[Jeremiah 1]
1:1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests
that [were] in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
1:2 To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah
the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his
reign.
1:3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah
king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah
the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of
Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
1:4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before
thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, [and] I
ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
1:6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I
[am] a child.
1:7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I [am] a child: for
thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I
command thee thou shalt speak.
1:8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I [am] with thee to
deliver thee, saith the LORD.
1:9 Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth.
And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy
mouth.
1:10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over
the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy,
and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
1:11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond
tree.
1:12 Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I
will hasten my word to perform it.
1:13 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time,
saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and
the face thereof [is] toward the north.
1:14 Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil
shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
1:15 For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of
the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall
set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of
Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and
against all the cities of Judah.
1:16 And I will utter my judgments against them touching all
their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense
unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
1:17 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak
unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their
faces, lest I confound thee before them.
1:18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city,
and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land,
against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof,
against the priests thereof, and against the people of the
land.
1:19 And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not
prevail against thee; for I [am] with thee, saith the LORD, to
deliver thee.
[Jeremiah 2]
2:1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2:2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith
the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love
of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the
wilderness, in a land [that was] not sown.
2:3 Israel [was] holiness unto the LORD, [and] the
firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend;
evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.
2:4 Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all
the families of the house of Israel:
2:5 Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers
found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked
after vanity, and are become vain?
2:6 Neither said they, Where [is] the LORD that brought us up
out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness,
through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of
drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man
passed through, and where no man dwelt?
2:7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the
fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye
defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.
2:8 The priests said not, Where [is] the LORD? and they that
handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed
against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked
after [things that] do not profit.
2:9 Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and
with your children's children will I plead.
2:10 For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send
unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a
thing.
2:11 Hath a nation changed [their] gods, which [are] yet no
gods? but my people have changed their glory for [that which]
doth not profit.
2:12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly
afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.
2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have
forsaken me the fountain of living waters, [and] hewed them out
cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
2:14 [Is] Israel a servant? [is] he a homeborn [slave]? why
is he spoiled?
2:15 The young lions roared upon him, [and] yelled, and they
made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant.
2:16 Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the
crown of thy head.
2:17 Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou
hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?
2:18 And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to
drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way
of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?
2:19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy
backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that
[it is] an evil [thing] and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the
LORD thy God, and that my fear [is] not in thee, saith the Lord
GOD of hosts.
2:20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, [and] burst thy
bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every
high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing
the harlot.
2:21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right
seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a
strange vine unto me?
2:22 For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much
soap, [yet] thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord
GOD.
2:23 How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone
after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast
done: [thou art] a swift dromedary traversing her ways;
2:24 A wild ass used to the wilderness, [that] snuffeth up
the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her
away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her
month they shall find her.
2:25 Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from
thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved
strangers, and after them will I go.
2:26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the
house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and
their priests, and their prophets,
2:27 Saying to a stock, Thou [art] my father; and to a stone,
Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned [their] back
unto me, and not [their] face: but in the time of their trouble
they will say, Arise, and save us.
2:28 But where [are] thy gods that thou hast made thee? let
them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble:
for [according to] the number of thy cities are thy gods, O
Judah.
2:29 Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have
transgressed against me, saith the LORD.
2:30 In vain have I smitten your children; they received no
correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a
destroying lion.
2:31 O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a
wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my
people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee?
2:32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, [or] a bride her
attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
2:33 Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast
thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.
2:34 Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of
the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but
upon all these.
2:35 Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger
shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because
thou sayest, I have not sinned.
2:36 Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou
also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of
Assyria.
2:37 Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon
thine head: for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences, and
thou shalt not prosper in them.
[Jeremiah 3]
3:1 They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from
him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again?
shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played
the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the
LORD.
3:2 Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where
thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for
them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted
the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.
3:3 Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there
hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead,
thou refusedst to be ashamed.
3:4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou
[art] the guide of my youth?
3:5 Will he reserve [his anger] for ever? will he keep [it]
to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as
thou couldest.
3:6 The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the
king, Hast thou seen [that] which backsliding Israel hath done?
she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green
tree, and there hath played the harlot.
3:7 And I said after she had done all these [things], Turn
thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister
Judah saw [it].
3:8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding
Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a
bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not,
but went and played the harlot also.
3:9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her
whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery
with stones and with stocks.
3:10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath
not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith
the LORD.
3:11 And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath
justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
3:12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say,
Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; [and] I will
not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I [am] merciful,
saith the LORD, [and] I will not keep [anger] for ever.
3:13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast
transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy
ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not
obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
3:14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am
married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of
a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
3:15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart,
which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
3:16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and
increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they
shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither
shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither
shall they visit [it]; neither shall [that] be done any more.
3:17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the
LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the
name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any
more after the imagination of their evil heart.
3:18 In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the
house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land
of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance
unto your fathers.
3:19 But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and
give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of
nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt
not turn away from me.
3:20 Surely [as] a wife treacherously departeth from her
husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of
Israel, saith the LORD.
3:21 A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping [and]
supplications of the children of Israel: for they have
perverted their way, [and] they have forgotten the LORD their
God.
3:22 Return, ye backsliding children, [and] I will heal your
backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou [art] the
LORD our God.
3:23 Truly in vain [is salvation hoped for] from the hills,
[and from] the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our
God [is] the salvation of Israel.
3:24 For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from
our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their
daughters.
3:25 We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us:
for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our
fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed
the voice of the LORD our God.
[Jeremiah 4]
4:1 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return
unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my
sight, then shalt thou not remove.
4:2 And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in
judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless
themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
4:3 For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and
Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among
thorns.
4:4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the
foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of
Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that
none can quench [it], because of the evil of your doings.
4:5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say,
Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say,
Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.
4:6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I
will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
4:7 The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer
of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place
to make thy land desolate; [and] thy cities shall be laid
waste, without an inhabitant.
4:8 For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for
the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.
4:9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD,
[that] the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the
princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets
shall wonder.
4:10 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly
deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have
peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.
4:11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to
Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness
toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,
4:12 [Even] a full wind from those [places] shall come unto
me: now also will I give sentence against them.
4:13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots
[shall be] as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.
4:14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou
mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within
thee?
4:15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth
affliction from mount Ephraim.
4:16 Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against
Jerusalem, [that] watchers come from a far country, and give
out their voice against the cities of Judah.
4:17 As keepers of a field, are they against her round about;
because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.
4:18 Thy way and thy doings have procured these [things] unto
thee; this [is] thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because
it reacheth unto thine heart.
4:19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my
heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because
thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm
of war.
4:20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole
land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, [and] my
curtains in a moment.
4:21 How long shall I see the standard, [and] hear the sound
of the trumpet?
4:22 For my people [is] foolish, they have not known me; they
[are] sottish children, and they have none understanding: they
[are] wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
4:23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, [it was] without form, and
void; and the heavens, and they [had] no light.
4:24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all
the hills moved lightly.
4:25 I beheld, and, lo, [there was] no man, and all the birds
of the heavens were fled.
4:26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place [was] a
wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the
presence of the LORD, [and] by his fierce anger.
4:27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be
desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
4:28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be
black: because I have spoken [it], I have purposed [it], and
will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.
4:29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen
and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the
rocks: every city [shall be] forsaken, and not a man dwell
therein.
4:30 And [when] thou [art] spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though
thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee
with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with
painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; [thy] lovers
will despise thee, they will seek thy life.
4:31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, [and]
the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the
voice of the daughter of Zion, [that] bewaileth herself, [that]
spreadeth her hands, [saying], Woe [is] me now! for my soul is
wearied because of murderers.
[Jeremiah 5]
5:1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and
see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye
can find a man, if there be [any] that executeth judgment, that
seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
5:2 And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear
falsely.
5:3 O LORD, [are] not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast
stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed
them, [but] they have refused to receive correction: they have
made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to
return.
5:4 Therefore I said, Surely these [are] poor; they are
foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, [nor] the
judgment of their God.
5:5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto
them; for they have known the way of the LORD, [and] the
judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the
yoke, [and] burst the bonds.
5:6 Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, [and]
a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch
over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be
torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, [and]
their backslidings are increased.
5:7 How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have
forsaken me, and sworn by [them that are] no gods: when I had
fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and
assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.
5:8 They were [as] fed horses in the morning: every one
neighed after his neighbour's wife.
5:9 Shall I not visit for these [things]? saith the LORD: and
shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
5:10 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a
full end: take away her battlements; for they [are] not the
LORD'S.
5:11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have
dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.
5:12 They have belied the LORD, and said, [It is] not he;
neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor
famine:
5:13 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word [is]
not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.
5:14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye
speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth
fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
5:15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of
Israel, saith the LORD: it [is] a mighty nation, it [is] an
ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not,
neither understandest what they say.
5:16 Their quiver [is] as an open sepulchre, they [are] all
mighty men.
5:17 And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread,
[which] thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat
up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and
thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein
thou trustedst, with the sword.
5:18 Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not
make a full end with you.
5:19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore
doeth the LORD our God all these [things] unto us? then shalt
thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served
strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a
land [that is] not yours.
5:20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in
Judah, saying,
5:21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without
understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears,
and hear not:
5:22 Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at
my presence, which have placed the sand [for] the bound of the
sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though
the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail;
though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?
5:23 But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart;
they are revolted and gone.
5:24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the
LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter,
in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the
harvest.
5:25 Your iniquities have turned away these [things], and
your sins have withholden good [things] from you.
5:26 For among my people are found wicked [men]: they lay
wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch
men.
5:27 As a cage is full of birds, so [are] their houses full
of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
5:28 They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the
deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the
fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do
they not judge.
5:29 Shall I not visit for these [things]? saith the LORD:
shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
5:30 A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule
by their means; and my people love [to have it] so: and what
will ye do in the end thereof?
[Jeremiah 6]
6:1 O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out
of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and
set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out
of the north, and great destruction.
6:2 I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and
delicate [woman].
6:3 The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they
shall pitch [their] tents against her round about; they shall
feed every one in his place.
6:4 Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at
noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of
the evening are stretched out.
6:5 Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her
palaces.
6:6 For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye down trees,
and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this [is] the city to be
visited; she [is] wholly oppression in the midst of her.
6:7 As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out
her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me
continually [is] grief and wounds.
6:8 Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from
thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.
6:9 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall thoroughly glean
the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a
grapegatherer into the baskets.
6:10 To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may
hear? behold, their ear [is] uncircumcised, and they cannot
hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach;
they have no delight in it.
6:11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary
with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad,
and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the
husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with [him that
is] full of days.
6:12 And their houses shall be turned unto others, [with
their] fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my
hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD.
6:13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of
them every one [is] given to covetousness; and from the prophet
even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
6:14 They have healed also the hurt [of the daughter] of my
people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when [there is] no
peace.
6:15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush:
therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time
[that] I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.
6:16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and
ask for the old paths, where [is] the good way, and walk
therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said,
We will not walk [therein].
6:17 Also I set watchmen over you, [saying], Hearken to the
sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
6:18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation,
what [is] among them.
6:19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this
people, [even] the fruit of their thoughts, because they have
not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.
6:20 To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba,
and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings
[are] not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.
6:21 Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay
stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the
sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his
friend shall perish.
6:22 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the
north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the
sides of the earth.
6:23 They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they [are] cruel,
and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they
ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O
daughter of Zion.
6:24 We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble:
anguish hath taken hold of us, [and] pain, as of a woman in
travail.
6:25 Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for
the sword of the enemy [and] fear [is] on every side.
6:26 O daughter of my people, gird [thee] with sackcloth, and
wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, [as for] an only
son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly
come upon us.
6:27 I have set thee [for] a tower [and] a fortress among my
people, that thou mayest know and try their way.
6:28 They [are] all grievous revolters, walking with
slanders: [they are] brass and iron; they [are] all corrupters.
6:29 The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the
fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not
plucked away.
6:30 Reprobate silver shall [men] call them, because the LORD
hath rejected them.
[Jeremiah 7]
7:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
7:2 Stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim there
this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all [ye of]
Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD.
7:3 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend
your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in
this place.
7:4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the
LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, [are]
these.
7:5 For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if
ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;
7:6 [If] ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the
widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk
after other gods to your hurt:
7:7 Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land
that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.
7:8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
7:9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear
falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods
whom ye know not;
7:10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is
called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these
abominations?
7:11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den
of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen [it], saith
the LORD.
7:12 But go ye now unto my place which [was] in Shiloh, where
I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the
wickedness of my people Israel.
7:13 And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the
LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but
ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;
7:14 Therefore will I do unto [this] house, which is called
by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave
to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.
7:15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out
all your brethren, [even] the whole seed of Ephraim.
7:16 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up
cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I
will not hear thee.
7:17 Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and
in the streets of Jerusalem?
7:18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the
fire, and the women knead [their] dough, to make cakes to the
queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other
gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
7:19 Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: [do they]
not [provoke] themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
7:20 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger
and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and
upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit
of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
7:21 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put
your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.
7:22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in
the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt,
concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
7:23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice,
and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye
in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well
unto you.
7:24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but
walked in the counsels [and] in the imagination of their evil
heart, and went backward, and not forward.
7:25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the
land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my
servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending
[them]:
7:26 Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear,
but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
7:27 Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them;
but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto
them; but they will not answer thee.
7:28 But thou shalt say unto them, This [is] a nation that
obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth
correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.
7:29 Cut off thine hair, [O Jerusalem], and cast [it] away,
and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath
rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
7:30 For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight,
saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house
which is called by my name, to pollute it.
7:31 And they have built the high places of Tophet, which
[is] in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and
their daughters in the fire; which I commanded [them] not,
neither came it into my heart.
7:32 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that
it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of
Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in
Tophet, till there be no place.
7:33 And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the
fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none
shall fray [them] away.
7:34 Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and
from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the
voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice
of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.
[Jeremiah 8]
8:1 At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the
bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and
the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and
the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:
8:2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon,
and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they
have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they
have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be
gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face
of the earth.
8:3 And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the
residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain
in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the LORD of
hosts.
8:4 Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD;
Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not
return?
8:5 Why [then] is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a
perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to
return.
8:6 I hearkened and heard, [but] they spake not aright: no
man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done?
every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the
battle.
8:7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times;
and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time
of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the
LORD.
8:8 How do ye say, We [are] wise, and the law of the LORD
[is] with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he [it]; the pen of
the scribes [is] in vain.
8:9 The wise [men] are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken:
lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom
[is] in them?
8:10 Therefore will I give their wives unto others, [and]
their fields to them that shall inherit [them]: for every one
from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness,
from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth
falsely.
8:11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my
people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when [there is] no
peace.
8:12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush:
therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of
their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.
8:13 I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: [there shall
be] no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the
leaf shall fade; and [the things that] I have given them shall
pass away from them.
8:14 Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us
enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for
the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of
gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.
8:15 We looked for peace, but no good [came; and] for a time
of health, and behold trouble!
8:16 The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole
land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones;
for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is
in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.
8:17 For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among
you, which [will] not [be] charmed, and they shall bite you,
saith the LORD.
8:18 [When] I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart
[is] faint in me.
8:19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people
because of them that dwell in a far country: [Is] not the LORD
in Zion? [is] not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to
anger with their graven images, [and] with strange vanities?
8:20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not
saved.
8:21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I
am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
8:22 [Is there] no balm in Gilead; [is there] no physician
there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people
recovered?
[Jeremiah 9]
9:1 Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of
tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the
daughter of my people!
9:2 Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of
wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them!
for they [be] all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
9:3 And they bend their tongues [like] their bow [for] lies:
but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they
proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the
LORD.
9:4 Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not
in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and
every neighbour will walk with slanders.
9:5 And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will
not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak
lies, [and] weary themselves to commit iniquity.
9:6 Thine habitation [is] in the midst of deceit; through
deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD.
9:7 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will
melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of
my people?
9:8 Their tongue [is as] an arrow shot out; it speaketh
deceit: [one] speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his
mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait.
9:9 Shall I not visit them for these [things]? saith the
LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
9:10 For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing,
and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation,
because they are burned up, so that none can pass through
[them]; neither can [men] hear the voice of the cattle; both
the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.
9:11 And I will make Jerusalem heaps, [and] a den of dragons;
and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an
inhabitant.
9:12 Who [is] the wise man, that may understand this? and
[who is he] to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he
may declare it, for what the land perisheth [and] is burned up
like a wilderness, that none passeth through?
9:13 And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law
which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither
walked therein;
9:14 But have walked after the imagination of their own
heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
9:15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel; Behold, I will feed them, [even] this people, with
wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.
9:16 I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither
they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword
after them, till I have consumed them.
9:17 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for
the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning
[women], that they may come:
9:18 And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us,
that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out
with waters.
9:19 For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we
spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken
the land, because our dwellings have cast [us] out.
9:20 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your
ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters
wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation.
9:21 For death is come up into our windows, [and] is entered
into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, [and]
the young men from the streets.
9:22 Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men
shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful
after the harvestman, and none shall gather [them].
9:23 Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise [man] glory in his
wisdom, neither let the mighty [man] glory in his might, let
not the rich [man] glory in his riches:
9:24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he
understandeth and knoweth me, that I [am] the LORD which
exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the
earth: for in these [things] I delight, saith the LORD.
9:25 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will
punish all [them which are] circumcised with the uncircumcised;
9:26 Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon,
and Moab, and all [that are] in the utmost corners, that dwell
in the wilderness: for all [these] nations [are] uncircumcised,
and all the house of Israel [are] uncircumcised in the heart.
[Jeremiah 10]
10:1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O
house of Israel:
10:2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen,
and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are
dismayed at them.
10:3 For the customs of the people [are] vain: for [one]
cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the
workman, with the ax.
10:4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it
with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
10:5 They [are] upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they
must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of
them; for they cannot do evil, neither also [is it] in them to
do good.
10:6 Forasmuch as [there is] none like unto thee, O LORD;
thou [art] great, and thy name [is] great in might.
10:7 Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee
doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise [men] of the
nations, and in all their kingdoms, [there is] none like unto
thee.
10:8 But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock
[is] a doctrine of vanities.
10:9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and
gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of
the founder: blue and purple [is] their clothing: they [are]
all the work of cunning [men].
10:10 But the LORD [is] the true God, he [is] the living God,
and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble,
and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
10:11 Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not
made the heavens and the earth, [even] they shall perish from
the earth, and from under these heavens.
10:12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath
established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the
heavens by his discretion.
10:13 When he uttereth his voice, [there is] a multitude of
waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend
from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and
bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
10:14 Every man is brutish in [his] knowledge: every founder
is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image [is]
falsehood, and [there is] no breath in them.
10:15 They [are] vanity, [and] the work of errors: in the
time of their visitation they shall perish.
10:16 The portion of Jacob [is] not like them: for he [is]
the former of all [things]; and Israel [is] the rod of his
inheritance: The LORD of hosts [is] his name.
10:17 Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of
the fortress.
10:18 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the
inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them,
that they may find [it so].
10:19 Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I
said, Truly this [is] a grief, and I must bear it.
10:20 My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken:
my children are gone forth of me, and they [are] not: [there
is] none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my
curtains.
10:21 For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought
the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their
flocks shall be scattered.
10:22 Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great
commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah
desolate, [and] a den of dragons.
10:23 O LORD, I know that the way of man [is] not in himself:
[it is] not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
10:24 O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine
anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
10:25 Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not,
and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have
eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have
made his habitation desolate.
[Jeremiah 11]
11:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
11:2 Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the
men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
11:3 And say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of
Israel; Cursed [be] the man that obeyeth not the words of this
covenant,
11:4 Which I commanded your fathers in the day [that] I
brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron
furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all
which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be
your God:
11:5 That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your
fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as
[it is] this day. Then answered I, and said, So be it, O LORD.
11:6 Then the LORD said unto me, Proclaim all these words in
the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying,
Hear ye the words of this covenant, and do them.
11:7 For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day
[that] I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, [even] unto
this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice.
11:8 Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked
every one in the imagination of their evil heart: therefore I
will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I
commanded [them] to do; but they did [them] not.
11:9 And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among
the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
11:10 They are turned back to the iniquities of their
forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went
after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the
house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their
fathers.
11:11 Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring
evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and
though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.
11:12 Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of
Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer
incense: but they shall not save them at all in the time of
their trouble.
11:13 For [according to] the number of thy cities were thy
gods, O Judah; and [according to] the number of the streets of
Jerusalem have ye set up altars to [that] shameful thing,
[even] altars to burn incense unto Baal.
11:14 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift
up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear [them] in the
time that they cry unto me for their trouble.
11:15 What hath my beloved to do in mine house, [seeing] she
hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed
from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest.
11:16 The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair,
[and] of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath
kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.
11:17 For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath
pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of
Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against
themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto
Baal.
11:18 And the LORD hath given me knowledge [of it], and I
know [it]: then thou showedst me their doings.
11:19 But I [was] like a lamb [or] an ox [that] is brought to
the slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices
against me, [saying], Let us destroy the tree with the fruit
thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living,
that his name may be no more remembered.
11:20 But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that
triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on
them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause.
11:21 Therefore thus saith the LORD of the men of Anathoth,
that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the
LORD, that thou die not by our hand:
11:22 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will
punish them: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons
and their daughters shall die by famine:
11:23 And there shall be no remnant of them: for I will bring
evil upon the men of Anathoth, [even] the year of their
visitation.
[Jeremiah 12]
12:1 Righteous [art] thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee:
yet let me talk with thee of [thy] judgments: Wherefore doth
the way of the wicked prosper? [wherefore] are all they happy
that deal very treacherously?
12:2 Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they
grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou [art] near in their
mouth, and far from their reins.
12:3 But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and
tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the
slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
12:4 How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every
field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein?
the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He
shall not see our last end.
12:5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied
thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and [if] in the
land of peace, [wherein] thou trustedst, [they wearied thee],
then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
12:6 For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even
they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called
a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak
fair words unto thee.
12:7 I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I
have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her
enemies.
12:8 Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it
crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it.
12:9 Mine heritage [is] unto me [as] a speckled bird, the
birds round about [are] against her; come ye, assemble all the
beasts of the field, come to devour.
12:10 Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have
trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant
portion a desolate wilderness.
12:11 They have made it desolate, [and being] desolate it
mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no
man layeth [it] to heart.
12:12 The spoilers are come upon all high places through the
wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the
[one] end of the land even to the [other] end of the land: no
flesh shall have peace.
12:13 They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have
put themselves to pain, [but] shall not profit: and they shall
be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the
LORD.
12:14 Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours,
that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel
to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and
pluck out the house of Judah from among them.
12:15 And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked
them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will
bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to
his land.
12:16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently
learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The LORD
liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall
they be built in the midst of my people.
12:17 But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and
destroy that nation, saith the LORD.
[Jeremiah 13]
13:1 Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen
girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
13:2 So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and
put [it] on my loins.
13:3 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time,
saying,
13:4 Take the girdle that thou hast got, which [is] upon thy
loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole
of the rock.
13:5 So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD
commanded me.
13:6 And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said
unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from
thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.
13:7 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the
girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the
girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.
13:8 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
13:9 Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the
pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
13:10 This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which
walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other
gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this
girdle, which is good for nothing.
13:11 For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so
have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and
the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be
unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for
a glory: but they would not hear.
13:12 Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus
saith the LORD God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with
wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know
that every bottle shall be filled with wine?
13:13 Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD,
Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the
kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the
prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with
drunkenness.
13:14 And I will dash them one against another, even the
fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity,
nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.
13:15 Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath
spoken.
13:16 Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause
darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains,
and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of
death, [and] make [it] gross darkness.
13:17 But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in
secret places for [your] pride; and mine eye shall weep sore,
and run down with tears, because the LORD's flock is carried
away captive.
13:18 Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves,
sit down: for your principalities shall come down, [even] the
crown of your glory.
13:19 The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none
shall open [them]: Judah shall be carried away captive all of
it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.
13:20 Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the
north: where [is] the flock [that] was given thee, thy
beautiful flock?
13:21 What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou
hast taught them [to be] captains, [and] as chief over thee:
shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?
13:22 And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these
things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy
skirts discovered, [and] thy heels made bare.
13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his
spots? [then] may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do
evil.
13:24 Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that
passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.
13:25 This [is] thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me,
saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in
falsehood.
13:26 Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face,
that thy shame may appear.
13:27 I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the
lewdness of thy whoredom, [and] thine abominations on the hills
in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be
made clean? when [shall it] once [be]?
[Jeremiah 14]
14:1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning
the dearth.
14:2 Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are
black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
14:3 And their nobles have sent their little ones to the
waters: they came to the pits, [and] found no water; they
returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and
confounded, and covered their heads.
14:4 Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in
the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.
14:5 Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook
[it], because there was no grass.
14:6 And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they
snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because
[there was] no grass.
14:7 O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do
thou [it] for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many;
we have sinned against thee.
14:8 O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of
trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and
as a wayfaring man [that] turneth aside to tarry for a night?
14:9 Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man
[that] cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, [art] in the midst of us,
and we are called by thy name; leave us not.
14:10 Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they
loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore
the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their
iniquity, and visit their sins.
14:11 Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people
for [their] good.
14:12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when
they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept
them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine,
and by the pestilence.
14:13 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say
unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have
famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.
14:14 Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies
in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them,
neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision
and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their
heart.
14:15 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets
that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say,
Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine
shall those prophets be consumed.
14:16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out
in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the
sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their
wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour
their wickedness upon them.
14:17 Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine
eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease:
for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great
breach, with a very grievous blow.
14:18 If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain
with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them
that are sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest
go about into a land that they know not.
14:19 Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul loathed
Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and [there is] no healing for
us? we looked for peace, and [there is] no good; and for the
time of healing, and behold trouble!
14:20 We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, [and] the
iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
14:21 Do not abhor [us], for thy name's sake, do not disgrace
the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with
us.
14:22 Are there [any] among the vanities of the Gentiles that
can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? [art] not thou
he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou
hast made all these [things].
[Jeremiah 15]
15:1 Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel
stood before me, [yet] my mind [could] not [be] toward this
people: cast [them] out of my sight, and let them go forth.
15:2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee,
Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus
saith the LORD; Such as [are] for death, to death; and such as
[are] for the sword, to the sword; and such as [are] for the
famine, to the famine; and such as [are] for the captivity, to
the captivity.
15:3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD:
the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the
heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.
15:4 And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of
the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of
Judah, for [that] which he did in Jerusalem.
15:5 For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who
shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest?
15:6 Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone
backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee,
and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.
15:7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land;
I will bereave [them] of children, I will destroy my people,
[since] they return not from their ways.
15:8 Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the
seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young
men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused [him] to fall upon it
suddenly, and terrors upon the city.
15:9 She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up
the ghost; her sun is gone down while [it was] yet day: she
hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will
I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.
15:10 Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of
strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have
neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; [yet]
every one of them doth curse me.
15:11 The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy
remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee [well]
in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.
15:12 Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?
15:13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the
spoil without price, and [that] for all thy sins, even in all
thy borders.
15:14 And I will make [thee] to pass with thine enemies into
a land [which] thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine
anger, [which] shall burn upon you.
15:15 O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and
revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy
longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word
was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am
called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
15:17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced;
I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with
indignation.
15:18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable,
[which] refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me
as a liar, [and as] waters [that] fail?
15:19 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then
will I bring thee again, [and] thou shalt stand before me: and
if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as
my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto
them.
15:20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brazen
wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not
prevail against thee: for I [am] with thee to save thee and to
deliver thee, saith the LORD.
15:21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked,
and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.
[Jeremiah 16]
16:1 The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying,
16:2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have
sons or daughters in this place.
16:3 For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and
concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and
concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their
fathers that begat them in this land;
16:4 They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be
lamented; neither shall they be buried; [but] they shall be as
dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by
the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for
the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
16:5 For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of
mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have
taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, [even]
lovingkindness and mercies.
16:6 Both the great and the small shall die in this land:
they shall not be buried, neither shall [men] lament for them,
nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:
16:7 Neither shall [men] tear [themselves] for them in
mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall [men]
give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or
for their mother.
16:8 Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to
sit with them to eat and to drink.
16:9 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes,
and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of
gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the
bride.
16:10 And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt show this
people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore
hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or
what [is] our iniquity? or what [is] our sin that we have
committed against the LORD our God?
16:11 Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers
have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other
gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have
forsaken me, and have not kept my law;
16:12 And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold,
ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that
they may not hearken unto me:
16:13 Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land
that ye know not, [neither] ye nor your fathers; and there
shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not show
you favour.
16:14 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that
it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the
children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
16:15 But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of
Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands
whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into
their land that I gave unto their fathers.
16:16 Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD,
and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many
hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from
every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.
16:17 For mine eyes [are] upon all their ways: they are not
hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.
16:18 And first I will recompense their iniquity and their
sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled
mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and
abominable things.
16:19 O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in
the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from
the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have
inherited lies, vanity, and [things] wherein [there is] no
profit.
16:20 Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they [are] no
gods?
16:21 Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know,
I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they
shall know that my name [is] The LORD.
[Jeremiah 17]
17:1 The sin of Judah [is] written with a pen of iron, [and]
with the point of a diamond: [it is] graven upon the table of
their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;
17:2 Whilst their children remember their altars and their
groves by the green trees upon the high hills.
17:3 O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance
[and] all thy treasures to the spoil, [and] thy high places for
sin, throughout all thy borders.
17:4 And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine
heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine
enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled
a fire in mine anger, [which] shall burn for ever.
17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed [be] the man that trusteth
in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth
from the LORD.
17:6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall
not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places
in the wilderness, [in] a salt land and not inhabited.
17:7 Blessed [is] the man that trusteth in the LORD, and
whose hope the LORD is.
17:8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and
[that] spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see
when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be
careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from
yielding fruit.
17:9 The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and
desperately wicked: who can know it?
17:10 I the LORD search the heart, [I] try the reins, even to
give every man according to his ways, [and] according to the
fruit of his doings.
17:11 [As] the partridge sitteth [on eggs], and hatcheth
[them] not; [so] he that getteth riches, and not by right,
shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall
be a fool.
17:12 A glorious high throne from the beginning [is] the
place of our sanctuary.
17:13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall
be ashamed, [and] they that depart from me shall be written in
the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of
living waters.
17:14 Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I
shall be saved: for thou [art] my praise.
17:15 Behold, they say unto me, Where [is] the word of the
LORD? let it come now.
17:16 As for me, I have not hastened from [being] a pastor to
follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou
knowest: that which came out of my lips was [right] before
thee.
17:17 Be not a terror unto me: thou [art] my hope in the day
of evil.
17:18 Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not
me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be
dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them
with double destruction.
17:19 Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate of
the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in,
and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of
Jerusalem;
17:20 And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye
kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:
17:21 Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear
no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring [it] in by the gates of
Jerusalem;
17:22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the
sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath
day, as I commanded your fathers.
17:23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but
made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive
instruction.
17:24 And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken
unto me, saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through the
gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath
day, to do no work therein;
17:25 Then shall there enter into the gates of this city
kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in
chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of
Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall
remain for ever.
17:26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from
the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and
from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south,
bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings,
and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house
of the LORD.
17:27 But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the
sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the
gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a
fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of
Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.
[Jeremiah 18]
18:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
18:2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I
will cause thee to hear my words.
18:3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he
wrought a work on the wheels.
18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the
hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as
seemed good to the potter to make [it].
18:5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
18:6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter?
saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay [is] in the potter's hand,
so [are] ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
18:7 [At what] instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and
concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to
destroy [it];
18:8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn
from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do
unto them.
18:9 And [at what] instant I shall speak concerning a nation,
and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant [it];
18:10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice,
then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would
benefit them.
18:11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD;
Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against
you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your
ways and your doings good.
18:12 And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after
our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of
his evil heart.
18:13 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the
heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath
done a very horrible thing.
18:14 Will [a man] leave the snow of Lebanon [which cometh]
from the rock of the field? [or] shall the cold flowing waters
that come from another place be forsaken?
18:15 Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned
incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in
their ways [from] the ancient paths, to walk in paths, [in] a
way not cast up;
18:16 To make their land desolate, [and] a perpetual hissing;
every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his
head.
18:17 I will scatter them as with an east wind before the
enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day
of their calamity.
18:18 Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against
Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor
counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and
let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to
any of his words.
18:19 Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of
them that contend with me.
18:20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have
digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to
speak good for them, [and] to turn away thy wrath from them.
18:21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and
pour out their [blood] by the force of the sword; and let their
wives be bereaved of their children, and [be] widows; and let
their men be put to death; [let] their young men [be] slain by
the sword in battle.
18:22 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt
bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to
take me, and hid snares for my feet.
18:23 Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to
slay [me]: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their
sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee;
deal [thus] with them in the time of thine anger.
[Jeremiah 19]
19:1 Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter's earthen
bottle, and [take] of the ancients of the people, and of the
ancients of the priests;
19:2 And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which
[is] by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the
words that I shall tell thee,
19:3 And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah,
and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the
God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the
which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.
19:4 Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this
place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom
neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of
Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;
19:5 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn
their sons with fire [for] burnt offerings unto Baal, which I
commanded not, nor spake [it], neither came [it] into my mind:
19:6 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that
this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of
the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.
19:7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem
in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword
before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their
lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls
of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
19:8 And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing;
every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss
because of all the plagues thereof.
19:9 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and
the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the
flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith
their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten
them.
19:10 Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the
men that go with thee.
19:11 And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts;
Even so will I break this people and this city, as [one]
breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again:
and they shall bury [them] in Tophet, till [there be] no place
to bury.
19:12 Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to
the inhabitants thereof, and [even] make this city as Tophet:
19:13 And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the
kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet,
because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned
incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink
offerings unto other gods.
19:14 Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had
sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD'S
house; and said to all the people,
19:15 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all
the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have
hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.
[Jeremiah 20]
20:1 Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who [was] also
chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah
prophesied these things.
20:2 Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in
the stocks that [were] in the high gate of Benjamin, which
[was] by the house of the LORD.
20:3 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought
forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him,
The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magormissabib.
20:4 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a
terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall
by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold
[it]: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of
Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and
shall slay them with the sword.
20:5 Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city,
and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things
thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I
give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them,
and take them, and carry them to Babylon.
20:6 And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house
shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and
there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all
thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.
20:7 O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou
art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision
daily, every one mocketh me.
20:8 For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and
spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto
me, and a derision, daily.
20:9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak
any more in his name. But [his word] was in mine heart as a
burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with
forbearing, and I could not [stay].
20:10 For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side.
Report, [say they], and we will report it. All my familiars
watched for my halting, [saying], Peradventure he will be
enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take
our revenge on him.
20:11 But the LORD [is] with me as a mighty terrible one:
therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not
prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not
prosper: [their] everlasting confusion shall never be
forgotten.
20:12 But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, [and]
seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on
them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.
20:13 Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath
delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.
20:14 Cursed [be] the day wherein I was born: let not the day
wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
20:15 Cursed [be] the man who brought tidings to my father,
saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad.
20:16 And let that man be as the cities which the LORD
overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the
morning, and the shouting at noontide;
20:17 Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother
might have been my grave, and her womb [to be] always great
[with me].
20:18 Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour
and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
[Jeremiah 21]
21:1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when
king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and
Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
21:2 Inquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be
that the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous
works, that he may go up from us.
21:3 Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to
Zedekiah:
21:4 Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn
back the weapons of war that [are] in your hands, wherewith ye
fight against the king of Babylon, and [against] the Chaldeans,
which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them
into the midst of this city.
21:5 And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched
hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in
great wrath.
21:6 And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man
and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence.
21:7 And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah
king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as
are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and
from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand
of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the
edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity,
nor have mercy.
21:8 And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the
LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of
death.
21:9 He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and
by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out,
and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live,
and his life shall be unto him for a prey.
21:10 For I have set my face against this city for evil, and
not for good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand
of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
21:11 And touching the house of the king of Judah, [say],
Hear ye the word of the LORD;
21:12 O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment
in the morning, and deliver [him that is] spoiled out of the
hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn
that none can quench [it], because of the evil of your doings.
21:13 Behold, I [am] against thee, O inhabitant of the
valley, [and] rock of the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who
shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our
habitations?
21:14 But I will punish you according to the fruit of your
doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest
thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.
[Jeremiah 22]
22:1 Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of
Judah, and speak there this word,
22:2 And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah,
that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants,
and thy people that enter in by these gates:
22:3 Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and
righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the
oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the
fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this
place.
22:4 For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter
in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of
David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants,
and his people.
22:5 But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself,
saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.
22:6 For thus saith the LORD unto the king's house of Judah;
Thou [art] Gilead unto me, [and] the head of Lebanon: [yet]
surely I will make thee a wilderness, [and] cities [which] are
not inhabited.
22:7 And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one
with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars,
and cast [them] into the fire.
22:8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall
say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done
thus unto this great city?
22:9 Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the
covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and
served them.
22:10 Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: [but]
weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more,
nor see his native country.
22:11 For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of
Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his
father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return
thither any more:
22:12 But he shall die in the place whither they have led him
captive, and shall see this land no more.
22:13 Woe unto him that buildeth his house by
unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; [that] useth his
neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his
work;
22:14 That saith, I will build me a wide house and large
chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and [it is] ceiled with
cedar, and painted with vermilion.
22:15 Shalt thou reign, because thou closest [thyself] in
cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and
justice, [and] then [it was] well with him?
22:16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then [it
was] well [with him: was] not this to know me? saith the LORD.
22:17 But thine eyes and thine heart [are] not but for thy
covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for
oppression, and for violence, to do [it].
22:18 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the
son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him,
[saying], Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament
for him, [saying], Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!
22:19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and
cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
22:20 Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in
Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are
destroyed.
22:21 I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; [but] thou saidst,
I will not hear. This [hath been] thy manner from thy youth,
that thou obeyedst not my voice.
22:22 The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers
shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and
confounded for all thy wickedness.
22:23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the
cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee,
the pain as of a woman in travail!
22:24 [As] I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of
Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet
would I pluck thee thence;
22:25 And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek
thy life, and into the hand [of them] whose face thou fearest,
even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into
the hand of the Chaldeans.
22:26 And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare
thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there
shall ye die.
22:27 But to the land whereunto they desire to return,
thither shall they not return.
22:28 [Is] this man Coniah a despised broken idol? [is he] a
vessel wherein [is] no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out,
he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
22:30 Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man
[that] shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed
shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any
more in Judah.
[Jeremiah 23]
23:1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the
sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
23:2 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the
pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and
driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will
visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.
23:3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all
countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again
to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
23:4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed
them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither
shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.
23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise
unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and
prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
23:6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell
safely: and this [is] his name whereby he shall be called, THE
LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
23:7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that
they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the
children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
23:8 But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the
seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from
all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell
in their own land.
23:9 Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets;
all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man
whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of
the words of his holiness.
23:10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of
swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the
wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their
force [is] not right.
23:11 For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my
house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
23:12 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery
[ways] in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall
therein: for I will bring evil upon them, [even] the year of
their visitation, saith the LORD.
23:13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they
prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
23:14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an
horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they
strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return
from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and
the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
23:15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the
prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them
drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is
profaneness gone forth into all the land.
23:16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the
words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you
vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, [and] not out of
the mouth of the LORD.
23:17 They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath
said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that
walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall
come upon you.
23:18 For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath
perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and
heard [it]?
23:19 Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury,
even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the
head of the wicked.
23:20 The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have
executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart:
in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.
23:21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have
not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
23:22 But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my
people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from
their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
23:23 [Am] I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God
afar off?
23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not
see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith
the LORD.
23:25 I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies
in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
23:26 How long shall [this] be in the heart of the prophets
that prophesy lies? yea, [they are] prophets of the deceit of
their own heart;
23:27 Which think to cause my people to forget my name by
their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as
their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.
23:28 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream;
and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully.
What [is] the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
23:29 [Is] not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and
like a hammer [that] breaketh the rock in pieces?
23:30 Therefore, behold, I [am] against the prophets, saith
the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.
23:31 Behold, I [am] against the prophets, saith the LORD,
that use their tongues, and say, He saith.
23:32 Behold, I [am] against them that prophesy false dreams,
saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by
their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor
commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at
all, saith the LORD.
23:33 And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest,
shall ask thee, saying, What [is] the burden of the LORD? thou
shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you,
saith the LORD.
23:34 And [as for] the prophet, and the priest, and the
people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even
punish that man and his house.
23:35 Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every
one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath
the LORD spoken?
23:36 And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more:
for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted
the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.
23:37 Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD
answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
23:38 But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore
thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of
the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say,
The burden of the LORD;
23:39 Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you,
and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your
fathers, [and cast you] out of my presence:
23:40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and
a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.
[Jeremiah 24]
24:1 The LORD showed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs
[were] set before the temple of the LORD, after that
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive
Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of
Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had
brought them to Babylon.