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Chapters: 1 2
3 4
5 6
| The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the
priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, |
| 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. |
| Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak:
for I am a child. |
| 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. |
| Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to
deliver thee, saith the LORD. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for
I will hasten my word to perform it. |
| 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. |
| Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil
shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| And they shall fight against thee; but they shall
not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver
thee. |
| Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and
all the families of the house of Israel: |
| 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? |
| 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? |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD,
and with your children's children will I plead. |
| For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and
send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a
thing. |
| Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no
gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not
profit. |
| Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be
horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. |
| 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. |
| Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is
he spoiled? |
| The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and
they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant. |
| Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken
the crown of thy head. |
| Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that
thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way? |
| 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? |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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? |
| For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee
much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD. |
| 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; |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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, |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have
transgressed against me, saith the LORD. |
| In vain have I smitten your children; they received
no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a
destroying lion. |
| 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? |
| Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her
attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number. |
| Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore
hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way?
thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father,
thou art the guide of my youth? |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| And it came to pass through the lightness of her
whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones
and with stocks. |
| And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah
hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the
LORD. |
| And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel
hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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: |
| And I will give you pastors according to mine heart,
which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her
husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel,
saith the LORD. |
| 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. |
| Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal
your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our
God. |
| 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. |
| For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers
from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their
daughters. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and
Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not:
for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. |
| 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. |
| For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl:
for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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, |
| Even a full wind from those places shall come unto
me: now also will I give sentence against them. |
| 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. |
| O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that
thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within
thee? |
| For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth
affliction from mount Ephraim. |
| 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. |
| As keepers of a field, are they against her round
about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole
land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a
moment. |
| How long shall I see the standard, and hear the
sound of the trumpet? |
| 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. |
| I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form,
and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. |
| I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and
all the hills moved lightly. |
| I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the
birds of the heavens were fled. |
| 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. |
| For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be
desolate; yet will I not make a full end. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they
swear falsely. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| They were as fed horses in the morning: every one
neighed after his neighbour's wife. |
| Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD:
and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? |
| 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. |
| For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have
dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD. |
| They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he;
neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: |
| And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is
not in them: thus shall it be done unto them. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all
mighty men. |
| 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. |
| Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will
not make a full end with you. |
| 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. |
| Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it
in Judah, saying, |
| Hear now this, O foolish people, and without
understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear
not: |
| 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? |
| But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious
heart; they are revolted and gone. |
| 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. |
| Your iniquities have turned away these things, and
your sins have withholden good things from you. |
| For among my people are found wicked men: they lay
wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. |
| As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full
of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. |
| 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. |
| Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD:
shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? |
| A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the
land; |
| 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? |
| 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. |
| I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and
delicate woman. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy
her palaces. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart
from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my
people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the
sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. |
| Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O
congregation, what is among them. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax
feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in
travail. |
| Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way;
for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side. |
| 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. |
| I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my
people, that thou mayest know and try their way. |
| They are all grievous revolters, walking with
slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters. |
| The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the
fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away. |
| Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the
LORD hath rejected them. |
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