from all over the earth
will come to you and say,
‘Our ancestors had nothing but false gods –
worthless idols that could not help them at all.
16:20 Can people make their own gods?
No, what they make are not gods at all.”
16:21 The Lord said,
“So I will now let this wicked people know –
I will let them know my mighty power in judgment.
Then they will know that my name is the Lord.”
17:1
on their stone-hard
It is inscribed with a diamond
on the horns of their altars.
17:2 Their children are always thinking about
and their sacred poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah,
set up beside the green trees on the high hills
17:3 and on the mountains and in the fields.
I will give your wealth and all your treasures away as plunder.
I will give it away as the price
17:4 You will lose your hold on the land
which I gave to you as a permanent possession.
I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you know nothing about.
For you have made my anger burn like a fire that will never be put out.”
17:5 The Lord says,
“I will put a curse on people
who trust in mere human beings,
who depend on mere flesh and blood for their strength,
and whose hearts
17:6 They will be like a shrub
They will not experience good things even when they happen.
It will be as though they were growing in the desert,
in a salt land where no one can live.
17:7 My blessing is on those people who trust in me,
who put their confidence in me.
17:8 They will be like a tree planted near a stream
whose roots spread out toward the water.
It has nothing to fear when the heat comes.
Its leaves are always green.
It has no need to be concerned in a year of drought.
It does not stop bearing fruit.
17:9 The human mind is more deceitful than anything else.
It is incurably bad.
17:10 I, the Lord, probe into people’s minds.
I examine people’s hearts.
I deal with each person according to how he has behaved.
I give them what they deserve based on what they have done.
17:11 The person who gathers wealth by unjust means
is like the partridge that broods over eggs but does not hatch them.
Before his life is half over he will lose his ill-gotten gains.
At the end of his life it will be clear he was a fool.”
17:12 Then I said,
“Lord, from the very beginning
you have been seated on your glorious throne on high.
You are the place where we can find refuge.
17:13 You are the one in whom Israel may find hope.
All who leave you will suffer shame.
Those who turn away from you
For they have rejected you, the Lord, the fountain of life.
17:14 Lord, grant me relief from my suffering
so that I may have some relief.
Rescue me from those who persecute me
so that I may be rescued.
17:15 Listen to what they are saying to me.
They are saying, “Where are the things the Lord threatens us with?
Come on! Let’s see them happen!”
17:16 But I have not pestered you to bring disaster.
I have not desired the time of irreparable devastation.
You know that.
You are fully aware of every word that I have spoken.
17:17 Do not cause me dismay!
You are my source of safety in times of trouble.
17:18 May those who persecute me be disgraced.
Do not let me be disgraced.
May they be dismayed.
Do not let me be dismayed.
Bring days of disaster on them.
Bring on them the destruction they deserve.”
17:19 The Lord told me, “Go and stand in the People’s Gate
18:1 The Lord said to Jeremiah:
18:5 Then the Lord said to me,
18:13 Therefore, the Lord says,
“Ask the people of other nations
whether they have heard of anything like this.
Israel should have been like a virgin.
But she has done something utterly revolting!
18:14 Does the snow ever completely vanish from the rocky slopes of Lebanon?
Do the cool waters from those distant mountains ever cease to flow?
18:15 Yet my people have forgotten me
and offered sacrifices to worthless idols!
This makes them stumble along in the way they live
and leave the old reliable path of their fathers.
They have left them to walk in bypaths,
in roads that are not smooth and level.
18:16 So their land will become an object of horror.
People will forever hiss out their scorn over it.
All who pass that way will be filled with horror
and will shake their heads in derision.
18:17 I will scatter them before their enemies
like dust blowing in front of a burning east wind.
I will turn my back on them and not look favorably on them
when disaster strikes them.”
18:18 Then some people
18:19 Then I said,
“Lord, pay attention to me.
Listen to what my enemies are saying.
18:20 Should good be paid back with evil?
Yet they are virtually digging a pit to kill me.
Just remember how I stood before you
pleading on their behalf
to keep you from venting your anger on them.
18:21 So let their children die of starvation.
Let them be cut down by the sword.
Let their wives lose their husbands and children.
Let the older men die of disease
and the younger men die by the sword in battle.
18:22 Let cries of terror be heard in their houses
when you send bands of raiders unexpectedly to plunder them.
For they have virtually dug a pit to capture me
and have hidden traps for me to step into.
18:23 But you, Lord, know
all their plots to kill me.
Do not pardon their crimes!
Do not ignore their sins as though you had erased them!
Let them be brought down in defeat before you!
Deal with them while you are still angry!
19:1 The Lord told Jeremiah,
19:10 The Lord continued,
19:14 Then Jeremiah left Topheth where the Lord had sent him to give that prophecy. He went to the Lord’s temple and stood
20:1 Now Pashhur son of Immer heard Jeremiah prophesy these things. He was the priest who was chief of security
20:7 Lord, you coerced me into being a prophet,
and I allowed you to do it.
You overcame my resistance and prevailed over me.
Now I have become a constant laughingstock.
Everyone ridicules me.
20:8 For whenever I prophesy,
“Violence and destruction are coming!”
This message from the Lord
an object of continual insults and derision.
20:9 Sometimes I think, “I will make no mention of his message.
I will not speak as his messenger
But then
locked up inside of me, burning in my heart and soul.
I grow weary of trying to hold it in;
I cannot contain it.
20:10 I
Those who would cause me terror are everywhere!
They are saying, “Come on, let’s publicly denounce him!”
All my so-called friends
something that would lead to my downfall.
They say, “Perhaps he can be enticed into slipping up,
so we can prevail over
20:11 But the Lord is with me to help me like an awe-inspiring warrior.
Therefore those who persecute me will fail and will not prevail over me.
They will be thoroughly disgraced because they did not succeed.
Their disgrace will never be forgotten.
20:12 O Lord who rules over all,
You see into people’s hearts and minds.
Pay them back for what they have done
because I trust you to vindicate my cause.
20:13 Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord!
For he rescues the oppressed from the clutches of evildoers.
20:14 Cursed be the day I was born!
May that day not be blessed when my mother gave birth to me.
20:15 Cursed be the man
who made my father very glad
when he brought him the news
that a baby boy had been born to him!
20:16 May that man be like the cities
that the Lord destroyed without showing any mercy.
May he hear a cry of distress in the morning
and a battle cry at noon.
20:17 For he did not kill me before I came from the womb,
making my pregnant mother’s womb my grave forever.
20:18 Why did I ever come forth from my mother’s womb?
All I experience is trouble and grief,
and I spend my days in shame.
21:1 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah
21:8 “But
21:11 The Lord told me to say
“Listen to what the Lord says,
21:12 O royal family descended from David.
The Lord says:
‘See to it that people each day
Deliver those who have been robbed from those
Otherwise, my wrath will blaze out against you.
It will burn like a fire that cannot be put out
because of the evil that you have done.
21:13 Listen, you
I am opposed to you,’
‘You boast, “No one can swoop down on us.
No one can penetrate into our places of refuge.”
21:14 But I will punish you as your deeds deserve,’
says the Lord.
‘I will set fire to your palace;
it will burn up everything around it.’”
22:1 The Lord told me,
22:6 “‘For the Lord says concerning the palace of the king of Judah,
“This place looks like a veritable forest of Gilead to me.
It is like the wooded heights of Lebanon in my eyes.
But I swear that I will make it like a wilderness
whose towns have all been deserted.
22:7 I will send men against it to destroy it
with their axes and hatchets.
They will hack up its fine cedar panels and columns
and throw them into the fire.
22:8 “‘People from other nations will pass by this city. They will ask one another, “Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?” 22:9 The answer will come back, “It is because they broke their covenant with the Lord their God and worshiped and served other gods.”
22:10 “‘Do not weep for the king who was killed.
Do not grieve for him.
But weep mournfully for the king who has gone into exile.
For he will never return to see his native land again.
22:11 “‘For the Lord has spoken about Shallum son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah but was carried off into exile. He has said, “He will never return to this land.
22:13 “‘Sure to be judged
and treats people unfairly while adding its upper rooms.
He makes his countrymen work for him for nothing.
He does not pay them for their labor.
22:14 He says, “I will build myself a large palace
with spacious upper rooms.”
He cuts windows in its walls,
panels it
22:15 Does it make you any more of a king
that you outstrip everyone else in
Just think about your father.
He was content that he had food and drink.
He did what was just and right.
So things went well with him.
22:16 He upheld the cause of the poor and needy.
So things went well for Judah.’
The Lord says,
‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.’
22:17 But you are always thinking and looking
for ways to increase your wealth by dishonest means.
Your eyes and your heart are set
on killing some innocent person
and committing fraud and oppression.
22:18 So
People will not mourn for him, saying,
“This makes me sad, my brother!
This makes me sad, my sister!”
They will not mourn for him, saying,
“Poor, poor lord! Poor, poor majesty!”
22:19 He will be left unburied just like a dead donkey.
His body will be dragged off and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.’”
22:20 People of Jerusalem,
Go to the land of Bashan and cry out loudly.
Cry out in mourning from the mountains of Moab.
For your allies
22:21 While you were feeling secure I gave you warning.
But you said, “I refuse to listen to you.”
That is the way you have acted from your earliest history onward.
Indeed, you have never paid attention to me.
22:22 My judgment will carry off all your leaders like a storm wind!
Your allies will go into captivity.
Then you will certainly
because of all the wickedness you have done.
22:23 You may feel as secure as a bird
nesting in the cedars of Lebanon.
But oh how you
They will be like those of a woman giving birth to a baby.
22:24 The Lord says,
“As surely as I am the living God, you, Jeconiah,
22:28 This man, Jeconiah, will be like a broken pot someone threw away.
He will be like a clay vessel
Why will he and his children be forced into exile?
Why will they be thrown out into a country they know nothing about?
22:29 O land of Judah, land of Judah, land of Judah!
Listen to what the Lord has to say!
22:30 The Lord says,
“Enroll this man in the register as though he were childless.
Enroll him as a man who will not enjoy success during his lifetime.
For none of his sons will succeed in occupying the throne of David
or ever succeed in ruling over Judah.”
23:1 The Lord says,
23:5 “I, the Lord, promise
when I will raise up for them a righteous branch,
He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding
and will do what is just and right in the land.
23:6 Under his rule
and Israel will live in security.
This is the name he will go by:
‘The Lord has provided us with justice.’
23:7 “So I, the Lord, say:
23:9 Here is what the Lord says concerning the false prophets:
My heart and my mind are deeply disturbed.
I tremble all over.
I am like a drunk person,
like a person who has had too much wine,
because of the way the Lord
and his holy word are being mistreated.
23:10 For the land is full of people unfaithful to him.
They live wicked lives and they misuse their power.
So the land is dried up
The pastures in the wilderness are withered.
23:11 Moreover,
“Both the prophets and priests are godless.
I have even found them doing evil in my temple!
23:12 So the paths they follow will be dark and slippery.
They will stumble and fall headlong.
For I will bring disaster on them.
A day of reckoning is coming for them.”
The Lord affirms it!
23:13 The Lord says,
doing something that was disgusting.
They prophesied in the name of the god Baal
and led my people Israel astray.
23:14 But I see the prophets of Jerusalem
doing something just as shocking.
They are unfaithful to me
and continually prophesy lies.
So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil,
with the result that they do not stop their evildoing.
I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom,
and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah.
23:15 So then I, the Lord who rules over all,
have something to say concerning the prophets of Jerusalem:
‘I will make these prophets eat the bitter food of suffering
and drink the poison water of judgment.
For the prophets of Jerusalem are the reason
that ungodliness
23:16 The Lord who rules over all
“Do not listen to what
those prophets are saying to you.
They are filling you with false hopes.
They are reporting visions of their own imaginations,
not something the Lord has given them to say.
23:17 They continually say
‘Things will go well for you!’
They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts,
‘Nothing bad will happen to you!’
23:18 Yet which of them has ever stood in the Lord’s inner circle
so they
Which of them have ever paid attention or listened to what he has said?
23:19 But just watch!
will come like a storm!
Like a raging storm it will rage down
on the heads of those who are wicked.
23:20 The anger of the Lord will not turn back
until he has fully carried out his intended purposes.
In days to come
you people will come to understand this clearly.
23:21 I did not send those prophets.
Yet they were in a hurry to give their message.
I did not tell them anything.
Yet they prophesied anyway.
23:22 But if they had stood in my inner circle,
they would have proclaimed my message to my people.
They would have caused my people to turn from their wicked ways
and stop doing the evil things they are doing.
23:23 Do you people think
and not the transcendent God?”
23:24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself
where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks.
“Do you not know that I am everywhere?”
the Lord asks.
23:25 The Lord says,
23:33 The Lord said to me, “Jeremiah,
23:35 So I, Jeremiah, tell you,
24:1 The Lord showed me two baskets of figs sitting before his temple. This happened after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon deported Jehoiakim’s son, King Jeconiah of Judah. He deported him and the leaders of Judah, along with the craftsmen and metal workers, and took them to Babylon.
24:4 The Lord said to me,
24:8 “I, the Lord, also solemnly assert: ‘King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the people who remain in Jerusalem
25:1 In the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord spoke to Jeremiah
25:8 “Therefore, the Lord who rules over all
25:12 “‘But when the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation
25:15 So
25:17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand. I made all the nations to whom he sent me drink the wine of his wrath.
25:27 Then the Lord said to me,
25:30 “Then, Jeremiah,
‘Like a lion about to attack,
from his holy dwelling on high he will roar loudly.
He will roar mightily against his land.
He will shout in triumph like those stomping juice from the grapes
against all those who live on the earth.
25:31 The sounds of battle
For the Lord will bring charges against the nations.
He will pass judgment on all humankind
and will hand the wicked over to be killed in war.’
The Lord so affirms it!
25:32 The Lord who rules over all
‘Disaster will soon come on one nation after another.
A mighty storm of military destruction
from the distant parts of the earth.’
25:33 Those who have been killed by the Lord at that time
will be scattered from one end of the earth to the other.
They will not be mourned over, gathered up, or buried.
Their dead bodies will lie scattered over the ground like manure.
25:34 Wail and cry out in anguish, you rulers!
Roll in the dust, you who shepherd flocks of people!
The time for you to be slaughtered has come.
You will lie scattered and fallen like broken pieces of fine pottery.
25:35 The leaders will not be able to run away and hide.
The shepherds of the flocks will not be able to escape.
25:36 Listen to the cries of anguish of the leaders.
Listen to the wails of the shepherds of the flocks.
They are wailing because the Lord
is about to destroy their lands.
25:37 Their peaceful dwelling places will be laid waste
by the fierce anger of the Lord.
25:38 The Lord is like a lion who has left his lair.
So their lands will certainly
by the warfare of the oppressive nation
and by the fierce anger of the Lord.”