~~~~~~1~~~~~ ~~~~~~1~~~~~ ~~~~~~1~~~~~ ~~~~~~1~~~~~ ~~~~~~1~~~~~ The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of Yahweh came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. And it came in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month. Now the word of Yahweh came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the innermost parts I knew you, And before you came out from the womb I set you apart; I have given you as a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Alas, Lord Yahweh! Behold, I do not know how to speak Because I am a youth.” But Yahweh said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, And all that I command you, you shall speak. “Do not be afraid of them, For I am with you to deliver you,” declares Yahweh. Then Yahweh sent forth His hand and touched my mouth, and Yahweh said to me, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. “See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, To uproot and to tear down, To cause to perish and to pull down, To build and to plant.” Now the word of Yahweh came to me saying, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “I see a rod of an almond tree.” Then Yahweh said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to do it.” The word of Yahweh came to me a second time saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.” Then Yahweh said to me, “From the north the evil will break open on all the inhabitants of the land. “For, behold, I am calling all the families of the kingdoms of the north,” declares Yahweh; “and they will come, and each one of them will put his throne at the opening of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls round about and against all the cities of Judah. “I will speak My judgments on them concerning all their evil, whereby they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. “Now, gird up your loins and arise and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, lest I dismay you before them. “Now behold, I have given you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests, and to the people of the land. “And they will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares Yahweh.

~~~~~~2~~~~~ ~~~~~~2~~~~~ ~~~~~~2~~~~~ ~~~~~~2~~~~~ ~~~~~~2~~~~~ Now the word of Yahweh came to me saying, “Go and call out in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “I remember concerning you the lovingkindness of your youth, The love of your betrothals, Your walking after Me in the wilderness, Through a land not sown. “Israel was holy to Yahweh, The first of His produce. All who ate of it became guilty; Evil came upon them,” declares Yahweh.’” Hear the word of Yahweh, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says Yahweh, “What injustice did your fathers find in Me, That they went far from Me And walked after vanity and became vain? “They did not say, ‘Where is Yahweh Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness, Through a land of deserts and of pits, Through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, Through a land that no one crossed And where no man inhabited?’ “I brought you into the fruitful land To eat its fruit and its good things. But you came and defiled My land, And My inheritance you made an abomination. “The priests did not say, ‘Where is Yahweh?’ And those who handle the law did not know Me; The shepherds also transgressed against Me, And the prophets prophesied by Baal And walked after things that did not profit. “Therefore I will yet contend with you,” declares Yahweh, “And with your sons’ sons I will contend. “For cross to the coastlands of Kittim and see, And send to Kedar and perceive closely And see if there has been such a thing as this! “Has a nation changed gods Though they were not gods? But My people have changed their glory For that which does not profit. “Be appalled, O heavens, at this, And be horribly afraid, be very devastated,” declares Yahweh. “For My people have done two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water. “Is Israel a slave? Or is he a homeborn slave? Why has he become plunder? “The young lions have roared at him; They have given forth their voice. And they have made his land a desolation; His cities have been turned into ruin, without inhabitant. “Also the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes Have shaved the top of your head. “Have you not done this to yourself By your forsaking Yahweh your God When He led you in the way? “But now what are you doing on the road to Egypt, To drink the waters of the Nile? Or what are you doing on the road to Assyria, To drink the waters of the River? “Your own evil will chastise you, And your acts of faithlessness will reprove you; Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter For you to forsake Yahweh your God, And the dread of Me is not in you,” declares Lord Yahweh of hosts. “For long ago I broke your yoke And tore off your bonds; But you said, ‘I will not serve!’ For on every high hill And under every green tree You have lain down as a harlot. “Yet I planted you a choice vine, A completely true seed. How then have you turned yourself before Me Into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine? “Although you wash yourself with lye And use much soap, The stain of your iniquity is before Me,” declares Lord Yahweh. “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not walked after the Baals’? Look at your way in the valley! Know what you have done! You are a swift young camel entangling her ways, A wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness, That sniffs the wind in her passion. In the time of her heat who can turn her away? All who seek her will not become weary; In her month they will find her. “Keep your feet from being barefoot And your throat from thirst; But you said, ‘It is hopeless! No! For I have loved strangers, And after them I will walk.’ “As the thief is shamed when he is found, So the house of Israel is shamed; They, their kings, their princes, And their priests and their prophets, Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ And to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their back to Me And not their face; But in the time when their evil comes they will say, ‘Arise and save us.’ “But where are your gods Which you made for yourself? Let them arise, if they can save you In the time when your evil comes; For according to the number of your cities Are your gods, O Judah. “Why do you contend with Me? You have all transgressed against Me,” declares Yahweh. “In vain I have struck your sons; They received no discipline. Your sword has devoured your prophets Like a destroying lion. “O generation, behold the word of Yahweh. Have I been a wilderness to Israel Or a land of thick darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam; We will no longer come to You’? “Can a virgin forget her ornaments, Or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me Days without number. “How well you prepare your way To seek love! Therefore even the wicked women You have taught your ways. “Also on your skirts is found The lifeblood of the innocent needy; You did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things, Yet you said, ‘I am innocent; Surely His anger is turned away from me.’ Behold, I will enter into judgment with you Because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’ “Why do you despise Him so much In changing your way? Also, you will be put to shame by Egypt As you were put to shame by Assyria. “From this place also you will go out With your hands on your head; For Yahweh has rejected those in whom you trust, And you will not succeed with them.”

~~~~~~3~~~~~ ~~~~~~3~~~~~ ~~~~~~3~~~~~ ~~~~~~3~~~~~ ~~~~~~3~~~~~ God says, “If a husband divorces his wife And she goes from him And belongs to another man, Will he still return to her? Will not that land be completely polluted? But you are a harlot with many lovers; Yet you turn to Me,” declares Yahweh. “Lift up your eyes to the bare heights and see; Where have you not been ravished? By the roads you have sat for them Like an Arab in the wilderness, And you have polluted a land With your harlotry and with your evil. “Therefore the showers have been withheld, And the late rain has not come. Yet you had a harlot’s forehead; You refused to feel dishonor. “Have you not just now called to Me, ‘My Father, You are the close companion of my youth? ‘Will He be angry forever? Will He keep it to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken And have done evil things, And you have had your way.” Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there. “I said, ‘After she has done all these things, she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. “And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also. “So it was, because of the lightness of her harlotry, that she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. “Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in lying,” declares Yahweh. And Yahweh said to me, “Faithless Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. “Go and call out these words toward the north and say, ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares Yahweh; ‘I will not look upon you in anger. For I am One of lovingkindness,’ declares Yahweh; ‘I will not be angry forever. ‘Only acknowledge your iniquity, That you have transgressed against Yahweh your God And have scattered your ways of harlotry to the strangers under every green tree, And you have not listened to My voice,’ declares Yahweh. ‘Return, O faithless sons,’ declares Yahweh; ‘For I am a master to you, And I will take you one from a city and two from a family, And I will bring you to Zion.’ “Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will shepherd you on knowledge and understanding. “It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and fruitful in the land,” declares Yahweh, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of Yahweh.’ And it will not come upon the heart, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again. “At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of Yahweh,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of Yahweh; nor will they walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart. “In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance. “Then I said, ‘How I would set you among My sons And give you a pleasant land, The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’ And I said, ‘You shall call Me, “My Father,” And not turn away from following Me.’ “Surely, as a woman treacherously departs from her lover, So you have dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel,” declares Yahweh. A voice is heard on the bare heights, The weeping and the supplications of the sons of Israel; Because they have perverted their way, They have forgotten Yahweh their God. “Return, O faithless sons; I will heal your faithlessness.” “Behold, we come to You, For You are Yahweh our God. “Surely, the hills are a lie, A tumult on the mountains. Surely in Yahweh our God Is the salvation of Israel. “But the shameful thing has devoured the labor of our fathers since our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. “Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us; for we have sinned against Yahweh our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. And we have not listened to the voice of Yahweh our God.”

~~~~~~4~~~~~ ~~~~~~4~~~~~ ~~~~~~4~~~~~ ~~~~~~4~~~~~ ~~~~~~4~~~~~ “If you will return, O Israel,” declares Yahweh, “Then you should return to Me. And if you will put away your detested things from My presence And will not waver And you will swear, ‘As Yahweh lives,’ In truth, in justice, and in righteousness; Then the nations will be blessed in Him, And in Him they will boast.” For thus says Yahweh to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, “Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns. “Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh And remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Lest My wrath go forth like fire And burn with none to quench it Because of the evil of your deeds.” Declare in Judah and make it heard in Jerusalem and say, “Blow the trumpet in the land; Call out, make your voice full, and say, ‘Gather yourselves, and let us go Into the fortified cities.’ “Lift up a standard toward Zion! Seek safety, do not stand still, For I am bringing evil from the north, And great destruction. “A lion has gone up from his thicket, And a destroyer of nations has set out; He has gone out from his place To make your land a desolation. Your cities will be turned into ruins Without inhabitant. “For this, I gird myself with sackcloth, Lament and wail; For the burning anger of Yahweh Has not turned back from us.” “It will be in that day,” declares Yahweh, “that the heart of the king and the heart of the princes will perish; and the priests will be appalled, and the prophets will be astonished.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Surely You have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace’; whereas a sword touches the throat.” In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A scorching wind from the bare heights in the wilderness along the way of the daughter of My people—not to winnow and not to cleanse, a wind too full for these things—will come for My purpose; now I will also speak judgments against them. “Behold, he goes up like clouds, And his chariots like the whirlwind; His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are devastated!” Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem, That you may be saved. How long will your wicked thoughts Lodge within you? For a voice declares from Dan, And makes wickedness heard from Mount Ephraim. “Make mention of it to the nations, saying, ‘Behold!’ Make it heard over Jerusalem, ‘Besiegers come from a far country, And give forth their voices against the cities of Judah. ‘Like watchmen of a field they are against her round about Because she has rebelled against Me,’ declares Yahweh. “Your ways and your deeds Have done these things to you. This is your evil. How bitter! How it has touched your heart!” My soul, my soul! I am in anguish! Oh, my heart! My heart is pounding in me; I cannot be silent Because you have heard, O my soul, The sound of the trumpet, The shout of war. Destruction upon destruction is called out, For the whole land is devastated; Suddenly my tents are devastated, My curtains in an instant. How long must I see the standard And hear the sound of the trumpet? “For My people are ignorant fools, They know Me not; They are simpleminded children And have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, But to do good they do not know.” I saw on the earth, and behold, it was formless and void; And to the heavens, and they had no light. I saw on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, And all the hills moved to and fro. I saw, and behold, there was no man, And all the birds of the sky had fled. I saw, and behold, the fruitful orchard was a wilderness, And all its cities were torn down Before Yahweh, before His burning anger. For thus says Yahweh, “The whole land shall be a desolation, Yet I will not execute a complete destruction. “For this the earth shall mourn And the heavens above be dark Because I have spoken; I have purposed, And I will not relent, nor will I turn from it.” At the sound of the horseman and bowman every city flees; They go into the thickets and climb up among the rocks; Every city is forsaken, And no man inhabits them. And you, O devastated one, what will you do? Although you dress in scarlet, Although you decorate yourself with ornaments of gold, Although you enlarge your eyes with paint, In vain you make yourself beautiful. Your lovers despise you; They seek your life. For I heard a sound as of a woman in labor pains, The distress as of one giving birth to her first child, The sound of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath, Stretching out her hands, saying, “Ah, woe is me, for my soul faints before murderers.”

~~~~~~5~~~~~ ~~~~~~5~~~~~ ~~~~~~5~~~~~ ~~~~~~5~~~~~ ~~~~~~5~~~~~ “Roam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, And see now and know, And seek in her open squares, If you can find a man, If there is one who does justice, who seeks faithfulness, Then I will pardon her. “And if they say, ‘As Yahweh lives,’ Then they swear to a lie.” O Yahweh, do not Your eyes look for faithfulness? You have struck them, But they did not weaken; You have consumed them, But they refused to receive discipline. They have made their faces stronger than rock; They have refused to repent. Then I said, “They are only the poor; They are foolish; For they do not know the way of Yahweh Or the legal judgment of their God. “Let me go to the great And let me speak to them, For they know the way of Yahweh And the legal judgment of their God.” But they too, altogether, have broken the yoke And torn apart the bonds. Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down; A wolf of the deserts will devastate them; A leopard is watching their cities. Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in pieces Because their transgressions are many; Their acts of faithlessness are mighty. “Why should I pardon you? Your sons have forsaken Me And sworn by those who are not gods. I had satisfied them to the full, Then they committed adultery And trooped to the harlot’s house. “They were well-fed lusty horses, Each one neighing after his neighbor’s wife. “Shall I not punish these people,” declares Yahweh, “And on a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself? “Go up through her vine rows and make them a ruin, But do not make a complete destruction; Remove her branches, For they are not Yahweh’s. “For the house of Israel and the house of Judah Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” declares Yahweh. They have dealt falsely about Yahweh And said, “Not He; Calamity will not come on us, And we will not see sword or famine. “The prophets are as wind, And the word is not in them. Thus it will be done to them!” Therefore, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, “Because you have spoken this word, Behold, I am making My words in your mouth fire And this people wood, and it will devour them. “Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel,” declares Yahweh. “It is an enduring nation; It is an ancient nation, A nation whose tongue you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say. “Their quiver is like an open grave; All of them are mighty men. “They will devour your harvest and your food; They will devour your sons and your daughters; They will devour your flocks and your herds; They will devour your vines and your fig trees; They will demolish with the sword your fortified cities in which you trust. “Yet even in those days,” declares Yahweh, “I will not make you a complete destruction. “It shall come about when they say, ‘Why has Yahweh our God done all these things to us?’ then you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’ “Declare this in the house of Jacob And cause it to be heard in Judah, saying, ‘Now hear this, O people who are simpleminded fools and without a heart of wisdom, Who have eyes but do not see, Who have ears but do not hear. ‘Do you not fear Me?’ declares Yahweh. ‘Do you not tremble in My presence? For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, A perpetual statute, so it cannot cross over it. Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail; Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it. ‘But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; They have turned aside and gone away. ‘They do not say in their heart, “Let us now fear Yahweh our God, Who gives rain in its season, Both the early rain and the late rain, Who keeps for us The appointed weeks of the harvest.” ‘Your iniquities have turned these away, And your sins have withheld good from you. ‘For wicked men are found among My people; They watch like fowlers lying in wait; They set a trap; They catch men. ‘Like a cage full of birds, So their houses are full of deceit; Therefore they have become great and rich. ‘They are fat, they are sleek; They also excel in deeds of evil; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the orphan, that they may succeed; And they do not render justice for the poor. ‘Shall I not punish these people?’ declares Yahweh, ‘On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself?’ “A horrible and appalling thing Has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy with lying, And the priests have dominion by their own hand; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?

~~~~~~6~~~~~ ~~~~~~6~~~~~ ~~~~~~6~~~~~ ~~~~~~6~~~~~ ~~~~~~6~~~~~ “Flee for safety, O sons of Benjamin, From the midst of Jerusalem! Now blow a trumpet in Tekoa And raise a signal over Beth-haccerem, For evil looks down from the north, As well as great destruction. “The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, I will ruin. “Shepherds and their flocks will come to her; They will pitch their tents around her; They will pasture each in his place. “Set yourselves apart for war against her; Arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us, for the day declines, For the shadows of the evening stretch out! “Arise, and let us go up by night And destroy her palaces!” For thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Cut down her trees And cast up a siege against Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished, In whose midst there is only oppression. “Like a well keeps its waters fresh, So she keeps fresh her evil. Violence and devastation are heard in her; Sickness and wounds are continually before Me. “Heed discipline, O Jerusalem, Lest My soul become disgusted at you, Lest I make you a desolation, A land not inhabited.” Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “They will thoroughly glean as the vine the remnant of Israel; Pass your hand again like a grape gatherer Over the branches.” To whom shall I speak and give warning That they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, And they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of Yahweh has become a reproach to them; They have no delight in it. But I am full of the wrath of Yahweh; I am weary of holding it in. “Pour it out on the infants in the street And on the gathering of choice men together; For both husband and wife shall be captured, The aged with the one full of days. “Their houses shall be turned over to others, Their fields and their wives together, For I will stretch out My hand Against the inhabitants of the land,” declares Yahweh. “For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is greedy for gain, And from the prophet even to the priest Everyone practices lying. “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace. “Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to feel dishonor. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down,” says Yahweh. Thus says Yahweh, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ “And I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not give heed.’ “Therefore hear, O nations, And know, O congregation, what is among them. “Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing evil on this people, The fruit of their plans, Because they have not given heed to My words, And as for My law, they have rejected it also. “For what purpose does frankincense come to Me from Sheba And the sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me.” Therefore, thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am laying stumbling blocks before this people. And they will stumble against them, Fathers and sons together; Neighbor and friend will perish.” Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, a people is coming from the land of the north, And a great nation will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth. “They take hold of bow and spear; They are cruel and have no compassion; Their voice roars like the sea, And they ride on horses, Arranged as a man for the battle Against you, O daughter of Zion!” We have heard the report of it; Our hands are limp. Distress has taken hold of us, Pain as of a woman in childbirth. Do not go out into the field And do not walk on the road, For the enemy has a sword; Terror is on every side. O daughter of my people, gird yourself with sackcloth And roll in ashes; Mourn as for an only son, A lamentation most bitter. For suddenly the destroyer Will come upon us. “I have made you a tester of metals and an assayer among My people, That you may know and test their way.” All of them are rebelliously stubborn, Going about as a slanderer. They are bronze and iron; They, all of them, are corrupt. The bellows blow fiercely; The lead is consumed by the fire; In vain the refining goes on, But the evil ones are not separated. They call them rejected silver Because Yahweh has rejected them.

~~~~~~7~~~~~ ~~~~~~7~~~~~ ~~~~~~7~~~~~ ~~~~~~7~~~~~ ~~~~~~7~~~~~ The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, “Stand in the gate of the house of Yahweh, and you shall call out there this word, and you shall say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, all you of Judah, who enter by these gates to worship Yahweh!’” Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Make your ways and your deeds good, and I will let you dwell in this place. “Do not trust in lying words, saying, ‘This is the temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh.’ “For if you truly make your ways and your deeds good, if you truly do justice between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own evil demise, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. “Behold, you are trusting in lying words to no avail. “Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear while lying, and burn incense to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known, then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—that you may do all these abominations? “Has this house, which is called by My name, become a robbers’ den in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” declares Yahweh. “But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at the first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of My people Israel. “And now, because you have done all these works,” declares Yahweh, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you but you did not answer, therefore, I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. “I will cast you out of My presence, as I have cast out all your brothers, all the seed of Ephraim. “As for you, do not pray for this people and do not lift up a cry of lamentation or prayer for them and do not intercede with Me, for I am not hearing you. “Are you not seeing what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? “The children gather wood, and the fathers make the fire burn, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to provoke Me. “Do they provoke Me?” declares Yahweh. “Is it not themselves they provoke to the shame of their own face?” Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, My anger and My wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and on beast and on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and not be quenched.” Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat flesh. “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 and sacrifices. “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Listen to My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in the entire way which I command you, that it may be well with you.’ “Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart and went backward and not forward. “Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My slaves the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them. “Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck; they did more evil than their fathers. “You shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you; and you shall call to them, but they will not answer you. “You shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not listen to the voice of Yahweh their God or receive discipline; truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth. ‘Cut off your hair and cast it away, And lift up a funeral lamentation on the bare heights; For Yahweh has rejected and abandoned The generation of His wrath.’ “For the sons of Judah have done that which is evil in My sight,” declares Yahweh, “they have set their detestable things in the house, which is called by My name, to defile it. “They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come upon My heart. “Therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when it will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of the Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place. “The dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth; and no one will frighten them away. “Then I will make to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land will become a waste place.

~~~~~~8~~~~~ ~~~~~~8~~~~~ ~~~~~~8~~~~~ ~~~~~~8~~~~~ ~~~~~~8~~~~~ “At that time,” declares Yahweh, “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 from their graves. “And they will spread them out to the sun, the moon, and to all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served, and which they have walked after and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered or buried; they will be as dung on the face of the ground. “And death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family, that remains in all the places to which I have banished them,” declares Yahweh of hosts. “You shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Do men fall and not get up again? Does one turn away and not turn back? “Why then has this people, Jerusalem, Turned away in continual faithlessness? They hold fast to deceit; They refuse to return. “I have given heed and heard, They have spoken what is not right; No man regretted his evil, Saying, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone turned to his course, Like a horse charging into the battle. “Even the stork in the sky Knows her seasons; And the turtledove and the swift and the crane Keep the time of their migration; But My people do not know The legal judgment of Yahweh. “How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of Yahweh is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes Has made it into a lie. “The wise men are put to shame; They are dismayed and captured; Behold, they have rejected the word of Yahweh, And what kind of wisdom do they have? “Therefore I will give their wives to others, Their fields to new possessors, Because from the least even to the greatest Everyone is greedy for gain; From the prophet even to the priest Everyone practices lying. “They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace. “Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done? They certainly were not ashamed, And they did not know how to feel dishonor; Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time of their punishment they shall be brought down,” Says Yahweh. “I will surely gather them up,” declares Yahweh; “There will be no grapes on the vine And no figs on the fig tree, And the leaf will wither; And what I have given them will pass away.” ’ ” Why are we sitting still? Gather yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities And let us be silent there Because Yahweh our God has silenced us And given us poisoned water to drink, For we have sinned against Yahweh. We waited for peace, but there was no good; For a time of healing, but behold, terror! From Dan is heard the snorting of his horses; At the sound of the neighing of his valiant steeds The whole land quakes; And they come and devour the land as well as its fullness, The city and its inhabitants. “For behold, I am sending serpents against you, Vipers, for which there is no charm, And they will bite you,” declares Yahweh. My sorrow is beyond healing; My heart is faint within me! Behold, the sound! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land: “Is Yahweh not in Zion? Is her King not within her?” “Why have they provoked Me to anger with their graven images, with foreign idols?” “Harvest is past, summer is ended, And we are not saved.” For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken; I mourn, desolation has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people gone up?

~~~~~~9~~~~~ ~~~~~~9~~~~~ ~~~~~~9~~~~~ ~~~~~~9~~~~~ ~~~~~~9~~~~~ Oh that my head were waters And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people! Oh that I had in the desert A travelers’ lodging place, That I might leave my people And go from them! For all of them are adulterers, A solemn assembly of treacherous men. “They bend their tongue like their bow; Lies and unfaithfulness prevail in the land, For they go onward from evil to evil, And they do not know Me,” declares Yahweh. “Let everyone beware of his neighbor, And do not trust any brother, Because every brother surely supplants, And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. “Everyone deceives his neighbor And does not speak the truth; They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves committing iniquity. “Your habitation is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares Yahweh. Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Behold, I will refine them and test them; For what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people? “Their tongue is a slaughtering arrow; It speaks deceit; With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor, But inwardly he sets an ambush for him. “Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares Yahweh. “On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself? “For the mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing, And for the pastures of the wilderness a funeral lamentation, Because they are turned into ruin so that no one passes through, And the lowing of the cattle is not heard; Both the birds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone. “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, A haunt of jackals; And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.” Who is the wise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of Yahweh has spoken, that he may declare it? Why has the land perished, turned into ruin like a desert, so that no one passes through? Yahweh said, “Because they have forsaken My law, which I set before them, and have not listened to My voice nor walked according to it, but have walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them,” therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink. “I will scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them until I have consumed them.” Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Carefully consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come; And send for the skillful women, that they may come! “Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, That our eyes may shed tears And our eyelids flow with water. “For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion, ‘How we are destroyed! We are put to great shame, For we have left the land Because they have cast down our dwellings.’” Indeed, hear the word of Yahweh, O you women, And let your ear receive the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters wailing, And everyone her neighbor a funeral lamentation. For death has come up through our windows; It has entered our palaces To cut off the infants from the streets, The choice men from the open squares. Speak, “Thus declares Yahweh, ‘The corpses of men will fall like dung on the open field And like the sheaf after the reaper, But no one will gather them.’” Thus says Yahweh, “Let not a wise man boast in his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast in his might; let not a rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am Yahweh who shows lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares Yahweh. “Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised— Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and all those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.”

~~~~~~10~~~~~ ~~~~~~10~~~~~ ~~~~~~10~~~~~ ~~~~~~10~~~~~ ~~~~~~10~~~~~ Hear the word which Yahweh speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says Yahweh, “Do not learn the way of the nations, And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens Although the nations are terrified by them; For the statutes of the peoples are vanity Because it is wood cut from the forest, The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool. “They make it beautiful with silver and with gold; They strengthen it with nails and with hammers So that it will not totter. “Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they, And they cannot speak; They must be carried Because they cannot take a step! Do not fear them, For they can do no harm, Nor can they do any good.” There is none like You, O Yahweh; You are great, and great is Your name in might. Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? Indeed it is Your due! For among all the wise men of the nations And in all their kingdoms, There is none like You. But they are altogether senseless and foolish; They are in a discipline of vanities—it is mere wood! Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, And gold from Uphaz, The work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith; Blue and purple are their clothing; They are all the work of wise craftsmen. But Yahweh is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, And the nations cannot endure His indignation. Thus you shall say to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.” It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom; And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens. When He gives forth His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, And He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain, And brings out the wind from His storehouses. Every man is senseless, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven images; For his molten images are a lie, And there is no breath in them. They are vanity, a work of mockery; In the time of their punishment they will perish. The portion of Jacob is not like these; For the Maker of all is He, And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; Yahweh of hosts is His name. Gather up your bundle from the ground, You who inhabit a land under siege! For thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land At this time, And will cause them distress, That they may find it.” Woe is me, because of my injury! My wound is desperately sick. But I said, “Truly this is a sickness, And I must bear it.” My tent is destroyed, And all my ropes are torn out; My sons have gone from me and are no more. There is no one to stretch out my tent again Or to set up my curtains. For the shepherds have become senseless And have not sought Yahweh; Therefore they have not prospered, And all their flock is scattered. The sound of a report! Behold, it comes— A great quaking out of the land of the north— To make the cities of Judah A desolation, a haunt of jackals. I know, O Yahweh, that a man’s way is not in himself, Nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps. Discipline me, O Yahweh, but with justice; Not with Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing. Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know You And on the families that do not call Your name, For they have devoured Jacob; They have devoured him and consumed him And have made desolate his abode.

~~~~~~11~~~~~ ~~~~~~11~~~~~ ~~~~~~11~~~~~ ~~~~~~11~~~~~ ~~~~~~11~~~~~ The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, “Hear the words of this covenant, and you shall speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “Cursed is the man who does not hear the words of this covenant which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Listen to My voice, and do according to all which I command you; so you shall be My people, and I will be your God,’ in order to establish the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.” ’ ” Then I answered and said, “Amen, O Yahweh.” And Yahweh said to me, “Call out all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Hear the words of this covenant so that you will do them. ‘For I solemnly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, rising up early and warning, saying, “Listen to My voice.” ‘Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but walked, each one, in the stubbornness of his evil heart; therefore I brought on them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.’” Then Yahweh said to me, “A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. “They have turned back to the iniquities of their ancestors who refused to hear My words, and they have walked after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I cut with their fathers.” Therefore thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am bringing calamity on them which they will not be able to get out of; and they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them. “Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them in the time of their calamity. “For your gods are the number of your cities, O Judah; and the number of the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal. “But as for you, do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry of lamentation or prayer for them; for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their calamity. “What possession has My beloved in My house When she has done many schemes of wickedness? Can the flesh, which is set apart as holy, take away from you your calamity, So that you can exult?” Yahweh called your name, “A green olive tree, beautiful in fruit and form”; With the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire on it, And its foliage has an evil demise. Yahweh of hosts, who planted you, has spoken forth evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me to anger by burning incense to Baal. Moreover, Yahweh made it known to me, and I knew it; Then You showed me their deeds. But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; And I did not know that they had devised thoughts against me, saying, “Let us make the tree with its fruit a ruin, And let us cut him off from the land of the living, That his name be remembered no more.” But, O Yahweh of hosts, who judges righteously, Who tests the insides and the heart, Let me see Your vengeance on them, For to You have I revealed my case. Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of Yahweh, so that you will not die at our hand”; therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Behold, I am about to punish them! The choice men will die by the sword; their sons and daughters will die by famine; and a remnant will not be left to them, for I will bring calamity on the men of Anathoth—the year of their punishment.”

~~~~~~12~~~~~ ~~~~~~12~~~~~ ~~~~~~12~~~~~ ~~~~~~12~~~~~ ~~~~~~12~~~~~ Righteous are You, O Yahweh, when I would plead my case with You; Indeed I would speak matters of justice with You: Why has the way of the wicked succeeded? Why are all those who deal in treachery complacent? You have planted them; they have also taken root; They grow; they have even produced fruit. You are near to their lips But far from their inmost being. But You, O Yahweh, You know me; You see me; And You test my heart’s attitude toward You. Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter And set them apart for a day of carnage! How long is the land to mourn And the plants of every field to dry up? Because of the evil of those who inhabit it, Animals and birds have been swept away, Because men have said, “He will not see our latter ending.” “If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out, Then how can you compete with horses? If you fall down in a land of peace, How will you do in the thicket of the Jordan? “For even your brothers and the household of your father, Even they have dealt treacherously with you, Even they have called aloud after you. Do not believe them, although they may say nice things to you.” “I have forsaken My house; I have abandoned My inheritance; I have given the beloved of My soul Into the hand of her enemies. “My inheritance has become to Me Like a lion in the forest; She has given forth its voice against Me; Therefore I have come to hate her. “Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me? Are the birds of prey against her on every side? Go, gather all the beasts of the field, Bring them to devour! “Many shepherds have ruined My vineyard; They have trampled down My portion; They have made My desired portion A desolate wilderness. “It has been made a desolation; Desolate, it mourns before Me; The whole land has been made desolate Because no man sets it upon his heart. “On all the bare heights in the wilderness Destroyers have come, For a sword of Yahweh is devouring From one end of the land even to the other; There is no peace for any flesh. “They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns; They have strained themselves to no profit. But be ashamed of your produce Because of the burning anger of Yahweh.” Thus says Yahweh concerning all My evil neighbors who beat at the inheritance with which I have caused My people Israel to inherit, “Behold, I am about to uproot them from their land and will uproot the house of Judah from among them. “And it will come about that after I have uprooted them, I will return and have compassion on them; and I will cause them to return, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land. “Then if they will really learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, ‘As Yahweh lives,’ even as they taught My people to swear by Baal, they will be built up in the midst of My people. “But if they will not listen, then I will uproot that nation, uproot and make it perish,” declares Yahweh.

~~~~~~13~~~~~ ~~~~~~13~~~~~ ~~~~~~13~~~~~ ~~~~~~13~~~~~ ~~~~~~13~~~~~ Thus Yahweh said to me, “Go and buy yourself a linen belt and put it around your loins, but do not put it in water.” So I bought the belt in accordance with the word of Yahweh and put it around my loins. Then the word of Yahweh came to me a second time, saying, “Take the belt that you have bought, which is around your loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a crevice of the rock.” So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as Yahweh had commanded me. Now it happened that after many days Yahweh said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates and take from there the belt which I commanded you to hide there.” Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the belt from the place where I had hidden it; and behold, the belt was ruined; it was totally worthless. Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Just so will I ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. ‘This evil people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have walked after other gods to serve them and to worship them, let them be just like this belt which is totally worthless. ‘For as the belt clings to the loins of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to Me,’ declares Yahweh, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for a name, for praise, and for beauty; but they did not listen.’ “Therefore you are to say this word to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “Every jug is to be filled with wine.” ’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not very well know that every jug is to be filled with wine?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land—the kings that sit for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness! “I will shatter them against each other, both the fathers and the sons together,” declares Yahweh. “I will not spare nor show pity nor have compassion so as not to ruin them.” ’ ” Listen and give ear, do not be haughty, For Yahweh has spoken. Give glory to Yahweh your God, Before He brings darkness And before your feet stumble On the dusky mountains; And while you are hoping for light, He makes it into the shadow of death And turns it into dense gloom. But if you will not listen to it, My soul will cry in secret for such pride; And my eyes will bitterly weep And flow down with tears Because the flock of Yahweh has been taken captive. Say to the king and the queen mother, “Take a lowly seat, For your beautiful crown Has come down from your head.” The cities of the Negev have been closed up, And there is no one to open them; All Judah has been taken away into exile, Wholly taken away into exile. “Lift up your eyes and see Those coming from the north. Where is the flock that was given you, Your beautiful sheep? “What will you say when He appoints over you— And you yourself had taught them— Former companions to be head over you? Will not pangs seize you Like a woman in childbirth? “If you say in your heart, ‘Why have these things happened to me?’ Because of the magnitude of your iniquity Your skirts have been uncovered And your heels have suffered violence. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin Or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good Who are accustomed to doing evil. “Therefore I will scatter them like chaff passing away Into the wilderness wind. “This is your lot, the portion measured to you From Me,” declares Yahweh, “Because you have forgotten Me And trusted in lies. “So I Myself have also stripped your skirts off over your face, That your disgrace may be seen. “As for your adulteries and your lustful neighings, The lewdness of your prostitution On the hills in the field, I have seen your detestable things. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will you not cleanse yourself?”

~~~~~~14~~~~~ ~~~~~~14~~~~~ ~~~~~~14~~~~~ ~~~~~~14~~~~~ ~~~~~~14~~~~~ That which came as the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah in regard to the drought: “Judah mourns, And her gates languish; They sit on the ground in mourning, And the outcry of Jerusalem has gone up. “Their mighty ones have sent their underlings for water; They have come to the trenches and found no water. They have returned with their vessels empty; They have been put to shame and dishonored, And they cover their heads. “Because the ground is dismayed, For there has been no rain on the land, The farmers have been put to shame; They have covered their heads. “For even the doe in the field has given birth only to forsake her young Because there is no grass. “The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights; They pant for air like jackals; Their eyes fail For there is no vegetation. “Although our iniquities answer against us, O Yahweh, act for Your name’s sake! Truly our acts of faithlessness have been many; We have sinned against You. “O Hope of Israel, Its Savior in time of distress, Why are You like a sojourner in the land Or like a traveler who has pitched his tent to lodge for the night? “Why are You like a man confused, Like a mighty man who cannot save? Yet You are in our midst, O Yahweh, And we are called by Your name; Do not leave us!” Thus says Yahweh to this people, “Even so they have loved to wander; they have not kept their feet in check. Therefore Yahweh does not accept them; now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins.” So Yahweh said to me, “Do not pray for the good of this people. “When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to make an end of them by the sword, famine, and pestilence.” But, “Ah, Lord Yahweh!” I said, “Behold, the prophets are saying to them, ‘You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you true peace in this place.’” Then Yahweh said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a vision of lies, divination, futility, and the deception of their own hearts. “Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, although it was not I who sent them—yet they keep saying, ‘There will be no sword or famine in this land’—by that sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end! “The people also to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to bury them—neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters—for I will pour out their own evil on them. “And you will say this word to them, ‘Let my eyes flow down with tears night and day, And let them not cease, For the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered with a mighty shattering, With a sorely sick wound. ‘If I go out to the field, Behold, those slain with the sword! Or if I enter the city, Behold, diseases of famine! For both prophet and priest Have gone around as merchants in the land that they do not know.’” Have You completely rejected Judah? Or have You loathed Zion? Why have You stricken us so that there is no healing for us? We hoped for peace, but there was no good; And for a time of healing, but behold, terror! We know our wickedness, O Yahweh, The iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against You. Do not despise us, for Your own name’s sake; Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory; Remember and do not break Your covenant with us. Are there any among the idols of the nations who give rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Is it not You, O Yahweh our God? Therefore we hope in You, For You are the one who has done all these things.

~~~~~~15~~~~~ ~~~~~~15~~~~~ ~~~~~~15~~~~~ ~~~~~~15~~~~~ ~~~~~~15~~~~~ Then Yahweh said to me, “Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My soul would not be with this people; send them away from My presence and let them go! “And it will be that when they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you are to tell them, ‘Thus says Yahweh: “Those destined for death, to death; And those destined for the sword, to the sword; And those destined for famine, to famine; And those destined for captivity, to captivity.” ’ “I will appoint over them four kinds of doom,” declares Yahweh: “the sword to kill, the dogs to drag off, and the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth to devour and bring to ruin. “I will give them over to be an example of terror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem. “Indeed, who will spare you, O Jerusalem, Or who will console you, Or who will turn aside to ask about your well-being? “You who have abandoned Me,” declares Yahweh, “You keep going backward. So I will stretch out My hand against you and bring you to ruin; I am tired of relenting! “And I will winnow them with a winnowing fork At the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children; I will make My people perish; They did not repent of their ways. “Their widows will be more numerous before Me Than the sand of the seas; I will bring against them, against the mother of a choice man, A destroyer at noonday; I will suddenly bring down on her Anguish and terror. “She who bore seven sons languishes; Her breathing is labored. Her sun has set while it was yet day; She has been shamed and humiliated. So I will give over their survivors to the sword Before their enemies,” declares Yahweh. Woe 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, nor have men lent money to me, Yet everyone curses me. Yahweh said, “Surely I will set you free for purposes of good; Surely I will cause the enemy to intercede with you In a time of disaster and a time of distress. “Can anyone smash iron, Iron from the north, or bronze? “Your wealth and your treasures I will give for plunder without cost, Even for all your sins And within all your borders. “Then I will cause your enemies to pass it over Into a land you do not know, For a fire has been kindled in My anger; It will burn upon you.” You who know, O Yahweh, Remember me, take notice of me, And take vengeance for me on my persecutors. Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away; Know that for Your sake I endure reproach. Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your words became for me joy and gladness in my heart, For I have been called by Your name, O Yahweh God of hosts. I did not sit in the circle of merrymakers, Nor did I exult. Because of Your hand upon me I sat alone, For You filled me with indignation. Why has my pain been perpetual And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will You indeed be to me like a deceptive stream With water that is unreliable? Therefore thus says Yahweh, “If you return, then I will cause you to return— Before Me you will stand; And if you extract the precious from the worthless, You will become My mouthpiece. They for their part may turn to you, But as for you, you must not turn to them. “Then I will make you to this people A fortified wall of bronze; And they will fight against you, But they will not prevail against you, For I am with you to save you And deliver you,” declares Yahweh. “So I will deliver you from the hand of the evil ones, And I will redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless ones.”

~~~~~~16~~~~~ ~~~~~~16~~~~~ ~~~~~~16~~~~~ ~~~~~~16~~~~~ ~~~~~~16~~~~~ The word of Yahweh also came to me saying, “You shall not take a wife for yourself nor have sons or daughters in this place.” For thus says Yahweh concerning the sons and daughters born in this place and concerning their mothers who bear them and their fathers who beget them in this land: “They will die of deadly diseases; they will not be lamented or buried; they will be as dung on the surface of the ground and come to an end by sword and famine, and their carcasses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth.” For thus says Yahweh, “Do not enter the house of the funeral meal, or go to lament or to console them; for I have withdrawn My peace from this people,” declares Yahweh, “My lovingkindness and compassion. “Both great men and small will die in this land; they will not be buried; they will not be lamented, nor will anyone gash himself or shave his head for them. “Men will not break bread in mourning for them, to comfort anyone for the dead, nor give them a cup of comforting to drink for anyone’s father or mother. “Moreover you shall not go into a house of feasting to sit with them to eat and drink.” For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I am going to cause to cease from this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of rejoicing and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride. “Now when you tell this people all these words, they will say to you, ‘For what reason has Yahweh declared all this great calamity against us? And what is our iniquity, or what is our sin which we have committed against Yahweh our God?’ “Then you are to say to them, ‘It is because your fathers have forsaken Me,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and have walked after other gods and served them and worshiped them; but Me they have forsaken and have not kept My law. ‘You too have done evil, even more than your fathers; for behold, you are each one walking according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me. ‘So I will hurl you out of this land into the land which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers; and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will grant you no favor.’ “Therefore behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As Yahweh lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but, ‘As Yahweh lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had banished them.’ For I will return them to their own land which I gave to their fathers. “Behold, I am going to send for many fishermen,” declares Yahweh, “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 crevices of the rocks. “For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes. “I will first doubly repay their iniquity and their sin because they have profaned My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable idols and with their abominations.” O Yahweh, my strength and my strong defense, And my refuge in the day of distress, To You the nations will come From the ends of the earth and say, “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, Futility and things of no profit.” Can man make gods for himself? Yet they are not gods! “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know— This time I will make them know My power and My might; And they shall know that My name is Yahweh.”

~~~~~~17~~~~~ ~~~~~~17~~~~~ ~~~~~~17~~~~~ ~~~~~~17~~~~~ ~~~~~~17~~~~~ The sin of Judah is written down with an iron stylus; With a diamond point it is engraved upon the tablet of their heart And on the horns of their altars, As they remember their children, So they remember their altars and their Asherim By green trees on the high hills. O mountain of Mine in the countryside, I will give over your wealth and all your treasures for plunder, Your high places for sin throughout your borders. And you will, even of yourself, let go of your inheritance That I gave you; And I will make you serve your enemies In the land which you do not know, For you have kindled a fire in My anger Which will burn forever. Thus says Yahweh, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from Yahweh. “And he will be like a juniper in the desert And will not see when prosperity comes, But will dwell in stony wastes in the wilderness, A land of salt which is not inhabited. “Blessed is the man who trusts in Yahweh And whose trust is Yahweh. “And he will be like a tree planted by the water, That sends forth its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor refrain from yielding fruit. “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can know it? “I, Yahweh, search the heart; I test the inmost being, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his deeds. “As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid, So is he who makes a fortune, but unjustly; In the midst of his days it will forsake him, And in the end he will be a wicked fool.” A glorious throne on high from the beginning Is the place of our sanctuary. O Yahweh, the hope of Israel, All who forsake You will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be written down Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even Yahweh. Heal me, O Yahweh, and I will be healed; Save me and I will be saved, For You are my praise. Behold, they keep saying to me, “Where is the word of Yahweh? Let it come now!” But as for me, I have not hurried away from being a shepherd after You, Nor have I longed for the sickening day; You Yourself know that the utterance of my lips Was in Your presence. Do not be a terror to me; You are my refuge in the day of calamity. Let those who pursue me be put to shame, but as for me, let me not be put to shame; Let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed. Bring on them a day of calamity, And crush them with twofold crushing! Thus Yahweh said to me, “Go and stand in the public gate, through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, as well as in all the gates of Jerusalem, and say to them, ‘Listen to the word of Yahweh, kings of Judah and all Judah and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who come in through these gates: ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Take care of yourselves, and do not carry any load on the sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem. “You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the sabbath day nor do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. “Yet they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks in order not to listen or receive discipline. “But it will be, if you listen carefully to Me,” declares Yahweh, “to bring no load in through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but to keep the sabbath day holy by doing no work on it, then there will come in through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on 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 be inhabited forever. “And they will come in from the cities of Judah and from all around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the Shephelah, from the hill country, and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, and frankincense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of Yahweh. “But if you do not listen to Me to keep the sabbath day holy by not carrying a load and coming in through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem and not be quenched.” ’ ”

~~~~~~18~~~~~ ~~~~~~18~~~~~ ~~~~~~18~~~~~ ~~~~~~18~~~~~ ~~~~~~18~~~~~ The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh saying, “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will make you hear My words.” Then I went down to the potter’s house, and behold, he was making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was ruined in the hand of the potter, so he turned around and made it into another vessel, according to what was right in the eyes of the potter to make. Then the word of Yahweh came to me saying, “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares Yahweh. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. “At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to tear down, or to make it perish; but if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to do against it. “Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; but if it does evil in My sight by not listening to My voice, then I will relent concerning the good which I promised, to do good to it. “So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am forming calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and do good in your ways and your deeds.” ’ “But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’ “Therefore thus says Yahweh, ‘Ask now among the nations, Who ever heard the like of this? The virgin of Israel Has done a most appalling thing. ‘Does the snow of Lebanon forsake the rock of the open country? Or is the cold flowing water from a strange land ever uprooted? ‘For My people have forgotten Me; They burn incense to worthless gods, And they have stumbled from their ways, From the ancient paths, To walk in bypaths, Not on a highway, To make their land an object of horror, An object of perpetual hissing; Everyone who passes by it will be horrified And shake his head. ‘Like an east wind I will scatter them Before the enemy; I will show them My back and not My face In the day of their disaster.’” Then they said, “Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah. Surely the law is not going to perish from the priest, nor counsel to the wise man, nor the divine word to the prophet! Come on and let us strike at him with our tongue, and let us give no heed to any of his words.” Do give heed to me, O Yahweh, And listen to the voice of those who contend against me! Should good be repaid with evil? For they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You To speak good on their behalf, So as to turn away Your wrath from them. Therefore, give their children over to famine And deliver them up to the power of the sword; And let their wives become childless and widowed. Let their men also be smitten to death, Their young men struck down by the sword in battle. May an outcry be heard from their houses, When You suddenly bring raiders upon them; For they have dug a pit to capture me And hidden snares for my feet. Yet You, O Yahweh, know All their deadly counsel against me; Do not atone for their iniquity Or blot out their sin from before You. But may they be overthrown before You; Deal with them in the time of Your anger!

~~~~~~19~~~~~ ~~~~~~19~~~~~ ~~~~~~19~~~~~ ~~~~~~19~~~~~ ~~~~~~19~~~~~ Thus says Yahweh, “Go and buy a potter’s earthenware jar, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests. “Then go out to the valley of Ben-hinnom, which is by the entrance of the potsherd gate, and there call out the words that I tell you and say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to bring a calamity upon this place, at which the ears of everyone that hears of it will tingle. “Because they have forsaken Me and have made this a foreign place and have burned incense in it to other gods, that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did it ever come upon My heart, therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-hinnom, but rather the valley of Slaughter. “I will empty out the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem to the point of destruction in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I will give over their carcasses as food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth. “I will also make this city an object of horror and of hissing; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and hiss because of all its slaughtering. “I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them.” ’ “Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Just so will I break this people and this city, even as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place for burial. “This is what I will do to this place and its inhabitants,” declares Yahweh, “so as to make this city like Topheth. “And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like the place Topheth because of all the houses on whose rooftops they burned incense to all the heavenly host and poured out drink offerings to other gods.” ’ ” Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where Yahweh had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the house of Yahweh and said to all the people: “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to bring on this city and all its towns the entire calamity that I have spoken against it because they have stiffened their necks so as not to hear My words.’”

~~~~~~20~~~~~ ~~~~~~20~~~~~ ~~~~~~20~~~~~ ~~~~~~20~~~~~ ~~~~~~20~~~~~ Then Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was ruling overseer in the house of Yahweh, heard Jeremiah prophesying these words; and Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet struck and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate, which was by the house of Yahweh. Now it happened that on the next day, Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks. And Jeremiah said to him, “Pashhur is not the name Yahweh has called you, but rather Magor-missabib. “For thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am going to make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and while your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. So I will give over all Judah to the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take them away into exile to Babylon and will strike them down with the sword. ‘I will also give over all the wealth of this city, all the fruit of its labor, and all its precious things; even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give over to the hand of their enemies, and they will plunder them, take them away, and bring them to Babylon. ‘And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; and you will enter Babylon, and there you will die, and there you will be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.’” O Yahweh, You have enticed me, and I was enticed; You were stronger than I, and You prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; Everyone mocks me. For each time I speak, I cry aloud; I call out violence and devastation Because for me the word of Yahweh has resulted In reproach and derision all day long. But if I say, “I will not remember Him Or speak anymore in His name,” Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And I cannot prevail. For I have heard the bad report of many, “Terror on every side! Denounce him; yes, let us denounce him!” All my trusted friends, Keeping watch for my fall, say: “Perhaps he will be deceived, so that we may prevail against him And take our revenge on him.” But Yahweh is with me like a ruthless mighty one; Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will be utterly ashamed, because they have not prospered, With an everlasting dishonor that will not be forgotten. Yet, O Yahweh of hosts, You who test the righteous, Who see the mind and the heart; Let me see Your vengeance on them, For to You I have revealed my cause. Sing to Yahweh, praise Yahweh! For He has delivered the soul of the needy one From the hand of evildoers. Cursed be the day when I was born; Let the day not be blessed when my mother bore me! Cursed be the man who brought the good news To my father, saying, “A baby boy has been born to you!” And made him very glad. But let that man be like the cities Which Yahweh overthrew without relenting, And let him hear an outcry in the morning And a shout of war at noon, Because he did not put me to death from the womb, So that my mother would have been my grave, And her womb ever pregnant. Why did I ever come forth from the womb To look on trouble and sorrow, So that my days have been spent in shame?

~~~~~~21~~~~~ ~~~~~~21~~~~~ ~~~~~~21~~~~~ ~~~~~~21~~~~~ ~~~~~~21~~~~~ The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur, the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying, “Please inquire of Yahweh on our behalf, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is warring against us; perhaps Yahweh will deal with us according to all His wonderful acts, so that the enemy will go up from us.” Then Jeremiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to turn back the weapons of war which are in your hands, with which you are warring against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall; and I will gather them into the center of this city. “I Myself will war against you with an outstretched hand and a strong arm, even in anger and wrath and great indignation. “I will also strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great pestilence. “Then afterwards,” declares Yahweh, “I will give over Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people, even those who remain in this city from the pestilence, the sword, and 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 lives; and he will strike them down with the edge of the sword. He will not show pity on them nor spare nor have compassion.” ’ “You shall also say to this people, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. “He who inhabits this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence; but he who goes out and falls away to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as spoil. “For I have set My face against this city for evil and not for good,” declares Yahweh. “It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.” ’ “Then say to the household of the king of Judah, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, O house of David, thus says Yahweh: “Render justice every morning; And deliver the person who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor, Lest My wrath go forth like fire And burn with none to extinguish it, Because of the evil of their deeds. “Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, O rocky plain,” declares Yahweh, “You men who say, ‘Who will come down against us? Or who will enter into our dwelling places?’ “But I will punish you according to the results of your deeds,” declares Yahweh, “And I will kindle a fire in its forest That it may devour all its surroundings.” ’ ”

~~~~~~22~~~~~ ~~~~~~22~~~~~ ~~~~~~22~~~~~ ~~~~~~22~~~~~ ~~~~~~22~~~~~ Thus says Yahweh, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there you shall speak this word and say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, O king of Judah, who sits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates. ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the sojourner, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place. “For if you men will indeed do this thing, then kings will enter the gates of this house, sitting for David on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself and his servants and his people. “But if you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself,” declares Yahweh, “that this house will become a waste place.” ’ ” For thus says Yahweh concerning the house of the king of Judah: “You are like Gilead to Me, Like the summit of Lebanon; Yet most assuredly I will make you like a wilderness, Like cities which are not inhabited. “For I will set apart destroyers against you, Each with his weapons; And they will cut down your choicest cedars And throw them on the fire. “Many nations will pass by this city; and they will say to one another, ‘Why has Yahweh done thus to this great city?’ “Then they will say, ‘Because they forsook the covenant of Yahweh their God and worshiped other gods and served them.’” Do not weep for the dead or console him, But weep continually for the one who goes away, For he will never return Or see the land of his birth. For thus says Yahweh in regard to Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in the place of Josiah his father, who went forth from this place, “He will never return there; but in the place where they took him away into exile, there he will die and not see this land again. “Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness And his upper rooms without justice, Who uses his neighbor’s services without pay And does not give him his wages, Who says, ‘I will build myself a roomy house With spacious upper rooms And cut out its windows, Paneling it with cedar and painting it bright red.’ “Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink And do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. “He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; Then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me?” Declares Yahweh. “But your eyes and your heart Are set on nothing except your own greedy gain And on shedding innocent blood And on doing oppression and extortion.” Therefore thus says Yahweh in regard to Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, “They will not lament for him: ‘Alas, my brother!’ or, ‘Alas, sister!’ They will not lament for him: ‘Alas for the master!’ or, ‘Alas for his splendor!’ “He will be buried with a donkey’s burial, Dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem. “Go up to Lebanon and cry out, And lift up your voice in Bashan; Cry out also from Abarim, For all your lovers have been broken. “I spoke to you in your prosperity, But you said, ‘I will not listen!’ This has been your way from your youth, That you have not listened to My voice. “The wind will sweep away all your shepherds, And your lovers will go into captivity; Then you will surely be ashamed and feel dishonor Because of all your evil. “You who inhabit Lebanon, Nested in the cedars, How you will groan when pangs come upon you, Pain like a woman in childbirth! “As I live,” declares Yahweh, “even though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a signet ring on My right hand, yet I would pull you off; and I will give you over into the hand of those who are seeking your life, indeed, into the hand of those whom you dread, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. “I will hurl you and your mother who bore you into another land—there you were not born, but there you will die. “But as for the land to which their soul desires to return, they will not return to it. “Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered jar? Or is he an undesirable vessel? Why have he and his seed been hurled out And cast into a land that they had not known? “O land, land, land, Hear the word of Yahweh! “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Write this man down childless, A man who will not succeed in his days; For no man of his seed will succeed Sitting on the throne of David Or ruling again in Judah.’”

~~~~~~23~~~~~ ~~~~~~23~~~~~ ~~~~~~23~~~~~ ~~~~~~23~~~~~ ~~~~~~23~~~~~ “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” declares Yahweh. Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who are shepherding My people: “You have scattered My flock and banished them and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” declares Yahweh. “Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the land where I have banished them and cause them to return to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. “I will also raise up shepherds over them, and they will shepherd them; and they will not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, nor will any be left unattended,” declares Yahweh. “Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and prosper And do justice and righteousness in the land. “In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘Yahweh our righteousness.’ “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when they will no longer say, ‘As Yahweh lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ but, ‘As Yahweh lives, who brought up and brought back the seed of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the lands where I had banished them.’ Then they will live on their own soil.” As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me; All my bones tremble; I have become like a drunken man, Even like a man overcome with wine, Because of Yahweh And because of His holy words. For the land is full of adulterers; For the land mourns because of the curse. The pastures of the wilderness have dried up. Their course also is evil, And their might is not right. “For both prophet and priest are polluted; Even in My house I have found their evil,” declares Yahweh. “Therefore their way will be like slippery paths to them; They will be driven away into the thick darkness and fall down in it; For I will bring their evil upon them, The year of their punishment,” declares Yahweh. “Moreover, among the prophets of Samaria I saw an offensive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray. “Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen an appalling thing: The committing of adultery and walking in lying; And they strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one has turned back from his evil. All of them have become to Me like Sodom, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah. “Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts concerning the prophets, ‘Behold, I am going to feed them wormwood And make them drink poisoned water, For from the prophets of Jerusalem Pollution has gone forth into all the land.’” Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into vanity; They speak a vision of their own heart, Not from the mouth of Yahweh. “They keep saying to those who spurn Me, ‘Yahweh has said, “You will have peace” ’; And as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, They say, ‘Evil will not come upon you.’ “But who has stood in the council of Yahweh, That he should see and hear His word? Who has given heed to His word and heard? “Behold, the storm of Yahweh has gone forth in wrath, Even a whirling storm; It will whirl down on the head of the wicked. “The anger of Yahweh will not turn back Until He has done and established the purposes of His heart; In the last days you will clearly understand it. “I did not send these prophets, But they ran. I did not speak to them, But they prophesied. “But if they had stood in My council, Then they would have caused My words to be heard by My people And would have turned them back from their evil way And from the evil of their deeds. “Am I a God who is near,” declares Yahweh, “And not a God far off? “Can a man hide himself in hiding places So I do not see him?” declares Yahweh. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares Yahweh. “I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy a lie in My name, saying, ‘I had a dream, I had a dream!’ “How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy a lie, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart, who intend to make My people forget My name by their dreams which they recount to one another, just as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal? “The prophet who has a dream may recount his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain?” declares Yahweh. “Is not My word like fire?” declares Yahweh, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock? “Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” declares Yahweh, “who steal My words from each other. “Behold, I am against the prophets,” declares Yahweh, “who take their tongues and declare, ‘Yahweh declares.’ “Behold, I am against those who have prophesied lying dreams,” declares Yahweh, “and who recounted them and led My people astray by their lying and reckless boasting; yet I did not send them, and I did not command them, and they do not furnish this people the slightest benefit,” declares Yahweh. “Now when this people or the prophet or a priest asks you, saying, ‘What is the oracle of Yahweh?’ then you shall say to them, ‘What oracle?’ Yahweh declares, ‘I will abandon you.’ “Then as for the prophet or the priest or the people who say, ‘The oracle of Yahweh,’ I will bring punishment upon that man and his household. “Thus will each of you say to his neighbor and to his brother, ‘What has Yahweh answered?’ or, ‘What has Yahweh spoken?’ “For you will no longer remember the oracle of Yahweh because every man’s own word will become the oracle, and you have perverted the words of the living God, Yahweh of hosts, our God. “Thus you will say to that prophet, ‘What has Yahweh answered you?’ and, ‘What has Yahweh spoken?’ “For if you all say, ‘The oracle of Yahweh!’ surely thus says Yahweh, ‘Because you said this word, “The oracle of Yahweh!” I have also sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The oracle of Yahweh!’”’ “Therefore behold, I will surely forget you and abandon you, along with the city which I gave you and your fathers, so that you are out of My presence. “I will put an everlasting reproach on you and an everlasting humiliation which will not be forgotten.”

~~~~~~24~~~~~ ~~~~~~24~~~~~ ~~~~~~24~~~~~ ~~~~~~24~~~~~ ~~~~~~24~~~~~ After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken away into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the officials of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, Yahweh showed me: behold, two baskets of figs set before the temple of Yahweh! One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, and the other basket had very rotten figs which could not be eaten due to rottenness. Then Yahweh said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs, the good figs, very good; and the rotten figs, very rotten, which cannot be eaten due to rottenness.” Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Like these good figs, so I will recognize as good the exiles of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans. ‘For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will return them to this land; and I will build them up and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not uproot them. ‘I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am Yahweh; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart. ‘But like the rotten figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness—indeed, thus says Yahweh—so I will give over Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land and the ones who inhabit the land of Egypt. ‘I will give them over to be a terror and an evil for all the kingdoms of the earth, as a reproach and a proverb, a byword and a curse in all places where I will banish them. ‘I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence upon them until they come to an end from being upon the land which I gave to them and their fathers.’”

~~~~~~25~~~~~ ~~~~~~25~~~~~ ~~~~~~25~~~~~ ~~~~~~25~~~~~ ~~~~~~25~~~~~ The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, “From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty-three years the word of Yahweh has come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking, but you have not listened. “And Yahweh has sent to you all His slaves the prophets, rising up early and sending, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear, saying, ‘Turn now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and live on the ground which Yahweh has given to you and your fathers forever and ever; and do not walk after other gods to serve them and to worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, and I will bring no evil against you.’ “Yet you have not listened to Me,” declares Yahweh, “in order that you might provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own evil demise. “Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Because you have not listened to My words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these surrounding nations; and I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and of hissing and an everlasting waste place. ‘Moreover, I will make the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp, to perish from them. ‘This whole land will be a waste place and an object of horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. ‘Then it will be when seventy years are fulfilled, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares Yahweh, ‘for their iniquity, even the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation. ‘I will bring upon that land all My words which I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. ‘—For many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands—’” For thus Yahweh, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. “They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.” Then I took the cup from the hand of Yahweh and made all the nations to whom Yahweh sent me drink it: Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and its kings and its princes, to make them a waste place, an object of horror, an object of hissing, and a curse, as it is this day; Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes, and all his people, and all the foreign people, all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the Philistines (even Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod), Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon, and all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastlands which are beyond the sea, and Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair, and all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the foreign people who dwell in the desert, and all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media, and all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the earth which are upon the face of the ground, and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. “You shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Drink, be drunk, vomit, fall, and rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you.” ’ “And it will be, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts: “You shall surely drink! “For behold, I am beginning to bring evil against this city which is called by My name. But shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment, for I am calling for a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth,” declares Yahweh of hosts.’ “Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them, ‘Yahweh will roar from on high And give forth His voice from His holy habitation; He will roar mightily against His pasture. He will bellow a shout like those who tread the grapes, Against all the inhabitants of the earth. ‘A rumbling has come to the end of the earth Because Yahweh has a contention against the nations. He is entering into judgment with all flesh; As for the wicked, He has given them to the sword,’ declares Yahweh.” Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Behold, evil is going forth From nation to nation, And a great storm is being stirred up From the remotest parts of the earth. “Those slain by Yahweh on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be lamented, gathered, or buried; they will be like dung on the face of the ground. “Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; And roll yourselves in ashes, you masters of the flock; For the days of your slaughter and your scatterings are being fulfilled, And you will fall like a desirable vessel. “Refuge will perish from the shepherds And escape from the mighty ones of the flock. “Hear the sound of the cry of the shepherds, And the wailing of the mighty ones of the flock! For Yahweh is destroying their pasture, And the peaceful pastures are made silent Because of the burning anger of Yahweh. “He has forsaken His hiding place like the lion; For their land has become an object of horror Because of the burning desire of the oppressor And because of His burning anger.”

~~~~~~26~~~~~ ~~~~~~26~~~~~ ~~~~~~26~~~~~ ~~~~~~26~~~~~ ~~~~~~26~~~~~ In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from Yahweh, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Stand in the court of the house of Yahweh, and you shall speak to all the cities of Judah who have come to worship in the house of Yahweh all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. Do not take away a word! ‘Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, that I may relent of the evil which I am devising to bring against them because of the evil of their deeds.’ “And you will say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have given before you, to listen to the words of My slaves the prophets, whom I have been sending to you, rising up early and sending, but you have not listened, then I will make this house like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth.” ’ ” The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of Yahweh. Now it happened that when Jeremiah finished speaking all that Yahweh had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You must surely die! “Why have you prophesied in the name of Yahweh saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh, and this city will be laid waste, without inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of Yahweh. When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of Yahweh and sat in the entrance of the New Gate of the house of Yahweh. Then the priests and the prophets spoke to the officials and to all the people, saying, “A judgment of death for this man! For he has prophesied against this city as you have heard in your hearing.” Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and to all the people, saying, “Yahweh sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. “So now, make good your ways and your deeds and listen to the voice of Yahweh your God; and Yahweh will relent of the evil demise which He has spoken against you. “But as for me, behold, I am in your hands; do with me as is good and right in your eyes. “Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on its inhabitants; for truly Yahweh has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.” Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets, “No judgment of death for this man! For he has spoken to us in the name of Yahweh our God.” Then some of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying, “Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus Yahweh of hosts has said, “Zion will be plowed as a field, And Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, And the mountain of the house will become the high places of a forest.” ’ “Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear Yahweh and entreat the favor of Yahweh, and Yahweh relented of the evil demise which He had spoken against them? But we are committing a great evil against ourselves.” Indeed, there was also a man who prophesied in the name of Yahweh, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land words similar to all those of Jeremiah. And King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and all the officials heard his words. So the king sought to put him to death; but Uriah heard it, and he was afraid and fled and went to Egypt. Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor and certain men with him went into Egypt. And they brought Uriah out from Egypt and led him to King Jehoiakim, who struck him down with a sword and cast his dead body into the burial place of the common people. But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that he was not given into the hands of the people to put him to death.

~~~~~~27~~~~~ ~~~~~~27~~~~~ ~~~~~~27~~~~~ ~~~~~~27~~~~~ ~~~~~~27~~~~~ In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying— thus says Yahweh to me—“Make for yourself bonds and the bars of a yoke and put them on your neck, and you shall send word to the king of Edom, to the king of Moab, to the king of the sons of Ammon, to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon by the hand of messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. “And you shall command them to go to their masters, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, thus you shall say to your masters, “I have made the earth, the men, and the animals which are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to the one who is right in My eyes. “So now, I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have given him even the wild beasts of the field to serve him. “All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will make him their servant. “And it will be, that the nation or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence,” declares Yahweh, “until I have brought it to an end by his hand. “But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ “For they prophesy a lie to you in order to remove you far from your land; and I will banish you, and you will perish. “But the nation which will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave it on its land,” declares Yahweh, “and they will serve it and inhabit it.” ’ ” I spoke words like all these to Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and live! “Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, famine, and pestilence, as Yahweh has spoken to that nation which will not serve the king of Babylon? “So do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy a lie to you; for I have not sent them,” declares Yahweh, “but they prophesy a lie in My name, in order that I may banish you and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.” Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says Yahweh: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, ‘Behold, the vessels of the house of Yahweh will now shortly be returned from Babylon’; for they are prophesying a lie to you. “Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city become a waste place? “But if they are prophets, and if the word of Yahweh is with them, let them now intercede with Yahweh of hosts that the vessels which are left in the house of Yahweh, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon. “For thus says Yahweh of hosts concerning the pillars, concerning the sea, concerning the stands, and concerning the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried away into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. “Indeed, thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Yahweh and in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem, ‘They will be brought to Babylon, and they will be there until the day I visit them,’ declares Yahweh. ‘Then I will bring them up and return them to this place.’”

~~~~~~28~~~~~ ~~~~~~28~~~~~ ~~~~~~28~~~~~ ~~~~~~28~~~~~ ~~~~~~28~~~~~ Now it happened in the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of Yahweh in the sight of the priests and all the people, saying, “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. ‘Within two years I am going to return to this place all the vessels of the house of Yahweh, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. ‘I am also going to return to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles of Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares Yahweh, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’” Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the sight of the priests and in the sight of all the people who were standing in the house of Yahweh, and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May Yahweh do so; may Yahweh establish your words which you have prophesied to return the vessels of the house of Yahweh and all the exiles, from Babylon to this place. “Yet hear now this word which I am about to speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people! “The prophets who were before me and before you from ancient times prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms, of war and of calamity and of pestilence. “The prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, then that prophet will be known as one whom Yahweh has truly sent.” Then Hananiah the prophet took the bar of the yoke from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it. And Hananiah spoke in the sight of all the people, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Even so will I break within two full years the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.’” Then the prophet Jeremiah went his way. Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah after Hananiah the prophet had broken the bar of the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “Go and speak to Hananiah, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “You have broken the bars of a yoke made of wood, but you have made in their place the bars of a yoke made of iron.” ‘For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him. And I have even given him the beasts of the field.” ’ ” Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen now, Hananiah, Yahweh has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. “Therefore thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This year you are going to die because you have spoken rebellion against Yahweh.’” So Hananiah the prophet died in the same year in the seventh month.

~~~~~~29~~~~~ ~~~~~~29~~~~~ ~~~~~~29~~~~~ ~~~~~~29~~~~~ ~~~~~~29~~~~~ Now these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken away into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. (This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the court officials, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had gone out from Jerusalem.) The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying, “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, ‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their fruit. ‘Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. ‘Seek the peace of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to Yahweh on its behalf; for in its peace you will have peace.’ “For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to your dreams which you dream. ‘For they prophesy a lie to you in My name; I have not sent them,’ declares Yahweh. “For thus says Yahweh, ‘When seventy years have been fulfilled for Babylon, I will visit you and establish My good word to you, to return you to this place. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘plans for peace and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and I will return your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have banished you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and I will cause you to return to the place from where I sent you into exile.’ “Because you have said, ‘Yahweh has raised up prophets for us in Babylon’— for thus says Yahweh concerning the king who sits on the throne of David and concerning all the people who live in this city, your brothers who did not go with you into exile— thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Behold, I am sending upon them the sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like split-open figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness. ‘I will pursue them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence; and I will give them over to be a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse and an object of horror and of hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have banished them, because they have not listened to My words,’ declares Yahweh, ‘which I sent to them by My slaves the prophets, rising up early and sending; but you did not listen,’ declares Yahweh. “You, therefore, hear the word of Yahweh, all you exiles, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you falsely in My name, ‘Behold, I will give them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will strike them down before your eyes. ‘And because of them a curse will be used by all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon, saying, “May Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire because they have acted with wicked foolishness in Israel and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken words in My name falsely, which I did not command them; and I am He who knows and am a witness,” declares Yahweh.’” And to Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak, saying, “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying, “Yahweh has given you to be a priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to be the overseer in the house of Yahweh over every madman who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and in the iron collar, so now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who prophesies to you? “For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, ‘The exile will be long; build houses and live in them and plant gardens and eat their fruit.’” So Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. Then came the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah, saying, “Send to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite, “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, although I did not send him, and he has made you trust in a lie,” therefore thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am about to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his seed; he will not have anyone living among this people, and he will not see the good that I am about to do to My people,” declares Yahweh, “because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh.” ’ ”

~~~~~~30~~~~~ ~~~~~~30~~~~~ ~~~~~~30~~~~~ ~~~~~~30~~~~~ ~~~~~~30~~~~~ The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book. ‘For behold, days are coming,’ declares Yahweh, ‘when I will return the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ Yahweh says, ‘I will also cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.’” Now these are the words which Yahweh spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah: “For thus says Yahweh, ‘We have heard a sound of trembling, Of dread, and there is no peace. ‘Ask now, and see If a male can give birth. Why do I see every man With his hands on his loins, as a woman in childbirth? And why have all faces turned pale? ‘Alas! For that day is great, There is none like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s distress, But he will be saved from it. ‘And it will be in that day,’ declares Yahweh of hosts, ‘that I will break his yoke from off your neck and will tear off your bonds; and strangers will no longer make them their slaves. ‘But they shall be a slave to Yahweh their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant,’ declares Yahweh, ‘And do not be dismayed, O Israel; For behold, I will save you from afar And your seed from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return and will be quiet and at ease, And no one will make him tremble. ‘For I am with you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘to save you; For I will make a complete destruction of all the nations where I have scattered you, Only I will not make a complete destruction of you. But I will chasten you justly And will by no means leave you unpunished.’ “For thus says Yahweh, ‘Your injury is incurable, And your wound is desperately sick. ‘There is no one to plead your cause; No healing for your sore, No recovery for you. ‘All your lovers have forgotten you; They do not seek you; For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, With the punishment of a cruel one, Because your iniquity is numerous And your sins are mighty. ‘Why do you cry out over your injury? Your pain is incurable. Because your iniquity is numerous And your sins are mighty, I have done these things to you. ‘Therefore all who devour you will be devoured; And all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity; And those who take you as spoil will be spoil, And all who plunder you I will give as plunder. ‘For I will restore you to health, And I will heal you of your wounds,’ declares Yahweh, ‘Because they have called you a banished one, saying: “It is Zion; no one is seeking her.” ’ “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will return the fortunes of the tents of Jacob And have compassion on his dwelling places; And the city will be rebuilt on its ruin, And the palace will sit on its just place. ‘From them will come forth thanksgiving And the voice of those who celebrate; And I will multiply them, and they will not decrease; I will also honor them, and they will not be insignificant. ‘Their children also will be as formerly, And their congregation shall be established before Me; And I will punish all their oppressors. ‘And their mighty one shall be one of them, And their ruler shall come forth from their midst; And I will bring Him near, and He shall approach Me; For who would dare to give his heart as security to approach Me?’ declares Yahweh. ‘You shall be My people, And I will be your God.’” Behold, the storm of Yahweh! Wrath has gone forth, A sweeping storm; It will burst on the head of the wicked. The burning anger of Yahweh will not turn back Until He has done and until He has established The intent of His heart; In the last days you will understand this.

~~~~~~31~~~~~ ~~~~~~31~~~~~ ~~~~~~31~~~~~ ~~~~~~31~~~~~ ~~~~~~31~~~~~ “At that time,” declares Yahweh, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.” Thus says Yahweh, “The people who survived the sword Found grace in the wilderness— Israel, when it went to find its relief.” Yahweh appeared to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness. “Again I will build you, and you will be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! Again you will take up your tambourines And go forth to the dances of those celebrating. “Again you will plant vineyards On the hills of Samaria; The planters will plant And will enjoy them. “For there will be a day when watchmen On the hills of Ephraim call out, ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, To Yahweh our God.’” For thus says Yahweh, “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, And shout among the head of the nations; Make it heard, give praise, and say, ‘O Yahweh, save Your people, The remnant of Israel.’ “Behold, I am bringing them from the north country, And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth, Among them the blind and the lame, The woman with child and she who is in labor with child, together; A great assembly, they will return here. “With weeping they will come, And by supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk by streams of waters, On a straight path in which they will not stumble; For I am a father to Israel, And Ephraim is My firstborn.” Hear the word of Yahweh, O nations, And declare in the coastlands far away, And say, “He who dispersed Israel will gather him And keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.” For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob And redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he. “They will come and sing for joy on the height of Zion, And they will be radiant over the goodness of Yahweh— Over the grain and the new wine and the oil, And over the young of the flock and the herd; And their soul will be like a watered garden, And they will never waste away again. “Then the virgin will be glad in the dance, And the young men and the old, together, For I will turn their mourning into joy And will comfort them and give them gladness for their sorrow. “I will fill the soul of the priests with richness, And My people will be satisfied with My goodness,” declares Yahweh. Thus says Yahweh, “A voice is heard in Ramah, Wailing and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; She refuses to be comforted for her children Because they are no more.” Thus says Yahweh, “Restrain your voice from weeping And your eyes from tears, For your work will be rewarded,” declares Yahweh, “And they will return from the land of the enemy. “And there is hope for your future,” declares Yahweh, “And your children will return to their own territory. “I have surely heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, Like an untrained calf; Cause me to return that I may return, For You are Yahweh my God. ‘For after I turned away, I repented; And after I was instructed, I slapped my thigh; I was ashamed and also dishonored Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’ “Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a delightful child? Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him, I certainly still remember him; Therefore My inmost being yearns for him; I will surely have compassion on him,” declares Yahweh. “Set up roadmarks for yourself, Place for yourself guideposts; Set your heart to the highway, The way by which you went. Return, O virgin of Israel, Return to these your cities. “How long will you go here and there, O faithless daughter? For Yahweh has created a new thing in the earth— A woman will encompass a man.” Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Once again they will speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities when I return their fortunes, ‘Yahweh bless you, O abode of righteousness, O holy hill!’ “And Judah and all its cities will inhabit it together, the farmer and they who go about with flocks. “For I satisfy the weary soul and fill up every soul who wastes away.” At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me. “Behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast. “And it will be that as I have watched over them to uproot, to tear down, to pull down, to destroy, and to bring calamity, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares Yahweh. “In those days they will not say again, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ “But everyone will die for his own iniquity; each man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be set on edge. “Behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I cut with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, but I was a husband to them,” declares Yahweh. “But this is the covenant which I will cut with the house of Israel after those days,” declares Yahweh: “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “And they will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares Yahweh, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Thus says Yahweh, Who gives the sun for light by day And the statutes for the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; Yahweh of hosts is His name: “If these statutes are removed From before Me,” declares Yahweh, “Then the seed of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.” Thus says Yahweh, “If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also reject all the seed of Israel For all that they have done,” declares Yahweh. “Behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when the city will be rebuilt for Yahweh from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. “The measuring line will go out farther, straight ahead to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah. “And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to Yahweh; it will not be uprooted or pulled down anymore forever.”

~~~~~~32~~~~~ ~~~~~~32~~~~~ ~~~~~~32~~~~~ ~~~~~~32~~~~~ ~~~~~~32~~~~~ The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. Now at that time the military force of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah, because Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you prophesy, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it; and Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye; and he will lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him,” declares Yahweh. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will not succeed” ’?” And Jeremiah said, “The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy for yourself my field which is at Anathoth, for you have the legal judgment for redemption to buy it.” ’ “Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of Yahweh and said to me, ‘Buy my field, please, that is at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the legal judgment for possession, and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of Yahweh. “I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and I weighed out the silver for him, seventeen shekels of silver. “And I signed and sealed the deed and called in witnesses and weighed out the silver on the scales. “Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the commandment and statutes and the open copy, and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, in the sight of all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard. “And I commanded Baruch in their sight, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds—this deed of purchase—that is the sealed one as well as this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may last a long time.” ‘For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.” ’ “After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, then I prayed to Yahweh, saying, ‘Ah Lord Yahweh! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You, who shows lovingkindness to thousands, but repays the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O great and mighty God. Yahweh of hosts is His name, great in counsel and abundant in deeds, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds, who has set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day both in Israel and among mankind; and You have made a name for Yourself, as at this day. ‘You brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders, and with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with great terror and gave them this land, which You swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. ‘They came in and took possession of it, but they did not listen to Your voice and did not walk in Your law. They have not done anything that You commanded them to do; therefore You have made all this harmful evil come upon them. ‘Behold, the siege ramps have come to the city to capture it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, who fight against it, because of the sword, the famine, and the pestilence; and what You have spoken has happened; and behold, You see it. ‘And You have said to me, O Lord Yahweh, “Buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses”—but the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’” Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying, “Behold, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?” Therefore thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will capture it. “And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will enter and set this city on fire and burn it, with the houses where people have burned incense to Baal on their roofs and poured out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger. “Indeed the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have been doing only evil in My sight from their youth; for the sons of Israel have been only provoking Me to anger by the work of their hands,” declares Yahweh. “Indeed this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My wrath from the day that they built it, even to this day, so that it should be removed from before My face because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah which they have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. “And they have turned their back to Me and not their face; though I taught them, rising up early and teaching, they would not listen and receive discipline. “But they put their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. “And they built the high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them, nor had it come upon My heart that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. “So now, therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you are saying, ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence.’ “Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have banished them in My anger, in My wrath, and in great indignation; and I will cause them to return to this place and make them inhabit it in safety. “And they shall be My people, and I will be their God; and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. “And I will cut an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. “And I will rejoice over them to do them good and will truly plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul. “For thus says Yahweh, ‘Just as I brought all this great evil on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them. ‘Thus fields will be bought in this land of which you all are saying, “It is a desolation, without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.” ‘Men will buy fields for money, sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the surroundings of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negev; for I will return their fortunes,’ declares Yahweh.”

~~~~~~33~~~~~ ~~~~~~33~~~~~ ~~~~~~33~~~~~ ~~~~~~33~~~~~ ~~~~~~33~~~~~ Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still confined in the court of the guard, saying, “Thus says Yahweh who made the earth, Yahweh who formed it to establish it; Yahweh is His name, ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ “For thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah which are torn down to make a defense against the siege ramps and against the sword, ‘While they are coming to fight with the Chaldeans and to fill them with the corpses of men whom I have struck down in My anger and in My wrath, and I have hidden My face from this city because of all their evil: ‘Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth. ‘I will return the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and will rebuild them as they were at first. ‘And I will 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 against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me. ‘And it will be to Me a name of joy, praise, and beauty before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for them, and they will be in dread and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.’ “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Yet again there will be heard in this place, 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, the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, “Give thanks to Yahweh of hosts, For Yahweh is good, For His lovingkindness endures forever”; and of those who bring a thank offering into the house of Yahweh. For I will return the fortunes of the land as they were at first,’ says Yahweh. “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘There will again be in this place which is waste, without man or beast, and in all its cities, an abode of shepherds who cause their flocks to lie down. ‘In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the surroundings of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who numbers them,’ says Yahweh. ‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares Yahweh, ‘when I will establish the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ‘In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to branch forth; and He shall do justice and righteousness on the earth. ‘In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell in security; and this is the name by which she will be called: Yahweh is our righteousness.’ “For thus says Yahweh, ‘David shall not have a man cut off from sitting on the throne of the house of Israel; and the Levitical priests shall not have a man cut off from before Me who is to offer burnt offerings, to offer up grain offerings in smoke, and to perform sacrifices continually.’” Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘If you can break My covenant for the day and My covenant for the night, so that day and night will not be at their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant so that he will not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers. ‘As the host of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the seed of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.’” And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying, “Have you not seen what this people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families which Yahweh chose, He has rejected them’? Thus they have spurned My people from being a nation any longer in their sight. “Thus says Yahweh, ‘If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the statutes for heaven and earth I have not established, then I would reject the seed of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from his seed rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will return their fortunes and will have compassion on them.’”

~~~~~~34~~~~~ ~~~~~~34~~~~~ ~~~~~~34~~~~~ ~~~~~~34~~~~~ ~~~~~~34~~~~~ The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his military force, with all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and against all its cities, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him: “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire. ‘And you will not escape from his hand, for you will surely be seized and given into his hand; and you will see the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you face to face, and you will go to Babylon.’”’ “Yet hear the word of Yahweh, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says Yahweh concerning you, ‘You will not die by the sword. ‘You will die in peace; and as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will burn spices for you; and they will lament for you, “Alas, lord!” ’ For I have spoken the word,” declares Yahweh. Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem when the military force of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left, that is, Lachish and Azekah, for they alone remained as fortified cities among the cities of Judah. The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after King Zedekiah had cut a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim release to them: that each man should let his male slave go free and each man his female slave, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, so that no one should enslave them, each being a Jew, his brother. And all the officials and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant that each man should let his male slave go free and each man his female slave, so that no one should enslave them any longer; they obeyed and let them go free. But afterwards they turned around and returned to themselves the male slaves and the female slaves, whom they had let go as free, and subdued them to be male slaves and female slaves. Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘I cut a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery, saying, “At the end of seven years each of you shall let his Hebrew brother go who has been sold to you and has served you six years, and you shall let him go to be free from you; but your fathers did not obey Me or incline their ear to Me. “Although recently you had turned and done what is right in My sight, each man proclaiming release to his neighbor, and you had cut a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name. “Yet you turned and profaned My name, and each man returned to themselves his male slave and each man his female slave whom you had let go as free according to their desire, and you subdued them to be your male slaves and female slaves.” ’ “Therefore thus says Yahweh, ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming release each man to his brother and each man to his neighbor. Behold, I am proclaiming a release to you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. ‘And I will give the men who have trespassed against My covenant, who have not established the words of the covenant which they cut before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts— the officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the court officers and the priests and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf— And I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. And their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth. ‘And as for Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life and into the hand of the military force of the king of Babylon which has gone away from you. ‘Behold, I am going to command,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and I will cause them to return to this city; and they will fight against it and capture it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.’”

~~~~~~35~~~~~ ~~~~~~35~~~~~ ~~~~~~35~~~~~ ~~~~~~35~~~~~ ~~~~~~35~~~~~ The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, “Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak to them and bring them into the house of Yahweh, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.” Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites, and I brought them into the house of Yahweh, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was beside the chamber of the officials, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the doorkeeper. Then I put before the men of the house of the Rechabites pitchers full of wine and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine!” But they said, “We will not drink wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall not drink wine, you or your sons, forever. ‘And you shall not build a house, and you shall not sow seed, and you shall not plant a vineyard or own one; but tents you shall inhabit all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ “So we have listened to the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, nor to build ourselves houses to inhabit; and we do not have vineyard or field or seed. “We have only inhabited tents and have listened and have done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. “But it happened that when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, let us come to Jerusalem before the military force of the Chaldeans and before the military force of the Arameans.’ So we have inhabited Jerusalem.” Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not receive discipline by listening to My words?” declares Yahweh. “The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are established. So they do not drink wine to this day, for they have listened to their father’s command. But I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; yet you have not listened to Me. “Also I have sent to you all My slaves the prophets, rising up early and sending, saying: ‘Turn now every man from his evil way and make good your deeds, and do not walk after other gods to serve them. Then you will inhabit the land which I have given to you and to your fathers; but you have not inclined your ear or listened to Me. ‘Indeed, the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have established the command of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to Me.’”’ “Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am bringing on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the harmful evil that I have spoken against them because I spoke to them but they did not listen, and I have called them but they did not answer.’” Then Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have listened to the command of Jonadab your father, kept all his commands, and done according to all that he commanded you, therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not have a man cut off from standing before Me always.” ’ ”

~~~~~~36~~~~~ ~~~~~~36~~~~~ ~~~~~~36~~~~~ ~~~~~~36~~~~~ ~~~~~~36~~~~~ Now it happened that in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, “Take a scroll of a book and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel and concerning Judah and concerning all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day. “Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I devise to bring on them, in order that every man will turn from his evil way; then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.” Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of Yahweh which He had spoken to him. And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am confined; I cannot go into the house of Yahweh. “So you shall go and read from the scroll, which you have written at my dictation, the words of Yahweh in the hearing of the people in the house of Yahweh on a fast day. And also you shall read them in the hearing of all the people of Judah who come from their cities. “Perhaps their supplication will come before Yahweh, and everyone will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and the wrath that Yahweh has spoken against this people.” So Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of Yahweh in the house of Yahweh. Now it happened in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem called for a fast before Yahweh. Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of Yahweh in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the house of Yahweh, in the hearing of all the people. Then Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of Yahweh from the book. And he went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber. And behold, all the officials were sitting there—Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. And Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read from the book in the hearing of the people. 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 hearing of the people and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and went to them. And they said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it in our hearing.” So Baruch read it in their hearing. Now it happened that when they heard all the words, they turned in dread one to another and said to Baruch, “We will surely declare all these words to the king.” And they asked Baruch, saying, “Declare to us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” Then Baruch said to them, “He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the book.” Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are.” So they went to the king in the court, but they had deposited the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and they declared all the words in the hearing of the king. Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king as well as in the hearing of all the officials who stood beside the king. Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning in the brazier before him. And it happened that when Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe’s knife and threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not in dread, nor did they tear their garments. Even though Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah interceded with the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but Yahweh hid them. Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll and the words which Baruch had written at the dictation of Jeremiah, saying, “Take again another scroll and write on it all the former words that were on the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned. “And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “You have burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and make this land a ruin and will make man and beast to cease from it?’” ‘Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah, “He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. “And I will also punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity, and I will bring on them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the evil that I have spoken about to them—but they did not listen.” ’ ” Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the son of Neriah, the scribe, and he wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.

~~~~~~37~~~~~ ~~~~~~37~~~~~ ~~~~~~37~~~~~ ~~~~~~37~~~~~ ~~~~~~37~~~~~ Now Zedekiah the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had made king in the land of Judah, reigned as king in place of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim. But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of Yahweh which He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet. Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please pray to Yahweh our God on our behalf.” Now Jeremiah was still coming in and going out among the people; they had not yet put him in the prison. Meanwhile, Pharaoh’s military force had come out from Egypt; and the Chaldeans who had been besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them. So they withdrew from Jerusalem. Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Thus you are to say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: “Behold, the military force of Pharaoh which has come out for your assistance is going to return to its own land of Egypt. “The Chaldeans will also return and fight against this city, and they will capture it and burn it with fire.” ’ “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go. ‘For even if you had struck down the entire military force of the Chaldeans who were fighting against you, and there were only wounded men remaining among them, each man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.’” Now it happened when the military force of the Chaldeans had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of the military force of Pharaoh, that Jeremiah went out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin in order to obtain his portion of some property there among the people. Now it happened that while he was at the Gate of Benjamin, the master of the guard whose name was Irijah the son of Shelemiah the son of Hananiah was there; and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are going over to the Chaldeans!” But Jeremiah said, “A lie! I am not going over to the Chaldeans”; yet he would not listen to him. So Irijah seized Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. Then the officials were angry at Jeremiah and struck him, and they put him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe because they had made that house into the prison. For Jeremiah had come into the pit, that is, the vaulted cell; and Jeremiah stayed there many days. Then King Zedekiah sent and took him out; and in his palace the king secretly asked him and said, “Is there a word from Yahweh?” And Jeremiah said, “There is!” Then he said, “You will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon!” Moreover, Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “In what way have I sinned against you or against your servants or against this people, that you have put me in prison? “Where then are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land’? “But now, please listen, O my lord the king; please let my supplication come before you, and do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, that I may not die there.” Then King Zedekiah gave commandment, and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guard and gave him a loaf of bread daily from the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city had come to an end. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

~~~~~~38~~~~~ ~~~~~~38~~~~~ ~~~~~~38~~~~~ ~~~~~~38~~~~~ ~~~~~~38~~~~~ And Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘He who stays in this city will die by the sword and by the famine and by the pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as spoil and stay alive.’ “Thus says Yahweh, ‘This city will certainly be given into the hand of the military force of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.’” Then the officials said to the king, “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is making the hands of the men of war who remain in this city as well as the hands of all the people limp, by speaking such words to them; for this man is not seeking peace for this people but rather calamity.” So King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands; for the king can do nothing against you.” Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only mire, and Jeremiah sank into the mire. But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. Now the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin; and Ebed-melech went out from the king’s house and spoke to the king, saying, “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 right where he is because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city.” Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take in your hand thirty men from here and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies.” So Ebed-melech took the men in his hand and went into the king’s palace to a place beneath the storeroom and took from there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah. Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes”; and Jeremiah did so. So they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and brought him up from the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guard. Then King Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of Yahweh; and the king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something; do not hide anything from me.” Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? Besides, if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in secret saying, “As Yahweh lives, who made this life for us, surely I will not put you to death, nor will I give you over to the hand of these men who are seeking your life.” Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says Yahweh God of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘If you will indeed go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will live. ‘But if you will not go out to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given over to the hand of the Chaldeans; and they will burn it with fire, and you yourself will not escape from their hand.’” Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am anxious because of the Jews who have gone over to the Chaldeans, lest they give me over into their hand and they deal severely with me.” But Jeremiah said, “They will not give you over. Please listen to the voice of Yahweh in what I am saying to you, that it may go well with you and you may live. “But if you keep refusing to go out, this is the word which Yahweh has shown me: ‘And behold, all of the women who have remained in the house of the king of Judah are going to be brought out to the officers of the king of Babylon; and behold, those women will say, “Your close friends Have misled and overpowered you; While your feet were sunk in the mud, They turned back.” ‘And they will also bring out all your wives and your sons to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape from their hand, but will be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned with fire.’” Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no man know about these words and you will not die. “But if the officials hear that I have talked with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us now what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death,’ then you are to say to them, ‘I was presenting my petition before the king, not to make me return to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. So he told them in accordance with all these words which the king had commanded; and they ceased speaking with him since the conversation had not been overheard. So Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured.

~~~~~~39~~~~~ ~~~~~~39~~~~~ ~~~~~~39~~~~~ ~~~~~~39~~~~~ ~~~~~~39~~~~~ Now when Jerusalem was captured in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his military force came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it; in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the city was breached. Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came in and sat down at the Middle Gate: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, and all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon. Now it happened that when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, they fled and went out of the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate between the two walls; and he went out toward the Arabah. But the military force of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and they took him and brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he spoke judgment on him. Then the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes at Riblah; the king of Babylon also slaughtered all the nobles of Judah. He then blinded Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in fetters of bronze to bring him to Babylon. The Chaldeans also burned with fire the house of the king and the houses of the people, and they tore down the walls of Jerusalem. And as for the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had gone over to him and the rest of the people who remained, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard took them away into exile in Babylon. But some of the poorest people who had nothing, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had them remain in the land of Judah and gave them vineyards and fields at that time. Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave a command about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying, “Take him and set your eyes to look after him and do nothing harmful to him, but rather deal with him just as he speaks to you.” So Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard sent word, along with Nebushazban the Rab-saris and Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag and all the leading officers of the king of Babylon; they even sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard and gave him over to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him home. So he stayed among the people. Now the word of Yahweh had come to Jeremiah while he was confined in the court of the guard, saying, “Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to bring My words on this city for calamity and not for prosperity; and they will take place before you on that day. “But I will deliver you on that day,” declares Yahweh, “and you will not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are terrified. “For I will certainly provide you escape, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own life as spoil because you have trusted in Me,” declares Yahweh.’”

~~~~~~40~~~~~ ~~~~~~40~~~~~ ~~~~~~40~~~~~ ~~~~~~40~~~~~ ~~~~~~40~~~~~ The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after Nebuzaradan captain of the bodyguard had released him from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon. And the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, “Yahweh your God promised this calamity against this place; and Yahweh has brought it on and done just as He promised. Because you people sinned against Yahweh and did not listen to His voice, therefore this thing has happened to you. “So now, behold, I am freeing you today from the chains which are on your hands. If it is good in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, come along, and I will set my eyes to look after you; but if it is displeasing in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, never mind. Look, the whole land is before you; go wherever it seems good and right in your eyes to go.” But as Jeremiah had not yet set out to return, he said, “Return then to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people; or else go anywhere that is right in your eyes to go.” So the captain of the bodyguard gave him a ration and a gift and let him go. Then Jeremiah went to Mizpah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and stayed with him among the people who remained in the land. Then all the commanders of the military forces that were in the field, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam over the land and that he had appointed him over the men, women, little ones, and those of the poorest of the land who had not been exiled to Babylon. So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, along with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, both they and their men. Then Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore to them and to their men, saying, “Do not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans; stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, that it may go well with you. “Now as for me, behold, I am going to stay at Mizpah to stand for you before the Chaldeans who come to us; but as for you, gather in wine and summer fruit and oil and put them in your storage vessels and stay in your cities that you have seized.” And also all the Jews, who were in Moab and among the sons of Ammon and in Edom and who were in all the other lands, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant for Judah and that he had appointed over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. Then all the Jews returned from all the places to which they had been banished and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered in wine and summer fruit in great abundance. Now Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces that were in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah and said to him, “Do you indeed know that Baalis the king of the sons of Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to strike down your life?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them. Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “Let me go and strike down Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and not a man will know! Why should he strike down your life, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered and the remnant of Judah would perish?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “Do not do this thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael.”

~~~~~~41~~~~~ ~~~~~~41~~~~~ ~~~~~~41~~~~~ ~~~~~~41~~~~~ ~~~~~~41~~~~~ Now it happened in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. And they were eating bread together there in Mizpah. Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him arose and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and put to death the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with him, that is with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war. Now it happened on the next day after putting Gedaliah to death, when no one knew about it, that eighty men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria with their beards shaved off and their clothes torn and their bodies gashed, having grain offerings and frankincense in their hands to bring to the house of Yahweh. Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went; and it happened that as he encountered them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!” But it happened that as soon as they came inside the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men that were with him slaughtered them and cast them into the cistern. But ten men who were found among them said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death; for we have stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the field.” So he refrained and did not put them to death along with their companions. Now as for the cistern where Ishmael had cast all the corpses of the men whom he had struck down because of Gedaliah, it was the one that King Asa had made on account of Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. Then Ishmael took captive all the remnant of the people who were in Mizpah, the king’s daughters and all the people who remained in Mizpah, over whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; thus Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and went to cross over to the sons of Ammon. But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces that were with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done. So they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and they found him by the great pool that is in Gibeon. Now it happened as soon as all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces that were with him, they were glad. So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and returned and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the sons of Ammon. Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces that were with him took from Mizpah all the remnant of the people whom he had returned from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the mighty men who were men of war, the women, the little ones, and the eunuchs, whom he had returned from Gibeon. And they went and stayed in Geruth Chimham, which is beside Bethlehem, in order to proceed into Egypt because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, since Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

~~~~~~42~~~~~ ~~~~~~42~~~~~ ~~~~~~42~~~~~ ~~~~~~42~~~~~ ~~~~~~42~~~~~ Then all the commanders of the military forces, Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people both small and great approached and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our supplication come before you, and pray for us to Yahweh your God, that is for all this remnant, because we remain but a few out of many, as your own eyes now see us, that Yahweh your God may tell us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.” Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I am going to pray to Yahweh your God in accordance with your words; and I will tell you the whole message which Yahweh will answer you. I will not keep back a word from you.” And they said to Jeremiah, “May Yahweh be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole message with which Yahweh your God will send you to us. “Whether it is good or bad, we will listen to the voice of Yahweh our God to whom we are sending you, so that good may come to us when we listen to the voice of Yahweh our God.” Now it happened that at the end of ten days the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah. Then he called for Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces that were with him, and for all the people both small and great, and said to them, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before Him: ‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I have relented of the calamity that I have done against you. ‘Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,’ declares Yahweh, ‘for I am with you to save you and deliver you from his hand. ‘I will also show you compassion, so that he will have compassion on you and return you to your own soil. ‘But if you are going to say, “We will not stay in this land,” so as not to listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, saying, “No, but we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the sound of a trumpet or hunger for bread, and we will stay there,” then now, listen to the word of Yahweh, O remnant of Judah. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “If you really set your face to enter Egypt, and you will enter to sojourn there, then the sword, which you are afraid of, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are anxious, will follow closely after you there in Egypt, and you will die there. “So all the men who set their face to go to Egypt to sojourn there will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; and they will have no survivors or any who escaped from the calamity that I am going to bring on them.” ’ ” For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “As My anger and wrath have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will become a curse, an object of horror, an imprecation, and a reproach; and you will see this place no more.” Yahweh has spoken to you, O remnant of Judah, “Do not go into Egypt!” You should clearly know that today I have testified against you. For you have only led yourselves astray; for it is you who sent me to Yahweh your God, saying, “Pray for us to Yahweh our God; and according to all that Yahweh our God says, tell us so, and we will do it.” So I have told you today, but you have not listened to the voice of Yahweh your God, even according to all that He has sent me to tell you. So now, you should clearly know that you will die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, in the place where you desire to go to sojourn.

~~~~~~43~~~~~ ~~~~~~43~~~~~ ~~~~~~43~~~~~ ~~~~~~43~~~~~ ~~~~~~43~~~~~ But it happened that as soon as Jeremiah, whom Yahweh their God had sent, had finished speaking to all the people all the words of Yahweh their God—that is, all these words— Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are speaking a lie! Yahweh our God has not sent you to say, ‘You are not to enter Egypt to sojourn there’; but Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us to give us over into the hand of the Chaldeans, so they will put us to death or exile us to Babylon.” So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces and all the people did not listen to the voice of Yahweh to stay in the land of Judah. But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces took the entire remnant of Judah, who had returned from all the nations to which they had been banished, in order to sojourn in the land of Judah— the men, the women, the little ones, the king’s daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, together with Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah— and they entered the land of Egypt (for they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh) and went in as far as Tahpanhes. Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, “Take some large stones in your hands and hide them in the mortar in the brick terrace which is at the entrance of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of some of the Jews; and you will say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am going to send and get Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and I am going to set his throne right over these stones that I have hidden; and he will spread his canopy over them. “He will also come and strike 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. “And I shall set fire to the houses of the gods of Egypt, and he will burn them and take them captive. So he will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself with his garment, and he will depart from there safely. “He will also shatter the sacred pillars of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire.” ’ ”

~~~~~~44~~~~~ ~~~~~~44~~~~~ ~~~~~~44~~~~~ ~~~~~~44~~~~~ ~~~~~~44~~~~~ The word that came to Jeremiah for all the Jews living in the land of Egypt, those who were living in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and the land of Pathros, saying, “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are a waste place and no one lives in them because of their evil which they did so as to provoke Me to anger by continuing to burn incense and to serve other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, nor your fathers. ‘Yet I sent you all My slaves the prophets, rising up early and sending, saying, “Oh, do not do this abominable thing which I hate.” ‘But they did not listen or incline their ears to turn from their evil, so as not to burn incense to other gods. ‘Therefore My wrath and My anger were poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so they have become a waste place and a desolation as it is this day. ‘So now, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, “Why are you doing great evil against yourselves, so as to cut off from you man and woman, infant and nursing baby, from among Judah, leaving yourselves without remnant, provoking Me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you are entering to sojourn, so that you might be cut off and become an imprecation and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? “Have you forgotten the evil of your fathers, the evil of the kings of Judah, and the evil of their wives, your own evil, and the evil of your wives, which they did in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? “But they have not become contrite even to this day, nor have they feared nor walked in My law or My statutes, which I have put before you and before your fathers.” ’ “Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am going to set My face against you for your evil demise, even to cut off all Judah. ‘And I will take away the remnant of Judah who have set their face on entering the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they will all meet their end in the land of Egypt; they will fall by the sword and meet their end by famine. Both small and great will die by the sword and famine; and they will become a curse, an object of horror, an imprecation, and a reproach. ‘And I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence. ‘So there will be no one who escapes or any survivors for the remnant of Judah who have entered the land of Egypt to sojourn there and then to return to the land of Judah, to which they are longing to return to live; for none will return except a few who escape.’” Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were standing by, as a large assembly, including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered to Jeremiah, saying, “As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of Yahweh, we are not going to listen to you! “But rather we will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, by burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as we ourselves, our fathers, our kings, and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had plenty of food and were well off and saw no evil. “But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have met our end by the sword and by famine.” “And,” said the women, “when we were burning incense to the queen of heaven and were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?” Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and women—even to all the people who were answering him with such a word—saying, “As for the smoking sacrifices that you offered 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 Yahweh remember them and did not all this come upon His heart? “So Yahweh was no longer able to bear it, because of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations which you have done; thus your land has become a waste place, an object of horror, and an imprecation, without an inhabitant, as it is this day. “Because you have burned incense and have sinned against Yahweh and not listened to the voice of Yahweh or walked in His law, His statutes, or His testimonies, therefore this evil has befallen you, as it has this day.” Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “Hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt, thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: ‘As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, “We will certainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” Go ahead and establish your vows, and certainly perform your vows!’ “Nevertheless, hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are living in the land of Egypt, ‘Behold, I have sworn by My great name,’ says Yahweh, ‘never shall My name be called upon again by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “As Lord Yahweh lives.” ‘Behold, I am watching over them for evil and not for good, and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will meet their end by the sword and by famine until they are completely consumed. ‘Those who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt to the land of Judah few in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to sojourn there will know whose word will be established, Mine or theirs. ‘This will be the sign to you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that My words will surely be established against you for evil.’ “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am going to give over Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt to the hand of his enemies, to the hand of those who seek his life, just as I gave over Zedekiah king of Judah to the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and was seeking his life.’”

~~~~~~45~~~~~ ~~~~~~45~~~~~ ~~~~~~45~~~~~ ~~~~~~45~~~~~ ~~~~~~45~~~~~ This is the message which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written down these words in a book at Jeremiah’s dictation, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying: “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel to you, O Baruch: ‘You said, “Ah, woe is me! For Yahweh has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my sighing and have found no rest.” ’ “Thus you are to say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, what I have built I am about to pull down, and what I have planted I am about to uproot, that is, the whole land.” ‘But as for you, are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I am going to bring calamity on all flesh,’ declares Yahweh, ‘but I will give your life to you as spoil in all the places where you may go.’”

~~~~~~46~~~~~ ~~~~~~46~~~~~ ~~~~~~46~~~~~ ~~~~~~46~~~~~ ~~~~~~46~~~~~ That which came as the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. To Egypt, concerning the military force of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the Euphrates River at Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: “Arrange the shield and large shield, And draw near for the battle! “Harness the horses, And mount the steeds, And take your stand with helmets on! Polish the spears, Put on the scale-armor! “Why have I seen it? They are shattered; They are drawing back, And their mighty men are crushed And have fled to refuge, Without facing back; Terror is on every side!” Declares Yahweh. Let not the swift man flee, Nor the mighty man escape; In the north beside the river Euphrates They have stumbled and fallen. Who is this that rises like the Nile, Like the rivers whose waters toss about? Egypt rises like the Nile, Even like the rivers whose waters toss about; And He has said, “I will rise and cover that land; I will surely cause the city to perish, as well as its inhabitants.” Go up, you horses, and drive madly, you chariots, That the mighty men may go forth: Ethiopia and Put, who seize the shield, And the Lydians, who seize and bend the bow. Indeed, that day belongs to Lord Yahweh of hosts, A day of vengeance, so as to avenge Himself on His adversaries; And the sword will devour and be satiated And drink its fill of their blood; For there will be a sacrifice to Lord Yahweh of hosts In the land of the north by the river Euphrates. Go up to Gilead and obtain balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain have you multiplied remedies; There is no healing for you. The nations have heard of your disgrace, And the earth is full of your outcry; For one warrior has stumbled over another, And both of them have fallen down together. This is the message which Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike down the land of Egypt: “Declare in Egypt and cause it to be heard in Migdol; Cause it to be heard also in Memphis and Tahpanhes; Say, ‘Take your stand and get yourself ready, For the sword has devoured those around you.’ “Why are your mighty ones thrown down? They do not stand because Yahweh has thrust them down. “They have repeatedly stumbled; Indeed, they have fallen one against another. Then they said, ‘Rise up! And let us return To our own people and land of our birth Away from the sword of the oppressor.’ “They called out there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a rumbling; He has let the appointed time pass by!’ “As I live,” declares the King Whose name is Yahweh of hosts, “Surely one shall come who looms up like Tabor among the mountains, Or like Carmel by the sea. “Make your baggage ready for exile, O inhabitant of the daughter of Egypt, For Memphis will become a desolation; It will even be turned into ruin and without inhabitants. “Egypt is a pretty heifer, But a horsefly is coming from the north—it is coming! “Also her mercenaries in her midst Are like fattened calves, For even they have turned back and have fled away together; They did not stand their ground. For the day of their disaster has come upon them, The time of their punishment. “Its sound moves along like a serpent; For they move on like a military force And come to her as woodcutters with axes. “They have cut down her forest,” declares Yahweh; “Surely it will no longer be searched out, Even though they are now more numerous than locusts And are without number. “The daughter of Egypt has been put to shame, Given over to the hand of the people of the north.” Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, says, “Behold, I am going to punish Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt along with her gods and her kings, even Pharaoh and those who trust in him. “I shall give them into the hand of those who are seeking their lives, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of his servants. Afterwards, however, it will be dwelt in like in the days of old,” declares Yahweh. “But as for you, O Jacob My servant, do not fear, Nor be dismayed, O Israel! For behold, I am going to save you from afar, And your seed from the land of their captivity; And Jacob will return and have quiet And be at ease, with no one making him tremble. “O Jacob My servant, do not fear,” declares Yahweh, “For I am with you. For I will make a complete destruction of all the nations Where I have banished you, Yet I will not make a complete destruction of you; But I will discipline you with justice And by no means leave you unpunished.”

~~~~~~47~~~~~ ~~~~~~47~~~~~ ~~~~~~47~~~~~ ~~~~~~47~~~~~ ~~~~~~47~~~~~ That which came as the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck down Gaza. Thus says Yahweh: “Behold, waters are going to rise from the north And become an overflowing torrent, And overflow the land as well as its fullness, The city and those who inhabit it; And the men will cry out, And every inhabitant of the land will wail. “Because of the noise of the galloping hoofs of his valiant steeds, The quaking of his chariots, and the tumult of his wheels, The fathers have not turned back for their children, Because of the limpness of their hands, On account of the day that is coming To destroy all the Philistines, To cut off from Tyre and Sidon Every ally that is left; For Yahweh is going to destroy the Philistines, The remnant of the coastland of Caphtor. “Baldness has come upon Gaza; Ashkelon has been ruined. O remnant of their valley, How long will you gash yourself? “Ah, sword of Yahweh, How long will you not be quiet? Withdraw into your sheath; Be at rest and stay still. “How can it be quiet? Yahweh has given it a command; Against Ashkelon and against the seacoast— There He has assigned it.”

~~~~~~48~~~~~ ~~~~~~48~~~~~ ~~~~~~48~~~~~ ~~~~~~48~~~~~ ~~~~~~48~~~~~ Concerning Moab. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Woe to Nebo, for it has been destroyed; Kiriathaim has been put to shame, it has been captured; The lofty stronghold has been put to shame and shattered. “There is praise for Moab no longer; In Heshbon they have devised calamity against her: ‘Come and let us cut her off from being a nation!’ You too, Madmen, will be silenced; The sword will follow after you. “The sound of an outcry from Horonaim, ‘Devastation and great destruction!’ “Moab is broken; Her little ones have made their cry of distress heard. “For by the ascent of Luhith They will ascend with continual weeping; For at the descent of Horonaim They have heard the distressed cry of destruction. “Flee, escape with your lives, That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness. “For because of your trust in your own works and treasures, Even you yourself will be captured; And Chemosh will go off into exile Together with his priests and his princes. “A destroyer will come to every city, So that no city will escape; The valley also will perish, And the plateau will be destroyed, As Yahweh has said. “Give wings to Moab, For she will flee away; And her cities will become a desolation, Without inhabitants in them. “Cursed be the one who does the work of Yahweh with a slack hand, And cursed be the one who restrains his sword from blood. “Moab has been at ease since his youth; He has also had quiet, like wine on its dregs, And he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, Nor has he gone into exile. Therefore he retains his flavor, And his aroma has not changed. “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will send to him those who tip vessels, and they will tip him over, and they will empty his vessels and shatter his jars. “And Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their trust. “How can you say, ‘We are mighty warriors, And men valiant for battle’? “Moab has been destroyed, and men have gone up to his cities; His choicest young men have also gone down to the slaughter,” Declares the King, whose name is Yahweh of hosts. “The disaster of Moab will soon come, And his calamity has quickly hastened. “Mourn for him, all you who live around him, Even all of you who know his name; Say, ‘How has the strong scepter been broken, A staff of beauty!’ “Come down from your glory And inhabit the parched ground, O inhabitant of the daughter of Dibon; For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you, He has ruined your strongholds. “Stand by the road and keep watch, O inhabitant of Aroer; Ask him who flees and her who escapes And say, ‘What has happened?’ “Moab has been put to shame, for it has been shattered. Wail and cry out; Declare by the Arnon That Moab has been destroyed. “Judgment has also come upon the plain, upon Holon, upon Jahzah, and against Mephaath, and against Dibon, Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, and against Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon, and against Kerioth, Bozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. “The horn of Moab has been cut in pieces and his arm broken,” declares Yahweh. “Make him drunk, for he has magnified himself against Yahweh; so Moab will wallow in his vomit, and he also will become a laughingstock. “Now was not Israel a laughingstock to you? Or was he caught among thieves? For each time you speak about him you shake your head in scorn. “Leave the cities and dwell among the crags, O inhabitants of Moab, And be like a dove that nests Beyond the mouth of the chasm. “We have heard of the pride of Moab—he is very proud— Of his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance, and the exaltedness of his heart. “I know his fury,” declares Yahweh, “But it is nothing; His idle boasts have accomplished nothing. “Therefore I will wail for Moab, Even for all Moab will I cry out; I will moan for the men of Kir-heres. “More than the weeping for Jazer I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah! Your branches stretched across the sea, They reached to the sea of Jazer; Upon your summer fruits and your grape harvest The destroyer has fallen. “So gladness and joy are gathered up From the fruitful orchard, even from the land of Moab. And I have made the wine to cease from the wine presses; No one will tread them with shouting, The shouting will not be shouts of joy. “From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have given forth their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim and to Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim will become desolate. “I will make Moab cease,” declares Yahweh, “the one who offers offerings on the high place and the one who offers offerings in smoke to his gods. “Therefore My heart moans for Moab like flutes; My heart also moans like flutes for the men of Kir-heres. Therefore they have lost the abundance it produced. “For every head is bald and every beard cut short; there are gashes on all the hands and sackcloth on the loins. “On all the rooftops of Moab and in its open squares there is lamentation everywhere; for I have broken Moab like an undesirable vessel,” declares Yahweh. “How shattered it is! How they have wailed! How Moab has turned his back—he is ashamed! So Moab will become a laughingstock and an object of terror to all around him.” For thus says Yahweh: “Behold, one will swoop like an eagle And spread out his wings against Moab. “Kerioth has been captured, And the strongholds have been seized, So the hearts of the mighty men of Moab in that day Will be like the heart of a woman in labor. “Moab will be destroyed from being a people Because he has magnified himself against Yahweh. “Panic and pit and pitfall are coming upon you, O inhabitant of Moab,” declares Yahweh. “The one who flees from the panic Will fall into the pit, And the one who climbs up out of the pit Will be caught in the pitfall; For I shall bring upon her, even upon Moab, The year of their punishment,” declares Yahweh. “In the shadow of Heshbon Those who flee stand without strength; For a fire has gone forth from Heshbon And a flame from the midst of Sihon, And it has devoured the top of the head of Moab And the scalps of those who rumble. “Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished; For your sons have been taken away captive And your daughters into captivity. “Yet I will return the fortunes of Moab In the last days,” declares Yahweh. Thus far the judgment on Moab.

~~~~~~49~~~~~ ~~~~~~49~~~~~ ~~~~~~49~~~~~ ~~~~~~49~~~~~ ~~~~~~49~~~~~ Concerning the sons of Ammon. Thus says Yahweh: “Does Israel have no sons? Or has he no one who can take possession? Why then has Malcam taken possession of Gad And his people settled in its cities? “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “That I will cause a trumpet blast of war to be heard Against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon; And it will become a desolate heap, And her towns will be set on fire. Then Israel will take possession of his possessors,” Says Yahweh. “Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai has been destroyed! Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah, Gird yourselves with sackcloth and lament, And rush back and forth inside the walls; For Malcam will go into exile Together with his priests and his princes. “How boastful you are about the valleys! Your valley is flowing away, O faithless daughter Who trusts in her treasures, saying, ‘Who will come against me?’ “Behold, I am going to bring dread upon you,” Declares Lord Yahweh of hosts, “From all around you; And each of you will be banished headlong, With no one to gather the one who flees. “But afterward I will return The fortunes of the sons of Ammon,” Declares Yahweh. Concerning Edom. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman? Has counsel been lost to the understanding? Has their wisdom decayed? “Flee away, turn back, inhabit the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan, For I will bring the disaster of Esau upon him At the time I punish him. “If grape gatherers came to you, Would they not have gleanings remain? If thieves came by night, They would ruin only until they had enough. “But I have stripped Esau bare; I have uncovered his hiding places, So that he will not be able to conceal himself; His seed has been destroyed along with his relatives And his neighbors, and he is no more. “Leave your orphans behind, I will keep them alive; And let your widows trust in Me.” For thus says Yahweh, “Behold, those who are not under judgment to drink the cup will certainly drink it, but are you the one who will go completely unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but you will certainly drink it. “For I have sworn by Myself,” declares Yahweh, “that Bozrah will become an object of horror, a reproach, a ruin, and an imprecation; and all its cities will become perpetual ruins.” I have heard a message from Yahweh, And an envoy is sent among the nations, saying, “Gather yourselves together and come against her, And rise up for battle!” “For behold, I have made you small among the nations, Despised among men. “As for the terror of you, The arrogance of your heart has deceived you, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, Who seize the height of the hill. Though you make your nest as high as an eagle’s, I will bring you down from there,” declares Yahweh. “Edom will become an object of horror; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss at all its wounds. “Like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah with its neighbors,” says Yahweh, “no one will live there, nor will a son of man sojourn in it. “Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan against an enduring pasture; for in an instant I will make him run away from it, and whoever is chosen I shall appoint over it. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can stand against Me?” Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh which He has counseled against Edom, and His purposes which 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 pasture desolate because of them. The earth has quaked at the noise of their downfall. There is an outcry! The noise of it has been heard at the Red Sea. Behold, He will mount up and swoop like an eagle and spread out His wings against Bozrah; and the hearts of the mighty men of Edom in that day will be like the heart of a woman in labor. Concerning Damascus. “Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, For they have heard a bad report; They are melting away. There is anxiety by the sea, It cannot be quieted. “Damascus has become limp in their hands; She has turned away to flee, And panic has taken hold of her; Distress and pangs have seized her Like a woman in childbirth. “How the city of praise has not been forsaken, The town of My joy! “Therefore, her young men will fall in her open squares, And all the men of war will be silenced in that day,” declares Yahweh of hosts. “I will set fire to the wall of Damascus, And it will devour the fortified towers of Ben-hadad.” Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down. Thus says Yahweh, “Arise, go up to Kedar And destroy the men of the east. “They will take away their tents and their flocks; They will carry off for themselves Their tent curtains, all their goods, and their camels, And they will call out to one another, ‘Terror on every side!’ “Run away, flee earnestly! Inhabit the depths, O inhabitants of Hazor,” declares Yahweh; “For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you And purposed a purpose against you. “Arise, go up against a nation which is at ease, Which inhabits its land securely,” declares Yahweh. “It has no gates or bars; They dwell alone. “Their camels will become plunder, And their many cattle for spoil, And I will scatter to all the winds those who cut the corners of their hair; And I will bring their disaster from every side,” declares Yahweh. “Hazor will become a haunt of jackals, A desolation forever; No one will inhabit there, Nor will a son of man sojourn in it.” That which came as the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying: “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Behold, I am going to break the bow of Elam, The finest of their might. ‘I will bring upon Elam the four winds From the four ends of heaven, And I will scatter them to all these winds; And there will be no nation To which the banished ones of Elam will not go. ‘So I will shatter Elam before their enemies And before those who seek their lives; And I will bring calamity upon them, Even My burning anger,’ declares Yahweh, ‘And I will send out the sword after them Until I have consumed them. ‘Then I will set My throne in Elam And cause king and princes from there to perish,’ Declares Yahweh. ‘But it will be in the last days That I will return the fortunes of Elam,’” Declares Yahweh.

~~~~~~50~~~~~ ~~~~~~50~~~~~ ~~~~~~50~~~~~ ~~~~~~50~~~~~ ~~~~~~50~~~~~ The word which Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet: “Declare and make it heard among the nations. Make it heard and lift up a standard. Do not conceal it but say, ‘Babylon has been captured; Bel has been put to shame; Marduk has been shattered; Her images have been put to shame; her idols have been shattered.’ “For a nation has come up against her out of the north; it will make her land an object of horror, and there will be no inhabitant in it. Both man and beast have wandered off; they have gone away! “In those days and at that time,” declares Yahweh, “the sons of Israel will come, both they and the sons of Judah as well; they will go along weeping as they go, and it will be Yahweh their God they will seek. “They will ask for the way to Zion—turning their faces in its direction and saying, ‘Come!’—in order that they may join themselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten. “My people have become lost sheep; Their shepherds have led them astray. They have made them turn away on the mountains; They have gone along from mountain to hill And have forgotten their resting place. “All who came out against them have devoured them; And their adversaries have said, ‘We are not guilty, Inasmuch as they have sinned against Yahweh, who is the abode of righteousness, Even Yahweh, the hope of their fathers.’ “Wander away from the midst of Babylon And go forth from the land of the Chaldeans; Be also like male goats at the head of the flock. “For behold, I am going to arouse and bring up against Babylon An assembly of great nations from the land of the north, And they will arrange their battle lines against her; From there she will be taken captive. Their arrows will be like a warrior who makes one childless Who does not return empty-handed. “Chaldea will become spoil; All who take her spoil will have enough,” declares Yahweh. “Because you are glad, because you exult, O you who plunder My inheritance, Because you skip about like a threshing heifer And neigh like valiant steeds, Your mother will be greatly ashamed; She who gave you birth will be humiliated. Behold, she will be the least of the nations, A wilderness, a parched land, and a desert. “Because of the wrath of Yahweh she will not be inhabited, But she will be completely desolate; Everyone who passes by Babylon will be in desolation And will hiss because of all her wounds. “Arrange your battle lines against Babylon on every side, All you who bend the bow; Shoot at her, do not be sparing with your arrows, For she has sinned against Yahweh. “Raise a loud shout against her on every side! She has given herself up, her pillars have fallen, Her walls have been pulled down. For this is the vengeance of Yahweh: Take vengeance on her; As she has done to others, so do to her. “Cut off the sower from Babylon And the one who seizes the sickle at the time of harvest; From before the sword of the oppressor They will each turn back to his own people, And they will each flee to his own land. “Israel is a scattered flock; the lions have banished them away. The first one who devoured him was the king of Assyria, and this last one who has broken his bones is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. “Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I punished the king of Assyria. ‘And I will return Israel back to his pasture, and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan, and his desire will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead. ‘In those days and at that time,’ declares Yahweh, ‘search will be made for the iniquity of Israel, but there will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.’ “Against the land of Merathaim, go up against it, And against the inhabitants of Pekod. Put them to the sword and devote them to destruction,” declares Yahweh, “And do according to all that I have commanded you. “The noise of battle is in the land, And great destruction. “How the hammer of the whole earth Has been cut in pieces and broken! How Babylon has become An object of horror among the nations! “I set a snare for you, and you were also caught, O Babylon, But you yourself did not know; You have been found and also seized Because you have engaged in conflict with Yahweh.” Yahweh has opened His armory And has brought forth the weapons of His indignation, For it is a work of Lord Yahweh of hosts In the land of the Chaldeans. Come to her from the farthest border; Open up her barns; Pile her up like heaps, And devote her to destruction; Let nothing of her remain. Put all her young bulls to the sword; Let them go down to the slaughter! Woe be upon them, for their day has come, The time of their punishment. There is a sound of those who flee and escape from the land of Babylon, To declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our God, Vengeance for His temple. “Summon many against Babylon, All those who bend the bow: Encamp against her on every side, Let there be no escape. Repay her according to her work; According to all that she has done, so do to her; For she has become arrogant against Yahweh, Against the Holy One of Israel. “Therefore her young men will fall in her open squares, And all her men of war will be silenced in that day,” declares Yahweh. “Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one,” Declares Lord Yahweh of hosts, “For your day has come, The time when I will punish you. “The arrogant one will stumble and fall With no one to raise him up; And I will set fire to his cities, And it will devour him on every side.” Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “The sons of Israel are oppressed, And the sons of Judah as well; And all who took them captive have held them fast; They have refused to let them go. “Their Redeemer is strong, Yahweh of hosts is His name; He will vigorously plead their case So that He may bring relief to the earth, But turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon. “A sword against the Chaldeans,” declares Yahweh, “And against the inhabitants of Babylon And against her officials and her wise men! “A sword against the oracle priests, and they will become fools! A sword against her mighty men, and they will be shattered! “A sword against their horses and against their chariots And against all the foreigners who are in the midst of her, And they will become women! A sword against her treasures, and they will be plundered! “A drought on her waters, and they will be dried up! For it is a land of graven images, And they are mad over terrifying idols. “Therefore the desert creatures will live there along with the jackals; The ostriches also will live in it, And it will never again be lived in Or dwelt in from generation to generation. “As when God overthrew Sodom And Gomorrah with its neighbors,” declares Yahweh, “No man will live there, Nor will any son of man sojourn in it. “Behold, a people is coming from the north, And a great nation and many kings Will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth. “They seize their bow and javelin; They are cruel and have no compassion. Their voice roars like the sea; And they ride on horses, Arranged like a man for the battle Against you, O daughter of Babylon. “The king of Babylon has heard the report about them, And his hands hang limp; Distress has taken hold of him, Agony like a woman in childbirth. “Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan to an enduring pasture; for in an instant I will make them run away from it, and whoever is chosen I will appoint over it. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can stand before Me?” Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh which He has counseled against Babylon, and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: surely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them. At the sound, “Babylon has been seized!” the earth is shaken, and an outcry is heard among the nations.

~~~~~~51~~~~~ ~~~~~~51~~~~~ ~~~~~~51~~~~~ ~~~~~~51~~~~~ ~~~~~~51~~~~~ Thus says Yahweh: “Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon And against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai The spirit of a destroyer. “I will send strangers to Babylon that they may winnow her And may empty her land to destruction; For on every side they will be against her In the day of her calamity. “Let not him who bends his bow bend it, Nor let him rise up in his scale-armor; So do not spare her young men; Devote all her army to destruction. “They will fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, And pierced through in their streets.” For neither Israel nor Judah has been widowed By his God, by Yahweh of hosts, Although their land is full of guilt Before the Holy One of Israel. Flee from the midst of Babylon, And each of you escape with his life! Do not be silenced in her iniquity, For this is Yahweh’s time of vengeance; He is going to render recompense to her. Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of Yahweh, Intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine; Therefore the nations are going mad. Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken; Wail over her! Take balm for her pain; Perhaps she may be healed. We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed; Forsake her and let us each go to his own country, For her judgment has touched heaven And lifts up to the very skies. Yahweh has brought about our righteousness; Come and let us recount in Zion The work of Yahweh our God! Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! Yahweh has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes Because His purpose is against Babylon to destroy it; For it is the vengeance of Yahweh, vengeance for His temple. Lift up a standard against the walls of Babylon; Make strong the watch; Raise up watchmen; Establish men in ambush! For Yahweh has both purposed and performed What He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. O you who dwell by abundant waters, Abundant in treasures, Your end has come, The measure of your end. Yahweh of hosts has sworn by Himself: “Surely I will fill you with a population like locusts, And they will cry out with shouts of victory over you.” It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom, And by His understanding He stretched out the heavens. When He gives forth His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, And He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain And brings forth the wind from His storehouses. All mankind is senseless, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image, For his molten images are a lie, And there is no breath in them. They are vanity, a work of mockery; In the time of their punishment they will perish. The portion of Jacob is not like these; For the Maker of all is He, And of the tribe of His inheritance; Yahweh of hosts is His name. He says, “You are My instrument of shattering, My weapon of war; And with you I shatter nations, And with you I destroy kingdoms. “With you I shatter the horse and his rider, And with you I shatter the chariot and its rider, And with you I shatter man and woman, And with you I shatter old man and youth, And with you I shatter choice man and virgin, And with you I shatter the shepherd and his flock, And with you I shatter the farmer and his pair of oxen, And with you I shatter governors and prefects. “But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,” declares Yahweh. “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, Who destroys the whole earth,” declares Yahweh, “And I will stretch out My hand against you And roll you down from the crags, And I will make you a burnt out mountain. “They will not take from you even a stone for a corner Nor a stone for foundations, But you will be a perpetual desolation,” declares Yahweh. Lift up a standard in the land, Blow a trumpet among the nations! Set apart the nations against her; Summon against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; Appoint a marshal against her; Bring up the horses like bristly locusts. Set apart the nations against her, The kings of the Medes, Their governors and all their prefects And every land of their rule. So the land quakes and writhes, For the purposes of Yahweh against Babylon stand, To make the land of Babylon A desolation without inhabitants. The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting; They inhabit the strongholds; Their might is dried up; They are becoming like women; Their dwelling places are set on fire; The bars of her gates are broken. One runner runs to meet another, And one messenger to meet another, To give a message to the king of Babylon That his city has been captured from end to end; The fords also have been seized, And they have burned the marshes with fire, And the men of war are terrified. For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor At the time it is stamped firm; Yet in a little while the time of harvest will come for her.” “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me and brought me into confusion; He has set me down like an empty vessel; He has swallowed me like a sea monster; He has filled his stomach with my delicacies; He has rinsed me away. “May the violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,” The inhabitant of Zion will say; And, “May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,” Jerusalem will say. Therefore thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am going to plead your case And exact full vengeance for you; And I will dry up her sea And make her fountain dry. “Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, An object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants. “They will roar together like young lions; They will growl like lions’ cubs. “When they become heated up, I will set before them their feast And make them drunk, that they may exult And may sleep a perpetual sleep And not wake up,” declares Yahweh. “I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, Like rams together with male goats. “How Sheshak has been captured, And the praise of the whole earth been seized! How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations! “The sea has come up over Babylon; She has been covered with its tumultuous waves. “Her cities have become an object of horror, A parched land, and a desert, A land in which no man lives And through which no son of man passes. “I will punish Bel in Babylon, And I will make what he has swallowed come out of his mouth; And the nations will no longer stream to him. Even the wall of Babylon has fallen down! “Come forth from her midst, My people, And each of you escape with his life From the burning anger of Yahweh. “Now lest your heart grow faint, And you fear the report that will be heard in the land— For the report will come one year, And after that another report in another year, And violence will be in the land With ruler against ruler— Therefore behold, days are coming When I will punish the graven images of Babylon; And her whole land will be put to shame, And all her slain will fall in her midst. “Then heaven and earth and all that is in them Will shout for joy over Babylon, For the destroyers will come to her from the north,” Declares Yahweh. Indeed Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel, As also for Babylon the slain of all the earth have fallen. You who have escaped the sword, Go! Do not stand around! Remember Yahweh from afar, And let Jerusalem come upon your heart. We are ashamed because we have heard reproach; Dishonor has covered our faces, For strangers have entered The holy places of the house of Yahweh. “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “When I will punish her graven images, And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land. “Though Babylon should ascend to the heavens, And though she should fortify her lofty stronghold, From Me destroyers will come to her,” declares Yahweh. The sound of an outcry from Babylon, And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans! For Yahweh is going to destroy Babylon, And He will make her loud noise vanish from her. And their waves will roar like many waters; The rumbling of their voices sounds forth. For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon, And her mighty men will be captured; Their bows are shattered; For Yahweh is a God of recompense, He will fully repay. “I will make her princes and her wise men drunk, Her governors, her prefects, and her mighty men, That they may sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake up,” Declares the King, whose name is Yahweh of hosts. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “The broad wall of Babylon will be completely razed, And her high gates will be set on fire; So the peoples will toil for nothing, And the nations become weary only for fire.” The message which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (Now Seraiah was quartermaster.) So Jeremiah wrote in a single scroll all the calamity which would come upon Babylon, that is, all these words which have been written concerning Babylon. Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “As soon as you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words aloud, and then you will say, ‘You, O Yahweh, have promised concerning this place to cut it off, so that there will be nothing inhabiting it, whether man or beast, but it will be a perpetual desolation.’ “And as soon as you finish reading this scroll, you will tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates, and then you will say, ‘Just so shall Babylon sink down and not rise again because of the calamity that I am going to bring upon her; and they will become utterly weary.’” Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
	
~~~~~~52~~~~~ ~~~~~~52~~~~~ ~~~~~~52~~~~~ ~~~~~~52~~~~~ ~~~~~~52~~~~~ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For through the anger of Yahweh this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. Now it happened in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his military force, against Jerusalem, and they camped against it and built a siege wall all around it. So the city came under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. On the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine was so strong in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. Then the city was breached, and all the men of war fled and went forth from the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. But the military force of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his military force was scattered from him. Then they seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he spoke his judgment on him. Then the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the princes of Judah in Riblah. Then he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death. Now on the tenth day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who stood before the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. And he burned the house of Yahweh, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every large house he burned with fire. So all the military force of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard tore down all the walls around Jerusalem. Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took away into exile some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the artisans. But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had some of the poorest of the land remain to be vinedressers and plowmen. Now the bronze pillars which belonged to the house of Yahweh and the stands and the bronze sea, which were in the house of Yahweh, the Chaldeans shattered and carried all their bronze to Babylon. They also took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the bowls, the pans, and all the bronze vessels which were used to minister. And the captain of the guard also took away the cups, the firepans, the bowls, the pots, the lampstands, the pans, and the offering bowls, what was fine gold and what was fine silver. The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under the sea, and the stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh—the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. As for the pillars, the height of each pillar was eighteen cubits, and it was twelve cubits in circumference and four fingers in thickness, and hollow. 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. There were ninety-six exposed pomegranates; all the pomegranates numbered one hundred on the network all around. Then the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the second priest, with the three doorkeepers of the temple. And from the city he took one official who was overseer of the men of war, and seven of the king’s advisers who were found in the city, and the scribe of the commander 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. And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and led them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from its land. These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar took away into exile: in the seventh year 3,023 Jews; in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar 832 persons from Jerusalem; in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took away into exile 745 Jewish people; there were 4,600 persons in all. Now it happened in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth 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 out of prison; and he spoke to him good words, and he set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes and had his meals in the king’s presence continually all the days of his life. For his allowance, a continual allowance was given him by the king of Babylon, a daily portion all the days of his life until the day of his death.
