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Jeremiah 12-20
New International Version
Jeremiah 12-20
New International Version
Jeremiah’s Complaint
12 You are always righteous,(A) Lord,
when I bring a case(B) before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:(C)
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?(D)
Why do all the faithless live at ease?
2 You have planted(E) them, and they have taken root;
they grow and bear fruit.(F)
You are always on their lips
but far from their hearts.(G)
3 Yet you know me, Lord;
you see me and test(H) my thoughts about you.
Drag them off like sheep(I) to be butchered!
Set them apart for the day of slaughter!(J)
4 How long will the land lie parched(K)
and the grass in every field be withered?(L)
Because those who live in it are wicked,
the animals and birds have perished.(M)
Moreover, the people are saying,
“He will not see what happens to us.”
God’s Answer
5 “If you have raced with men on foot
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble[a] in safe country,
how will you manage in the thickets(N) by[b] the Jordan?
6 Your relatives, members of your own family—
even they have betrayed you;
they have raised a loud cry against you.(O)
Do not trust them,
though they speak well of you.(P)
7 “I will forsake(Q) my house,
abandon(R) my inheritance;
I will give the one I love(S)
into the hands of her enemies.(T)
8 My inheritance has become to me
like a lion(U) in the forest.
She roars at me;
therefore I hate her.(V)
9 Has not my inheritance become to me
like a speckled bird of prey
that other birds of prey surround and attack?
Go and gather all the wild beasts;
bring them to devour.(W)
10 Many shepherds(X) will ruin my vineyard
and trample down my field;
they will turn my pleasant field
into a desolate wasteland.(Y)
11 It will be made a wasteland,(Z)
parched and desolate before me;(AA)
the whole land will be laid waste
because there is no one who cares.
12 Over all the barren heights in the desert
destroyers will swarm,
for the sword(AB) of the Lord(AC) will devour(AD)
from one end of the land to the other;(AE)
no one will be safe.(AF)
13 They will sow wheat but reap thorns;
they will wear themselves out but gain nothing.(AG)
They will bear the shame of their harvest
because of the Lord’s fierce anger.”(AH)
14 This is what the Lord says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance(AI) I gave my people Israel, I will uproot(AJ) them from their lands and I will uproot(AK) the people of Judah from among them. 15 But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion(AL) and will bring(AM) each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country. 16 And if they learn(AN) well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’(AO)—even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal(AP)—then they will be established among my people.(AQ) 17 But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy(AR) it,” declares the Lord.
A Linen Belt
13 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.” 2 So I bought a belt, as the Lord directed, and put it around my waist.
3 Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time:(AS) 4 “Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to Perath[c](AT) and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks.” 5 So I went and hid it at Perath, as the Lord told me.(AU)
6 Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there.” 7 So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride(AV) of Jerusalem. 10 These wicked people, who refuse to listen(AW) to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts(AX) and go after other gods(AY) to serve and worship them,(AZ) will be like this belt—completely useless!(BA) 11 For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be my people for my renown(BB) and praise and honor.(BC) But they have not listened.’(BD)
Wineskins
12 “Say to them: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Every wineskin should be filled with wine.’ And if they say to you, ‘Don’t we know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’ 13 then tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to fill with drunkenness(BE) all who live in this land, including the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets and all those living in Jerusalem. 14 I will smash them one against the other, parents and children alike, declares the Lord. I will allow no pity(BF) or mercy or compassion(BG) to keep me from destroying(BH) them.’”
Threat of Captivity
15 Hear and pay attention,
do not be arrogant,
for the Lord has spoken.(BI)
16 Give glory(BJ) to the Lord your God
before he brings the darkness,
before your feet stumble(BK)
on the darkening hills.
You hope for light,
but he will turn it to utter darkness
and change it to deep gloom.(BL)
17 If you do not listen,(BM)
I will weep in secret
because of your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly,
overflowing with tears,(BN)
because the Lord’s flock(BO) will be taken captive.(BP)
18 Say to the king(BQ) and to the queen mother,(BR)
“Come down from your thrones,
for your glorious crowns(BS)
will fall from your heads.”
19 The cities in the Negev will be shut up,
and there will be no one to open them.
All Judah(BT) will be carried into exile,
carried completely away.
20 Look up and see
those who are coming from the north.(BU)
Where is the flock(BV) that was entrusted to you,
the sheep of which you boasted?
21 What will you say when the Lord sets over you
those you cultivated as your special allies?(BW)
Will not pain grip you
like that of a woman in labor?(BX)
22 And if you ask yourself,
“Why has this happened to me?”(BY)—
it is because of your many sins(BZ)
that your skirts have been torn off(CA)
and your body mistreated.(CB)
23 Can an Ethiopian[d] change his skin
or a leopard its spots?
Neither can you do good
who are accustomed to doing evil.(CC)
24 “I will scatter you like chaff(CD)
driven by the desert wind.(CE)
25 This is your lot,
the portion(CF) I have decreed for you,”
declares the Lord,
“because you have forgotten(CG) me
and trusted in false gods.(CH)
26 I will pull up your skirts over your face
that your shame may be seen(CI)—
27 your adulteries and lustful neighings,
your shameless prostitution!(CJ)
I have seen your detestable acts
on the hills and in the fields.(CK)
Woe to you, Jerusalem!
How long will you be unclean?”(CL)
Drought, Famine, Sword
14 This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:(CM)
2 “Judah mourns,(CN)
her cities languish;
they wail for the land,
and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.
3 The nobles send their servants for water;
they go to the cisterns
but find no water.(CO)
They return with their jars unfilled;
dismayed and despairing,
they cover their heads.(CP)
4 The ground is cracked
because there is no rain in the land;(CQ)
the farmers are dismayed
and cover their heads.
5 Even the doe in the field
deserts her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.(CR)
6 Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights(CS)
and pant like jackals;
their eyes fail
for lack of food.”(CT)
7 Although our sins testify(CU) against us,
do something, Lord, for the sake of your name.(CV)
For we have often rebelled;(CW)
we have sinned(CX) against you.
8 You who are the hope(CY) of Israel,
its Savior(CZ) in times of distress,(DA)
why are you like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler who stays only a night?
9 Why are you like a man taken by surprise,
like a warrior powerless to save?(DB)
You are among(DC) us, Lord,
and we bear your name;(DD)
do not forsake(DE) us!
10 This is what the Lord says about this people:
“They greatly love to wander;
they do not restrain their feet.(DF)
So the Lord does not accept(DG) them;
he will now remember(DH) their wickedness
and punish them for their sins.”(DI)
11 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray(DJ) for the well-being of this people. 12 Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry;(DK) though they offer burnt offerings(DL) and grain offerings,(DM) I will not accept(DN) them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword,(DO) famine(DP) and plague.”(DQ)
13 But I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! The prophets(DR) keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine.(DS) Indeed, I will give you lasting peace(DT) in this place.’”
14 Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies(DU) in my name. I have not sent(DV) them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions,(DW) divinations,(DX) idolatries[e] and the delusions of their own minds. 15 Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish(DY) by sword and famine.(DZ) 16 And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury(EA) them, their wives, their sons and their daughters.(EB) I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.(EC)
17 “Speak this word to them:
“‘Let my eyes overflow with tears(ED)
night and day without ceasing;
for the Virgin(EE) Daughter, my people,
has suffered a grievous wound,
a crushing blow.(EF)
18 If I go into the country,
I see those slain by the sword;
if I go into the city,
I see the ravages of famine.(EG)
Both prophet and priest
have gone to a land they know not.(EH)’”
19 Have you rejected Judah completely?(EI)
Do you despise Zion?
Why have you afflicted us
so that we cannot be healed?(EJ)
We hoped for peace
but no good has come,
for a time of healing
but there is only terror.(EK)
20 We acknowledge(EL) our wickedness, Lord,
and the guilt of our ancestors;(EM)
we have indeed sinned(EN) against you.
21 For the sake of your name(EO) do not despise us;
do not dishonor your glorious throne.(EP)
Remember your covenant(EQ) with us
and do not break it.
22 Do any of the worthless idols(ER) of the nations bring rain?(ES)
Do the skies themselves send down showers?
No, it is you, Lord our God.
Therefore our hope is in you,
for you are the one who does all this.(ET)
15 Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses(EU) and Samuel(EV) were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people.(EW) Send them away from my presence!(EX) Let them go! 2 And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘Those destined for death, to death;
those for the sword, to the sword;(EY)
those for starvation, to starvation;(EZ)
those for captivity, to captivity.’(FA)
3 “I will send four kinds of destroyers(FB) against them,” declares the Lord, “the sword(FC) to kill and the dogs(FD) to drag away and the birds(FE) and the wild animals to devour and destroy.(FF) 4 I will make them abhorrent(FG) to all the kingdoms of the earth(FH) because of what Manasseh(FI) son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.
5 “Who will have pity(FJ) on you, Jerusalem?
Who will mourn for you?
Who will stop to ask how you are?
6 You have rejected(FK) me,” declares the Lord.
“You keep on backsliding.
So I will reach out(FL) and destroy you;
I am tired of holding back.(FM)
7 I will winnow(FN) them with a winnowing fork
at the city gates of the land.
I will bring bereavement(FO) and destruction on my people,(FP)
for they have not changed their ways.(FQ)
8 I will make their widows(FR) more numerous
than the sand of the sea.
At midday I will bring a destroyer(FS)
against the mothers of their young men;
suddenly I will bring down on them
anguish and terror.(FT)
9 The mother of seven will grow faint(FU)
and breathe her last.(FV)
Her sun will set while it is still day;
she will be disgraced(FW) and humiliated.
I will put the survivors to the sword(FX)
before their enemies,”(FY)
declares the Lord.
10 Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth,(FZ)
a man with whom the whole land strives and contends!(GA)
I have neither lent(GB) nor borrowed,
yet everyone curses(GC) me.
11 The Lord said,
“Surely I will deliver you(GD) for a good purpose;
surely I will make your enemies plead(GE) with you
in times of disaster and times of distress.
12 “Can a man break iron—
iron from the north(GF)—or bronze?
13 “Your wealth(GG) and your treasures
I will give as plunder,(GH) without charge,(GI)
because of all your sins
throughout your country.(GJ)
14 I will enslave you to your enemies
in[f] a land you do not know,(GK)
for my anger will kindle a fire(GL)
that will burn against you.”
15 Lord, you understand;
remember me and care for me.
Avenge me on my persecutors.(GM)
You are long-suffering(GN)—do not take me away;
think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.(GO)
16 When your words came, I ate(GP) them;
they were my joy and my heart’s delight,(GQ)
for I bear your name,(GR)
Lord God Almighty.
17 I never sat(GS) in the company of revelers,
never made merry with them;
I sat alone because your hand(GT) was on me
and you had filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unending
and my wound grievous and incurable?(GU)
You are to me like a deceptive brook,
like a spring that fails.(GV)
19 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“If you repent, I will restore you
that you may serve(GW) me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
you will be my spokesman.(GX)
Let this people turn to you,
but you must not turn to them.
20 I will make you a wall(GY) to this people,
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you
but will not overcome(GZ) you,
for I am with you
to rescue and save you,”(HA)
declares the Lord.
21 “I will save(HB) you from the hands of the wicked(HC)
and deliver(HD) you from the grasp of the cruel.”(HE)
Day of Disaster
16 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “You must not marry(HF) and have sons or daughters in this place.” 3 For this is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers:(HG) 4 “They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried(HH) but will be like dung lying on the ground.(HI) They will perish by sword and famine,(HJ) and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.”(HK)
5 For this is what the Lord says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pity(HL) from this people,” declares the Lord. 6 “Both high and low will die in this land.(HM) They will not be buried or mourned,(HN) and no one will cut(HO) themselves or shave(HP) their head for the dead. 7 No one will offer food(HQ) to comfort those who mourn(HR) for the dead—not even for a father or a mother—nor will anyone give them a drink to console(HS) them.
8 “And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink.(HT) 9 For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the sounds(HU) of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride(HV) and bridegroom in this place.(HW)
10 “When you tell these people all this and they ask you, ‘Why has the Lord decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?’(HX) 11 then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped(HY) them. They forsook me and did not keep my law.(HZ) 12 But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors.(IA) See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts(IB) instead of obeying me. 13 So I will throw you out of this land(IC) into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known,(ID) and there you will serve other gods(IE) day and night, for I will show you no favor.’(IF)
14 “However, the days are coming,”(IG) declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’(IH) 15 but it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north(II) and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’(IJ) For I will restore(IK) them to the land I gave their ancestors.(IL)
16 “But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them.(IM) After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt(IN) them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks.(IO) 17 My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden(IP) from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes.(IQ) 18 I will repay(IR) them double(IS) for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land(IT) with the lifeless forms of their vile images(IU) and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.(IV)”(IW)
19 Lord, my strength and my fortress,
my refuge(IX) in time of distress,
to you the nations will come(IY)
from the ends of the earth and say,
“Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods,(IZ)
worthless idols(JA) that did them no good.(JB)
20 Do people make their own gods?
Yes, but they are not gods!”(JC)
21 “Therefore I will teach them—
this time I will teach them
my power and might.
Then they will know
that my name(JD) is the Lord.
17 “Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool,(JE)
inscribed with a flint point,
on the tablets of their hearts(JF)
and on the horns(JG) of their altars.
2 Even their children remember
their altars and Asherah poles[g](JH)
beside the spreading trees
and on the high hills.(JI)
3 My mountain in the land
and your[h] wealth and all your treasures
I will give away as plunder,(JJ)
together with your high places,(JK)
because of sin throughout your country.(JL)
4 Through your own fault you will lose
the inheritance(JM) I gave you.
I will enslave you to your enemies(JN)
in a land(JO) you do not know,
for you have kindled my anger,
and it will burn(JP) forever.”
5 This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,(JQ)
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.(JR)
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places(JS) of the desert,
in a salt(JT) land where no one lives.
7 “But blessed(JU) is the one who trusts(JV) in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.(JW)
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought(JX)
and never fails to bear fruit.”(JY)
9 The heart(JZ) is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
10 “I the Lord search the heart(KA)
and examine the mind,(KB)
to reward(KC) each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”(KD)
11 Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay
are those who gain riches by unjust means.
When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them,
and in the end they will prove to be fools.(KE)
12 A glorious throne,(KF) exalted from the beginning,
is the place of our sanctuary.
13 Lord, you are the hope(KG) of Israel;
all who forsake(KH) you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust(KI)
because they have forsaken the Lord,
the spring of living water.(KJ)
14 Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;(KK)
save(KL) me and I will be saved,
for you are the one I praise.(KM)
15 They keep saying to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it now be fulfilled!”(KN)
16 I have not run away from being your shepherd;
you know I have not desired the day of despair.
What passes my lips(KO) is open before you.
17 Do not be a terror(KP) to me;
you are my refuge(KQ) in the day of disaster.(KR)
18 Let my persecutors be put to shame,
but keep me from shame;
let them be terrified,
but keep me from terror.
Bring on them the day of disaster;
destroy them with double destruction.(KS)
Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy
19 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People,[i] through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem.(KT) 20 Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem(KU) who come through these gates.(KV) 21 This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath(KW) day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors.(KX) 23 Yet they did not listen or pay attention;(KY) they were stiff-necked(KZ) and would not listen or respond to discipline.(LA) 24 But if you are careful to obey me, declares the Lord, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy(LB) by not doing any work on it, 25 then kings who sit on David’s throne(LC) will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.(LD) 26 People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev,(LE) bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27 But if you do not obey(LF) me to keep the Sabbath(LG) day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire(LH) in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’”(LI)
At the Potter’s House
18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay(LJ) in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand,(LK) Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted,(LL) torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent(LM) and not inflict on it the disaster(LN) I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built(LO) up and planted, 10 and if it does evil(LP) in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider(LQ) the good I had intended to do for it.(LR)
11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster(LS) for you and devising a plan(LT) against you. So turn(LU) from your evil ways,(LV) each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’(LW) 12 But they will reply, ‘It’s no use.(LX) We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.(LY)’”
13 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“Inquire among the nations:
Who has ever heard anything like this?(LZ)
A most horrible(MA) thing has been done
by Virgin(MB) Israel.
14 Does the snow of Lebanon
ever vanish from its rocky slopes?
Do its cool waters from distant sources
ever stop flowing?[j]
15 Yet my people have forgotten(MC) me;
they burn incense(MD) to worthless idols,(ME)
which made them stumble(MF) in their ways,
in the ancient paths.(MG)
They made them walk in byways,
on roads not built up.(MH)
16 Their land will be an object of horror(MI)
and of lasting scorn;(MJ)
all who pass by will be appalled(MK)
and will shake their heads.(ML)
17 Like a wind(MM) from the east,
I will scatter them before their enemies;
I will show them my back and not my face(MN)
in the day of their disaster.”
18 They said, “Come, let’s make plans(MO) against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest(MP) will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise,(MQ) nor the word from the prophets.(MR) So come, let’s attack him with our tongues(MS) and pay no attention to anything he says.”
19 Listen to me, Lord;
hear what my accusers(MT) are saying!
20 Should good be repaid with evil?(MU)
Yet they have dug a pit(MV) for me.
Remember that I stood(MW) before you
and spoke in their behalf(MX)
to turn your wrath away from them.
21 So give their children over to famine;(MY)
hand them over to the power of the sword.(MZ)
Let their wives be made childless and widows;(NA)
let their men be put to death,
their young men(NB) slain by the sword in battle.
22 Let a cry(NC) be heard from their houses
when you suddenly bring invaders against them,
for they have dug a pit(ND) to capture me
and have hidden snares(NE) for my feet.
23 But you, Lord, know
all their plots to kill(NF) me.
Do not forgive(NG) their crimes
or blot out their sins from your sight.
Let them be overthrown before you;
deal with them in the time of your anger.(NH)
19 This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter.(NI) Take along some of the elders(NJ) of the people and of the priests 2 and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom,(NK) near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. There proclaim the words I tell you, 3 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings(NL) of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster(NM) on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle.(NN) 4 For they have forsaken(NO) me and made this a place of foreign gods(NP); they have burned incense(NQ) in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.(NR) 5 They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children(NS) in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind.(NT) 6 So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call this place Topheth(NU) or the Valley of Ben Hinnom,(NV) but the Valley of Slaughter.(NW)
7 “‘In this place I will ruin[k] the plans(NX) of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies,(NY) at the hands of those who want to kill them, and I will give their carcasses(NZ) as food(OA) to the birds and the wild animals. 8 I will devastate this city and make it an object of horror and scorn;(OB) all who pass by will be appalled(OC) and will scoff because of all its wounds.(OD) 9 I will make them eat(OE) the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh because their enemies(OF) will press the siege so hard against them to destroy them.’
10 “Then break the jar(OG) while those who go with you are watching, 11 and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I will smash(OH) this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury(OI) the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. 12 This is what I will do to this place and to those who live here, declares the Lord. I will make this city like Topheth. 13 The houses(OJ) in Jerusalem and those of the kings of Judah will be defiled(OK) like this place, Topheth—all the houses where they burned incense on the roofs(OL) to all the starry hosts(OM) and poured out drink offerings(ON) to other gods.’”
14 Jeremiah then returned from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and stood in the court(OO) of the Lord’s temple and said to all the people, 15 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on this city and all the villages around it every disaster(OP) I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked(OQ) and would not listen(OR) to my words.’”
Jeremiah and Pashhur
20 When the priest Pashhur son of Immer,(OS) the official(OT) in charge of the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, 2 he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten(OU) and put in the stocks(OV) at the Upper Gate of Benjamin(OW) at the Lord’s temple. 3 The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord’s name(OX) for you is not Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side.(OY) 4 For this is what the Lord says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyes(OZ) you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will give(PA) all Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon, who will carry(PB) them away to Babylon or put them to the sword. 5 I will deliver all the wealth(PC) of this city into the hands of their enemies—all its products, all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. They will take it away(PD) as plunder and carry it off to Babylon. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into exile to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied(PE) lies.’”
Jeremiah’s Complaint
7 You deceived[l](PF) me, Lord, and I was deceived[m];
you overpowered(PG) me and prevailed.
I am ridiculed(PH) all day long;
everyone mocks(PI) me.
8 Whenever I speak, I cry out
proclaiming violence and destruction.(PJ)
So the word of the Lord has brought me
insult and reproach(PK) all day long.
9 But if I say, “I will not mention his word
or speak anymore in his name,”(PL)
his word is in my heart like a fire,(PM)
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;(PN)
indeed, I cannot.
10 I hear many whispering,
“Terror(PO) on every side!
Denounce(PP) him! Let’s denounce him!”
All my friends(PQ)
are waiting for me to slip,(PR) saying,
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
then we will prevail(PS) over him
and take our revenge(PT) on him.”
11 But the Lord(PU) is with me like a mighty warrior;
so my persecutors(PV) will stumble and not prevail.(PW)
They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced;(PX)
their dishonor will never be forgotten.
12 Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous
and probe the heart and mind,(PY)
let me see your vengeance(PZ) on them,
for to you I have committed(QA) my cause.
13 Sing(QB) to the Lord!
Give praise to the Lord!
He rescues(QC) the life of the needy
from the hands of the wicked.(QD)
14 Cursed be the day I was born!(QE)
May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought my father the news,
who made him very glad, saying,
“A child is born to you—a son!”
16 May that man be like the towns(QF)
the Lord overthrew without pity.
May he hear wailing(QG) in the morning,
a battle cry at noon.
17 For he did not kill me in the womb,(QH)
with my mother as my grave,
her womb enlarged forever.
18 Why did I ever come out of the womb(QI)
to see trouble(QJ) and sorrow
and to end my days in shame?(QK)
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 12:5 Or you feel secure only
- Jeremiah 12:5 Or the flooding of
- Jeremiah 13:4 Or possibly to the Euphrates; similarly in verses 5-7
- Jeremiah 13:23 Hebrew Cushite (probably a person from the upper Nile region)
- Jeremiah 14:14 Or visions, worthless divinations
- Jeremiah 15:14 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Syriac (see also 17:4); most Hebrew manuscripts I will cause your enemies to bring you / into
- Jeremiah 17:2 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
- Jeremiah 17:3 Or hills / 3 and the mountains of the land. / Your
- Jeremiah 17:19 Or Army
- Jeremiah 18:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
- Jeremiah 19:7 The Hebrew for ruin sounds like the Hebrew for jar (see verses 1 and 10).
- Jeremiah 20:7 Or persuaded
- Jeremiah 20:7 Or persuaded
Jeremiah 12-20
King James Version
Jeremiah 12-20
King James Version
12 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?
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
8 Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it.
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.
10 Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
17 But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord.
13 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.
2 So I got a girdle according to the word of the Lord, and put it on my loins.
3 And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying,
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.
5 So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.
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.
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.
8 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
9 Thus saith the Lord, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
15 Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken.
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.
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.
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.
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.
20 Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
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?
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.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
24 Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.
25 This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the Lord; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
26 Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear.
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?
14 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.
2 Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
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.
4 Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.
5 Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
11 Then said the Lord unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
19 Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed 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!
20 We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
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.
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.
15 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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
12 Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen 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.
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.
16 The word of the Lord came also unto me, saying,
2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
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;
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.
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.
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:
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.
8 Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.
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.
10 And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew 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?
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;
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:
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 shew you favour.
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;
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 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.
17 For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.
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.
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.
20 Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?
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.
17 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;
2 Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.
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.
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.
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.
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.
7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
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.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
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.
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.
12 A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.
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.
14 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
15 Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the Lord? let it come now.
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 Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.
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.
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;
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:
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;
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.
23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.
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;
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.
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.
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.
18 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
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.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
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.
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;
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.
9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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;
16 To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
17 I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.
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.
19 Give heed to me, O Lord, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.
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.
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.
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.
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.
19 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;
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,
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.
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;
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
10 Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,
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.
12 Thus will I do unto this place, saith the Lord, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet:
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.
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,
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.
20 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
13 Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.
14 Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
15 Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad.
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;
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.
18 Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
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