Jeremiah

1 ¶ The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth ^ain the land of Benjamin,

2 to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of ^bJosiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the ^cthirteenth year of his reign.

3 It came also in the days of ^dJehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, ^eto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, ^funtil the carrying away of Jerusalem captive ^gin the fifth month.

Call of Jeremiah

4 ¶ Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

5 “Before I ^hformed you in the womb I ⁱknew you, and before you came forth out of the womb I ^jsanctified you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

6 Then I said, ^k“Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.”

7 But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ for you will go to all those I will send you, and ^lyou will speak whatever I command you.

8 ^m“Do not be afraid of their faces, for ⁿI am with you to deliver you,” says the LORD.

9 ¶ Then the LORD put forth His hand and ^otouched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have ^pput My words in your mouth.

10 ¶ ^q“See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to ^rroot out and to pull down, and to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.”

11 ¶ Furthermore, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”

12 Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it.”

13 ¶ And the word of the LORD came to me the second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a ^sseething pot, and its face is toward the north.”

14 Then the LORD said to me, “Out of the ^tnorth an evil will break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

15 “For behold, I ^uwill call all the families of the kingdoms of the north,” says the LORD. “And they will come and ^vthey will set each one his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem and against all its walls around about and against all the cities of Judah.

16 “And I will utter My judgments against them concerning all their wickedness, whereby ^wthey have forsaken Me and have burned ^xincense to other gods and worshiped the works of their own ^yhands.

17 ¶ “You therefore, ^zgird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. ^aDo not be dismayed at their faces, lest I dismay you before them.

18 “For behold, I have made you this day ^ba fortified city and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests and against the people of the land.

19 “And they will fight against you. But they will not prevail against you, for I am with you,” says the LORD, “to deliver you.”

1 ¶ Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

2 “Go and cry out in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “I remember the kindness of your ^ayouth, the love of your betrothal, ^bwhen you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

3 ^c“Israel was holiness to the LORD, and ^dthe firstfruits of His increase. ^eAll who devour him will offend. Evil will ^fcome upon them,” ’ ” says the LORD.

4 ¶ Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.

5 Thus says the LORD, ^g“What iniquity have your fathers found in Me that they have gone far from Me, and ^hhave walked after vanity and have become vain?

6 “They did not say, ‘Where is the LORD who ⁱbrought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through ^jthe wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, through a land of drought and of deep darkness, through a land that no man passed through and where no man dwelt?’

7 “And I brought you into ^ka fruitful country to eat its fruit and its goodness. But when you entered you ^ldefiled My land and made My heritage an abomination.

8 “The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’ And those who handle the ^mlaw did not know Me. The rulers also transgressed against Me, and ⁿthe prophets prophesied by Baal and walked after things that do not profit.

9 ¶ “Therefore, ^oI will still contend with you,” says the LORD, “and with your children’s children I will contend.

10 “For cross to the coastlands of Kittim and see. And send to Kedar and consider diligently, and see if there is such a ^pthing.

11 ^q“Has a nation changed their gods that are ^rno gods? ^sBut My people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.

12 “Be appalled at this, O you heavens, and be horribly afraid. Be very desolate,” says the LORD.

13 “For My people have committed two evils. They have forsaken Me the ^tfountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

14 ¶ “Is Israel a ^uservant? Is he a homeborn slave? Why is he spoiled?

15 ^v“The young lions roared upon him and yelled. And they made his land waste. His cities are burned without inhabitant.

16 “The children of Noph and ^wTahapanes have also broken the crown of your head.

17 ^x“Have you not brought this on yourself in that you have forsaken the LORD your God when ^yHe led you in the way?

18 “And now, what have you to do in ^zthe way of Egypt, to drink the waters of ^aSihor? Or what have you to do in the way of ^bAssyria, to drink the waters of the River?

19 “Your own wickedness will ^ccorrect you and your backslidings will reprove you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter that you have forsaken the LORD your God, and that My fear is not in you,” says the Lord GOD of armies.

20 ¶ “For from old time I have ^dbroken your yoke and burst your bonds. And ^eyou said, ‘I will not transgress,’ when ^fupon every high hill and under every green tree you laid down, ^gplaying the harlot.

21 “Yet I had ^hplanted you a noble vine, a completely faithful seed. How then have you turned into ⁱthe degenerate plant of a strange vine to Me?

22 “For though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, yet ^jthe stain of your iniquity is before Me,” says the Lord GOD.

23 “How ^kcan you say, ‘I am not polluted. I have not gone after Baalim?’ See your way in the valley. Know what you have done. You are a swift dromedary breaking loose her ways,

24 “a wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness, that snuffs up the wind at her pleasure. In the time of her heat who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not weary themselves. In her month they will find her.

25 “Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst. But you said, ^l‘There is no hope. No, for I have loved ^mforeigners and I will go after them.’

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 ⁿprophets,

27 “saying to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a ^ostone, ‘You have brought me forth.’ For they have turned their back to Me and not their face. But in the time of their ^ptrouble they will say, ‘Arise and save us.’

28 “But ^qwhere are your gods that you have made? Let them arise, if they ^rcan save you in the time of your trouble. For your gods are ^saccording to the number of your cities, O Judah.

29 ¶ “Why do you contend with Me? All of you have transgressed against Me,” says the LORD.

30 “In vain I have ^tsmitten your children. They ^ureceived no correction. Your own sword has ^vdevoured your prophets like a destroying lion.

31 “O generation, see the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, a land of darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We are lords. ^wWe will come no more to you’?

32 “Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people ^xhave forgotten Me days without number.

33 “Why do you beautify your way to seek love? Therefore, you have taught the wicked women your ways.

34 “Also in your skirts is found ^ythe blood of the souls of the poor innocents. I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.

35 ^z“Yet you say, ‘Because I am innocent, surely His anger will turn from Me.’ Behold, ^aI will plead with you ^bbecause you say, ‘I have not sinned.’

36 ^c“Why do you gad about so much to change your way? ^dYou also will be ashamed of Egypt ^eas you were ashamed of Assyria.

37 “Yes, you will go forth from him, with your hands upon ^fyour head. For the LORD has rejected your trusted allies, and you will ^gnot prosper in them.”

1 ¶ “They say, ‘If a man puts away his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s, ^awill he return to her again?’ Will not that ^bland be greatly polluted? But you have ^cplayed the harlot with many lovers. And ^dstill you return again to Me,” says the LORD.

2 “Lift up your eyes ^eto the high places and see. Where have you not been violated? ^fBy the roads you have sat for them like an Arab in the desert. ^gAnd you have polluted a land with your harlotry and with your wickedness.

3 “Therefore, the ^hshowers have been withheld and there has been no latter rain. And you had a ⁱharlot’s forehead. You refused to be ashamed.

4 “Will you not from this time cry out to Me, ‘My Father! You are ^jthe guide of ^kmy youth?

5 ^l‘Will He reserve His anger forever? Will He keep it to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken and done evil things as you were able.”

Unfaithfulness of Israel

6 ¶ The LORD also said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what ^mbacksliding Israel has done? She has ⁿgone upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot.

7 ^o“And I said after she had done all these things, ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous ^psister Judah saw it.

8 “And I saw that ^qfor all the causes for which backsliding Israel committed adultery, I had ^rput her away and given her a certificate of divorce. ^sYet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.

9 “And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom that she ^tdefiled the land and committed adultery with ^ustones and with trees.

10 “And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me ^vwith her whole heart, but rather in pretense,” says the LORD.

11 ¶ And the LORD said to me, “The ^wbacksliding Israel has justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

12 “Go and proclaim these words toward ^xthe north, and say, ‘Return, you backsliding Israel,’ says the LORD. ‘I will not cause My anger to fall upon you, for I am ^ymerciful,’ says the LORD. ‘I will not remain angry forever.

13 ^z‘Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the LORD your God, and have ^ascattered your ways to the ^bforeigners ^cunder every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice,’ says the LORD.

14 “Return, O backsliding children,” says the LORD, ^d“for I am married to you. And I will take you ^eone from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to ^fZion.

15 “And I will give you ^gshepherds according to My heart who will ^hfeed you with knowledge and understanding.

16 “And it will come to pass when you are multiplied and ⁱincreased in the land in those days,” says the LORD, “they will say no more, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ ^jIt will not come to mind, or be remembered or missed. It will not be made again.

17 “At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD, and all the nations will be gathered to it, ^kto the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem. Neither will they ^lwalk anymore after the imagination of their evil heart.

18 “In those days ^mthe house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel. And they will come together out of the land of ⁿthe north to ^othe land that I have given for an inheritance to your fathers.

19 ¶ “But I said, ‘How will I put you among the children and give you ^pa pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the nations?’ And I said, ‘You will call Me, ^qMy Father, and will not turn away from Me.’

20 “Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so ^rhave you dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel,” says the LORD.

21 ¶ A voice was heard upon ^sthe high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel, for they have perverted their way and they have forgotten the LORD their God.

22 “Return, you backsliding children. I will ^theal your backslidings.” “Behold, we come to You, for You are the LORD our God.

23 ^u“Truly in vain is the sound from the hills, the tumult from the mountains. ^vTruly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.

24 ^w“For shame has devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

25 “We lie down in our shame and our confusion covers us, ^xfor we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and ^yhave not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.”

1 ¶ “If you will return, O Israel,” says the LORD, ^a“return to Me. And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, then you will not waver.

2 ^b“And you will swear, ‘The LORD lives,’ ^cin truth, in judgment, and in righteousness. And ^dthe nations will bless themselves in Him and in Him they will ^eglory.”

3 ¶ For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, ^f“Break up your fallow ground and ^gdo not sow among thorns.

4 ^h“Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest My fury come forth like fire and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”

5 ¶ Declare in Judah and publish in Jerusalem, and say, ⁱ“Blow the trumpet in the land. Cry out and say, ^j‘Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities.’”

6 “Set up the standard toward Zion. Take refuge! Do not delay! For I will bring evil from the ^knorth and great destruction.

7 ^l“The lion has come up from his thicket, and ^mthe destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way. He has gone forth from his place ⁿto make your land desolate. Your cities will be laid waste without an inhabitant.

8 “Because of this, ^oput on sackcloth, lament and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned back from us.

9 “And it will come to pass in that day,” says the LORD, “that the heart of the king will perish, and the heart of the princes. The priests will be astonished and the prophets will wonder.”

10 ¶ Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! ^pSurely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, ^qsaying, ‘You will have peace,’ whereas the sword reaches to the heart.”

11 ¶ At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, ^r“A dry wind of the high places blows in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people, not to fan or to cleanse—

12 “Even a full wind from those places will come to Me. Now ^sI will give sentence against them.

13 “Behold, he will come up as clouds, and ^this chariots will be as a whirlwind. ^uHis horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are plundered!”

14 O Jerusalem, ^vwash your heart from wickedness so that you may be saved. How long will your vain thoughts remain within you?

15 For a voice declares ^wfrom Dan and publishes affliction from Mount Ephraim.

16 “Proclaim it to the nations. Behold, publish against Jerusalem, ‘Besiegers come from a ^xfar country and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

17 ^y‘As keepers of a field, they are against her all around because she has been rebellious against Me,’ says the LORD.

18 “Your ^zway and your deeds have procured these things for you. This is your wickedness because it is bitter and reaches to your heart.”

19 ¶ O my ^asoul, my soul! I am pained in my very heart. My heart makes a noise in me. I cannot hold my peace because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

20 ^bDisaster upon disaster is proclaimed, for the whole land is plundered. Suddenly in a moment ^cmy tents and my curtains are plundered.

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

22 “For My people are foolish. They have not known Me. They are silly children and have no understanding. ^dThey are wise to do evil, but they have no knowledge to do good.”

23 ¶ ^e“I beheld the earth, and behold, it was ^fwithout form and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

24 ^g“I beheld the mountains, and behold, they trembled, and all the hills moved to and fro.

25 “I beheld, and behold, there was no man, and ^hall the birds of the heavens had fled.

26 “I beheld, and behold, the fruitful place was ⁱa wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of the LORD and by His fierce anger.”

27 ¶ For thus has the LORD said, “The whole land will be desolate. ^jHowever, I will not make a full end.

28 “Because of this, ^kthe earth will mourn and ^lthe heavens above be black, for I have spoken it, I have ^mpurposed it, and I ⁿwill not relent, nor will I turn back from it.

29 “The whole city will flee because of the noise of the horsemen and bowmen. They will go into thickets and climb upon the rocks. Every city is forsaken and not a man dwells in them.

30 “And when you are plundered, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson, though you deck yourself with ornaments of gold, ^othough you enlarge your eyes with painting, in vain you make yourself fair. ^pYour lovers will despise you; they will seek your life.

31 “For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her who brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that wails herself, that ^qspreads her hands, saying, ‘Woe is me, for my soul is wearied because of murderers.’”

1 ¶ “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem and see now and know. Seek in her open places ^aif you can find a man, ^bif there is anyone who executes justice, who seeks the truth. ^cAnd I will pardon her.

2 “And ^dthough they say, ^e‘The LORD lives,’ surely they ^fswear falsely.”

3 O LORD, are not ^gYour eyes upon the truth? You have ^hstricken them, but they have not grieved. You have consumed them, but ⁱthey have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They have refused to return.

4 ¶ Therefore I said, “Surely these are poor. They are foolish. For ^jthey do not know the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.

5 “I will go to the great men and will speak to them, for ^kthey have known the way of the LORD and the judgment of their God.” But these have with one accord ^lbroken the yoke and burst the bonds.

6 Therefore, ^ma lion out of the forest will slay them and ⁿa wolf of the deserts will destroy them. ^oA leopard will watch over their cities. Everyone who goes out from there will be torn in pieces because their transgressions are many and their backslidings numerous.

7 ¶ “How will I pardon you for this? Your children have forsaken Me and ^psworn by those ^qwho are not gods. ^rWhen I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.

8 ^s“They were as fed horses in the morning. Everyone neighed after his neighbor’s wife.

9 “Will I not punish them for these things?” says the LORD. “And will not My soul be ^tavenged on such a nation as this?

10 ¶ “Go up on her walls and destroy. However, do not make a ^ufull end. Take away her branches, for they are not the LORD’S.

11 “For ^vthe house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against Me,” says the LORD.

12 ^wThey have lied about the LORD, and said, ^x‘It is not He, ^ynor will evil come upon us, nor will we see sword or famine.

13 “And the prophets will become wind, and the word is not in them. Thus will it be done to them.”

14 ¶ Therefore, thus says the LORD God of armies, “Because you speak this word, ^zbehold, I will make My words in your mouth fire, and this people wood. And it will devour them.

15 “Behold, I will bring a ^anation upon you from ^bafar, O house of Israel,” says the LORD. “It is a mighty nation. It is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor understand what they say.

16 “Their quiver is as an open sepulchre. They are all mighty men.

17 “And they will eat up your ^charvest and your bread that your sons and your daughters should eat. They will eat up your flocks and your herds. They will eat up your vines and your fig trees. They will impoverish with the sword your fortified cities wherein you trusted.

18 ¶ “Nevertheless in those days,” says the LORD, “I ^dwill not make a full end with you.”

19 “And it will come to pass when you will say, ^e‘Why does the LORD our God do all these things to us?’ Then you will answer them, ‘As you have ^fforsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will ^gyou serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’

20 ¶ “Declare this in the house of Jacob and publish it in Judah, saying,

21 ‘Hear now this, O ^hfoolish and senseless people, who have eyes and do not see, who have ears and do not hear.

22 ⁱ‘Do you not fear Me?’ says the LORD. ‘Will you not tremble at My presence? For I have placed the sand as a ^jboundary for the sea, an eternal decree so it cannot cross over it. And though its waves toss themselves, yet they cannot prevail. Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.

23 ‘But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart. They have turned aside and departed.

24 ‘Neither do they say in their heart, “Let us now fear the LORD our God ^kwho gives rain, both the ^lformer and the latter, in its season. ^mHe reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.”

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

26 ‘For among My people are found wicked men. They ^olay in wait as he who sets snares. They set a trap. They catch men.

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

28 ‘They are ^pfat. They shine. Yes, ^qthey surpass the deeds of the wicked. They do not plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless ^rthat they may prosper. And they do not defend the rights of the poor.

29 ^s‘Will I not punish them for these things?’ says the LORD. ‘Will not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?’

30 ¶ “An appalling and ^thorrible thing is committed in the land.

31 “The prophets prophesy ^ufalsely and the priests rule by their own power. And My people ^vlove to have it so. And what will you do in the end?”

1 ¶ “O you children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem. Blow the trumpet in ^aTekoa and set up a signal of fire in ^bBeth-haccerem, for evil appears out of the north and great destruction.

2 “I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.

3 “The ^cshepherds with their flocks will come to her. They will pitch their tents against her all around. Everyone will pasture in his own place.”

4 “Prepare ^dwar against her. Arise, and let us go up ^eat noon. Woe to us, for the day goes away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.

5 “Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.”

6 For thus says the LORD of hosts, “Cut down trees and cast up a mound against Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished; in her midst is oppression.

7 ^f“As a fountain casts out its waters, so she casts out her wickedness. ^gViolence and plunder are heard in her; before Me continually are grief and wounds.

8 “Be instructed, O Jerusalem, lest ^hMy soul depart from you, lest I make you desolate, a land not inhabited.”

9 ¶ Thus says the LORD of hosts, “They will thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine. Pass your hand again like a grape-gatherer over the branches.”

10 ¶ “To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ⁱear is uncircumcised, and they cannot listen. Behold, ^jthe word of the LORD is to them a reproach; they have no delight in it.

11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD. ^kI am weary with holding it in. “I will pour it out ^lupon 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 ^mtheir houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together; for I will stretch out My hand upon the inhabitants of the land,” says the LORD.

13 “For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to ⁿcovetousness; and from the prophet even unto the ^opriest every one deals falsely.

14 “They have ^phealed also the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, ^qsaying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.

15 “Were they ^rashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush; therefore they shall fall among those who fall. At the time that I visit them they shall be cast down,” says the LORD.

16 ¶ Thus says the LORD, “Stand in the ways, and see, and ask for the ^sold paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and you shall find ^trest for your souls.” But they said, “We will not walk therein.”

17 “Also I set ^uwatchmen over you, saying, ‘^vHearken to the sound of the trumpet.’” But they said, “We will not hearken.”

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

19 ^w“Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring ^xevil upon this people, even ^ythe fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto My words, nor to My law, but rejected it.

20 ^z“To what purpose comes there to Me ^aincense from Sheba, and the ^bsweet cane from a far country? Your ^cburnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto Me.”

21 Therefore thus says the LORD, “Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbor and his friend shall perish.”

22 Thus says the LORD, “Behold, a people comes from the ^dnorth country, and a great nation shall be raised from the farthest parts of the earth.

23 “They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel and have no mercy; their voice ^eroars like the sea, and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against you, O daughter of Zion.”

24 ¶ We have heard the fame thereof; our hands wax feeble; ^fanguish has taken hold of us, and pain, 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 fear is on every side.”

26 O daughter of my people, ^ggird yourself with sackcloth, and ^hwallow yourself in ashes; ⁱmourn as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.

27 ¶ “I have set you as a tower and ^ja fortress among My people, that you may know and try their way.”

28 ^kThey are all grievous revolters, ^lwalking with slanders; they are ^mbrass and iron; they are all corrupters.

29 The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melts in vain, for the wicked are not plucked away.

30 Men shall call them reprobate silver, because the LORD has ⁿrejected them.

1 ¶ The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

2 ^a“Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD.’”

3 Thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, ^b“Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.”

4 ^c“Do not trust in lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the LORD. The temple of the LORD. The temple of the LORD are these.’”

5 “For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your deeds, if you thoroughly ^dexecute justice between a man and his neighbor,

6 “if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, ^enor walk after other gods to your ruin,

7 ^f“then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in ^gthe land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever.

8 ¶ “Behold, you trust in ^hlying words that cannot profit.

9 ⁱ“Will you steal, murder and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and ^jwalk after other gods whom you do not know,

10 ^k“and then come and stand before Me in this house, ^lwhich is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’?

11 “Has ^mthis house that is called by My name become a ⁿden of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it,” says the LORD.

12 ¶ “But go now to ^oMy place that was in Shiloh, ^pwhere I first set My name, and see ^qwhat I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.

13 “And now, because you have done all these works,” says the LORD, “and I spoke to you, ^rrising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and ^sI called you, but you did not answer,

14 “therefore, I will do to this house that is called by My name, wherein you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to ^tShiloh.

15 “And I will cast you out of My sight ^uas I have cast out all your brethren, even the ^vwhole seed of Ephraim.

16 ¶ “Therefore, ^wdo not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, or make intercession to Me. ^xFor I will not hear you.

17 “Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

18 ^y“The children gather wood and the fathers kindle the fire. And the women knead their dough to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to ^zpour out drink offerings to other gods so that they may provoke Me to anger.

19 ^a“Do they provoke Me to anger?” says the LORD. “Do they not provoke themselves to the shame of their own faces?”

20 “Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, My anger and My fury will 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 will burn and will not be quenched.’”

21 ¶ Thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, ^b“Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat.”

22 ^c“For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices.

23 “But this thing I commanded them, saying, ^d‘Obey My voice and ^eI will be your God and you will be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you so that it may be well with you.’

24 ^f“Yet they did not hearken, or incline their ear. But they ^gwalked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went ^hbackward and not forward.

25 “Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt to this day I have even ⁱsent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them.

26 ^j“Yet they did not hearken to Me, nor incline their ear, but ^kstiffened their neck. ^lThey did worse than their fathers.

27 ¶ “Therefore, ^myou will speak all these words to them, but they will not hearken to you. You will also call to them, but they will not answer you.

28 ¶ “But you will say to them, ‘This is a nation that does not obey the voice of the LORD their God, ⁿnor receive correction. ^oTruth is perished and is cut off from their mouth.’

29 ^p“Cut off your hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away. And take up a lamentation on high places, for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.”

30 “For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight,” says the LORD. ^q“They have set their abominations in the house that is called by My name in order to pollute it.

31 “And they have built the ^rhigh places of Tophet that is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom in order to ^sburn their sons and their daughters in the fire, ^tthat I did not command them, nor did it come into My heart.

32 ¶ “Therefore, behold, ^uthe days are coming,” says the LORD, “that it will no longer be called Tophet, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. ^vFor they will bury in Tophet until there is no room.

33 “And the ^wcarcasses of this people will be food for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. And no one will frighten them away. Then I will cause to ^xcease 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 ^ythe land will be desolate.”

1 ¶ “At that time,” says the LORD, “they will bring out the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of its 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 will spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven whom they have loved and whom they have served and after whom they have walked and whom they have sought and ^awhom they have worshiped. They will not be gathered ^bor be buried. They will be as refuse upon the face of the earth.

3 “And ^cdeath will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant of those who remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places to which I have driven them,” says the LORD of armies.

4 ¶ “Furthermore, you will say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Will they fall and not arise? Will he turn away and not return?

5 “Why then is this people of Jerusalem ^dslidden back by a perpetual backsliding? ^eThey hold fast to deceit. ^fThey refuse to return.

6 ^g“I hearkened and heard, but they have not spoken what is right. ^hNo man repented of his wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone turned to his course as the horse rushes into the battle.

7 “Yes, ⁱthe stork in the heaven knows her appointed times. And the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming, but ^jMy people do not know the judgment of the LORD.

8 ¶ “How can you say, ‘We are wise ^kand the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.

9 ^l“The wise men are put to shame. They are dismayed and taken. Behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD. So ^mwhat wisdom do they have?

10 “Therefore, ⁿI will give their wives to others and their fields to those who will inherit them. For everyone from the least even to the greatest is given to ^ocovetousness, from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely.

11 “For they have ^phealed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, ^q‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.

12 “Were they ^rashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed, nor could they blush. Therefore, they will fall among those who fall. In the time of their punishment they will be cast down,” says the LORD.

13 ¶ “I will surely consume them,” says the LORD. “There will be no grapes ^son the vine, nor figs on the ^tfig tree, and the leaf will fade. And the things that I have given them will ^upass away from them.”

14 “Why do we sit still? ^vAssemble yourselves and let us enter into the fortified cities. And let us be silent there, for the LORD our God has put us to silence and given us ^wwater of gall to drink because we have sinned against the LORD.

15 “We ^xlooked for peace but no good came, and for a time of health, and behold, trouble!

16 The snorting of his horses was heard from ^yDan. The whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his ^zstrong ones, for they have come and have devoured the land and all that is in it, the city and those who dwell in it.

17 “For behold, I will send serpents against you and adders that cannot be ^acharmed. And they will bite you,” declares the LORD.

18 ¶ When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.

19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of those who dwell in ^ba far country. “Is not the LORD in Zion? Is not her king in her?” “Why have they provoked Me to anger with their graven images and with foreign idols?”

20 “The harvest is past. The summer is ended, and we are not saved.”

21 ^c“For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt. I am ^dmourning. Astonishment has taken hold of me.

22 Is there no ^ebalm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?”

1 ¶ Oh ^athat my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears so 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 for travelers so that I might leave my people and go from them! For ^bthey are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

3 ^c“They bend their tongues like their bow for lies. They are not valiant for the truth on the earth, for they proceed from ^devil to evil and they ^edo not know Me,” says the LORD.

4 “Let everyone ^fbe on guard against his neighbor, and do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily and every neighbor ^ggoes about as a slanderer.

5 “And everyone will ^hdeceive his neighbor and will not speak the truth. They have taught their tongue to speak lies and weary themselves to commit iniquity.

6 “Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit. Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” says the LORD.

7 ¶ Therefore, thus says the LORD of armies, “Behold, ⁱI will melt them and try them, ^jfor what can I do for the daughter of My people?

8 “Their tongue is as an arrow shot out. It speaks ^kdeceit. One speaks ^lpeaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but inwardly he sets an ambush for him.

9 ^m“Will I not punish them for these things?” says the LORD. “Will not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

10 “For the mountains I will take up weeping and wailing, and ⁿfor the pastures of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that no one can pass through them. Neither can men hear the voice of the cattle. ^oBoth the birds of the heavens and the beast are fled. They are gone.

11 “And I will make Jerusalem ^pheaps and a ^qden of jackals. And I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.”

12 ¶ ^rWho is the wise man who can understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through?

13 And the LORD says, “Because they have forsaken My law that I set before them and have ^snot obeyed My voice, nor walked in it,

14 “but have ^twalked after the imagination of their own heart and after Baalim, ^uthat their fathers taught them.”

15 Therefore, thus says the LORD of armies, The God of Israel, “Behold, I ^vwill feed them, even this people, ^wwith wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.

16 “I will ^xscatter them also among the Gentiles, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. ^yAnd I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them.”

17 ¶ Thus says the LORD of armies, “Consider and call for ^zthe mourning women so that they may come. And send for wailing women so that they may come.

18 “And let them make haste and take up a wailing for us so that our eyes may run down with tears and our ^aeyelids gush out with waters.

19 “For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, ‘How we are plundered! We are greatly disgraced because we have forsaken the land, because ^bour dwellings have cast us out.’”

20 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O you women, and let your ear receive the word of His mouth and teach your daughters wailing, and everyone her neighbor a dirge.

21 For death has come up into our windows and has entered into our palaces in order to cut off ^cthe children from the streets and the young men from the town squares.

22 Speak, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Even the carcasses of men will fall ^das refuse upon the open field and as the handful after the reaper, and no one will gather them.’”

23 ¶ Thus says the LORD, ^e“Do not let the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor let the mighty man glory in his ^fmight. Do not let the rich man glory in his riches.

24 “But ^glet him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on the earth. ^hFor in these things I delight,” says the LORD.

25 ¶ “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that ⁱI will punish all those who are circumcised with the uncircumcised—

26 “Egypt and Judah and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all who are in the ^jfarthest corners, who dwell in the wilderness. For all these nations are ^kuncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.”

1 ¶ Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel:

2 Thus says the LORD, ^a“Do not learn the way of the nations, and do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the nations are dismayed at them.

3 “For the customs of the people are futile. For ^bone cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the ax.

4 “They deck it with silver and with gold. They ^cfasten it with nails and with hammers so that it does not move.

5 “They are upright as the palm tree, but ^ddo not speak. They must be ^ecarried because they cannot go. Do not be afraid of them, for ^fthey cannot do evil, nor also is it in them to do good.”

6 ¶ Forasmuch as there is no one ^glike You, O LORD, You are great and Your name is great in might.

7 ^hWho would not fear You, O King of nations? Indeed it is Your due. Forasmuch as ⁱamong all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like You.

8 But they are all ^jstupid and foolish. A wooden idol is a foolish teaching.

9 Silver beaten into plates is brought from Tarshish, and ^kgold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsmen and of the hands of the goldsmith. Blue and purple are their clothing. They are all ^lthe work of skilled men.

10 But the LORD is the true God. He is ^mthe living God and an ⁿeverlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble and the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.

11 ¶ Thus you will say to them, ^o“The gods who have not made the heavens and the earth, even they ^pwill perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.”

12 ¶ He ^qhas made the earth by His power. He has ^restablished the world by His wisdom, and has ^sstretched out the heavens by His discretion.

13 ^tWhen He utters His voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, ^uand He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings with rain and brings forth the wind out of His treasures.

14 ^vEveryone is ^wstupid in his knowledge. ^xEvery goldsmith is put to shame by the graven image. ^yFor his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

15 They are vanity and the work of errors. In the time of their punishment they will perish.

16 ^zThe portion of Jacob is not like them, for He is the Maker of all things. And ^aIsrael is the rod of His inheritance. ^bThe LORD of armies is His name.

17 ¶ ^cGather up your wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress.

18 For thus says the LORD, “Behold, I will ^dsling out the inhabitants of the land at this time. And I will distress them so ^ethat they may find it so.”

19 ¶ ^fWoe is me for my hurt! My wound is grievous. But I said, ^g“Truly this is grief and ^hI must bear it.”

20 ⁱMy tent is plundered and all my cords are broken. My children have gone forth from me and they ^jare not. There is no one to stretch forth my tent anymore, and to set up my curtains.

21 For the shepherds have become stupid, and have not sought the LORD. Therefore, they will not prosper and all their flocks will be ^kscattered.

22 Behold, the noise of the report has come, and a great commotion out of the ^lnorth country, to make the cities of Judah desolate and a ^mden of jackals.

23 ¶ O LORD, I know that the ⁿway of man is not in himself. It is not in man who walks to direct his steps.

24 O LORD, ^ocorrect me, but with justice; not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing.

25 ^pPour out Your fury upon the nations ^qthat do not know You, and upon the families that do not call on Your name. For they have eaten up Jacob and ^rdevoured and consumed him. And You have made his habitation desolate.

1 ¶ The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

2 “Hear the words of this covenant and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

3 “And say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ^a“Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant

4 “that I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, ^bfrom the iron furnace, saying, ^c‘Obey My voice and do according to all that I command you, so you will be My people and I will be your God,’

5 “so that I may perform the ^doath that I have sworn to your fathers, to give them ^ea land flowing with milk and honey as it is this day.”’” Then I answered and said, “So be it, O LORD.”

6 ¶ Then the LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Hear the words of this covenant ^fand do them.

7 ‘For I earnestly protested to your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, ^grising early and protesting, saying, “Obey My voice.”

8 ‘Yet they did not obey, nor incline their ear, but ⁱeveryone walked in the imagination of his evil heart. Therefore, I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant that I commanded them to do, but which they did not do.’”

9 ¶ And the LORD said to me, ^j“A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

10 “They have turned back to ^kthe iniquities of their forefathers who refused to hear My words. And they went after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant that I made with their fathers.”

11 ¶ Therefore, thus says the LORD, “Behold, I will bring evil upon them that they will not be able to escape. And ^lthough they will cry out to Me, I will not hearken to them.

12 “Then will the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go and ^mcry out to the gods to whom they offer incense. But they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble.

13 “For according to the number of your ⁿcities were your gods, O Judah. And according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense to Baal.

14 ¶ “Therefore, ^odo not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them. For I will not hear them in the time that they cry out to Me because of their trouble.

15 “What ^phas My beloved to do in My house, seeing she ^qhas worked lewdness with many, and ^rthe holy flesh is passed from you? When you do evil, then you ^srejoice.”

16 The LORD called your name, “A ^tgreen olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit.” With the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.

17 “For the LORD of armies ^uwho planted you has pronounced evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah that they have done against themselves to provoke Me to anger in offering incense to Baal.”

18 ¶ And the LORD has given me knowledge of it and I know it. Then You showed me their deeds.

19 But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter. And I did not know that they had devised devices against me, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, ^vand let us cut him off from ^wthe land of the living so that his name may be no longer remembered.”

20 But, O LORD of armies, who judges righteously, who ^xtests the feelings and the heart, let me see Your ^yvengeance on them. For to You I have revealed my cause.

21 ¶ Therefore, thus says the LORD concerning the men of ^zAnathoth who seek your life, saying, ^a“Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, so that you will not die at our hand”;

22 therefore, thus says the LORD of armies, “Behold, I will punish them. The young men will die by the sword. Their sons and their daughters will ^bdie by famine.

23 “And there will be no remnant of them, for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even ^cthe year of their punishment.”

1 ¶ Righteous ^aare You, O LORD, when I plead with You. Yet let me talk with You of Your judgments. ^bWhy does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are all those happy who deal so treacherously?

2 You have planted them. Yes, they have taken root. They grow. Yes, they bring forth fruit. ^cYou are near in their mouth and far from their mind.

3 But You, O LORD, ^dknow me. You have seen me and You ^eexamine my heart’s attitude toward You. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for ^fthe day of slaughter.

4 How long will ^gthe land mourn and the herbs of every field wither ^hbecause the wickedness of those who dwell in it? ⁱThe animals and the birds are consumed because they said, “He will not see our final ending.”

5 ¶ “If you have run with the footmen and they have wearied you, then how can you compete with horses? And if in the land of peace wherein you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in ^jthe thicket of Jordan?

6 “For even ^kyour brethren and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you. Yes, they have called a multitude after you. ^lDo not believe them, though they speak fair words to you.

7 ¶ “I have forsaken My house. I have left My heritage. I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies.

8 “My heritage is to Me as a lion in the forest. It cries out against Me. Therefore, I have ^mhated it.

9 “My heritage is to Me as a speckled bird. The birds all around are against her. Come, assemble all the beasts of the field. ⁿCome to devour.

10 “Many ^oshepherds have destroyed ^pMy vineyard. They have ^qtrodden My portion under foot. They have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.

11 “They have made it ^rdesolate, and being desolate, it mourns to Me. The whole land is made desolate because ^sno man lays it to heart.

12 “The plunderers have come upon all high places in the wilderness. For the sword of the LORD will devour from one end of the land even to the other end of the land. No flesh will have peace.

13 ^t“They have sown wheat, but will reap thorns. They have put themselves to pain, but will not profit. And they will be ashamed of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”

14 ¶ Thus says the LORD against all My evil neighbors who ^utouch the inheritance that I have caused My people Israel to inherit, “Behold, I will ^vpluck them out of their land and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.

15 “And ^wit will come to pass after I have plucked them out, I will return and have compassion on them. And ^xI will bring them again, everyone to his heritage and everyone to his land.

16 “And it will come to pass that if they will diligently learn the ways of My people, ^yto swear by My name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they will be ^zestablished in the midst of My people.

17 “But if they will not ^aobey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation,” says the LORD.

1 ¶ Thus says the LORD to me, “Go and get a waistcloth and put it on your loins, and do not put it in water.”

2 So I got a waistcloth according to the word of the LORD and put it on my loins.

3 ¶ And the word of the LORD came to me the second time, saying,

4 “Take the waistcloth that you have, that is upon your loins, and arise. Go to the Euphrates. Hide it there in a hole of the rock.”

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

6 Now it came to pass after many days that the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates and take the waistcloth from there that I commanded you to hide.”

7 Then I went to the Euphrates and dug. And I took the waistcloth from the place where I had hid it. And behold, the waistcloth was marred. It was profitable for nothing.

8 ¶ Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

9 “Thus says the LORD, ‘After this manner ^aI will mar the pride of Judah and the great ^bpride of Jerusalem.

10 ‘This evil people who ^crefuse to hear My words, who ^dwalk in the imagination of their heart and walk after other gods, to serve them and to worship them, will even be as this waistcloth that is good for nothing.

11 ‘For as the waistcloth cleaves to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave to Me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah,’ says the LORD, ‘that ^ethey might be to Me for a people and ^ffor a name, and for praise and for ^gglory. But they would ^hnot hear.’

12 ¶ “Therefore, you will speak to them this word, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel, “Every bottle will be filled with wine. And they will say to you, ‘Do we not certainly know that every bottle will be filled with wine?’”

13 “Then you will say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings who sit upon David’s throne, and the priests and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ⁱwith drunkenness.

14 “And ^jI will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together,” says the LORD. “I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.”’”

15 ¶ Hear and give ear. Do not be proud, for the LORD has spoken.

16 ^kGive glory to the LORD your God before He causes ^ldarkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dusky mountains. And while you are ^mlooking for light, He turns it into ⁿthe shadow of death, and makes it thick darkness.

17 But if you will not hear it, my soul will ^oweep in secret places for your pride. And my eye will weep sore and run down with tears because the Lord’s flock is carried away captive.

18 ¶ Say to ^pthe king and to the queen, “Take a lowly seat, for your beautiful crown has come down from your head.”

19 The cities of the south will be shut up and no one will open them. All of Judah will be carried away captive. It will be wholly carried away captive.

20 ¶ Lift up your eyes and behold those who come from ^qthe north. Where is the flock that was given you, your beautiful flock?

21 What will you say when He punishes you? For you have taught them to be captains, and as chiefs over you. Will not ^rsorrows take you as a woman in childbirth?

22 And if you say in your heart, ^s“Why do these things come upon me?”, it is because of the greatness of your iniquity ^tyour skirts have been uncovered and your heels made bare.

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

24 ¶ “Therefore, I will ^uscatter them ^vas the stubble that passes away by the wind of the wilderness.

25 ^w“This is your lot, the portion of your measures from Me,” says the LORD, “because you have forgotten Me and trusted in ^xfalsehood.

26 “Therefore, ^yI will uncover your skirts over your face so that your shame may appear.

27 “I have seen your adulteries and your ^zneighings, the lewdness of your prostitution, and your abominations ^aon the hills in the fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will you remain unclean?”

1 ¶ The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

2 “Judah mourns and ^aits gates languish. They ^bmourn for the land, and ^cthe cry of Jerusalem has gone up.

3 “And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters. They came to the cisterns and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty. They were ^dashamed and confused, ^eand covered their heads.

4 “Because the ground is cracked, for there was ^fno rain on the earth, the plowmen were ashamed. They covered their heads.

5 “Yes, the deer also calved in the field, and she forsook it because there was no grass.

6 “And ^gthe wild donkeys stand on the high places. They pant for air like jackals. Their eyes fail because there is no vegetation.”

7 ¶ O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, act ^hfor Your name’s sake, for our backslidings are many. We have sinned against You.

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

9 Why should You be as a man astonished, as a mighty man ^jwho cannot save? Yet You, O LORD, ^kare in the midst of us, and we are called by Your name. Do not leave us.

10 ¶ Thus says the LORD to this people, ^l“Even so they have loved to wander. They have not restrained their feet. Therefore, the LORD does not accept them. ^mHe will now remember their iniquity and punish their sins.”

11 ¶ Then the LORD said to me, ⁿ“Do not pray for this people for their good.

12 ^o“When they fast, I will not hear their cry. And ^pwhen they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But ^qI will consume them by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence.”

13 ¶ ^rThen I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You will not see the sword, nor will you have famine. But I will give you assured ^speace in this place.’”

14 Then the LORD said to me, ^t“The prophets prophesy lies in My name. ^uI did not send them, nor have I commanded them, nor spoke to them. They prophesy to you a false vision and divination, and a worthless thing, and the ^vdeceit of their heart.

15 “Therefore, thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, although it was not I who sent them, ^wyet they say, ‘Sword and famine will not be in this land.’ By sword and famine those prophets will be consumed.

16 “And the people to whom they prophesy will be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. And ^xthey will have no one to bury them, their wives or their sons or their daughters. For I will pour their wickedness upon them.

17 ¶ “Therefore, you will say this word to them, ^y‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease. ^zFor the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow.

18 ‘If I go forth into a the field, then behold, the slain with the sword! And if I enter into the city, then behold, those who are sick with famine! Yes, both the prophet and the ^bpriest go about into a land that they do not know.’”

19 ¶ ^cHave You utterly rejected Judah? Has Your soul loathed Zion? Why have You smitten us, and there is ^dno healing for us? ^eWe looked for peace and there is no good, and for the time of healing, and behold, trouble!

20 We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness and the iniquity of our ^ffathers, for ^gwe have sinned against You.

21 Do not abhor us. For Your name’s sake, do not disgrace the throne of Your glory. ^hRemember, do not break Your covenant with us.

22 ⁱAre there any among ^jthe idols of the nations who can cause ^krain? Or can the heavens give showers? ^lIs it not You, O LORD our God? Therefore, we will wait upon You, for You have made all these things.

1 ¶ Then the LORD said to me, ^a“Though ^bMoses and ^cSamuel stood before Me, yet My mind could not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight and let them go forth.

2 “And it will come to pass if they say to you, ‘Where will we go forth?’ then you will tell them, ‘Thus says the LORD, ^d“Those destined for 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 the ^ecaptivity, to the captivity.”’

3 “And I will ^fappoint over them four kings of punishment,” says the LORD. “The sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and ^gthe birds of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.

4 “And I will cause them ^hto be moved into all kingdoms of the earth because of what ⁱManasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.

5 ¶ “For who will have pity upon you, O Jerusalem? Or who will mourn for you? Or who will go aside to ask how you are doing?

6 ^j“You have forsaken Me,” says the LORD. “You have ^kgone backward. Therefore, I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you. ^lI am weary of relenting.

7 “And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land. I will ^mbereave them of children. I will destroy My people since they ⁿdo not return from their ways.

8 “Their widows will be more numerous before Me than the sand of the seas. I will bring against them, against the mother of the young men, a plunderer at noonday. I have caused him to fall upon it ^osuddenly and terrors upon the city.

9 “She who bore seven sons ^ppines away. She has breathed her last. ^qHer sun has gone down while it was yet day. She has been ashamed and disgraced, and the remainder of those I will deliver to the sword before their enemies,” says the LORD.

10 ¶ ^rWoe to me, my mother, that you have borne me as a man of strife and a man of contention to all the land! I have not lent money, nor have I borrowed, yet every one of them curses me.

11 The LORD said, “Surely I will set you free for purposes of good. Surely I will cause the ^senemy to make a petition to you in a time of disaster and a time of distress.”

12 ¶ “Will iron break the northern iron and the steel?

13 ¶ “Your substance and your treasures I will give as ^tplunder without price, and because of all your sins, even in all your borders.

14 “And I will make you to pass with your enemies ^uinto a land that you do not know. For a ^vfire is kindled in My anger that will burn upon you.”

15 ¶ O LORD, ^wYou know. Remember me and take notice of me, and ^xtake vengeance for me on my persecutors. Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away. Know that ^yfor Your sake I endure reproach.

16 Your words were found and I ^zate them. And ^aYour word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of armies.

17 ^bI did not sit in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced. I sat alone because of Your hand, for You have filled me with indignation.

18 Why is my ^cpain perpetual and my wound incurable, that refuses to be healed? Will You be to me ^das an unreliable stream, and as waters that fail?

19 ¶ Therefore, thus says the LORD, ^e“If you return, then I will bring you again and you will ^fstand before Me. And if you ^gseparate the precious from the vile, you will be as My mouth. Let them return to you, but you do not return to them.

20 “And I will make you to this people a fortified ^hwall of bronze. And they will fight against you, but ⁱthey will not prevail over you. For I am with you to save you and to deliver you,” says the LORD.

21 “And I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you out of the hand of the violent.”

1 ¶ The word of the LORD came also to me, saying,

2 “You will not take a wife, nor will you have sons or daughters in this place.”

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

4 “They will die ^agrievous deaths. They will not be ^blamented, nor will they be ^cburied. They will be ^das refuse upon the face of the earth. And they will be consumed by the sword and by famine. Their ^ecarcasses will be food for the birds of heaven and for the beasts of the earth.”

5 ¶ For thus says the LORD, ^f“Do not enter into the house of mourning, nor go to lament or bemoan them. For I have taken away My peace from this people,” says the LORD, “even lovingkindness and mercies.

6 “Both the great and the small will die in this land. They will not be buried, ^gnor will men lament for them, or ^hcut themselves, or ⁱmake themselves bald for them.

7 “Neither will men break bread in mourning for them, to comfort them because of the dead. Neither will men give them the cup of consolation to ^jdrink for their father or for their mother.

8 “Also, you will not go into the house of feasting in order to sit with them to eat and to drink.”

9 For thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, “Behold, ^kI am going to eliminate from this place, 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 ¶ “Now when you tell this people all these words they will say to you, ^l‘Why has the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? Or what is our iniquity? Or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?’

11 “Then you will say to them, ^m‘Because your fathers have forsaken Me,’ says the LORD, ‘and have walked after other gods and have served them. And they have worshiped them and have forsaken Me, and have not kept My law.

12 ‘And you have done ⁿworse than your fathers. For behold, ^oeach one of you walks after the imagination of his evil heart so that no one hearkens to Me.

13 ^p‘Therefore, I will cast you out of this land ^qinto a land that you do not know, neither you nor your fathers. And there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will grant you no favor.’

14 ¶ “Therefore behold, the ^rdays are coming,” says the LORD, “when it will no longer be said, ‘The LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,

15 “but, ‘The LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the ^snorth and from all the lands to which He had driven them.’ ^tI will bring them again into their land that I gave to their fathers.

16 “Behold, I will send for many ^ufishermen,” says the LORD, “and they will fish for them. And afterwards I will send for many hunters and they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks.

17 “For My ^veyes are upon all their ways. They are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity hidden from My eyes.

18 “And first I will repay their iniquity and their sin ^wdouble because ^xthey have defiled My land. They have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things.”

19 ¶ O LORD, ^ymy strength and my fortress, and ^zmy refuge in the day of affliction. The Gentiles will come to You from the ends of the earth and will say, “Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity and things wherein there is ^ano profit.”

20 Will a man make gods to himself? Yet they ^bare not gods.

21 ¶ “Therefore behold, I will this once cause them to know. I will cause them to know My hand and My might. Then they will know that ^cMy name is the LORD.”

1 ¶ “The sin of Judah is ^awritten with a ^bstylus of iron and with the point of a diamond. It is ^cengraved upon the tablet of their heart and upon the horns of their altars.

2 “As they remember their children, so they remember their altars and their ^dwooden images by the green trees on the high hills.

3 “O My mountain in the field, I will give your substance and all your treasures to plunder, and your high places for sin, throughout all your borders.

4 “And you, even yourself, will discontinue from your heritage that I gave you. And I will cause you to serve your enemies ^ein the land that you do not know, for ^fyou have kindled a fire in My anger that will burn forever.”

5 ¶ Thus says the LORD, ^g“Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes ^hflesh his arm and whose heart departs from the LORD.

6 “For he will be ⁱlike the shrub in the desert, and ^jwill not see when good comes. But he will inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, ^kin a land of salt without inhabitant.

7 “Blessed ^lis the man who trusts in the LORD and whose trust is the LORD.

8 “For he will be ^mas a tree planted by the waters and spreads out its roots by the river. And it will not fear when heat comes, but its leaf will be green. And it will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.

9 ¶ “The ⁿheart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can understand it?

10 “I the LORD ^osearch the heart. I test the mind, ^peven to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.

11 “As the partridge sits on eggs and does not hatch them, so he who unjustly acquires riches ^qwill leave them in the midst of his days. And at his end, he will be ^ra fool.”

12 ¶ A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.

13 O LORD, ^sthe hope of Israel, ^tall who forsake You will be ashamed. Those who turn away on earth will be ^uwritten down because they have forsaken the LORD, the ^vfountain of living waters.

14 Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed. Save me, and I will be saved, for ^wYou are my praise.

15 Behold, they say to me, ^x“Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now.”

16 As for me, ^yI have not hastened from being a shepherd to follow You. Neither have I desired the woeful day. You know that what came out of my lips was right before You.

17 Do not be a terror to me. ^zYou are my hope in the day of evil.

18 ^aLet them be ashamed who persecute me, ^bbut do not let me be ashamed. Let them be dismayed, but do not let me be dismayed. Bring upon them the day of evil and ^cdestroy them with double destruction.

19 ¶ Thus said the LORD to me, “Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, through which the kings of Judah come in, and through which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem.

20 “And say to them, ^d‘Hear the word of the LORD you kings of Judah and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem who enter in by these gates.

21 ‘Thus says the LORD, ^e“Take heed to yourselves and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring your produce in by the gates of Jerusalem.

22 “Do not carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work. But hallow the Sabbath day, as I ^fcommanded your fathers.

23 ^g“But they did not obey, nor incline their ear. But they made their neck stiff so that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.

24 ¶ “And it will come to pass that ^hif you diligently hearken to Me,” says the LORD, “to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the ⁱSabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work on it,

25 ^j“then there will enter into 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 will remain forever.

26 “And they will come from the cities of Judah and from ^kthe places around Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin and from ^lthe plain and from the mountains and from ^mthe South, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices and grain offerings and incense, and bringing ⁿsacrifices of praise to the house of the LORD.

27 “But if you will not hearken to Me to hallow the Sabbath day by not bearing a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then ^oI will kindle a fire in its gates and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem. And it will not be ^qquenched.” ’ ”

1 ¶ The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

2 “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.”

3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and behold, he was making something at the wheel.

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

5 ¶ Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

6 “O house of Israel, ^acannot I do with you as this potter?” says the LORD. “Behold, ^bas the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.

7 “If at any time I will speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to ^cpluck up and to pull down and to destroy it,

8 ^d“if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, ^eI will relent from the calamity I planned to bring on it.

9 “If at any time I will speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it,

10 “if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent from the good by which I said I would benefit them.

11 ¶ “Now therefore go and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a device against you. ^fReturn now everyone from his evil way, and make your ways and your deeds ^ggood.”’

12 “And they will say, ^h‘There is no hope. But we will walk after our own devices and everyone will do the ⁱimagination of his evil heart.’

13 ¶ “Therefore thus says the LORD, ^j‘Ask now among the nations who has heard such things? The virgin of Israel has done ^ka very horrible thing.

14 ‘Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon that comes from the rock of the field? Will the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?

15 ‘Because My people have forgotten ^lMe they have burned incense to worthless idols. And they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in bypaths, not on a highway,

16 ‘to make their land ⁿdesolate and a perpetual ^ohissing. Everyone who passes thereby will be astonished and shake his head.

17 ^p‘As with an east wind, ^qI will scatter them before the enemy. In the day of their calamity, ^rI will show them the back and not the face.’”

18 ¶ Then they said, ^s“Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah, ^tfor the law will 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 LORD, and listen to what my opponents are saying.

20 ^uWill evil be rewarded for good? For they have ^vdug a pit for my soul. Remember that I ^wstood before You to speak good for them, and to turn away Your wrath from them.

21 Therefore, ^xdeliver up their children to the famine and pour out their blood by the force of the sword. And let their wives be ^ybereaved of their children, and be widows. And let their men be put to death. Let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.

22 Let an outcry be heard from their houses when You will bring raiders suddenly upon them. For they have dug a pit to take me and hidden snares for my feet.

23 Yet, LORD, You know all their counsel against me, to slay me. ^zDo not forgive their iniquity, nor blot out their sin from Your sight. But let them be overthrown before You. Deal thus with them in the time of Your ^aanger.

1 Thus says the LORD, “Go and get a potter’s earthen flask and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests.

2 “And go forth to a ^athe Valley of the Son of Hinnom that is by the entry of the Potsherd Gate. And proclaim there the words that I will tell you.

3 ^b“And say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, “Behold, I will bring calamity upon this place, at which the ears of everyone who hears of it will ^ctingle.

4 ¶ “Because they ^dhave forsaken Me and have made this an alien place, and have burned incense in it to other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with ^ethe blood of innocents.

5 ^f“They have built also the high places of Baal to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal ^gthat I did not command, nor spoke it, nor did it ever enter My mind.

6 “Therefore behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that this place will no longer be called Tophet, nor ^hthe 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. ⁱAnd I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hands of those who seek their lives. And I will give their ^jcarcasses to be food for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth.

8 “And I will make this city ^kdesolate and a hissing. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues.

9 “And I will cause them to eat the ^lflesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters. And everyone will eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them.”’

10 ¶ ^m“Then you will break the flask in the sight of the men who go with you.

11 “And you will say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of armies, ⁿ“Likewise, I will break this people and this city as one breaks a potter’s vessel that cannot be made whole again. And they will ^obury them in Tophet until there is no place to bury.

12 “This I will do to this place,” says the LORD, “and to its inhabitants and even make this city as Tophet.

13 “Then the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled ^pas the place of Tophet because of all the houses upon whose ^qroofs they have burned incense to all the host of heaven, and have ^rpoured out drink offerings to other gods.”’”

14 ¶ Then Jeremiah came from Tophet where the LORD had sent him to prophesy. And he stood in ^sthe court of the LORD’S house and said to all the people,

15 “Thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it because ^tthey have stiffened their necks so that they might not hear My words.’”

1 ¶ Now ^aPashur, the son of ^bImmer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.

2 Pashur then had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put him in the stocks that were at the upper ^cBenjamin Gate that was by the house of the LORD.

3 Now it came to pass on the next day that Pashur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD has not called your name Pashur, but Magor Missabib.

4 “For thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. And they will fall by the sword of their enemies and your eyes will behold it. And I will ^dgive all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will carry them captive into Babylon. And he will slay them with the sword.

5 ‘Furthermore, ^eI will deliver all the riches of this city, and all its gains and all its precious things, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah, I will give them into the hand of their enemies who will plunder them. And they will take them and ^fcarry them to Babylon.

6 ‘And you, Pashur, and all who dwell in your house, will go into captivity. And you will come to Babylon and there you will die. And you will be buried there, you, and all your friends to whom you have ^gprophesied lies.’”

7 ¶ O LORD, You enticed me, and I was persuaded. ^hYou are stronger than I, and have prevailed. ⁱI am in derision daily. Everyone mocks me.

8 For when I spoke, I cried out. ^jI cried out violence and plunder because the word of the LORD has resulted in reproach and derision all day long.

9 Then I said, “I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name.” But His word was in my heart as a ^kburning fire shut up in my bones. And I was weary with forbearing, and ^lI could not keep silent.

10 ^mFor I have heard the whispering of many, “Fear on every side. Report him! Yes, let us report him!” ⁿAll my trusted friends watched for my fall, saying, “Perhaps he can be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our revenge on him.”

11 ¶ But the LORD is ^owith me as a mighty warrior. Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and they will not ^pprevail. They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper. Their ^qeverlasting confusion will never be forgotten.

12 Yet, O LORD of armies, who ^rtests the righteous and sees the mind and the heart, ^slet me see Your vengeance on them, for to You I have set forth my cause.

13 ¶ Sing to the LORD. Praise the LORD. For ^tHe has delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.

14 ¶ ^uCursed is the day in which I was born. Do not let the day in which my mother bore me be blessed.

15 Cursed is the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, “A man child is born to you,” making him very glad.

16 And let that man be as the cities that the LORD ^voverthrew without relenting. And let him hear the cry in the morning and the shouting at noon,

17 ^xbecause he did not kill me before birth, so that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always enlarged with me.

18 ^yWhy did I come forth out of the womb to ^zsee labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

1 ¶ The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD when ^aKing Zedekiah sent to him ^bPashur the son of Melchiah and ^cZephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,

2 ^d“Inquire, I ask you, of the LORD for us, for Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, is making war against us. Perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all His wonderful acts, so that the enemy will withdraw from us.”

3 ¶ Then Jeremiah said to them, “Thus will you say to Zedekiah:

4 ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel, “Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands with which you fight against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans, who besiege you outside the walls. And ^eI will assemble them into the midst of this city.

5 “And I ^fMyself will fight against you with an ^goutstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger and in fury and in great wrath.

6 “And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They will die of a great pestilence.

7 “Then afterward,” says the LORD, ^h“I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. And he will smite them with the edge of the sword. ⁱHe will not spare them, nor have pity, nor have mercy.

8 ¶ “And to this people you will say, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold, ^jI set before you the way of life and the way of death.

9 “He who ^kabides in this city will die by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence. But he who goes out and falls down to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he will ^llive, and he will have his own life as booty.

10 “For I have ^mset My face against this city for harm and not for good,” says the LORD. ⁿ“It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will ^oburn it with fire.”’

11 ¶ “And concerning the house of the king of Judah, say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD,

12 “‘O house of David, thus says the LORD, ^p“Execute justice ^qin the morning and deliver him who is exploited out of the hand of the oppressor, lest My fury go out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it, because of the evil of your deeds.

13 “Behold, ^rI am against you, O inhabitant of the valley and rock of the plain,” says the LORD, who say, ^s‘Who will come down against us? Or, who will enter into our habitations?’

14 “But I will punish you according to the ^tfruit of your deeds,” says the LORD. “And I will kindle a fire in its forest and ^uit will devour all things around it.”’”

1 ¶ Thus says the LORD, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word,

2 “and say, ^a‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah who sits upon the throne of David, you and your servants, and your people who enter in by these gates.

3 ‘Thus says the LORD, ^b“Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver the exploited out of the hand of the oppressor. And do no wrong. Do no violence to the foreigner, the ^cfatherless, the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place.

4 “For if you indeed do this thing, ^dthen kings will enter the gates of this house, sitting in David’s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself and his servants and his people.

5 “But if you will not hear these words, ^eI swear by Myself,” says the LORD, “that this house will become a desolation.”’”

6 ¶ For thus says the LORD to the king’s house of Judah, “You are as ^fGilead to Me, and the head of Lebanon. But surely I will make you a wilderness with cities that are not inhabited.

7 “And I will prepare destroyers against you, each one with his weapons. And they will cut down ^gyour choice cedars ^hand cast them into the fire.

8 “And many nations will pass by this city and everyone will say to his neighbor, ⁱ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this great city?’

9 “Then they will answer, ^j‘Because they forsook the covenant of the LORD their God and worshiped other gods, and served them.’”

10 ¶ Do not weep for ^kthe dead, nor bemoan him. Weep bitterly for him who ^lgoes away, for he will never return again, or see his native country.

11 ¶ For thus says the LORD concerning ^mShallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in the place of Josiah his father ⁿwho went out from this place, “He will never return there.

12 “But he will die in the place to which they have led him captive, and will see this land no more.

13 ¶ “Woe ^oto him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by injustice, ^pwho uses his neighbor’s service without wages and does not give him wages for his work,

14 “who says, ‘I will build for myself a wide house with large chambers, and cut out for myself windows. And I will panel it with cedar and paint it with vermilion.’

15 “Will you reign because you enclose yourself in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness, and ^qit was well with him?

16 “He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy and it was well with him. Is not this what it means to know Me?” says the LORD.

17 “But ^ryour eyes and your heart are for nothing but for your covetousness and to shed innocent blood, and for oppression and for violence.”

18 ¶ Therefore, thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, ^s“They will not lament for him, saying, ^t‘Ah my brother!’ or, ‘Ah sister!’ They will not lament for him, saying, ‘Ah lord!’ or, ‘Ah his glory!’

19 ^u“He will be buried with the burial of a donkey, cast off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

20 ¶ “Go up to Lebanon and cry out. And lift up your voice in Bashan, and cry out from Abarim, for all your lovers are destroyed.

21 “I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, ‘I will not hear.’ ^vThis has been your behavior since your youth, that you do not obey My voice.

22 “The wind will eat up all ^wyour shepherds and your lovers will go into captivity. Surely then you will be ashamed and humiliated because of all your wickedness.

23 “O inhabitant of Lebanon, who makes your nest in the cedars, how gracious will you be when pains come upon you ^xas the pain of a woman in childbirth!

24 ¶ “As I live,” says the LORD, ^y“though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, ^zwere the signet upon My right hand, yet I would pull you off.

25 ^a“And I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those whose face you fear, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

26 ^b“And I will cast you out, and your mother who bore you, into another country where you were not born. And there you will die.

27 “But to the land to which they desire to return, there they will not return.

28 “Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? Is he ^ca vessel wherein is no pleasure? Why are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land that they do not know?

29 ¶ ^d“O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD. 30 “Thus says the LORD, ‘Write this man ^echildless, a man who will not prosper in his days. For ^fno man of his descendants will prosper sitting on the throne of David or ruling again in Judah.’”

1 ¶ “Woe ^ato the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the LORD.

2 Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people, “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. ^bBehold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” says the LORD.

3 “And ^cI will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries to which I have driven them, and will bring them again to their pasture. And they will be fruitful and increase.

4 “Then I will set up ^dshepherds over them who will feed them. And they will fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor will they be lacking,” says the LORD.

5 ¶ “Behold, ^ethe days are coming,” says the LORD, “that I will raise to David a righteous Branch and a King will reign and prosper. And ^fHe will execute justice and righteousness on the earth.

6 ^g“In His days Judah will be saved and Israel ^hwill dwell safely. And ⁱthis is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD Our Righteousness.’

7 ¶ “Therefore behold, ^jthe days are coming,” says the LORD, “that they will no more say, ‘The LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’

8 “but, ‘The LORD lives who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country and ^kfrom all countries to which I had driven them.’ And they will dwell in their own ^lland.”

9 ¶ My heart within me is broken because of the prophets. ^mAll my bones shake. I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine has overcome, because of the LORD and because of the words of His holiness.

10 For ⁿthe land is full of adulterers. ^oBecause of a curse the land mourns. ^pThe pleasant places of the wilderness have dried up and their course is evil, and their might is not right.

11 ¶ “For ^qboth prophet and priest are profane. Yes, ^rin My house I have found their wickedness,” says the LORD.

12 “Therefore, ^stheir way will be to them as slippery ways in the darkness. In the darkness they will be driven on and fall in them. For I ^twill bring calamity upon them, even the year of their visitation,” says the LORD.

13 “And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria. ^uThey prophesied by Baal and ^vcaused My people Israel to err.

14 “I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing. ^wThey commit adultery and walk in lies. They ^xstrengthen also the hands of evildoers so that no one turns back from his wickedness. All of them are to Me as ^ySodom and her inhabitants as Gomorrah.”

15 “Therefore, thus says the LORD of armies concerning the prophets, ‘Behold, I will feed them with ^zwormwood and make them drink the water of gall, because from the prophets of Jerusalem has profaneness gone forth into all the land.’”

16 ¶ Thus says the LORD of armies, “Do not hearken to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are making you worthless. ^aThey speak a vision from their own imagination and not out of the mouth of the LORD.

17 “They continue to say to those who despise Me, ‘The LORD has said, ^bYou will have peace.’’ And they say to everyone who ^cwalks after the imagination of his own heart, ^d‘No evil will come upon you.’

18 ¶ “For ^ewho has stood in the counsel of the LORD and has perceived and heard His word? Who has given heed to His word and heard it?

19 “Behold, a ^fwhirlwind of the LORD has gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind. It will fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.

20 “The ^ganger of the LORD will not turn back until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. ^hIn the latter days you will understand it perfectly.

21 ¶ “I ⁱhave not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.

22 “But if they had stood in My counsel and had caused My people to hear My words, then they should have ^jturned them from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds.

23 ¶ “Am I a God who is near,” says the LORD, “and not a God afar off?”

24 “Can any ^khide himself in secret places that I will not see him?” says the LORD. ^l“Do not I fill heaven and earth?” says the LORD.

25 “I have heard what the prophets said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, ‘I have dreamed. I have dreamed.’

26 “How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Yes, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart,

27 “who think to cause My people to forget My name by their dreams that every man tells to his neighbor, ^mas their fathers have forgotten My name for Baal.

28 “The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream. And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?” says the LORD.

29 ⁿ“Is not My word like a fire?” says the LORD, “and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

30 ¶ “Therefore, behold, ^oI am against the prophets,” says the LORD, “who steal My words every one from his neighbor.

31 “Behold, I am ^pagainst the prophets,” says the LORD, “who use their tongues and say, ‘He says.’

32 “Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” says the LORD, “and tell them, and cause My people to err by their ^qlies and by ^rtheir recklessness. I did not send them or command them. Therefore, they will not ^sprofit this people at all,” says the LORD.

33 ¶ “And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, will ask you, saying, ‘What is ^tthe oracle of the LORD?’ you will then say to them, ‘What oracle?’ I will even forsake you,” says the LORD.

34 “And as for the prophet and the priest and the people who will say, ‘The oracle of the LORD,’ I will even punish that man and his house.

35 “Thus everyone will say to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?’ and, ‘What has the LORD spoken?’

36 “For you will no longer mention the oracle of the LORD. For every man’s word will be his oracle, because you have ^uperverted the words of the living God, the LORD of armies our God.

37 “Thus you will say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ and, ‘What has the LORD spoken?’

38 “But since you say, ‘The oracle of the LORD,’ therefore thus says the LORD, ‘Because you say this word, “The oracle of the LORD,” and I have sent to you, saying, “You will not say, ‘The oracle of the LORD,’ ” ’

39 “Therefore behold, I, even I, ^vwill utterly forget you and I will forsake you and the city that I gave you and your fathers. And I will cast you out of My presence.

40 “And I will bring an ^weverlasting reproach upon you and a perpetual ^xshame that will not be forgotten.”

1 ¶ After Nebuchadnezzar, ^aking of Babylon, had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, ^bking of Judah, and the officials of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, ^cthe LORD showed me two baskets of figs set before the temple of the LORD.

2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe. And the other basket had very bad figs that could not be eaten because they were so ^dbad.

3 Then the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, that cannot be eaten because they are so bad.”

4 ¶ Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.

6 ‘For I will set My eyes upon them for good, and ^eI will bring them again to this land. And ^fI will build them and not pull them down. And I will plant them and not pluck them up.

7 ‘And I will give them ^ga heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. And they will be ^hMy people and I will be their God. For they will return to Me ⁱwith their whole heart.’

8 ¶ ‘And as for the bad ^jfigs that cannot be eaten because they are so bad—surely thus says the LORD—so I will abandon Zedekiah the king of Judah and his princes and the ^kremnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and ^lthose who dwell in the land of Egypt.

9 ‘And I will deliver them to ^mbe removed into all the kingdoms of the earth ⁿas a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all places where I will scatter them.

10 ‘And I will send the sword, famine and pestilence among them until they are consumed from off the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.’”

1 ¶ The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah ^ain the fourth year of ^bJehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah (this was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),

2 that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He said,

3 ^c“From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty-three years, the word of the LORD has come to me. And I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking. ^dBut you have not hearkened.

4 “And the LORD has sent to you all His servants the prophets, ^erising early and sending them. But you have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.

5 “They said, ^f‘Turn now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and dwell in the land that the LORD has given to you and to your fathers forever and ever.

6 ‘And do not go after other gods to serve them and to worship them. And do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands, and I will do you no harm.’

7 “Yet you have not hearkened to Me,” says the LORD, “in order that you might ^gprovoke Me to anger with the works of your hands to your own harm.

8 ¶ “Therefore, thus says the LORD of armies, ‘Because you have not heard My words,

9 ‘behold, I will send and take ^hall the families of the north,’ says the LORD, ‘and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ⁱMy servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. And I will utterly destroy them and ^jmake them an astonishment and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.

10 ‘Furthermore, I will take from them the ^kvoice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, ^lthe sound of the millstones and the light of the candle.

11 ‘And this whole land will be a desolation and an astonishment. And these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy ^myears.

12 ¶ ‘And it will come to pass ⁿwhen seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ says the LORD, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans. And ^oI will make it an everlasting desolation.

13 ‘And I will bring upon that land all My words that I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book that Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.

14 ^p‘(For many nations and ^qgreat kings will ^rbe served by them also. ^sAnd I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands.)’”

15 ¶ For thus says the LORD God of Israel to me, “Take the wine cup of this fury at My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it.

16 “And ^uthey will drink and stagger and go insane because of the sword that I will send among them.”

17 Then I took the cup from the LORD’S hand and made all the nations drink to whom the LORD had sent me:

18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and its kings and its princes, to make them ^va ruin, a horror, a derision 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 mixed people, and all the kings of ^xthe land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the ^yPhilistines, and Ashkelon and Azzah and Ekron and ^zthe remnant of Ashdod,

21 ^aEdom and Moab, and the children of Ammon,

22 and all the kings of ^bTyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the islands that are beyond the ^csea,

23 ^dDedan and Tema and Buz, and all who are in distant places,

24 and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the ^emixed multitude who dwell in the desert,

25 and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of ^fElam, and all the kings of the ^gMedes,

26 and ^hall the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are upon the face of the earth. Then the king of Sheshach will drink after them.

27 ¶ Therefore, you will say to them, “Thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, ⁱ‘Drink and ^jbe drunken, and vomit and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword that I will send among you.’”

28 “And it will be, if they refuse to take the cup at your hand to drink, then you will say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of armies, “You will certainly drink.

29 “For behold, ^kI am beginning to bring calamity on the city ^lthat is called by My name. And should you be utterly unpunished? You will not be unpunished, for ^mI will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth,” says the LORD of armies.’

30 ¶ “Therefore, prophesy against them all these words and say to them, ‘The LORD will ⁿroar from on high and utter His voice from ^oHis holy habitation. He will mightily roar upon ^pHis habitation. As those who tread the grapes, He will give ^qa shout against all the inhabitants of the earth.

31 ‘A noise will go even to the ends of the earth, for the LORD has ^ra controversy with the nations. ^sHe will plead with all flesh. He will give them who are wicked to the sword,’ says the LORD.”

32 ¶ Thus says the LORD of armies, “Behold, calamity will go out from nation to nation, and ^ta great whirlwind will be raised up from the remotest parts of the earth.

33 ^u“And the slain of the LORD will be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They will not be ^vlamented, ^wnor gathered, nor buried. They will be rubbish on the ground.

34 ¶ “Wail, you ^xshepherds, and cry out. Wallow yourselves in ashes you masters of the flock, for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions have come. And you will fall like a precious vessel.

35 “And the shepherds will have no way to flee, nor the masters of the flock to escape.

36 “A voice of the cry of the shepherds and a wailing of the masters of the flock will be heard, for the LORD has plundered their pasture.

37 “And the peaceful habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the LORD.

38 “He has left His hiding place like the lion. For their land has become a horror because of the fierceness of the oppressing sword and because of His fierce anger.”

1 ¶ In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word from the LORD, saying,

2 “Thus says the LORD, ^a‘Stand in the court of the LORD’S house and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the LORD’S house. Speak to them ^ball the words that I command you. ^cDo not omit a word.

3 ^d‘Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way so that I may ^erelent of the calamity that I purpose to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.’

4 “And you will say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, ^f“If you will not hearken to Me, to walk in My law that I have set before you,

5 “to hearken to the words of My servants the prophets ^gwhom I sent to you, both rising up early and sending them, (but you have not hearkened)—

6 “then I will make this house like ^hShiloh and will make this city ⁱa curse to all the nations of the earth.”’”

7 ¶ So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD.

8 Now it came to pass when Jeremiah had ended speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, “You will surely die.

9 “Why have you prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh and this city will be ^jdesolate without an inhabitant’?” And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.

10 ¶ When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king’s house to the house of the LORD and sat down in the entry of the New Gate of the LORD’S house.

11 Then the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and to all the people, saying, “This man is worthy of ^kdeath, for he has prophesied against this city as you have heard with your ears.”

12 ¶ Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and to all the people, saying, “The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard.

13 “Now therefore ^lamend your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the LORD your God, and the LORD will change His mind about the misfortune that He has pronounced against you.

14 “As for me, behold, ^mI am in your hand. Do with me what seems good and right to you.

15 “But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city, and upon its inhabitants, for of a truth the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”

16 ¶ Then the princes and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets, “This man is not worthy of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.”

17 ⁿThen some of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying,

18 ^o“Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. And he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of armies, ^p“Zion will be plowed like a field and Jerusalem will become ^qheaps, 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? ^rDid he not fear the LORD and ^sentreat the LORD, and the LORD ^tchanged His mind about the calamity that He had pronounced against them? ^uThus we are committing a great evil against ourselves.”

20 ¶ Now there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath Jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah.

21 And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death. But when Urijah heard it, he was afraid and fled, and went into Egypt.

22 Then Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor and other men with him into Egypt.

23 And they fetched Urijah out of Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who slew him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.

24 Nevertheless, ^vthe hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

1 ¶ In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, ^aking of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

2 “Thus says the LORD to me, ‘Make bonds and yokes and ^bput them on your neck.

3 ‘Then send them to the king of Edom and to the king of Moab and to the king of the Ammonites and to the king of Tyre and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.

4 ‘Then command them to say to their masters, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel. Thus you will say to your masters,

5 ^c“I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm. And I ^dhave given it to the one who is pleasing in My sight.

6 ^e“And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^fMy servant. And ^gthe beasts of the field I have also given to serve him.

7 “And ^hall nations will serve him and his son and his grandson ⁱuntil the time of his own land comes. And ^jthen many nations and great kings will make him serve them.

8 “And it will come to pass that the nation and kingdom that will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish,” says the LORD, “with the sword and with famine and with pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.

9 “Therefore, do not hearken to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’

10 “For they prophesy a ^klie to you, to remove you far from your land, and I will drive you out and you will perish.

11 “But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, those I will allow to remain in their own land,” says the LORD. “And they will farm it and dwell in it.”’”

12 ¶ I spoke also to ^lZedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and live.

13 ^m“Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by famine and by pestilence, as the LORD has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

14 “Therefore, ⁿdo not hearken to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ For they prophesy ^oa lie to you.

15 “For I have ^pnot sent them,” says the LORD, “yet they prophesy a lie in My name so that I might drive you out and that you might perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

16 ¶ And I also spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Do not hearken to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, “Behold, ^qthe vessels of the LORD’S house will soon be brought back from Babylon.” For they prophesy a lie to you.

17 ‘Do not hearken to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city be laid waste?

18 ‘But if they are prophets, and if the word of the LORD is with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of armies that the vessels that are left in the house of the LORD and in the house of the king of Judah and at Jerusalem, not go to Babylon.

19 ¶ ‘For thus says the LORD of armies ^rconcerning the pillars and concerning the sea and concerning the bases and concerning the remainder of the vessels that remain in this city

20 ‘that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried away ^scaptive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem,

21 ‘yes, thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, concerning the ^tvessels that remain in the house of the LORD and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem,

22 ‘they too will be ^ucarried to Babylon. And there they will be until the day that I ^vvisit them,’ says the LORD. ‘Then ^wI will bring them up and restore them to this place.’”

1 ¶ Now ^ait came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the ^bfourth year, and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of ^cAzur the prophet, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,

2 “Thus speaks the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, saying, ‘I have broken ^dthe yoke of the king of Babylon.

3 ^e‘Within two full years I will bring back into this place all the vessels of the LORD’S house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ^ftook away from this place and carried them to Babylon.

4 ‘And I will bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah who went into Babylon,’ says the LORD. ‘For I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”

5 ¶ Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of the LORD,

6 even the prophet Jeremiah said, ^g“Amen! May the LORD do so. May the LORD perform your words that you have prophesied, to bring back into this place the vessels of the LORD’S house and all captives who were carried away to Babylon.

7 “Nevertheless, hear now this word that I speak in your ears and in the ears of all the people.

8 “The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied both against many countries and against great kingdoms, of war and of evil and of pestilence.

9 ^h“The prophet who prophesies of ⁱpeace, when the word of the prophet will come to pass, then will the prophet be known that the LORD has truly sent him.”

10 ¶ Then Hananiah the prophet took the ^jyoke from off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck and broke it.

11 And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ^kfrom the neck of all nations within the space of two full years.’” Then the prophet Jeremiah went his way.

12 ¶ Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,

13 “Go and tell Hananiah, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD. “You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made instead of them yokes of iron.”

14 ‘For thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, ^l“I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And they will serve him. And ^mI have also given him the beasts of the field.”’”

15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Hear now, Hananiah. The LORD has not sent you, but ⁿyou make this people trust in a ^olie.

16 “Therefore, thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I will cast you from off the face of the earth. This year you will ^pdie because you have taught ^qrebellion against the LORD.’”

17 So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.

1 ¶ Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the elders who were ^acarried away captive, and to the priests and to the prophets and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon.

2 (This happened after ^bJeconiah the king, and the ^cqueen and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters and the craftsmen had departed from Jerusalem.)

3 By the hand of Elasah the son of ^dShaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying,

4 “Thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, to all who are carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon,

5 ‘Build houses and dwell in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce.

6 ‘Take wives and beget sons and daughters. And take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands so that they may bear sons and daughters in order that you may be increased there and not diminished.

7 ‘And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, ^eand pray to the LORD for it. For in its peace you will have peace.’

8 ¶ “For thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel. ‘Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in the midst of you ^fdeceive you, nor hearken to the dreams that they dream.

9 ‘For they prophesy ^gfalsely to you in My name. I have not sent them,’ says the LORD.

10 ¶ “For thus says the LORD, ‘After ^hseventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, in causing you to ⁱreturn to this place.

11 ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,’ says the LORD, ‘thoughts of peace, and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope.

12 ‘Then you will ^jcall upon Me and you will go and pray to Me, and I will ^khearken to you.

13 ‘And ^lyou will seek Me and find Me when you will search for Me ^mwith all your heart.

14 ⁿ‘And I will be found by you,’ says the LORD. ‘And I will turn away your captivity and will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you,’ says the LORD. ^o‘And I will bring you again into the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.’

15 ¶ “Because you have said, ‘The LORD has raised up for us prophets in Babylon’—

16 ^p“therefore, thus says the LORD of the king who sits on the throne of David, and of all the people who dwell in this city, and of your brethren who have not gone forth with you into captivity—

17 “thus says the LORD of armies, ‘Behold, I will send on them the sword, famine and pestilence. And I will make them like ^qvile figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness.

18 ‘And I will persecute them with the sword, with famine and with pestilence, and ^rwill deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be ^sa curse and an astonishment, and a derision and a reproach, among all the nations to which I have driven them,

19 ‘because they have not hearkened to My words,’ says the LORD, ‘that ^tI sent to them by My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them. But you would not hear,’ says the LORD.

20 ¶ “Therefore, hear the word of the LORD all you of the captivity whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon.

21 “Thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a ^ulie to you in My name, ‘Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will slay them before your eyes.

22 ^v‘And from them will be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah that are in Babylon, saying, “The LORD make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,

23 “because ^xthey did disgraceful things in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken lying words in My name that I have not commanded them. Indeed I ^yknow and am a witness,” says the LORD.’”

24 ¶ Thus will you also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,

25 “Thus speaks the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Because you have sent letters in your name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, and ^zto Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,

26 “The LORD has appointed you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, that you should be ^aofficers in the house of the LORD for everyone who is ^bdemented and makes himself a prophet, that you should ^cput him in prison and in the stocks.

27 “Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who makes himself a prophet to you?

28 “For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, ‘This captivity is long. Build houses and dwell in them. And plant gardens and eat their produce.’”’”

29 ¶ And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.

30 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

31 “Send to all those of the captivity, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite, ‘Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you and ^dI did not send him, and he caused you to trust in a ^elie,

32 ‘therefore, thus says the LORD, “Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his seed. He will not have a man to dwell among this people, nor will he behold the good that I will do for My people,” says the LORD, ^f“because he has taught rebellion against the LORD.”’”

1 ¶ The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

2 “Thus speaks the LORD God of Israel, saying, ‘Write all the words that I have spoken to you on a scroll.

3 ‘For behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘that ^aI will bring again the captivity of My people Israel and Judah,’ says the LORD. ‘And ^bI will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they will possess it.’”

4 ¶ And these are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah:

5 “For thus says the LORD, ‘We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear and not of peace.

6 ‘Ask now and see if a male can give birth. Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins ^cas a woman in labor, and all faces turned pale?

7 ^d‘Alas! For that day is great, ^eso that none is like it. It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he will be saved out of it.

8 ‘For it will come to pass in that day,’ says the LORD of armies, ‘that I will break his yoke from off your neck and will break your bonds. And foreigners will no longer make them their slaves.

9 ‘But they will serve the LORD their God and ^fDavid their king, whom I will ^graise up to them.’

10 ¶ ‘Therefore, ^hdo not fear, O My servant Jacob,’ says the LORD, ‘nor be dismayed, O Israel. For behold, I will save you from afar and your seed ⁱfrom the land of their captivity, and Jacob will return and will be in rest, and be quiet and no one will make him afraid.

11 ‘For I am with ^jyou,’ says the LORD, ‘to save you. ^kThough I make a full end of all nations to which I have scattered you, ^lyet I will not make a full end of you. But I will correct you ^min measure and will not leave you unpunished.’

12 ¶ “For thus says the LORD, ⁿ‘Your bruise is incurable and your wound is grievous.

13 ‘There is no one to plead your cause so that you might be bound up. ^oYou have no healing medicines.

14 ^p‘All your lovers have forgotten you. They do not seek you, for I have wounded you with the wound ^qof an enemy, with the chastisement ^rof a cruel one, because of the multitude of your iniquities, ^sbecause your sins have increased.

15 ‘Why ^tdo you cry out over your affliction? Your sorrow is incurable because of the multitude of your iniquities. Because your sins were increased, I have done these things to you.

16 ‘Nevertheless, all those who devour you ^uwill be devoured. And all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into ^vcaptivity. And those who plunder you will be ^wplundered, and all who prey upon you I will give for a ^xprey.

17 ^y‘For I will restore health to you and I will heal you of your wounds,’ says the LORD, ‘because they called you an outcast, saying, “It is Zion, for whom no one cares.’”

18 ¶ “Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents and ^zhave mercy on his dwelling places. And the city will be built upon her own heap and the palace will stand where it used to be.

19 ‘And ^aout of them will proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those who rejoice. And ^bI will multiply them, and they will not be few. I will also glorify them, and they will not be small.

20 ‘Their children also will be ^cas before. And their assembly will be established before Me, and I will punish all who oppress them.

21 ‘And their leader will be one of them, and ^dtheir governor will proceed from their midst. And I will ^ecause him to draw near and he will approach Me. For who is this who pledged his heart to approach Me?’ says the LORD.

22 ‘And you will be ^fMy people and I will be your God.’”

23 ¶ Behold, the ^gwhirlwind of the LORD goes forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind. It will fall violently upon the head of the wicked.

24 The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until He has performed and until He has accomplished the intent of His heart. ^hIn the latter days you will consider it.

1 ¶ At ^athe same time, says the LORD, ^b“I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be My people.”

2 ¶ Thus says the LORD, “The people who were left from the sword found grace in the wilderness—Israel, when ^cI went to give him rest.”

3 The LORD has appeared from old to me, saying, “Yes, ^dI have loved you with ^ean everlasting love. Therefore, with lovingkindness I have ^fdrawn you.

4 “Again ^gI will build you, and you will be built, O virgin of Israel. You will again be adorned with your ^htambourines, and will go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.

5 ⁱ“You will plant vines on the mountains of Samaria. The planters will plant and will eat them as common things.

6 “For there will be a day that the watchmen upon Mount Ephraim will cry out, ^j‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion to the LORD our God.’”

7 ¶ For thus says the LORD, ^k“Sing with gladness for Jacob and shout among the chief of the nations. Proclaim! Give praise and say, ‘O LORD, save Your people, the remnant of Israel.’”

8 “Behold, I will bring them ^lfrom the north country and ^mgather them from the remote parts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and together with she who is in labor with child. A great company will return here.

9 ⁿ“They will come with weeping. And with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to walk ^oby the streams of waters on a straight path wherein they will not stumble. For I am a Father to Israel and Ephraim is My ^pfirstborn.”

10 ¶ Hear the word of the LORD, O you nations, and declare it in the far off coastlands, and say, “He who scattered Israel will ^qgather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock.”

11 For ^rthe LORD has redeemed Jacob and ransomed him ^sfrom the hand of him who was stronger than he.

12 “Therefore, they will come and sing in ^tthe height of Zion and will flow together to ^uthe goodness of the LORD, for wheat and for wine and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd. And their soul will be as a ^vwatered garden, and ^wthey will never sorrow again.

13 “Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together, for I will turn their mourning into joy and will comfort them. And I will make them rejoice from their sorrow.

14 “And I will fill the soul of the priests with fatness, and My people will be satisfied with My goodness,” says the LORD.

15 ¶ Thus says the LORD, ^x“A voice was heard in ^yRamah, lamentation and bitter ^zweeping. Rachel is weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted for her children because ^athey are no more.”

16 ¶ Thus says the LORD; “Restrain your voice from ^bweeping, and your eyes from tears. For your work will be rewarded,” says the LORD, “and they will come again from the land of the enemy.

17 “There is ^chope for your future,” says the LORD, “that your children will come again to their own territory.

18 ¶ “I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself, ‘You have chastised me, and I was ^dchastised as a bull unaccustomed to the yoke. ^eTurn me back and I will be restored, for You are the LORD my God.

19 ‘Surely ^fafter I turned back, I repented. And after I was instructed, I smote on my thigh. I was ^gashamed, yes, even humiliated because I bore the reproach of my youth.’

20 “Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For since I spoke against him, I do earnestly remember him still. ^hTherefore, My heart yearns for him. ⁱI will surely have mercy on him,” says the LORD.

21 ¶ “Set up signposts. Make high heaps. ^jSet your heart toward the highway, even the way that you went. Turn again, O virgin of Israel. Turn again to these your cities.

22 “How long will you ^kgo about, O ^lbacksliding daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth—a woman will encompass a man.”

23 ¶ Thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, “They will again use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities when I will bring back their captivity, ^m‘The LORD bless you, O habitation of justice and ⁿmountain of holiness.’

24 “Judah and ^oall its cities will dwell together in it, the farmer and those who go about with flocks.

25 “For I have filled the weary soul and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.” At this I awoke and looked and look around. And my sleep has been ^ppleasant to me.

27 ¶ “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that ^qI will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast.

28 “And it will come to pass that as I have ^rwatched over them, ^sto pluck up and to break down, and to throw down and to destroy and to afflict, so I will watch over them in order ^tto build and to plant,” says the LORD.

29 ^u“In those days they will no longer say, ‘The fathers have eaten a sour grape and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

30 ^v“But everyone will die for his own iniquity. Every man who eats the sour grape, his teeth will be set on edge.

31 ¶ “Behold, the ^wdays are coming,” says the LORD, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,

32 “not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that ^xI took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them,” says the LORD.

33 ^y“But this will be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says the LORD, ^z“I will put My law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts. ^aAnd I will be their God and they will be My people.

34 “And they will no longer teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for ^bthey will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” says the LORD. “For ^cI will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.”

35 ¶ Thus says the LORD, ^d“Who gives the sun for a light by day and the fixed order of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, that divides ^ethe sea when its waves roar. ^fThe LORD of armies is His name.

36 “If ^gthis fixed order departs from before Me,” says the LORD, “then the seed of Israel also will cease from being a nation before Me forever.”

37 Thus says the LORD, ^h“If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out below, I will also ⁱcast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done,” says the LORD.

38 ¶ “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that the city will be built to the LORD ^jfrom the tower of Hananel to the gate of the corner.

39 “And ^kthe measuring line will again extend straight forward over the hill Gareb, then it will turn to Goath. And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields to the Brook Kidron, ^lto the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, ^mwill be holy to the LORD. It will not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.”

40 “And ⁿit will become a holy place, and the people will dwell there in security, and no one will make them afraid. All its cities will be inhabited again, and the LORD will fulfill His promise to Israel and Judah.”

1 ¶ The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD ^a in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

2 Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up ^b in the court of the guard that was in the house of the king of Judah,

3 for Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you ^c prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the LORD, ^d “Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will take it.

4 “And Zedekiah king of Judah ^e will not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but will surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon and will speak with him mouth to mouth, and his ^f eyes will behold his eyes,

5 and he will ^g lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he will be ^h until I visit him,” says the LORD. ⁱ “Though you fight with the Chaldeans, you will not prosper.”’?”

6 ¶ Then Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

7 ‘Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you, saying, “Buy my field that is in Anathoth, for the ^j right of redemption is yours to buy it.”’

8 “So Hanameel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the LORD. And he said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, that is in the country of Benjamin, for the right of inheritance is yours and the redemption is yours. Buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.

9 “So I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle’s son that was in Anathoth. And I ^k weighed him the seventeen shekels of silver.

10 “And I signed the deed and sealed it. And I took witnesses and weighed him the money in the scales.

11 “So I took the deed of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open,

12 “and I gave the deed of the purchase to ^l Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel my uncle’s son, and in the presence of the ^m witnesses who signed the purchase, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the prison.

13 ¶ “Then I charged ⁿ Baruch before them, saying,

14 ‘Thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthen vessel so that they may last a long time.”

15 ‘For thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, “Houses and fields and vineyards will be ^o possessed again in this land.”’

16 ¶ “Now when I had delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD, saying,

17 ‘Ah Lord GOD! Behold, ^p You have made the heaven and the earth by Your great power and stretched out arm, and ^q there is nothing too hard for You.

18 ‘You show ^r lovingkindness to thousands, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O great and ^s mighty God. ^t The LORD of armies is His name,

19 ^u ‘great in counsel and mighty in work. For Your ^v eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men ^w to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.

20 ‘You have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even to this day, and in Israel and among other men. And You have made for You ^x a name as it is this day.

21 ‘And You ^y have brought forth Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders and with a strong hand and with a stretched out arm and with great terror.

22 ‘And You have given them this land that You swore to their fathers to give them, ^z a land flowing with milk and honey.

23 ‘And they came in and possessed it. But ^a they did not obey Your voice or walk in Your law. They have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do. Therefore, You have caused all this calamity to come upon them.

24 ‘Behold the siege ramps that have come to the city to take it. And the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of ^b the sword, famine and pestilence. And what You have spoken has come to pass. And behold, You see it.

25 ‘And You have said to me, O Lord GOD, “Buy the field for money and take witnesses, for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’”

26 ¶ Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

27 “Behold, I am the LORD, the ^c God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?”

28 Therefore, thus says the LORD, “Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will take it.

29 “And the Chaldeans who fight against this city will come and ^d set fire to this city and burn it with the houses, ^e upon whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me to anger.

30 “For the children of Israel and the children of Judah ^f have only done evil before Me from their youth. For the children of Israel have only provoked Me to anger with the work of their hands,” says the LORD.

31 “For this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and of My fury from the day that they built it even to this day, that ^g I should remove it from before My face.

32 “because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah that they have done to provoke Me to anger, ^h they, their kings, their princes, their priests and ⁱ their prophets, and the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

33 “And they have turned to Me the ^j back and not the face. Though I taught them, ^k rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.

34 “But they ^l set their abominations in the house that is called by My name, to defile it.

35 “And they built the high places of Baal that are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, ^m to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to ⁿ Molech, ^o which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination to cause Judah to sin.

36 ¶ “Now therefore, thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning this city of which you say, ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine and by pestilence.’

37 “Behold, I will ^p gather them out of all countries to which I have driven them in My anger and in My fury and in great wrath. And I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them ^q to dwell safely.

38 “And they will be ^r My people and I will be their God.

39 “And I will ^s give them one heart and one way so that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them.

40 “And ^t I will make an everlasting covenant with them so that I will not turn away from them to do them good. But ^u I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.

41 “Yes, ^v I will rejoice over them to do them good, and assuredly ^w I will plant them in this land with My whole heart and with My whole soul.

42 ¶ “For thus says the LORD, ^x ‘As I have brought all this great calamity upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.

43 ‘And fields will be bought in this land ^y of which you say, “It is desolate without man or beast. It is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.”

44 ‘Men will buy fields for money and sign deeds and seal them, and take witnesses in ^z the land of Benjamin and in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah and in the cities of the mountains and in the cities of the valley and in the cities of the south. For ^a I will cause their captivity to return,’ says the LORD.”

1 ¶ Furthermore, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the second time while he was still shut up in the court of the prison, saying,

2 “Thus says the LORD ^b the Maker of the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it. ^c The LORD is His name.

3 ^d ‘Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things that you do not know.’

4 ¶ “For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel concerning the houses of this city and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah that are thrown down by ^e the siege ramps and by the sword.

5 ‘They are coming to fight with the Chaldeans, but only to ^f fill their places with the dead bodies of men whom I have slain in My anger and in My fury, for all whose wickedness I have hidden My face from this city.

6 ‘Behold, ^g I will bring it health and healing, and I will heal them. And I will reveal to them the abundance of peace and security.

7 ‘And ^h I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return. And I will build them ⁱ as at the first.

8 ‘And I will ^j cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me. And I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me.

9 ^k ‘And it will be to Me a name of joy, a praise and an honor before all the nations of the earth who will hear all the good that I do to them. And they will ^l fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I make for it.’

10 ¶ “Thus says the LORD, ‘Again there will be heard in this place ^m of which you say, “It is a waste, without man and without beast,” that is, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast,

11 ‘the ⁿ voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say, ^o “Praise the LORD of armies for the LORD is good for His mercy endures forever”—and of those who will bring ^p the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land as at the first,’ says the LORD.

12 ¶ “Thus says the LORD of armies, ‘Again ^q in this place that is desolate without man and without beast, and in all its cities, will be a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.

13 ^r ‘In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin and in the places around Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will ^s pass again under the hands of him who tells them,’ says the LORD.

14 ¶ ^t ‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘that ^u I will perform the good thing that I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.

15 ‘In those days and at that time I will cause the ^v Branch of righteousness to grow up to David. And He will execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

16 ‘In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell safely. And this is the name with which it will be called, The LORD our ^w righteousness.’

17 “For thus says the LORD, ‘David will never ^x lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel.

18 ‘Neither will the ^y priests the Levites lack a man before Me to offer ^z burnt offerings and to burn grain offerings, and to do sacrifices continually.’”

19 ¶ And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

20 “Thus says the LORD, ‘If you can break My covenant of the day and My covenant of the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time,

21 ‘then ^a My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he should not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, and the priests, My ministers.

22 ‘As ^b the host of heaven cannot be counted or the sand of the sea measured, so will I ^c multiply the seed of David My servant and the ^d Levites who minister to Me.’”

23 ¶ Furthermore, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

24 “Have you not considered what this people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families that the LORD chose, He has rejected them’? Thus they have ^e despised My people so that they should no longer be a nation before them.

25 ¶ “Thus says the LORD, ‘If ^f My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not ^g appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth,

26 ^h ‘then I will ⁱ cast away the seed of Jacob and David My servant so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will cause their captivity to return and will have mercy on them.’

1 ¶ The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD ^a when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, and ^b all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem and against all its cities, saying,

2 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Go and ^c speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, ^d I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will burn it with fire.

3 ‘And ^e you will not escape out of his hand, but will surely be taken and delivered into his hand. And your eyes will behold the eyes of the king of Babylon and he will speak with you ^f mouth to mouth, and you will go to Babylon.’ ” ’

4 “Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah. Thus says the LORD of you, ‘You will not die by the sword.

5 ‘You will die in peace. And ^g as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, ^h so will they burn spices for you. And they will ⁱ lament you, saying, “Alas lord!” For I have pronounced the word,’” says the LORD.

6 ¶ Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem

7 when the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah, for ^j these fortified cities remained of the cities of Judah.

8 ¶ This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim ^k liberty to them:

9 ^l that each man should set free his male servant and each man his female servant, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, so ^m that no one should keep them, a Jew his brother in bondage.

10 Now when all the princes and all the people who had entered into the covenant heard that everyone should allow his male servant and his female servant to go free, that no one should keep them anymore, then they obeyed and let them go.

11 But afterward they changed their minds and caused to return the servants and the female maids whom they had let go. And they brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.

12 ¶ Therefore, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

13 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I made a ⁿ covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,

14 “At the end of ^o seven years let go every man his Hebrew brother who has been sold to you. And when he has served you six years, you will let him go free from you. But your fathers did not hearken to Me, nor incline their ear.

15 “Then you recently turned and did what is right in My sight, each man proclaiming release to his neighbor, and you ^p made a covenant before Me ^q in the house that is called by My name.

16 “But you turned and ^r profaned My name, and caused every man his servant and every man his handmaid, whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return. And you brought them into subjection to be to you for servants and for handmaids.”’

17 ¶ “Therefore, thus says the LORD, ‘You have not hearkened to Me in proclaiming liberty, everyone to his brother and everyone to his neighbor. ^s Behold, I proclaim liberty for you,’ says the LORD, ^t ‘to the sword, to pestilence and to famine. And I will cause you to ^u be moved into all the kingdoms of the earth.

18 ‘And I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant that they had made before Me ^v when they cut the calf in two, and passed between its parts—

19 ‘the princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf—

20 ‘I will even ^w give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. And their ^x dead bodies will be food for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth.

21 ‘And I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon ^y who has gone away from you.

22 ^z ‘Behold, I will command,’ says the LORD, ‘and cause them to return to this city. And they will fight against it ^a and take it and burn it with fire. And ^b I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.’”

1 ¶ The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,

2 “Go to the house of the ^a Rechabites and speak to them. Bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of ^b the chambers and give them wine to drink.”

3 Then I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brothers and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites,

4 and I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God who was by the chamber of the princes that was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, ^c the keeper of the door.

5 And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine and cups. And I said to them, “Drink wine.”

6 But they said, “We will drink no wine, for ^d Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, ‘You will drink ^e no wine, you, nor your sons forever.

7 ‘Neither will you build a house, nor sow seed, nor plant a vineyard, nor own one. But all your days you will dwell in tents so ^f that you may live many days in the land where you are foreigners.’”

8 “Thus we have ^g obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he has charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters,

9 “nor to build houses for ourselves in which to dwell. Neither have we a vineyard nor field nor seed.

10 “But we have dwelt in tents and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

11 “But it came to pass when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, ‘Come and let us ^h go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians.’ So we dwell in Jerusalem.”

12 ¶ Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

13 “Thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, ‘Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not ⁱ receive instruction to hearken to My words?” says the LORD.

14 “The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab who commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed. For to this day they do not drink, but obey their father’s commandment. ^j But I have spoken to you, ^k rising early and speaking, but you do not hearken to Me.

15 “I have sent also to you all My ^l servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ^m ‘Return now every man from his evil way and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and you will ⁿ dwell in the land that I have given to you and to your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened to Me.

16 “Indeed, the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their ^o father that he commanded them, but this people have not hearkened to Me.”

17 “Therefore, thus says the LORD God of armies, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them, ^p because I have spoken to them, but they have not heard. And I have called to them, but they have not answered.’”

18 ¶ Then Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he has commanded you,

19 ‘therefore, thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, “Jonadab the son of Rechab will not lack a man to ^q stand before Me forever.” ’ ”

1 ¶ Now it came to pass in the ^a fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

2 “Take a ^b scroll and ^c write on it all the words that I have spoken to you concerning Israel and concerning Judah, and concerning ^d all the nations from the day I spoke to you, from the days of ^e Josiah even to this day.

3 “It ^f may be that the house of Judah will hear all the calamity that I purpose to do to them, that they may ^g return every man from his evil way, so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

4 ¶ Then Jeremiah ^h called Baruch the son of Neriah. And ⁱ Baruch wrote on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD that He had spoken to him.

5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am detained. I cannot go into the house of the LORD.

6 “Therefore, you go and read from the scroll that you have written from my mouth, the words of the LORD in the ears of the people in the LORD’S house on ^j the day of fasting. And you will also read them in the ears of all Judah who come out of their cities.

7 “It may be that they will present their petition before the LORD and will return every one from his evil way. For great is the anger and the fury that the LORD has pronounced against this people.”

8 So Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the scroll the words of the LORD in the LORD’S house.

9 ¶ Now it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the LORD to all the people in Jerusalem and to all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem.

10 Then Baruch read from the scroll the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe. He read in the higher court at the ^k entry of the New Gate of the LORD’S house, in the ears of all the people.

11 ¶ When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard from the scroll all the words of the LORD,

12 then he went down into the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber. And behold, all the princes sat there, even ^l Elishama the scribe and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and ^m Elnathan the son of Achbor and Gemariah the son of Shaphan and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes.

13 Then Michaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read the scroll in the ears of the people.

14 Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read in the ears of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them.

15 Then they said to him, “Sit down now and read it in our ears.” So Baruch read it in their ears.

16 Now it came to pass when they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one to another. Then they said to Baruch, “We will surely tell the king of all these words.”

17 Then they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?”

18 Then Baruch answered them, “He pronounced all these words to me with his mouth and I wrote them with ink on the scroll.”

19 Then the princes said to Baruch, “Go. Hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and let no man know where you are.”

20 ¶ Then they went in to the king into the court, but they stored the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king.

21 So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the scroll. And he took it out of Elishama the scribe’s chamber. Then Jehudi read it in the ears of the king and in the ears of all the princes who stood beside the king.

22 Now the king sat in ⁿ the winterhouse in the ninth month. And there was a fire on the hearth burning before him.

23 So it came to pass when Jehudi had read three or four columns, he cut it with a penknife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.

24 Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were ^o not afraid, nor did they ^p tear their garments.

25 Nevertheless, Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah implored the king that he would not burn the scroll. But he would not listen to them.

26 But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD hid them.

27 ¶ Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll, and the words that Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,

28 “Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were on the first scroll that Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned.

29 “And you will say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, ‘Thus says the LORD, “You have burned this scroll, saying, ^q ‘Why have you written on it saying that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and will cause to ^r cease from here man and beast?’”

30 ‘Therefore, thus says the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah, ^s “He will have no one to sit upon the throne of David. And his dead body will be ^t cast out in the day to the heat and in the night to the frost.

31 “And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity. And I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah all the evil that I have pronounced against them—but they did not hearken.” ’ ”

32 ¶ Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.

1 ¶ Now King ^a Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.

2 ^b But neither he nor his servants, nor the people of the land, hearkened to the words of the LORD that He spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.

3 ¶ And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and ^c Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, ^d “Pray now to the LORD our God for us.”

4 Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people, for they had not put him in prison.

5 Then ^e Pharaoh’s army came up from Egypt. And when the Chaldeans who besieged Jerusalem heard news of them, they departed from Jerusalem.

6 ¶ Then the word of the LORD came to the prophet Jeremiah, saying,

7 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Thus you will say to the king of Judah ^f who sent you to inquire of Me, “Behold, Pharaoh’s army that has come to help you will return to Egypt into their own land.

8 ^g “And the Chaldeans will come again and fight against this city and take it. And they will burn it with fire.”’

9 “Thus says the LORD, ‘Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely depart from us,” for they will not depart.

10 ^h ‘For though you had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there were only wounded men left among them, each man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.’”

11 ¶ Now it came to pass when the army of the Chaldeans had lifted the siege of Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army,

12 that Jeremiah went out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin in order to take possession of some property there among the people.

13 And when he was in the Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah. And he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are going over to the Chaldeans.”

14 Then Jeremiah said, “This is false. I am not going over to the Chaldeans.” But he did not hearken to him. So Irijah took Jeremiah and brought him to the princes.

15 Therefore, the princes were angry with Jeremiah. And they struck him ⁱ and put him in prison in the ^j house of Jonathan the scribe. For they had made it into the prison.

16 ¶ When Jeremiah had entered into ^k the dungeon cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days,

17 then Zedekiah the king sent and took him out. And the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, “Is there any word from the LORD?” And Jeremiah said, “There is.” Then he said, “You will be ^l delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.”

18 Furthermore, Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What offense have I committed against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison?

19 “Where are now your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you, or against this land’?

20 “Therefore please listen, O my lord the king. Please let my petition be accepted before you so that you do not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.”

21 Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah ^m into the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers’ street, ⁿ until all the bread in the city was finished. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

1 ¶ Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and ^a Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and ^b Pashur the son of Malchiah, ^c heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken to all the people, saying,

2 “Thus says the LORD, ^d ‘He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by famine and by pestilence. But he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live, for he will have his life for a booty and will live.’

3 “Thus says the LORD, ^e ‘This city will surely be ^f given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army who will take it.’”

4 Therefore, the princes said to the king, ^g “Let this man be put to death, for he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city and the hands of all the people by speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the welfare of this people, but their harm.”

5 Then Zedekiah the king said, “Behold, he is in your hand, for the king can do nothing against you.”

6 Then ^h they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison. And they let down Jeremiah with ropes. And in the cistern there was no water, but only mud. So Jeremiah sank into the mud.

7 ¶ ⁱ Now Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. When the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin,

8 Ebedmelech went out of the king’s house and spoke to the king, saying,

9 “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the cistern. And he will die where he is because of the famine, for there is ^j no more bread in the city.”

10 Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take from here thirty men with you and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”

11 So Ebedmelech took the men with him and went into the house of the king under the treasury. And he took there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah.

12 And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes.” And Jeremiah did so.

13 So they drew up Jeremiah with ropes and took him up out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained ^k in the court of the prison.

14 ¶ Then Zedekiah the king sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him into the third entry that is in the house of the LORD. And the king said to Jeremiah, “I will ^l ask you something. Hide nothing from me.”

15 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not hearken to me?”

16 So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As the LORD lives, ^m who made us this soul, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”

17 ¶ Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of armies, the God of Israel, ‘If you will ⁿ assuredly go out ^o to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul will live and this city will not be burned with fire. And you will live and your house.

18 ‘But if you will not go out to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans and they will burn it with fire, and ^p you will not escape out of their hand.’”

19 And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have ^q gone over to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand and they ^r mock me.”

20 But Jeremiah said, “They will not deliver you. Please obey the LORD in what I am saying to you so that it may ^s go well with you and you may live.

21 “But if you refuse to go out, this is the word that the LORD has shown me:

22 ‘Behold, all the ^t women who are left in the king of Judah’s house will be brought forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women will say, “Your close friends have misled and overpowered you. Your feet are sunk in the mud and they have turned away.”

23 ‘So they will bring out all your wives and your ^u children to the Chaldeans. And ^v you will not escape out of their hand, but will be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon. And you will cause this city to be burned with fire.’”

24 ¶ Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no man know of these words, and you will not die.

25 “But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say to you, ‘Declare to us now what you have said to the king. Do not hide it from us and we will not put you to death, also what the king said to you,’

26 “then you will say to them, ^w ‘I presented my petition before the king that he would not have me returned ^x to Jonathan’s house to die there.’”

27 Then all the princes came to Jeremiah and asked him. And he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they ceased speaking with him, for the conversation had not been heard.

28 So ^y Jeremiah stayed in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken.

1 ¶ In the ^a ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.

2 Then in the ^b eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was breached.

3 ^c Then all the princes of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the Middle Gate, even Nergalsharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, with all the remainder of the princes of the king of Babylon.

4 ¶ ^d Now it came to pass when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, that they fled and went out of the city by night by the way of the king’s garden, by the gate between the two walls. And he went out the way of the plain.

5 But the Chaldean army pursued after them and ^e overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And when they had overtaken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to ^f Riblah in the land of Hamath where he gave judgment on him.

6 Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah ^g before his eyes. The king of Babylon also slew all the ^h nobles of Judah.

7 Furthermore, ⁱ he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with chains in order to carry him to Babylon.

8 ^j And the Chaldeans burned with ^k fire the king’s house and the houses of the people. And they broke down the ^l walls of Jerusalem.

9 Then ^m Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, the deserters who ⁿ had gone over to him and the rest of the people who remained.

10 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left in the land of Judah ^o the poor of the people who had nothing. And he gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

11 ¶ Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying,

12 “Take him and look well after him, and do him no ^p harm. But do to him even as he will ask of you.”

13 So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent Nebushasban, Rabsaris and Nergalsharezer, Rabmag and all the king of Babylon’s princes.

14 They sent and ^q took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison and committed him ^r to Gedaliah the son of ^s Ahikam the son of Shaphan so that he should carry him home. So he dwelt among the people.

15 ¶ Now the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying,

16 “Go and speak to ^t Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, “Behold, ^u I will bring My words upon this city for calamity and not for good. And they will be fulfilled in that day before you.

17 “But I will deliver you in that day,” says the LORD. “And you will not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid.

18 “For I will surely deliver you and you will not fall by the sword. But ^v your life will be for a booty to you ^w because you have put your trust in Me,” says the LORD.’”

1 ¶ The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD ^a after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all who were carried away captive from Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive to Babylon.

2 And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah and ^b said to him, “The LORD your God has pronounced this calamity upon this place.

3 “Now the LORD has brought it to pass and done according as He has said. ^c Because you people have sinned against the LORD and have not obeyed His voice, therefore this thing has come upon you.

4 “And now behold, I set you free this day from the chains that were upon your hand. ^d If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come. And I will look after you well. But if you prefer not to come with me to Babylon, stay. Behold, ^e all the land is before you. Go wherever it seems good and right for you to go.”

5 Now while Jeremiah had not yet gone back, he said, “Go back also to ^f Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, ^g whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people. Or go wherever it seems convenient for you to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him provisions and a reward, and let him go.

6 ^h Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to ⁱ Mizpah. And he dwelt with him among the people who were left in the land.

Assassination of Gedaliah

7 ¶ ^j Now when all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed to him men and women and children and ^k the poorest of the land who were not carried away captive to Babylon,

8 then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even ^l Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and ^m Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and ⁿ Jezaniah the son of a ^o Maachathite, they and their men.

9 Then Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan swore to them and to their men, saying, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be ^p well with you.

10 “As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah in order to serve the Chaldeans who will come to us. But you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken.”

11 Likewise, when all the Jews who were in Moab and among the Ammonites and in Edom, and who were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan,

12 even all these Jews ^q returned from all the places to which they were driven. And they came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah in Mizpah. And they gathered much wine and summer fruits.

13 ¶ Furthermore, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah.

14 And they said to him, “Are you well aware that ^r Baalis the king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay you?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them.

15 Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “Please allow me and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man will know it. Why should he slay you so that all the Jews who are gathered to you should be scattered, and the ^s remnant in Judah perish?”

16 But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “You will not do this thing, for you speak falsely of Ishmael.”

1 ¶ Now it came to pass in the seventh month ^a that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah. And there they ate bread together in ^b Mizpah.

2 Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him, arose and ^c smote Gedaliah the son of ^d Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword. And they slew him whom the king of Babylon had made ^e governor over the land.

3 Ishmael also slew all the Jews who were with him, even with Gedaliah at Mizpah and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

4 ¶ Now it came to pass the second day after he had slain Gedaliah, and no man knew it,

5 that certain men came from Shechem, from Shiloh and from Samaria, even eighty men ^f with their beards shaven and their clothes torn. And having cut themselves, they came with offerings and incense in their hand to bring them to ^g the house of the LORD.

6 And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went. And it came to pass as he met them that he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.”

7 Now it was that when they came inside the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah ^h slew them and cast them into the midst of a pit, he and the men who were with him.

8 But ten men were found among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not slay us, for we have treasures of wheat and barley and oil and honey in the field.” So he refrained and did not put them to death along with their companions.

9 Now the pit in which Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had slain because of Gedaliah, was ⁱ the one that Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with those who were slain.

10 Then Ishmael carried away captive all ^j the remnant of the people who were in Mizpah, even ^k the king’s daughters and all the people who remained in Mizpah, ^l whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to ^m the Ammonites.

11 ¶ But when ⁿ Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,

12 they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah. And they found him by ^o the great waters that are in Gibeon.

13 Now it came to pass when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, they were glad.

14 So all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah.

15 But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites.

16 ¶ Then Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, took from Mizpah all ^p the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is the mighty men of war, and the women and the children and the eunuchs whom he had brought back from Gibeon.

17 And they departed and dwelt in the habitation of ^q Chimham that is by Bethlehem, in order to go to ^r Egypt

18 because of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, ^s whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land.

1 ¶ Then all the captains of the forces and ^a Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, came near.

2 And they said to Jeremiah the prophet, ^b “Please let our petition come before you and ^c pray for us to the LORD your God, even for all this remnant, for we are left but ^d a few out of many as your eyes now see us,

3 “that the LORD your God may show us ^e the way in which we should walk, and the thing that we should do.”

4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard. Behold, I will pray to the LORD your God according to your words. And it will come to pass that ^f whatever thing the LORD will answer you, I will declare it to you. I will ^g keep nothing back from you.”

5 Then they said to Jeremiah, ^h “The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not do according to all things that the LORD your God will send to us by you.

6 “Whether it is pleasing or whether it is displeasing, we will ⁱ obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send you, so ^j that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.”

7 ¶ Now it came to pass after ten days that the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah.

8 Then he called Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces that were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest.

9 And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel to whom you sent me to present your petition before Him.

10 ‘If you will remain in this land, then ^k I will build you and not pull you down. And I will plant you and not pluck you up. For ^l I will relent concerning the calamity that I have inflicted on you.

11 ‘Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon of whom you are afraid. Do not be afraid of him,’ says the LORD, ^m ‘for I am with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand.

12 ‘And ⁿ I will show mercy to you so that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.

13 ‘But if ^o you say, “We will not dwell in this land,” or obey the voice of the LORD your God,

14 saying, “No, but we will go into the land of ^p Egypt where we will see no war, or hear the sound of the trumpet, or have hunger of bread. And we will dwell there”—

15 ‘then hear now the word of the LORD you remnant of Judah. Thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, “If you ^q wholly set ^r your faces to enter into Egypt and to sojourn there,

16 “then it will come to pass that the ^s sword that you feared will overtake you there in the land of Egypt. And the famine of which you were afraid will follow close after you in Egypt. And there you will die.

17 “So will it be with all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there. They will die by the sword, by famine and by pestilence. ^t And not one of them will remain or escape from the calamity that I will bring upon them.” ’ ”

18 ¶ For thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, “As My anger and My fury have been ^u poured out upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will My fury be poured out upon you when you enter into Egypt. And ^v you will become a curse, an object of horror, an astonishment and a reproach. And you will see this place no more.”

19 The LORD has said concerning you, O you remnant of Judah, ^w “Do not go into Egypt.” Know for certain that I have admonished you this day.

20 For you have only deceived yourselves when you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, “Pray for us to the LORD our God, and according to all that the LORD our God will say, so declare to us and we will do it.”

21 And now I have this day declared it to you, but you have ^x not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor anything for which He has sent me to you.

22 Now therefore know for certain that you ^y will die by the sword, by famine and by pestilence in the place to which you desire to go and to sojourn.

1 ¶ Now it came to pass when Jeremiah had ended speaking to all the people all the ^a words of the LORD their God, for which the LORD their God had sent him to them, even all these words,

2 ^b then Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, spoke to Jeremiah, saying “You speak falsely. The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘Do not go into Egypt to sojourn there.’

3 “But ^c Baruch the son of Neriah has set you against us in order to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans so that they might put us to death, and carry us away as captives into Babylon.”

4 ¶ So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, did ^d not obey the voice of the LORD to dwell in the land of Judah.

5 But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took ^e all the remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations to which they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah,

6 even men and women and children and ^f the king’s daughters, ^g and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.

7 ^h So they came into the land of Egypt because they did not obey the voice of the LORD. They went as far as ⁱ Tahpanhes.

8 ¶ Then the ^j word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,

9 “Take great stones in your hand and hide them in the sight of the men of Judah in the clay in the brick courtyard that is at the entry of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes.

10 Then say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, “Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon ^k My servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hidden. And he will spread his royal pavilion over them.

11 “And ^l when he comes, he will smite the land of Egypt. Those who are meant for death will be given over to death, and those for captivity to captivity, and those for the sword to the sword.

12 “And I will kindle a fire in the houses of ⁿ the gods of Egypt, and he will burn them. And he will carry them away as captives. And he will array himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd puts on his garment. Then he will go out from here in peace.

13 “He will also break the obelisks of Heliopolis that are in the land of Egypt. And he will burn with fire the temples of the gods of the Egyptians.” ’ ”

1 ¶ The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwell in the land of Egypt, who dwell at ^a Migdol and at ^b Tahpanhes and at ^c Noph and in the country of ^d Pathros, saying,

2 “Thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, ‘You have seen all the calamity that I have brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. And behold, this day they are ^e a desolation and no man dwells in them.

3 ‘because of their wickedness that they have committed to provoke Me to anger in that they went ^f to burn incense and to ^g serve other gods whom they did not know, they, you or your fathers.

4 ‘However, ^h I sent to you all My servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, “Oh, do not do this abominable thing that I hate.”

5 ‘But they did not hearken or incline their ear to turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods.

6 ‘Therefore, My fury and My anger was poured out and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. And they are wasted and desolate as it is this day.

7 ‘Therefore, now thus says the LORD, the God of armies, the God of Israel, “Why commit this great evil ⁱ against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, leaving yourselves without a remnant,

8 “in that you ^j provoke Me to wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to dwell, so that you might be cut off and become ^k a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

9 “Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives that they have committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

10 “They are not ^l humbled even to this day, nor have they ^m feared or walked in My law or in My statutes that I set before you and before your fathers.”’

11 ¶ “Therefore, thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, ⁿ I will set My face against you for calamity and to cut off all Judah.

12 ‘And I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and ^o they will all be consumed and fall in the land of Egypt. They will even be consumed by the sword and by famine. They will die, from the least even to the greatest, by the sword and by famine. And they will become ^p a curse, an object of horror, an astonishment and a reproach.

13 ^q ‘For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt as I have punished Jerusalem by the sword, by famine and by pestilence.

14 ‘So there will be no refugees or survivors of the remnant of Judah who have gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, lest they return to the land of Judah to which they ^r desire to return and live. For ^s no one will return except those who escape.’”

15 ¶ Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great multitude, even all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt and in Pathros answered Jeremiah, saying,

16 “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, ^t we will not hearken to you.

17 “But we will certainly do ^u whatever has gone forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the ^v queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For at that time we had plenty of food and were well and saw no misfortune.

18 “But since we ceased to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her, we have been in need of all things and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.

19 “And ^w when we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands’ permission?”

20 ¶ Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and women—even to all the people who had given him such an answer—saying,

21 “The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them and did not all this come into His mind?

22 “So that the LORD could no longer bear it because of the evil of your deeds, and because of the abominations that you have committed, therefore your land is a desolation and an astonishment and a curse without an inhabitant ^x as it is this day.

23 “Because you have burned incense and because you have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD or walked in His law, or in His statutes, or in His testimonies, ^y therefore, this calamity has happened to you as it is this day.”

24 ¶ Furthermore, Jeremiah said to all the people and to all the women, “Hear the word of the LORD all Judah who are in the land of Egypt,

25 “Thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, saying, ‘You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths and have fulfilled it in deed, saying, “We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.” Go ahead and confirm your vows and certainly perform your vows.’

26 “Therefore, hear the word of the LORD all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt, ‘Behold, ^z I have sworn by My ^a great name,’ says the LORD, ‘that ^b My name will no longer be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “The Lord GOD lives.”

27 ‘Behold, I will watch over them for calamity and not for good. And all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt ^c will be consumed by the sword and by famine until there is an end of them.

28 ‘Yet ^d a small number who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah who have gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there will know whose words will stand, Mine or theirs.

29 ‘And this will be a sign to you,’ says the LORD, ‘that I will punish you in this place so that you may know that My words will surely ^e stand against you for calamity.’

30 “Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, ^f I will give Pharaoh-hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave ^g Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy and who sought his life.’”

1 ¶ The ^a word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to ^b Baruch the son of Neriah when he had written these words on a scroll at the mouth of Jeremiah in the ^c fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,

2 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch,

3 ‘You said, “Woe is me! For the LORD has added grief to my sorrow. I ^d am weary with my groaning and have found no rest.”’

4 “Thus you will say to him, ‘The LORD says thus, “Behold, ^e that which I have built I will break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, even this whole land.”’

5 ‘But you, are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them, for behold, ^f I will bring calamity upon all flesh,’ says the LORD. ‘But your ^g life I will give to you for a prize in all places where you go.’”

1 ¶ The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against ^a the nations,

2 against ^b Egypt, against ^c the army of Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt, that was by the River Euphrates in Carchemish, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ^d smote in the ^e fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.

3 “Line up the shield and buckler, and draw near for the battle.

4 “Harness the horses. And get up you horsemen and stand forth with your helmets. Polish the spears and ^f put on the armor.

5 “Why have I seen them dismayed and turned back? Their mighty ones are beaten down and have fled. And they do not look back because ^g fear was all around,” says the LORD.

6 Do not let the swift flee away, or the mighty man escape. They will ^h stumble and fall toward the north by the River Euphrates.

7 Who is this who comes up ⁱ as a flood, whose waters move as the rivers?

8 Egypt rises up like a flood and his waters are moved like the rivers. And he says, “I will go up and will cover the earth. I will destroy the city and its inhabitants.”

9 Come up you horses and rage you chariots. And let the mighty men come forth, the Ethiopians and the Libyans ^j who handle the shield, and the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.

10 For this is ^k the day of the Lord GOD of armies, a day of vengeance so that He may avenge Himself on His adversaries. And ^l the sword will devour and it will be satiated and made drunk with their blood. For the Lord GOD of armies ^m has a sacrifice in the north country by the River Euphrates.

11 Go ⁿ up into Gilead and take balm, ^o O virgin, the daughter of Egypt. In vain you will use many medicines, for ^p you will not be cured.

12 The nations have heard of your ^q shame and your cry has filled the land. For the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, and both of them have fallen down together.

13 ¶ The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet as to how Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon would come and ^r smite the land of Egypt.

14 Declare in Egypt and publish in ^s Migdol and publish in Noph and in ^t Tahpanhes. Say, “Stand fast and prepare, for the sword will devour all around you.

15 “Why are your valiant men swept away? They did not stand because the LORD drove them away.

16 “He made many to fall, yes, ^u one fell upon another. And they said, ‘Arise, and ^v let us return to our own people and to the land of our nativity, away from the oppressing sword.’”

17 “They cried out there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a big noise. He has missed his opportunity.’

18 “As I live,” says the King, ^w whose name is the LORD of armies, “Surely as Tabor is among the mountains and as Carmel by the sea, so will he come.

19 “O ^x daughter dwelling in Egypt, prepare yourself ^y to go into captivity. For Noph will be waste and desolate without an inhabitant.

20 ¶ “Egypt is like a very fair ^z heifer, but a gadfly is coming. It comes out ^a of the north.

21 “Her hired men are also in the midst of her like a fattened bull, for they also have turned back and have fled away together. They did not stand because ^b the day of their calamity had come upon them and the time of their visitation.

22 ^c “Her noise will go like a serpent, for they will march with an army and come against her with axes as hewers of wood.

23 “They will ^d cut down her forest,” says the LORD, “though it cannot be searched because they are more numerous than ^e locusts and are without number.

24 “The daughter of Egypt will be put to shame. She will be delivered into the hand of ^f the people of the north.”

25 The LORD of armies, the God of Israel, says, “Behold, I will punish the multitude of ^g No and Pharaoh and Egypt ^h with their gods and their kings, even Pharaoh and all those who ⁱ trust in him.

26 ^j “And I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. However, ^k afterward it will be inhabited as in the days of old,” says the LORD.

27 ¶ “But ^l do not fear, O My servant Jacob, and do not be dismayed, O Israel. For behold, I will ^m save you from afar off and your seed from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return and be in rest and at ease, and no one will make him afraid.

28 “Do not fear, O Jacob My servant,” says the LORD, “for I am with you. For I will make a full end of all the nations to which I have driven you. But I will not make ⁿ a full end of you, but ^o correct you in measure. However, I will not leave you wholly unpunished.”

1 ¶ The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet ^a against the Philistines ^b before Pharaoh attacked Gaza.

2 Thus says the LORD, “Behold, ^c waters rise up ^d out of the north and will be an overflowing flood. And they will overflow the land and all that is in it, the city and those who dwell in it. Then the men will cry out and all the inhabitants of the land will wail.

3 “At the ^e noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots and at the rumbling of his wheels. The fathers will not turn back for their children because of the limpness of their hands,

4 “because of the day that comes to spoil all the ^f Philistines and to cut off from ^g Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains. For the LORD will plunder the Philistines, ^h the remnant of the country of ⁱ Caphtor.

5 ^j “Baldness has come upon Gaza. ^k Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley. How long will you cut yourself?”

6 ¶ “O ^l sword of the LORD, how long until you rest? Put up yourself into your scabbard, rest and be still.

7 “How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD has ^m given it a charge against Ashkelon and against the sea shore? There He has ⁿ appointed it.”

1 ¶ Thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel against ^a Moab, “Woe to ^b Nebo, for it is plundered. ^c Kiriathaim is disgraced and taken. Misgab is disgraced and dismayed.

2 “There will be ^d no more praise of Moab. In ^e Heshbon they have devised calamity against it. ‘Come and let us cut it off from being a nation.’ You also will be cut down, O ^f Madmen. The sword will pursue you.

3 “A voice of crying will be from ^g Horonaim, plundering and great destruction.

4 “Moab is destroyed. Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.

5 ^h “For by the ascent of Luhith continual weeping will go up. For at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the anguished cry of destruction.

6 ¶ “Flee! Save your lives and be like ⁱ the bush in the desert.

7 “Because you have trusted in your works and in your ^j treasures, you also will be taken. And ^k Chemosh will go forth into captivity together with his ^l priests and his princes.

8 “And ^m the plunderer will come upon every city and no city will escape. The valley also will perish, and the plain will be destroyed as the LORD has spoken.

9 “Give ⁿ wings to Moab so that it may flee and get away. For its cities will be desolate, without any to dwell in them.

10 ^o “Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.

11 ¶ “Moab has been at ease from his youth and he ^p has settled on his dregs. And he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into captivity. Therefore, he tastes as he did and his aroma has not changed.

12 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that I will send to him those who pour from jars, and they will empty his vessels and break his jars.

13 “And Moab will be ashamed of ^q Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ^r ashamed of ^s Bethel their confidence.

14 “How can you say, ^t ‘We are mighty and strong men for the battle’?

15 “Moab has been plundered and gone up out of her cities. And his chosen young men have ^u gone down to the slaughter,” says ^v the King, whose name is the LORD of armies.

16 “The calamity of Moab is near and his affliction comes quickly.

17 “All you who are around him, mourn for him. And all you who know his name, say, ^w ‘How is the strong staff broken, the beautiful rod!’

18 ¶ “O ^x daughter who inhabits ^y Dibon, come down from your glory and sit in thirst, for the plunderer of Moab will come upon you and he will destroy your strongholds.

19 “O inhabitant of ^z Aroer, ^a stand by the way and keep watch. Ask him who flees, and she who escapes, and say, ‘What has happened?’

20 “Moab is disgraced, for it is broken down. ^b Wail and cry. Tell it in ^c Arnon that Moab is plundered,

21 “and that judgment has come upon the plain country, upon Holon and upon Jahazah and upon Mephaath,

22 “and upon Dibon and upon Nebo and upon Beth Diblathaim,

23 “and upon Kiriathaim and upon Beth Gamul and upon Beth Meon,

24 “and upon ^d Kerioth and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab far or near.

25 ^e “The horn of Moab is cut off and his ^f arm is broken,” says the LORD.

26 ¶ “Make ^g him drunk, for he magnified himself against the LORD. Moab also will wallow in his vomit and he also will be in derision.

27 “Now ^h was not Israel a laughingstock to you? ⁱ Was he found among thieves, that you shake your head in ^j scorn whenever you speak of him?

28 “O you who ^k dwell in Moab, leave the cities and dwell in the rock. Be like ^l the dove that makes her nest at the mouth of a cave.

29 “We have heard the ^m pride of Moab—he is exceedingly proud—of his loftiness and his arrogance and his ⁿ pride and the haughtiness of his heart.

30 “I know his wrath,” says the LORD, “but it will not be so. ^o His lies accomplished nothing.

31 “Therefore, ^p I will wail for Moab and I will cry out for all Moab. My heart will mourn for the men of Kirheres.

32 ^q “O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for you with the weeping of Jazer. Your plants have gone over the sea and reach even to the Sea of ^r Jazer. The plunderer has fallen upon your summer fruits and upon your vintage.

33 ^s “And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field and from the land of Moab. And I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses. No one will tread with shouting. Their shouting will be not shouting of joy.

34 ¶ “From ^t the cry of Heshbon even to ^u Elealeh, and even to Jahaz, they have uttered their voice, ^v from Zoar even to Horonaim, as a three-year-old heifer. For the waters also of Nimrim will be desolate.

35 “Furthermore, I will cause to cease in Moab,” says the LORD, ^w “him who offers on the high places and him who burns incense to his gods.

36 “Therefore, ^x My heart will sound for Moab like pipes and My heart will sound like pipes for the men of Kirheres, because ^y the riches he has acquired have perished.

37 “For ^z every head will be bald and every beard shaved. Upon all the hands will be cuts and ^a upon the loins sackcloth.

38 “There will be general lamentation upon all the ^b housetops of Moab and in its streets. For I have ^c broken Moab like a vessel wherein there is no pleasure,” says the LORD.

39 “They will wail, saying, ‘How is it broken down! How has Moab turned the back with shame!’ So will Moab be an object of ridicule and a horror to all those about him.”

40 ¶ “For thus says the LORD, “Behold, ^d he will fly as an eagle and will ^e spread his wings over Moab.

41 “Kerioth is taken and the strongholds are surprised. And ^f the mighty men’s hearts in Moab at that day will be as the heart of a woman in her birth pains.

42 “And Moab will be destroyed from ^g being a people because he exalted himself against the LORD.

43 ^h “Fear and the pit and the snare will be upon you, O inhabitant of Moab,” says the LORD.

44 “He who flees from the fear will fall into the pit. And he who gets up out of the pit will be taken in the ⁱ snare. For ^j I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation,” says the LORD.

45 ¶ “Those who fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of the force. But ^k a fire will come forth out of Heshbon and a flame from the midst of ^l Sihon. And it ^m will devour the corner of Moab and the scalps of the riotous revelers.

46 ⁿ “Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh perish. For your sons are taken captive and your daughters captive.

47 “Yet I will bring again the captivity of Moab ^o in the latter days,” says the LORD. Thus ends the judgment of Moab.

1 ¶ Thus says the LORD concerning the ^a Ammonites, “Has Israel no sons? Or, has he no heirs? Why then has Malcam taken possession of ^b Gad and his people have settled in its cities?

2 ^c “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in ^d Rabbah of the Ammonites. And it will be a desolate heap and her daughters will be burned with fire. Then Israel will be heir to those who were his heirs,” says the LORD.

3 “Wail, O ^e Heshbon, for Ai is plundered. Cry out you daughters of Rabbah. ^f Gird yourselves with sackcloth. Lament and run to and fro on the walls, for their Milcom will go into captivity together with his ^g priests and his princes.

4 ^h “How boastful you are about the valleys! Your valley is flowing away, O ⁱ backsliding daughter who trusts in her ^j treasures, ^k saying, ‘Who will come against me?’

5 “Behold, I will bring terror upon you,” says the Lord GOD of armies, from all those who are around you. And each of you will be driven out headlong. And no one will gather those who wander off.

6 “Then ^l afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon,” says the LORD.

7 ¶ Thus says the LORD of armies ^m concerning Edom, ⁿ “Is wisdom no more in Teman? ^o Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom ^p vanished?

8 “Flee! Turn back. Dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of ^q Dedan, for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him at the time that I will visit him.

9 ^r “If grape gatherers come to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves by night, they will destroy until they have enough.

10 ^s “But I have made Esau bare. I have uncovered his secret places and he will not be able to hide himself. His seed is plundered, and his brethren and his neighbors and ^t he are no more.

11 “Leave your fatherless children. I will preserve them alive. And let your widows trust in Me.”

12 ¶ For thus says the LORD, “Behold, ^u they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup will certainly drink of it. And are you he who will completely go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but you will surely drink of it.

13 “For ^v I have sworn by Myself,” says the LORD, “that ^w Bozrah will become a desolation, a reproach, a waste and a curse. And all its cities will be perpetual wastes.”

14 ¶ ^x I have heard a rumor from the LORD and an ambassador is sent to the nations, saying, “Gather together and come against her, and rise up to the battle.”

15 ¶ “For behold, I will make you small among the nations and despised among men.

16 “Your fierceness has deceived you and ^y the pride of your heart, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill. ^z Though you should make your ^a nest as high as the eagle, ^b I will bring you down from there,” says the LORD.

17 “Edom also will be a desolation. ^c Everyone who goes by it will be astonished and will hiss at all its plagues.

18 ^d “As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbor cities,” says the LORD, “no man will abide there, nor will any son of man dwell in it.

19 “Behold, ^e he will come up like a lion from ^f the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong. But I will suddenly make him run away from her. And who is a chosen man that I may appoint over her? For ^g who is like Me? And who will appoint Me the time? And ^h who is that shepherd who will stand before Me?”

20 ¶ ⁱ Therefore, hear the plan of the LORD that He has taken against Edom, and His purposes that He has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman. Surely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock. Surely He will make their habitations desolate with them.

21 ^j The earth is moved at the noise of their fall. There is an outcry! The noise of it has been heard at the Red Sea.

22 Behold, ^k He will come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah. And in that day the heart of the mighty men of Edom will be as the heart of a woman in her birth pains.

23 ¶ ^l Concerning Damascus. ^m “Hamath and Arpad are disgraced, for they have heard evil tidings. They are fainthearted. ⁿ There is sorrow on the sea. It cannot be quiet.

24 “Damascus has become feeble and turns herself to flee, for terror has seized her. ^o Anguish and sorrows have taken her as a woman in childbirth.

25 “Why is ^p the city of praise not been deserted, the city of My joy!

26 ^q “Therefore, her young men will fall in her streets and all the men of war will be cut off in that day,” says the LORD of armies.

27 “And ^r I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus and it will consume the palaces of Benhadad.”

28 ¶ ^s Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon will smite. Thus says the LORD, “Arise! Go up to Kedar and plunder ^t the men of the east.

29 “They will take away their ^u tents and their flocks. They will take for themselves their curtains and all their vessels and their camels. And they will cry out to them, ^v ‘Terror is on every side!’

30 “Flee! Get far away! Dwell in the depths, O you inhabitants of Hazor,” says the LORD, “for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you and has conceived a scheme against you.

31 “Arise! Go up to ^w the wealthy nation that dwells securely,” says the LORD, “that has neither gates nor bars, that ^x dwells alone.

32 “And their camels will be plunder and the multitude of their cattle a booty. And I will ^y scatter into all winds those who are in the farthest corners. And I will bring their calamity from every side,” says the LORD.

33 “And Hazor ^z will be a dwelling for jackals and a desolation forever. No man will abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it.”

34 ¶ The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against ^a Elam in the ^b beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,

35 “Thus says the LORD of armies, ‘Behold, I will break ^c the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.

36 ‘And upon Elam I will bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven. And I will scatter them toward all those winds. And there will be no nation to which the outcasts of Elam will not go.

37 ‘For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life. And ^d I will bring calamity upon them, even My fierce anger,’ says the LORD. ‘And I will send the sword after them until I have consumed them.

38 ‘Then I will ^e set My throne in Elam, and will destroy from there the king and the princes,’ says the LORD.

39 ‘But it will come to pass ^f in the latter days that I will bring again the captivity of Elam,’” says the LORD.

1 ¶ The word that the LORD spoke ^a against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.

2 “Declare and proclaim among the nations. Proclaim it and lift up a standard. Do not conceal it. Say, ‘Babylon has been ^b captured. ^c Bel has been put to shame. Marduk has been shattered. Her images have been put to shame. ^d Her idols have been shattered.’”

3 ^e “For out of the north there is coming up ^f a nation against her that will make her land desolate and no one will dwell in it. They will wander off. They will depart, both man and beast.

4 ¶ “In those days and in that time,” says the LORD, “the children of Israel will come. ^g They and the children of Judah together, ^h coming and weeping. They will come and ⁱ seek the LORD their God.

5 “They will ask the way to Zion with their faces in its direction. They will say, ‘Come and let us join ourselves to the LORD in ^j a perpetual covenant that will not be forgotten.’”

6 “My people have been ^k lost sheep. Their shepherds have caused them to go ^l astray. They have turned them away on ^m the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place.

7 “All who found them have ⁿ devoured them. And ^o their adversaries said, ^p ‘We are not guilty because they have sinned against the LORD, ^q the habitation of justice, even the LORD, ^r the hope of their fathers.’”

8 “Flee away ^s from the midst of Babylon and go forth from the land of the Chaldeans. Be as the male goats before the flocks.”

9 ^t “For behold, I will raise up and cause to come against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country. And they will set themselves in array against her. From the north she will be taken. Their arrows will be like an expert warrior ^u who does not return empty-handed.”

10 “And Chaldea will be plundered. ^v All who plunder her will have their fill,” says the LORD.

11 ¶ “Because ^w you were glad, because you rejoiced, O you destroyers of My heritage, because you have grown fat ^x as the threshing heifer and bellow as bulls,

12 “your mother will be greatly disgraced. She who bore you will be ashamed. Behold, the least of the nations will be a ^y wilderness, a dry land and a desert.”

13 “Because of the wrath of the LORD it will not be inhabited, ^z but it will be wholly desolate. ^a Everyone who goes by Babylon will be astonished and hiss at all her plagues.”

14 “Put ^b yourselves in array against Babylon all around. All you who bend the bow, shoot at her. Spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the LORD.”

15 “Shout against her all around. She ^c surrenders. Her foundations are fallen. ^d Her walls are thrown down, because ^e it is the vengeance of the LORD. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, do to her.”

16 “Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest. Because of fear of the oppressing sword, everyone will return to his people, and ^f everyone will flee to his own land.”

17 ¶ “Israel is a ^g scattered sheep. ^h The lions have driven him away. First, the ⁱ king of Assyria has devoured him, and last, this ^j Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has broken his bones.”

18 “Therefore, thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I have punished the king of ^k Assyria.’”

19 “And I will bring Israel again to his habitation. And he will feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul will be satisfied upon Mount Ephraim and Gilead.”

20 “‘In those days and at that time,’ says the LORD, ^m ‘search will be made for the iniquity of Israel, and there will be none; and for the sins of Judah, and they will not be found. For I will pardon those ⁿ whom I preserve.’”

21 ¶ “Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it and against the inhabitants of ^o Pekod. Slay and utterly destroy them,” says the LORD, “and do ^p according to all that I have commanded you.”

22 ^q “A sound of battle is in the land and of great destruction.

23 “How ^r the hammer of the whole earth has been shattered and broken! How has Babylon become a desolation among the nations!

24 “I have laid ^s a snare for you and you are also taken, O Babylon. And you were not aware. You are found and also caught, because you have ^t contended against the LORD.”

25 The LORD has opened His armory and has brought out ^u the weapons of His indignation. For this is the work of the Lord GOD of armies in the land of the Chaldeans.

26 Come against her from the farthest border. Open her storehouses. Cast her up as heaps and utterly destroy her. Let nothing of her be left.

27 Slay all her young ^v bulls. Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come, the time of ^w their visitation.

28 ¶ The voice of those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon ^x declares in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of His temple.

29 ¶ “Call together the archers against Babylon. All you who bend the bow, camp against it all around. Let no one escape. ^y Reward her according to her work. Do to her according to all that she has done. ^z For she has been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.”

30 ^a “Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets and all her men of war will be cut off in that day,” says the LORD.

31 “Behold, I am against you, O you most proud,” says the Lord GOD of armies. “For your day has come, the time that I will visit you.

32 “And the most ^b proud will stumble and fall, and no one will raise him up. And ^c I will kindle a fire in his cities and it will devour all around him.”

33 ¶ Thus says the LORD of armies, “The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together. And all who took them captive held them fast. They refused to let them go.”

34 ^d “Their Redeemer is strong. ^e The LORD of armies is His name. He will thoroughly plead their ^f cause so that He may give rest to the land and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.”

35 ¶ “A sword is upon the Chaldeans,” says the LORD, “and upon the inhabitants of Babylon and ^g upon her princes and ^h upon her wise men.”

1 ¶ The ^a word that the LORD spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.

2 “Declare and proclaim among the nations. Proclaim it and lift up a standard. Do not conceal it. Say, ‘Babylon has been ^b captured. ^c Bel has been put to shame. Marduk has been shattered. Her images have been put to shame. ^d Her idols have been shattered.’

3 ^e “For out of the north there is coming up ^f a nation against her that will make her land desolate and no one will dwell in it. They will wander off. They will depart, both man and beast.

4 ¶ “In those days and in that time,” says the LORD, “the children of Israel will come. ^g They and the children of Judah together, ^h coming and weeping. They will come and ⁱ seek the LORD their God.

5 “They will ask the way to Zion with their faces in its direction. They will say, ‘Come and let us join ourselves to the LORD in ^j a perpetual covenant that will not be forgotten.’

6 “My people have been ^k lost sheep. Their shepherds have caused them to go ^l astray. They have turned them away on ^m the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place.

7 “All who found them have ⁿ devoured them. And ^o their adversaries said, ^p ‘We are not guilty because they have sinned against the LORD, ^q the habitation of justice, even the LORD, ^r the hope of their fathers.’

8 “Flee away ^s from the midst of Babylon and go forth from the land of the Chaldeans. Be as the male goats before the flocks.

9 ^t “For behold, I will raise up and cause to come against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country. And they will set themselves in array against her. From the north she will be taken. Their arrows will be like an expert warrior ^u who does not return empty-handed.

10 “And Chaldea will be plundered. ^v All who plunder her will have their fill,” says the LORD.

11 ¶ “Because ^w you were glad, because you rejoiced, O you destroyers of My heritage, because you have grown fat ^x as the threshing heifer and bellow as bulls,

12 “your mother will be greatly disgraced. She who bore you will be ashamed. Behold, the least of the nations will be a ^y wilderness, a dry land and a desert.

13 “Because of the wrath of the LORD it will not be inhabited, ^z but it will be wholly desolate. ^a Everyone who goes by Babylon will be astonished and hiss at all her plagues.

14 “Put ^b yourselves in array against Babylon all around. All you who bend the bow, shoot at her. Spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the LORD.

15 “Shout against her all around. She ^c surrenders. Her foundations are fallen. ^d Her walls are thrown down, because ^e it is the vengeance of the LORD. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, do to her.

16 “Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest. Because of fear of the oppressing sword, everyone will return to his people, and ^f everyone will flee to his own land.

17 ¶ “Israel is a ^g scattered sheep. ^h The lions have driven him away. First, the ⁱ king of Assyria has devoured him, and last, this ^j Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has broken his bones.

18 “Therefore, thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I have punished the king of ^k Assyria.

19 ^l ‘And I will bring Israel again to his habitation. And he will feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul will be satisfied upon Mount Ephraim and Gilead.

20 ‘In those days and at that time,’ says the LORD, ^m ‘search will be made for the iniquity of Israel, and there will be none; and for the sins of Judah and they will not be found. For I will pardon those ⁿ whom I preserve.’

21 ¶ “Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it and against the inhabitants of ^o Pekod. Slay and utterly destroy them,” says the LORD, “and do ^p according to all that I have commanded you.

22 ^q “A sound of battle is in the land and of great destruction.

23 “How ^r the hammer of the whole earth has been shattered and broken! How has Babylon become a desolation among the nations!

24 “I have laid ^s a snare for you and you are also taken, O Babylon. And you were not aware. You are found and also caught, because you have ^t contended against the LORD.”

25 “The LORD has opened His armory and has brought out ^u the weapons of His indignation. For this is the work of the Lord GOD of armies in the land of the Chaldeans.

26 “Come against her from the farthest border. Open her storehouses. Cast her up as heaps and utterly destroy her. Let nothing of her be left.

27 “Slay all her young ^v bulls. Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come, the time of ^w their visitation.

28 ¶ “The voice of those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon ^x declares in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of His temple.

29 ¶ “Call together the archers against Babylon. All you who bend the bow, camp against it all around. Let no one escape. ^y Reward her according to her work. Do to her according to all that she has done. ^z For she has been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.

30 ^a “Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets and all her men of war will be cut off in that day,” says the LORD.

31 “Behold, I am against you, O you most proud,” says the Lord GOD of armies. “For your day has come, the time that I will visit you.

32 “And the most ^b proud will stumble and fall, and no one will raise him up. And ^c I will kindle a fire in his cities and it will devour all around him.”

33 ¶ Thus says the LORD of armies, “The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together. And all who took them captive held them fast. They refused to let them go.

34 ^d “Their Redeemer is strong. ^e The LORD of armies is His name. He will thoroughly plead their ^f cause so that He may give rest to the land and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

35 ¶ “A sword is upon the Chaldeans,” says the LORD, “and upon the inhabitants of Babylon and ^g upon her princes and ^h upon her wise men.

36 “A sword is ⁱ upon the soothsayers, and they will be fools. A sword is upon her mighty men, and they will be dismayed.

37 “A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mixed people who are in ^j the midst of her. And ^k they will become as women. A sword is upon her treasures, and they will be robbed.

38 ^l “A drought is upon her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is the land of graven images, and they are insane with their idols.

39 “Therefore, ^m the wild beasts of the desert, with the wild beasts of the islands, will dwell there. And the owls will dwell in it. And ⁿ it will be no more inhabited, nor will it be dwelt in from generation to generation.

40 ^o “As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities,” says the LORD, “so will no man live there, nor will any son of man ^p dwell in it.

41 ¶ “Behold, ^q a people will come from the north, and a great nation and many kings will be raised up from the ends of the earth.

42 ^r “They will hold the bow and the lance. ^s They are cruel and will show no mercy. ^t Their voice will roar like the sea. They will ride upon horses, set in array like a man for the battle against you, O daughter of Babylon.

43 “The king of Babylon ^u heard the report of them and his hands became feeble. Anxiety took hold of him and pain as a woman in ^v childbirth.

44 “Behold, they will come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan to the habitation of the strong. But I will make them suddenly run away from her. And who is a chosen man whom I may appoint over her? For who is like Me? And who will appoint Me the time? And ^x who is that shepherd who will stand before Me?”

45 “Therefore, hear ^y the counsel of the LORD that He has taken against Babylon, and His ^z purposes that He has planned against the land of the Chaldeans. Surely the least of the flock will draw them out. ^a Surely He will make their habitation desolate with them.

46 ^b “At the shout that Babylon has been captured, the earth is shaken and an outcry is heard among the nations.”

1 ¶ Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I will raise up against Babylon and against those who dwell in the midst of those who rise up against Me, a destroying wind ^a.”

2 “And I will send winnowers to Babylon who will winnow her and empty her land. For in the day of trouble they will be against her all around ^b.”

3 “Against her let the archer bend his bow, and lift himself up against her in his armor. Do not spare her young men. Utterly destroy all her army ^c.”

4 “Thus the slain will fall in the land of the Chaldeans and those who are thrust through in her streets ^d.”

5 For Israel has not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, the LORD of armies, though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel ^e.

6 ¶ Flee out of the midst of Babylon and deliver to every man his life. Do not be cut off in her iniquity, for this is the time of the LORD’S vengeance. He will pay her what she deserves ^f.

7 Babylon has been a golden cup in the LORD’S hand that made all the earth drunk. The nations have drunk of her wine. Therefore, the nations are mad ^g.

8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed. Wail for her. Take balm for her pain. Perhaps she may be healed ^h.

9 We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her, and let everyone of us go into his own country. For her judgment reaches to heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies ⁱ.

10 The LORD has revealed our righteousness. Come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God ^j.

11 ¶ Sharpen the arrows. Gather the shields. The LORD has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of His temple ^k.

12 Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon. Make the guard strong. Set up the watchmen. Prepare the ambushes, for the LORD has devised and done that which He spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon ^l.

13 ¶ O you who dwell upon many waters and are abundant in treasures. Your end has come, the measure of your covetousness ^m.

14 The LORD of armies has sworn by Himself, saying, “Surely I will fill you with men as with locusts. And they will lift up a shout against you ⁿ.”

15 ¶ He has made the earth by His power. He has established the world by His wisdom, and has stretched out the heaven by His understanding ^o.

16 When He utters His voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and He causes the clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings with rain, and brings forth the wind out of His storehouses ^p.

17 Every man is senseless and without understanding. Every goldsmith is disgraced by the graven image, for his molten image is falsehood and there is no breath in them ^q.

18 They are worthless, the work of errors. In the time of their visitation, they will perish ^r.

19 The Portion of Jacob is not like them, for He is the Maker of all things. And Israel is the rod of His inheritance. The LORD of armies is His name ^s.

20 ¶ You are My battle ax and weapons of war, for with you I will break in pieces the nations, and with you I will destroy kingdoms ^t.

21 And with you I will break in pieces the horse and his rider. And with you I will break in pieces the chariot and his rider ^u.

22 With you also I will break in pieces man and woman. And with you I will break in pieces old and young. And with you I will break in pieces the young man and the maid ^v.

23 I will also break in pieces with you the shepherd and his flock. And with you I will break in pieces the farmer and his yoke of oxen. And with you I will break in pieces captains and rulers ^w.

24 ¶ “And I will render to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight,” says the LORD ^x.

25 “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain,” says the LORD, who destroys all the earth. “And I will stretch out My hand upon you and roll you down from the rocks. I will make you a burnt mountain ^y.”

26 “And they will not take of you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations. But you will be desolate forever,” says the LORD ^z.

27 ¶ Set up a standard in the land. Blow the trumpet among the nations. Prepare the nations against her. Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni and Ashchenaz. Appoint a captain against her. Cause the horses to come up as bristly locusts ^a1.

28 Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, its captains, and all its rulers, and all the land of his dominion ^b1.

29 And the land will tremble and sorrow. For every purpose of the LORD will be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant ^c1.

30 The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting. They have remained in their strongholds. Their might has failed. They became as women. They have burned her dwelling places. The bars of her gates are broken ^d1.

31 One courier will run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on all sides ^e1.

32 And that the passages are blocked, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are terrified ^f1.

33 ¶ For thus says the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor. It is time to thresh her. Yet a little while and the time of her harvest will come ^g1.”

34 ¶ “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me. He has crushed me. He has made me an empty vessel. He has swallowed me up like a jackal. He has filled his stomach with my delicates. He has cast me out ^h1.”

35 “The violence done to me and to my flesh are upon Babylon,” the inhabitant of Zion will say. “May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea!” will Jerusalem say ⁱ¹.

36 Therefore, thus says the LORD, “Behold, I will plead your cause and take vengeance for you. And I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry ^j1.”

37 “And Babylon will become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment and a hissing without an inhabitant ^k1.”

38 They will roar together like lions. They will growl as lions’ whelps ^l1.

39 In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunk so that they may rejoice and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake,” says the LORD ^m1.

40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats ⁿ¹.

41 ¶ How is Sheshach taken! And how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! How is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations ^o1!

42 “The sea has come up over Babylon. She is covered with the multitude of its waves ^p1.”

43 “Her cities are a desolation, a dry land and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwells, nor does any son of man pass by it ^q1.”

44 “And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up. And the nations will not flow together anymore to him. Yes, the wall of Babylon will fall ^r1.”

45 ¶ “My people, go out of the midst of her and deliver every man his life from the fierce anger of the LORD ^s1.”

46 “And lest your heart faint, and you fear for the rumor that will be heard in the land (a rumor will come one year, and after that in another year will come a rumor, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler) ^t1.”

47 “Therefore behold, the days are coming that I will exercise judgment on the graven images of Babylon. And her whole land will be disgraced and all her slain will fall in the midst of her ^u1.”

48 “Then the heaven and the earth, and all who are therein, will sing for joy over Babylon. For the plunderers will come to her from the north,” says the LORD ^v1.

49 ¶ As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon will fall the slain of all the earth ^w1.

50 You who have escaped the sword, get away. Do not stand still. Remember the LORD from afar and let Jerusalem come into your mind ^x1.

51 ¶ We are ashamed because we have heard reproach. Shame has covered our faces, for foreigners have come into the sanctuaries of the LORD’S house ^y1.

52 ¶ “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that I will execute judgment upon her graven images. And throughout all her land, the wounded will groan ^z1.”

53 “Though Babylon should ascend to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from Me plunderers will come to her,” says the LORD ^a2.

54 ¶ A sound of a cry comes from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans ^b2.

55 Because the LORD has plundered Babylon, and made her loud noise vanish from her, though her surging waves roar like many waters, and the noise of their voices sounds forth ^c2.

56 Because the plunderer has come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken. For the LORD is a God of retribution. He will fully repay ^d2.

57 “And I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her captains and her rulers, and her mighty men. And they will sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake,” says the King whose name is the LORD of armies ^e2.

58 ¶ Thus says the LORD of armies, “The wide walls of Babylon will be utterly broken and her high gates will be burned with fire. So the people and the nations will labor in vain because of the fire. And they will be weary ^f2.”

59 ¶ The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (Now Seraiah was the quartermaster) ^g2.

60 So Jeremiah wrote on a scroll all the calamity that would come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon ^h2.

61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words ⁱ².”

62 “Then you will say, ‘O LORD, You have spoken against this place, to cut it off so that no one will remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it will be desolate forever ^j2.’”

63 “And it will be when you have finished reading this scroll that you will bind a stone to it and cast it into the middle of the Euphrates ^k2.”

64 “Then you will say, ‘Thus will Babylon sink and will not rise from the calamity that I will bring upon her. And they will become weary.’” Thus far are the words of Jeremiah ^l2.

1 ¶ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah ^a.

2 And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.

3 For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, until he had cast them out from His presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon ^b.

4 ¶ Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem. And he camped against it and built a siege wall all around it ^c.

5 So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

6 And in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.

7 Then the city was broken into and all the men of war fled. And they went out of the city at night by the way of the gate between the two walls that was by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah.

8 ¶ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And all his army was scattered from him.

9 Then they took the king and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment upon him ^d.

10 And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. He slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah ^e.

11 Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah. And the king of Babylon bound him in chains and carried him to Babylon. And he put him in prison until the day of his death ^f.

12 ¶ Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, that was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem ^g.

13 And he burned the house of the LORD and the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, even all the houses of the great men he burned with fire.

14 And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around.

15 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive some of the poorest of the people and the rest of the people who remained in the city, the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen ^h.

16 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left the rest of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.

17 ¶ The pillars of bronze that were in the house of the LORD and the bases, and the bronze sea that was in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans also broke up and carried all their bronze to Babylon ⁱ.

18 The caldrons and the shovels and the snuffers and the bowls and the spoons and all the vessels of bronze with which they ministered, they also took away.

19 Also the basins and the firepans and the bowls and the caldrons and the candlesticks and the spoons and the cups that were of pure gold and silver, the captain of the guard took away.

20 The two pillars, one sea, and twelve bronze bulls that were under the bases that king Solomon had made in the house of the LORD—the bronze of all these vessels was beyond measure ^j.

21 Now a capital of bronze was on it. And the height of each capital was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, including pomegranates ^k.

22 And a capital of bronze was upon it. And the height of one capital was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the capital all around, all of bronze. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like these.

23 And there were ninety-six pomegranates on a side, and all the pomegranates upon the network all around were one hundred ^l.

24 ¶ Then the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door ^m.

25 He took also out of the city a eunuch who had charge of the men of war, and seven men of those who were close to the king, who were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city.

26 So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.

27 And the king of Babylon smote them and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land.

28 ¶ This is the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews ⁿ.

29 In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem 832 persons.

30 In the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews 745 persons. All the persons together were 4,600.

31 ¶ Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the twenty-fifth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison ^o.

32 And he spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon.

33 And he changed his prison garments. And he continually ate bread before him all the days of his life ^p.

34 And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him from the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.