1 The
words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in
the land of Benjamin:
2To 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.
3It 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.
4Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
5Before 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.
6Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a
child.
7But 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.
8Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee,
saith the LORD.
9Then 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.
10See, 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.
11Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what
seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
12Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten
my word to perform it.
13And 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.
14Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break
forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
15For, 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.
16And 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.
17Thou 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.
18For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an
iron pillar, and brasen 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.
19And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail
against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.
2
Moreover the word of the LORD came to me,
saying,
2Go 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.
3Israel 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.
4Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of
Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:
5Thus 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?
6Neither 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?
7And 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.
8The 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.
9Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith
the LORD, and with your children’s children will I plead.
10For pass over the isles of Chittim,
and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such
a thing.
11Hath a nation changed their gods,
which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which
doth not profit.
12Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this,
and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.
13For 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.
14Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn
slave? why is he spoiled?
15The young lions roared upon him, and
yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant.
16Also the children of Noph and
Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head.
17Hast thou not procured this unto
thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the
way?
18And 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?
19Thine 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.
20For 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.
21Yet 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?
22For though thou wash thee with nitre,
and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord
GOD.
23How 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;
24A 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.
25Withhold 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.
26As 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.
27Saying 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.
28But 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.
29Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye
all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD.
30In vain have I smitten your children;
they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a
destroying lion.
31O 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?
32Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a
bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
33Why trimmest thou thy way to seek
love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.
34Also 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.
35Yet 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.
36Why gaddest thou about so much to
change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of
Assyria.
37Yea, 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.
3
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.
2Lift 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.
3Therefore the showers have been withholden,
and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore’s forehead, thou refusedst to be
ashamed.
4Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My
father, thou art the guide of my youth?
5Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he
keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou
couldest.
6The 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.
7And I said after she had done all these
things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister
Judah saw it.
8And 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.
9And it came to pass through the lightness of
her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and
with stocks.
10And yet for all this her treacherous
sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith
the LORD.
11And the LORD said unto me, The
backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
12Go 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.
13Only 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.
14Turn, 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:
15And I will give you pastors according
to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16And 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.
17At 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.
18In 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.
19But 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.
20Surely as a wife treacherously
departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of
Israel, saith the LORD.
21A 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.
22Return, ye backsliding children, and
I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD
our God.
23Truly 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.
24For shame hath devoured the labour of
our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their
daughters.
25We 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.
4
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.
2And 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.
3For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah
and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
4Circumcise 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.
5Declare 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.
6Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay
not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
7The 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.
8For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and
howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.
9And 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.
10Then 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.
11At 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,
12Even a full wind from those places
shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.
13Behold, 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.
14O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from
wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge
within thee?
15For a voice declareth from Dan, and
publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.
16Make 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.
17As keepers of a field, are they
against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the
LORD.
18Thy way and thy doings have procured
these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because
it reacheth unto thine heart.
19My 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.
20Destruction upon destruction is
cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my
curtains in a moment.
21How long shall I see the standard,
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22For 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.
23I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was
without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
24I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they
trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
25I beheld, and, lo, there was no man,
and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
26I 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.
27For thus hath the LORD said, The
whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
28For 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.
29The 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.
30And 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.
31For 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.
5
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.
2And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely
they swear falsely.
3O 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.
4Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they
are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their
God.
5I 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.
6Wherefore 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.
7How 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.
8They were as fed horses in the morning: every
one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.
9Shall I not visit for these things? saith the
LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy;
but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD’s.
11For the house of Israel and the house
of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.
12They have belied the LORD, and said,
It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor
famine:
13And the prophets shall become wind,
and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.
14Wherefore 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.
15Lo, 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.
16Their quiver is as an open sepulchre,
they are all mighty men.
17And 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.
18Nevertheless in those days, saith the
LORD, I will not make a full end with you.
19And 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 your’s.
20Declare this in the house of Jacob,
and publish it in Judah, saying,
21Hear now this, O foolish people, and
without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear
not:
22Fear 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?
23But this people hath a revolting and
a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.
24Neither 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.
25Your iniquities have turned away
these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.
26For among my people are found wicked
men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
27As a cage is full of birds, so are
their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
28They 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.
29Shall I not visit for these things?
saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
30A wonderful and horrible thing is
committed in the land;
31The 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?
6
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.
2I have likened the daughter of Zion to a
comely and delicate woman.
3The 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.
4Prepare 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.
5Arise, and let us go by night, and let us
destroy her palaces.
6For 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.
7As 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.
8Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul
depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.
9Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly
glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer
into the baskets.
10To 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.
11Therefore 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.
12And 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.
13For 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.
14They have healed also the hurt of the
daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
15Were 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.
16Thus 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.
17Also I set watchmen over you, saying,
Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
18Therefore hear, ye nations, and know,
O congregation, what is among them.
19Hear, 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.
20To 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.
21Therefore 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.
22Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people
cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the
sides of the earth.
23They 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.
24We have heard the fame thereof: our
hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in
travail.
25Go not forth into the field, nor walk
by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.
26O 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.
27I have set thee for a tower and a
fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way.
28They are all grievous revolters,
walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.
29The bellows are burned, the lead is
consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not
plucked away.
30Reprobate silver shall men call them,
because the LORD hath rejected them.
7
The
word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2Stand 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.
3Thus 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.
4Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The
temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.
5For if ye throughly amend your ways and your
doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;
6If 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:
7Then will I cause you to dwell in this place,
in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.
8Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot
profit.
9Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery,
and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom
ye know not;
10And come and stand before me in this
house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these
abominations?
11Is 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.
12But 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.
13And 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;
14Therefore 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.
15And I will cast you out of my sight,
as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
16Therefore 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.
17Seest thou not what they do in the
cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
18The 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.
19Do they provoke me to anger? saith
the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
20Therefore 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.
21Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God
of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.
22For 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:
23But 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.
24But 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.
25Since 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:
26Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor
inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
27Therefore 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.
28But 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.
29Cut 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.
30For 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.
31And 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.
32Therefore, 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.
33And 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.
34Then 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.
8
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:
2And 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.
3And 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.
4Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith
the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?
5Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden
back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
6I 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.
7Yea, 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.
8How 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.
9The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed
and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in
them?
10Therefore 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.
11For they have healed the hurt of the
daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
12Were 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.
13I 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.
14Why 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.
15We looked for peace, but no good
came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!
16The 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.
17For, behold, I will send serpents,
cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you,
saith the LORD.
18When I would comfort myself against
sorrow, my heart is faint in me.
19Behold 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?
20The harvest is past, the summer is
ended, and we are not saved.
21For the hurt of the daughter of my
people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
22Is there no balm in Gilead; is there
no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people
recovered?
9
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!
2Oh 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.
3And 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.
4Take 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.
5And 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.
6Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit;
through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD.
7Therefore 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?
8Their 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.
9Shall I not visit them for these things?
saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10For 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.
11And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and
a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an
inhabitant.
12Who 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?
13And the LORD saith, Because they have
forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither
walked therein;
14But have walked after the imagination
of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
15Therefore 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.
16I 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.
17Thus 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:
18And 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.
19For 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.
20Yet 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.
21For 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.
22Speak, 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.
23Thus 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:
24But 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.
25Behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;
26Egypt, 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.
10
Hear
ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
2Thus 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.
3For 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 axe.
4They deck it with silver and with gold; they
fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
5They 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.
6Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O
LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
7Who 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.
8But they are altogether brutish and foolish:
the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
9Silver 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.
10But 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.
11Thus 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.
12He hath made the earth by his power,
he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens
by his discretion.
13When 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.
14Every 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.
15They are vanity, and the work of
errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
16The 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.
17Gather up thy wares out of the land,
O inhabitant of the fortress.
18For 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.
19Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is
grievous; but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.
20My 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.
21For the pastors are become brutish,
and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their
flocks shall be scattered.
22Behold, 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.
23O LORD, I know that the way of man is
not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
24O LORD, correct me, but with
judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
25Pour 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.
11
The
word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying,
2Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak
unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
3And say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD
God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant,
4Which 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:
5That 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.
6Then 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.
7For 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.
8Yet 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.
9And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is
found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
10They 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.
11Therefore 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.
12Then 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.
13For 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.
14Therefore 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.
15What 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.
16The 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.
17For 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.
18And the LORD hath given me knowledge
of it, and I know it: then thou shewedst me their doings.
19But 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.
20But, 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.
21Therefore 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:
22Therefore 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:
23And there shall be no remnant of
them: for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even the year of their
visitation.
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?
2Thou 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.
3But 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.
4How 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.
5If 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?
6For 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.
7I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine
heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her
enemies.
8Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the
forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it.
9Mine 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.
10Many pastors have destroyed my
vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant
portion a desolate wilderness.
11They have made it desolate, and being
desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man
layeth it to heart.
12The 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.
13They 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.
14Thus 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.
15And 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.
16And 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.
17But 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.
2So I got a girdle according to the word of
the LORD, and put it on my loins.
3And the word of the LORD came unto me the
second time, saying,
4Take 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.
5So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the
LORD commanded me.
6And 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.
7Then 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.
8Then the word of the LORD came unto me,
saying,
9Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I
mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10This 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.
11For 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.
12Therefore 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?
13Then 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.
14And 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.
15Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud:
for the LORD hath spoken.
16Give 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.
17But 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.
18Say unto the king and to the queen,
Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down, even the
crown of your glory.
19The 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.
20Lift up your eyes, and behold them
that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful
flock?
21What 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?
22And 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.
23Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or
the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do
evil.
24Therefore will I scatter them as the
stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.
25This is thy lot, the portion of thy
measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted
in falsehood.
26Therefore will I discover thy skirts
upon thy face, that thy shame may appear.
27I 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.
2Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof
languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
3And 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.
4Because the ground is chapt, for there was no
rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.
5Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and
forsook it, because there was no grass.
6And 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.
7O 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.
8O 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?
9Why 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.
10Thus 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.
11Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not
for this people for their good.
12When 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.
13Then 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.
14Then 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.
15Therefore 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.
16And 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.
17Therefore 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.
18If 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.
19Hast 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!
20We acknowledge, O LORD, our
wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
21Do not abhor us, for thy name’s sake, do not disgrace the throne of
thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.
22Are 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.
2And 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.
3And 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.
4And 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.
5For who shall have pity upon thee, O
Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou
doest?
6Thou 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.
7And 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.
8Their 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.
9She 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.
10Woe 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.
11The 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.
12Shall iron break the northern iron
and the steel?
13Thy substance and thy treasures will
I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy
borders.
14And 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.
15O 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.
16Thy 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.
17I sat not in the assembly of the
mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me
with indignation.
18Why 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?
19Therefore 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.
20And 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.
21And 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,
2Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither
shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
3For 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;
4They 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.
5For 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.
6Both 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:
7Neither 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.
8Thou shalt not also go into the house of
feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.
9For 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.
10And 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?
11Then 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;
12And 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:
13Therefore 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.
14Therefore, 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;
15But, 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.
16Behold, 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.
17For mine eyes are upon all their
ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine
eyes.
18And 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.
19O 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.
20Shall a man make gods unto himself,
and they are no gods?
21Therefore, 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;
2Whilst their children remember their altars
and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.
3O 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.
4And 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.
5Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that
trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the
LORD.
6For 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.
7Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD,
and whose hope the LORD is.
8For 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.
9The heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked: who can know it?
10I 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.
11As 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.
12A glorious high throne from the
beginning is the place of our sanctuary.
13O 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.
14Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be
healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
15Behold, they say unto me, Where is
the word of the LORD? let it come now.
16As 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.
17Be not a terror unto me: thou art my
hope in the day of evil.
18Let 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.
19Thus 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;
20And 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:
21Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to
yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates
of Jerusalem;
22Neither 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.
23But they obeyed not, neither inclined
their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive
instruction.
24And 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;
25Then 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.
26And 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.
27But 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,
2Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee
to hear my words.
3Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a
work on the wheels.
4And 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.
5Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
6O 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.
7At what instant I shall speak concerning a
nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy
it;
8If that nation, against whom I have
pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to
do unto them.
9And at what instant I shall speak concerning
a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
10If 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.
11Now 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.
12And 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.
13Therefore 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.
14Will 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?
15Because 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;
16To make their land desolate, and a
perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag
his head.
17I 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.
18Then 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.
19Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken
to the voice of them that contend with me.
20Shall 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.
21Therefore 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.
22Let 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.
23Yet, 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;
2And 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,
3And 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.
4Because 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;
5They 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:
6Therefore, 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.
7And 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.
8And 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.
9And 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.
10Then shalt thou break the bottle in
the sight of the men that go with thee,
11And 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.
12Thus will I do unto this place, saith
the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet:
13And 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.
14Then 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,
15Thus 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.
2Then 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.
3And 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.
4For 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.
5Moreover 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.
6And 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.
7O 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.
8For 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.
9Then 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.
10For 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.
11But 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.
12But, 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.
13Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the
LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.
14Cursed be the day wherein I was born:
let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
15Cursed be the man who brought tidings
to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad.
16And 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;
17Because 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.
18Wherefore came I forth out of the
womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
21
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,
2Enquire, 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.
3Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye
say to Zedekiah:
4Thus 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.
5And 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.
6And I will smite the inhabitants of this
city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence.
7And 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.
8And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus
saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death.
9He 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.
10For 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.
11And touching the house of the king of
Judah, say, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
12O 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.
13Behold, 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?
14But 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.
22
Thus
saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this
word,
2And 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:
3Thus 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.
4For 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.
5But if ye will not hear these words, I swear
by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.
6For 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.
7And 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.
8And 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?
9Then they shall answer, Because they have
forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and
served them.
10Weep 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.
11For 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:
12But he shall die in the place whither
they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.
13Woe 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;
14That saith, I will build me a wide
house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with
cedar, and painted with vermilion.
15Shalt 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?
16He judged the cause of the poor and
needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.
17But 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.
18Therefore 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!
19He shall be buried with the burial of
an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
20Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift
up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed.
21I 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.
22The 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.
23O 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!
24As 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;
25And 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.
26And I will cast thee out, and thy
mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there
shall ye die.
27But to the land whereunto they desire
to return, thither shall they not return.
28Is 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?
29O earth, earth, earth, hear the word
of the LORD.
30Thus 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.
23
Woe be
unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
2Therefore 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.
3And 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.
4And 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.
5Behold, 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.
6In 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.
7Therefore, 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;
8But, 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.
9Mine 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.
10For 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.
11For both prophet and priest are
profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
12Wherefore 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.
13And I have seen folly in the prophets
of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
14I 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.
15Therefore 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.
16Thus 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.
17They 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.
18For who hath stood in the counsel of
the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and
heard it?
19Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is
gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon
the head of the wicked.
20The 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.
21I have not sent these prophets, yet
they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
22But 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.
23Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD,
and not a God afar off?
24Can 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.
25I have heard what the prophets said,
that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
26How long shall this be in the heart
of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of
their own heart;
27Which 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.
28The 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.
29Is not my word like as a fire? saith
the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
30Therefore, behold, I am against the
prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.
31Behold, I am against the prophets,
saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.
32Behold, 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.
33And 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.
34And 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.
35Thus 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?
36And 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.
37Thus shalt thou say to the prophet,
What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
38But 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;
39Therefore, 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:
40And I will bring an everlasting
reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.
24
The
LORD shewed 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.
2One basket had very good figs, even like the
figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which
could not be eaten, they were so bad.
3Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou,
Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil,
that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
4Again the word of the LORD came unto me,
saying,
5Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like
these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of
Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for
their good.
6For I will set mine eyes upon them for good,
and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull
them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
7And I will give them an heart to know me,
that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for
they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
8And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten,
they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king
of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this
land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:
9And I will deliver them to be removed into
all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a
taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.
10And I will send the sword, the
famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land
that I gave unto them and to their fathers.
25
The
word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth
year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;
2The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all
the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,
3From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of
Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year,
the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising
early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.
4And the LORD hath sent unto you all his
servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not
hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.
5They said, Turn ye again now every one from
his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the
LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
6And go not after other gods to serve them,
and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands;
and I will do you no hurt.
7Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the
LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your
own hurt.
8Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts;
Because ye have not heard my words,
9Behold, I will send and take all the families
of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my
servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants
thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy
them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
10Moreover I will take from them the
voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the
voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.
11And this whole land shall be a
desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of
Babylon seventy years.
12And it shall come to pass, when
seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and
that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans,
and will make it perpetual desolations.
13And I will bring upon that land all
my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this
book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.
14For many nations and great kings
shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to
their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.
15For thus saith the LORD God of Israel
unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations,
to whom I send thee, to drink it.
16And they shall drink, and be moved,
and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
17Then took I the cup at the LORD’s hand, and made all the nations to
drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:
18To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of
Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a
desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day;
19Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his
servants, and his princes, and all his people;
20And all the mingled people, and all
the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines,
and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,
21Edom, and Moab, and the children of
Ammon,
22And all the kings of Tyrus, and all
the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,
23Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all
that are in the utmost corners,
24And all the kings of Arabia, and all
the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert,
25And all the kings of Zimri, and all
the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,
26And all the kings of the north, far
and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon
the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
27Therefore thou shalt say unto them,
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and
spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among
you.
28And it shall be, if they refuse to
take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith
the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
29For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the
city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall
not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the
earth, saith the LORD of hosts.
30Therefore prophesy thou against them
all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter
his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation;
he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the
inhabitants of the earth.
31A noise shall come even to the ends
of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead
with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.
32Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold,
evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be
raised up from the coasts of the earth.
33And the slain of the LORD shall be at
that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they
shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon
the ground.
34Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and
wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your
slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a
pleasant vessel.
35And the shepherds shall have no way
to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.
36A voice of the cry of the shepherds,
and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD hath
spoiled their pasture.
37And the peaceable habitations are cut
down because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
38He hath forsaken his covert, as the
lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor,
and because of his fierce anger.
26
In the
beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this
word from the LORD, saying,
2Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of
the LORD’s house, and speak unto all the
cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD’s house, all the words that I command
thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:
3If so be they will hearken, and turn every
man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do
unto them because of the evil of their doings.
4And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the
LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before
you,
5To hearken to the words of my servants the
prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye
have not hearkened;
6Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and
will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.
7So the priests and the prophets and all the
people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD.
8Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made
an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the
people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying,
Thou shalt surely die.
9Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the
LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate
without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the
house of the LORD.
10When the princes of Judah heard these
things, then they came up from the king’s house unto the house of the LORD, and sat
down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD’s house.
11Then spake the priests and the
prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to
die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.
12Then spake Jeremiah unto all the
princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against
this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.
13Therefore now amend your ways and
your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent
him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.
14As for me, behold, I am in your hand:
do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you.
15But know ye for certain, that if ye
put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon
this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath sent
me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.
16Then said the princes and all the
people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for
he hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.
17Then rose up certain of the elders of
the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying,
18Micah the Morasthite prophesied in
the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah,
saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and
Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places
of a forest.
19Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all
Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD,
and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them?
Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.
20And there was also a man that
prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of
Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according
to all the words of Jeremiah.
21And when Jehoiakim the king, with all
his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put
him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into
Egypt;
22And Jehoiakim the king sent men into
Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt.
23And they fetched forth Urijah out of
Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword,
and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.
24Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the
son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand
of the people to put him to death.
27
In the
beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this
word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds
and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,
3And send them to the king of Edom, and to the
king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and
to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem
unto Zedekiah king of Judah;
4And command them to say unto their masters,
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your
masters;
5I have made the earth, the man and the beast
that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and
have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.
6And now have I given all these lands into the
hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the
field have I given him also to serve him.
7And all nations shall serve him, and his son,
and his son’s son, until the very time of his
land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
8And it shall come to pass, that the nation
and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon,
and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that
nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and
with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
9Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets,
nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your
sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of
Babylon:
10For they prophesy a lie unto you, to
remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should
perish.
11But the nations that bring their neck
under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain
still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell
therein.
12I spake also to Zedekiah king of
Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of
the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.
13Why will ye die, thou and thy people,
by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken
against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
14Therefore hearken not unto the words
of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of
Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.
15For I have not sent them, saith the
LORD, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that
ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.
16Also I spake to the priests and to
all this people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Hearken not to the words of your
prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD’s house shall now shortly be brought
again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.
17Hearken not unto them; serve the king
of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city be laid waste?
18But if they be prophets, and if the
word of the LORD be with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of
hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD, and in the
house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.
19For thus saith the LORD of hosts
concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and
concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city.
20Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of
Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;
21Yea, thus saith the LORD of hosts,
the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the LORD,
and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem;
22They shall be carried to Babylon, and
there shall they be until the day that I visit them, saith the LORD; then will
I bring them up, and restore them to this place.
28
And it
came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of
Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of
Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the LORD,
in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,
2Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
3Within two full years will I bring again into
this place all the vessels of the LORD’s house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon:
4And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah
the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went
into Babylon, saith the LORD: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
5Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the
prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the
people that stood in the house of the LORD,
6Even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: the
LORD do so: the LORD perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring
again the vessels of the LORD’s house, and
all that is carried away captive, from Babylon into this place.
7Nevertheless hear thou now this word that I
speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people;
8The prophets that have been before me and
before thee of old prophesied both against many countries, and against great
kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.
9The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when
the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known,
that the LORD hath truly sent him.
10Then Hananiah the prophet took the
yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck, and brake it.
11And Hananiah spake in the presence of
all the people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Even so will I break the yoke of
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of
two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.
12Then the word of the LORD came unto
Jeremiah the prophet, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from
off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
13Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus
saith the LORD; Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for
them yokes of iron.
14For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the
God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations,
that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him:
and I have given him the beasts of the field also.
15Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto
Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou
makest this people to trust in a lie.
16Therefore thus saith the LORD;
Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt
die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the LORD.
17So Hananiah the prophet died the same
year in the seventh month.
29
Now
these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem
unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the
priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had
carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;
2(After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen,
and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and
the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;)
3By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and
Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying,
4Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be
carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;
5Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant
gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
6Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters;
and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they
may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not
diminished.
7And seek the peace of the city whither I have
caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in
the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
8For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you,
deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
9For they prophesy falsely unto you in my
name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.
10For thus saith the LORD, That after
seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good
word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
11For I know the thoughts that I think
toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an
expected end.
12Then shall ye call upon me, and ye
shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
13And ye shall seek me, and find me,
when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
14And I will be found of you, saith the
LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the
nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and
I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away
captive.
15Because ye have said, The LORD hath
raised us up prophets in Babylon;
16Know that thus saith the LORD of the
king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth
in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into
captivity;
17Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold,
I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make
them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
18And I will persecute them with the
sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be
removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment,
and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven
them:
19Because they have not hearkened to my
words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets,
rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD.
20Hear ye therefore the word of the
LORD, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:
21Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God
of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah,
which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the
hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your
eyes;
22And of them shall be taken up a curse
by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee
like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;
23Because they have committed villany
in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours’ wives, and have spoken lying words
in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness,
saith the LORD.
24Thus shalt thou also speak to
Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,
25Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the
God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the
people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest,
and to all the priests, saying,
26The LORD hath made thee priest in the
stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the
LORD, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou
shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks.
27Now therefore why hast thou not
reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you?
28For therefore he sent unto us in
Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build ye houses, and dwell in them;
and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
29And Zephaniah the priest read this
letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.
30Then came the word of the LORD unto
Jeremiah, saying,
31Send to all them of the captivity,
saying, Thus saith the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that
Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to
trust in a lie:
32Therefore thus saith the LORD;
Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have
a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will
do for my people, saith the LORD; because he hath taught rebellion against the
LORD.
30
The
word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying,
Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.
3For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that
I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD:
and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and
they shall possess it.
4And these are the words that the LORD spake
concerning Israel and concerning Judah.
5For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a
voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
6Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth
travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins,
as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
7Alas! for that day is great, so that none is
like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.
8For it shall come to pass in that day, saith
the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst
thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:
9But they shall serve the LORD their God, and
David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.
10Therefore fear thou not, O my servant
Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee
from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall
return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.
11For I am with thee, saith the LORD,
to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered
thee, yet I will not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in
measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
12For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise
is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.
13There is none to plead thy cause,
that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.
14All thy lovers have forgotten thee;
they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with
the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because
thy sins were increased.
15Why criest thou for thine affliction?
thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins
were increased, I have done these things unto thee.
16Therefore all they that devour thee
shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into
captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon
thee will I give for a prey.
17For I will restore health unto thee,
and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an
Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.
18Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will
bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his
dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace
shall remain after the manner thereof.
19And out of them shall proceed
thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them,
and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be
small.
20Their children also shall be as
aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will
punish all that oppress them.
21And their nobles shall be of
themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will
cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that
engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the LORD.
22And ye shall be my people, and I will
be your God.
23Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD
goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the
head of the wicked.
24The fierce anger of the LORD shall
not return, until he hath done it, and until he have performed the intents of
his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.
31
At the
same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and
they shall be my people.
2Thus saith the LORD, The people which were
left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to
cause him to rest.
3The LORD hath appeared of old unto me,
saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with
lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
4Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be
built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and
shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
5Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains
of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.
6For there shall be a day, that the watchmen
upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the
LORD our God.
7For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness
for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and
say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
8Behold, I will bring them from the north
country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind
and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together:
a great company shall return thither.
9They shall come with weeping, and with
supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of
waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to
Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10Hear the word of the LORD, O ye
nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered
Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
11For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and
ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
12Therefore they shall come and sing in
the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for
wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the
herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow
any more at all.
13Then shall the virgin rejoice in the
dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into
joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
14And I will satiate the soul of the
priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith
the LORD.
15Thus saith the LORD; A voice was
heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children
refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
16Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy
voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded,
saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
17And there is hope in thine end, saith
the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.
18I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning
himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock
unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the
LORD my God.
19Surely after that I was turned, I
repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was
ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
20Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant
child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still:
therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him,
saith the LORD.
21Set thee up waymarks, make thee high
heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest:
turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.
22How long wilt thou go about, O thou
backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A
woman shall compass a man.
23Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God
of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the
cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee,
O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.
24And there shall dwell in Judah
itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they that go
forth with flocks.
25For I have satiated the weary soul,
and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.
26Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and
my sleep was sweet unto me.
27Behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed
of man, and with the seed of beast.
28And it shall come to pass, that like
as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down,
and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to
plant, saith the LORD.
29In those days they shall say no more,
The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.
30But every one shall die for his own
iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
31Behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the
house of Judah:
32Not according to the covenant that I
made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them
out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an
husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33But this shall be the covenant that I
will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will
put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be
their God, and they shall be my people.
34And they shall teach no more every
man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they
shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the
LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
35Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the
sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a
light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of
hosts is his name:
36If those ordinances depart from
before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being
a nation before me for ever.
37Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above
can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will
also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the
LORD.
38Behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto
the gate of the corner.
39And the measuring line shall yet go
forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath.
40And the whole valley of the dead
bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the
corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the LORD; it shall
not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.
32
The
word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of
Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar.
2For then the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem: and
Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the
king of Judah’s house.
3For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up,
saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I
will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;
4And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape
out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand
of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes
shall behold his eyes;
5And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and
there shall he be until I visit him, saith the LORD: though ye fight with the
Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper.
6And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came
unto me, saying,
7Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine
uncle shall come unto thee saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for
the right of redemption is thine to buy it.
8So Hanameel mine uncle’s son came to me in the court of the
prison according to the word of the LORD, and said unto me, Buy my field, I
pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for the
right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself.
Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.
9And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle’s son, that was in Anathoth, and
weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.
10And I subscribed the evidence, and
sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances.
11So I took the evidence of the
purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that
which was open:
12And I gave the evidence of the
purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of
Hanameel mine uncle’s son, and in
the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before
all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.
13And I charged Baruch before them,
saying,
14Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God
of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is
sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that
they may continue many days.
15For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the
God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this
land.
16Now when I had delivered the evidence
of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the LORD, saying,
17Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made
the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is
nothing too hard for thee:
18Thou shewest lovingkindness unto
thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their
children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name,
19Great in counsel, and mighty in work:
for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one
according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:
20Which hast set signs and wonders in
the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and
hast made thee a name, as at this day;
21And hast brought forth thy people
Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong
hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror;
22And hast given them this land, which
thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and
honey;
23And they came in, and possessed it;
but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done
nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: therefore thou hast caused all
this evil to come upon them:
24Behold the mounts, they are come unto
the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that
fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the
pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest
it.
25And thou hast said unto me, O Lord
GOD, Buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given
into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26Then came the word of the LORD unto
Jeremiah, saying,
27Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all
flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
28Therefore thus saith the LORD;
Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand
of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:
29And the Chaldeans, that fight against
this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses,
upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink
offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.
30For the children of Israel and the
children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children
of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith
the LORD.
31For this city hath been to me as a
provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even
unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face,
32Because of all the evil of the
children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to
provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their
prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
33And they have turned unto me the
back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching
them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.
34But they set their abominations in
the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.
35And they built the high places of
Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and
their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them
not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to
cause Judah to sin.
36And now therefore thus saith the
LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be
delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine,
and by the pestilence;
37Behold, I will gather them out of all
countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in
great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them
to dwell safely:
38And they shall be my people, and I
will be their God:
39And I will give them one heart, and
one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their
children after them:
40And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I
will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
41Yea, I will rejoice over them to do
them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and
with my whole soul.
42For thus saith the LORD; Like as I
have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them
all the good that I have promised them.
43And fields shall be bought in this
land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the
hand of the Chaldeans.
44Men shall buy fields for money, and
subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin,
and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the
cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of
the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD.
33
Moreover the word of the LORD came unto
Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison,
saying,
2Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the
LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;
3Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and
shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
4For thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel,
concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of
Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword;
5They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it
is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger
and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.
6Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and
I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.
7And I will cause the captivity of Judah and
the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
8And I will cleanse them from all their
iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their
iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed
against me.
9And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise
and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the
good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness
and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.
10Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall
be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without
beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are
desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,
11The voice of joy, and the voice of
gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of
them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his
mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise
into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the
land, as at the first, saith the LORD.
12Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Again
in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the
cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie
down.
13In the cities of the mountains, in
the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of
Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall
the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the LORD.
14Behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house
of Israel and to the house of Judah.
15In those days, and at that time, will
I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute
judgment and righteousness in the land.
16In those days shall Judah be saved,
and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be
called, The LORD our righteousness.
17For thus saith the LORD; David shall
never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;
18Neither shall the priests the Levites
want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings,
and to do sacrifice continually.
19And the word of the LORD came unto
Jeremiah, saying,
20Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break
my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not
be day and night in their season;
21Then may also my covenant be broken
with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne;
and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.
22As the host of heaven cannot be
numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of
David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
23Moreover the word of the LORD came to
Jeremiah, saying,
24Considerest thou not what this people
have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even
cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a
nation before them.
25Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant
be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven
and earth;
26Then will I cast away the seed of
Jacob and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be
rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their
captivity to return, and have mercy on them.
34
The
word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion,
and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities
thereof, saying,
2Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Go
and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold,
I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn
it with fire:
3And thou shalt not escape out of his hand,
but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall
behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to
mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.
4Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah
king of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword:
5But thou shalt die in peace: and with the
burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they
burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have
pronounced the word, saith the LORD.
6Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these
words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,
7When the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem, and
against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against
Azekah: for these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah.
8This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from
the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people
which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;
9That every man should let his manservant, and
every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none
should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother.
10Now when all the princes, and all the
people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let
his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve
themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go.
11But afterward they turned, and caused
the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and
brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.
12Therefore the word of the LORD came
to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
13Thus saith the LORD, the God of
Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them
forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,
14At the end of seven years let ye go
every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he
hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your
fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
15And ye were now turned, and had done
right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye
had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
16But ye turned and polluted my name,
and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom he had set
at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to
be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
17Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye
have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother,
and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the
LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you
to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
18And I will give the men that have
transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant
which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed
between the parts thereof,
19The princes of Judah, and the princes
of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land,
which passed between the parts of the calf;
20I will even give them into the hand
of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their
dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts
of the earth.
21And Zedekiah king of Judah and his
princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them
that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which are gone up from you.
22Behold, I will command, saith the
LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it,
and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a
desolation without an inhabitant.
35
The
word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of
Josiah king of Judah, saying,
2Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and
speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the
chambers, and give them wine to drink.
3Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah,
the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house
of the Rechabites;
4And I brought them into the house of the
LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God,
which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of
Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:
5And I set before the sons of the house of the
Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.
6But they said, We will drink no wine: for
Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no
wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:
7Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed,
nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents;
that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers.
8Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the
son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all
our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;
9Nor to build houses for us to dwell in:
neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:
10But we have dwelt in tents, and have
obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
11But it came to pass, when
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and
let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of
the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem.
12Then came the word of the LORD unto
Jeremiah, saying,
13Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God
of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will
ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD.
14The words of Jonadab the son of
Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto
this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken
unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me.
15I have sent also unto you all my
servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now
every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods
to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to
your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.
16Because the sons of Jonadab the son
of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded
them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me:
17Therefore thus saith the LORD God of
hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them:
because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called
unto them, but they have not answered.
18And Jeremiah said unto the house of
the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye
have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts,
and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:
19Therefore thus saith the LORD of
hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to
stand before me for ever.
36
And it
came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah,
that this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein
all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah,
and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of
Josiah, even unto this day.
3It may be that the house of Judah will hear
all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man
from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.
4Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of
Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD,
which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.
5And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am
shut up; I cannot go into the house of the LORD:
6Therefore go thou, and read in the roll,
which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the LORD in the ears of the
people in the LORD’s house upon
the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that
come out of their cities.
7It may be they will present their
supplication before the LORD, and will return every one from his evil way: for
great is the anger and the fury that the LORD hath pronounced against this
people.
8And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to
all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of
the LORD in the LORD’s house.
9And it came to pass in the fifth year of
Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they
proclaimed a fast before the LORD to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all
the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem.
10Then read Baruch in the book the
words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son
of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the entry of the new gate of the
LORD’s house, in the ears of all the
people.
11When Michaiah the son of Gemariah,
the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the LORD,
12Then he went down into the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber: and, lo, all the princes
sat there, even Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and
Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the
son of Hananiah, and all the princes.
13Then Michaiah declared unto them all
the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the
people.
14Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi
the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch,
saying, Take in thine hand the roll wherein thou hast read in the ears of the
people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the roll in his hand, and
came unto them.
15And they said unto him, Sit down now,
and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears.
16Now it came to pass, when they had
heard all the words, they were afraid both one and other, and said unto Baruch,
We will surely tell the king of all these words.
17And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell
us now, How didst thou write all these words at his mouth?
18Then Baruch answered them, He
pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in
the book.
19Then said the princes unto Baruch,
Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye be.
20And they went in to the king into the
court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and
told all the words in the ears of the king.
21So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the
roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of
the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king.
22Now the king sat in the winterhouse
in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him.
23And it came to pass, that when Jehudi
had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into
the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire
that was on the hearth.
24Yet they were not afraid, nor rent
their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these
words.
25Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and
Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but
he would not hear them.
26But the king commanded Jerahmeel the
son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of
Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the LORD hid
them.
27Then the word of the LORD came to
Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch
wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
28Take thee again another roll, and
write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim
the king of Judah hath burned.
29And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king
of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast
thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and
destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?
30Therefore thus saith the LORD of
Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David:
and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to
the frost.
31And I will punish him and his seed
and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have
pronounced against them; but they hearkened not.
32Then took Jeremiah another roll, and
gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the
mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had
burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.
37
And
king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim,
whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.
2But neither he, nor his servants, nor the
people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the LORD, which he spake by the
prophet Jeremiah.
3And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of
Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah,
saying, Pray now unto the LORD our God for us.
4Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the
people: for they had not put him into prison.
5Then Pharaoh’s army was come forth out of Egypt: and when
the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from
Jerusalem.
6Then came the word of the LORD unto the
prophet Jeremiah saying,
7Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Thus
shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to enquire of me;
Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which is come forth to help
you, shall return to Egypt into their own land.
8And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight
against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.
9Thus saith the LORD; Deceive not yourselves,
saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart.
10For though ye had smitten the whole
army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded
men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this
city with fire.
11And it came to pass, that when the
army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army,
12Then Jeremiah went forth out of
Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the
midst of the people.
13And when he was in the gate of
Benjamin, a captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of
Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou
fallest away to the Chaldeans.
14Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I
fall not away to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Irijah took
Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.
15Wherefore the princes were wroth with
Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the
scribe: for they had made that the prison.
16When Jeremiah was entered into the
dungeon, and into the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;
17Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took
him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any
word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be
delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.
18Moreover Jeremiah said unto king
Zedekiah, What have I offended against thee, or against thy servants, or
against this people, that ye have put me in prison?
19Where are now your prophets which
prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you,
nor against this land?
20Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my
lord the king: let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; that
thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die
there.
21Then Zedekiah the king commanded that
they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that they should
give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city were
spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.
38
Then Shephatiah
the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of
Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had
spoken unto all the people, saying,
2Thus saith the LORD, He that remaineth in
this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he
that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a
prey, and shall live.
3Thus saith the LORD, This city shall surely
be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.
4Therefore the princes said unto the king, We
beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of
the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in
speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this
people, but the hurt.
5Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in
your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you.
6Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into
the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the
prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no
water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.
7Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, one of the
eunuchs which was in the king’s house, heard
that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of
Benjamin;
8Ebedmelech went forth out of the king’s house, and spake to the king
saying,
9My lord the king, these men have done evil in
all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the
dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there
is no more bread in the city.
10Then the king commanded Ebedmelech
the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up
Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die.
11So Ebedmelech took the men with him,
and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence old
cast clouts and old rotten rags, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to
Jeremiah.
12And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said
unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine
armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.
13So they drew up Jeremiah with cords,
and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the
prison.
14Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took
Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of the
LORD: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing
from me.
15Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If
I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give
thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me?
16So Zedekiah the king sware secretly
unto Jeremiah, saying, As the LORD liveth, that made us this soul, I will not
put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that
seek thy life.
17Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah,
Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt
assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this
city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:
18But if thou wilt not go forth to the
king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be
given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and
thou shalt not escape out of their hand.
19And Zedekiah the king said unto
Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they
deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.
20But Jeremiah said, They shall not
deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto
thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.
21But if thou refuse to go forth, this
is the word that the LORD hath shewed me:
22And, behold, all the women that are
left in the king of Judah’s house shall
be brought forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say, Thy
friends have set thee on, and have prevailed against thee: thy feet are sunk in
the mire, and they are turned away back.
23So they shall bring out all thy wives
and thy children to the Chaldeans: and thou shalt not escape out of their hand,
but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and thou shalt cause
this city to be burned with fire.
24Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let
no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die.
25But if the princes hear that I have
talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us
now what thou hast said unto the king, hide it not from us, and we will not put
thee to death; also what the king said unto thee:
26Then thou shalt say unto them, I
presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return
to Jonathan’s house, to die there.
27Then came all the princes unto
Jeremiah, and asked him: and he told them according to all these words that the
king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not
perceived.
28So Jeremiah abode in the court of the
prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was there when Jerusalem
was taken.
39
In the
ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar
king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.
2And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the
fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up.
3And all the princes of the king of Babylon
came in, and sat in the middle gate, even Nergalsharezer, Samgarnebo,
Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, with all the residue of the
princes of the king of Babylon.
4And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the
king of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled, and went forth
out of the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls:
and he went out the way of the plain.
5But the Chaldeans’ army pursued after them, and
overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they
brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of
Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him.
6Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of
Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the
nobles of Judah.
7Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with chains, to
carry him to Babylon.
8And the Chaldeans burned the king’s house, and the houses of the
people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem.
9Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard
carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in
the city, and those that fell away, that fell to him, with the rest of the
people that remained.
10But Nebuzaradan the captain of the
guard left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah,
and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.
11Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon
gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard,
saying,
12Take him, and look well to him, and
do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.
13So Nebuzaradan the captain of the
guard sent, and Nebushasban, Rabsaris, and Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, and all the
king of Babylon’s princes;
14Even they sent, and took Jeremiah out
of the court of the prison, and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam
the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he dwelt among the people.
15Now the word of the LORD came unto
Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
16Go and speak to Ebedmelech the
Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I
will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall
be accomplished in that day before thee.
17But I will deliver thee in that day,
saith the LORD: and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom
thou art afraid.
18For I will surely deliver thee, and
thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee:
because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD.
40
The
word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of
the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in
chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which
were carried away captive unto Babylon.
2And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah,
and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.
3Now the LORD hath brought it, and done
according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have
not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you.
4And now, behold, I loose thee this day from
the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with
me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto
thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before
thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.
5Now while he was not yet gone back, he said,
Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of
Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among
the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the
captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.
6Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of
Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the
land.
7Now when all the captains of the forces which
were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had
made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed unto
him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that
were not carried away captive to Babylon;
8Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even
Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and
Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and
Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.
9And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of
Shaphan sware unto them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the
Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well
with you.
10As for me, behold, I will dwell at
Mizpah, to serve the Chaldeans, which will come unto us: but ye, gather ye
wine, and summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in
your cities that ye have taken.
11Likewise when all the Jews that were
in Moab, and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and that were in all the
countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that
he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan;
12Even all the Jews returned out of all
places whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah,
unto Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.
13Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah,
and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to
Mizpah,
14And said unto him, Dost thou
certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son
of Nethaniah to slay thee? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not.
15Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake
to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay
Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he
slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered,
and the remnant in Judah perish?
16But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said
unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest
falsely of Ishmael.
41
Now it
came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of
Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with
him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat
bread together in Mizpah.
2Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and
the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of
Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made
governor over the land.
3Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with
him, even with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there,
and the men of war.
4And it came to pass the second day after he
had slain Gedaliah, and no man knew it,
5That there came certain from Shechem, from
Shiloh, and from Samaria, even fourscore men, having their beards shaven, and
their clothes rent, and having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in
their hand, to bring them to the house of the LORD.
6And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth
from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and it came to pass, as
he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.
7And it was so, when they came into the midst
of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew them, and cast them into
the midst of the pit, he, and the men that were with him.
8But ten men were found among them that said
unto Ishmael, Slay us not: for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of
barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he forbare, and slew them not among their
brethren.
9Now the pit wherein Ishmael had cast all the
dead bodies of the men, whom he had slain because of Gedaliah, was it which Asa
the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel: and Ishmael the son of
Nethaniah filled it with them that were slain.
10Then Ishmael carried away captive all
the residue of the people that were in Mizpah, even the king’s daughters, and all the people that
remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to
Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away
captive, and departed to go over to the Ammonites.
11But when Johanan the son of Kareah,
and all the captains of the forces that were with him, heard of all the evil
that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,
12Then they took all the men, and went
to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters
that are in Gibeon.
13Now it came to pass, that when all
the people which were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the
captains of the forces that were with him, then they were glad.
14So all the people that Ishmael had carried
away captive from Mizpah cast about and returned, and went unto Johanan the son
of Kareah.
15But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah
escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites.
16Then took Johanan the son of Kareah,
and all the captains of the forces that were with him, all the remnant of the
people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah,
after that he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, even mighty men of war, and
the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought again from
Gibeon:
17And they departed, and dwelt in the
habitation of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt,
18Because of the Chaldeans: for they
were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah
the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land.
42
Then
all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the
son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came
near,
2And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we
beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto
the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of
many, as thine eyes do behold us:)
3That the LORD thy God may shew us the way
wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.
4Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I
have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according to your
words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer
you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.
5Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a
true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things
for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.
6Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we
will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be
well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.
7And it came to pass after ten days, that the
word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.
8Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and
all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the
least even to the greatest,
9And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the
God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;
10If ye will still abide in this land,
then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not
pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.
11Be not afraid of the king of Babylon,
of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I am with you
to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.
12And I will shew mercies unto you,
that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
13But if ye say, We will not dwell in
this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God,
14Saying, No; but we will go into the
land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet,
nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:
15And now therefore hear the word of
the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;
16Then it shall come to pass, that the
sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the
famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt;
and there ye shall die.
17So shall it be with all the men that
set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword,
by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape
from the evil that I will bring upon them.
18For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the
God of Israel; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the
inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye
shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and
a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.
19The LORD hath said concerning you, O
ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have
admonished you this day.
20For ye dissembled in your hearts,
when ye sent me unto the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us unto the LORD our
God; and according unto all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare unto
us, and we will do it.
21And now I have this day declared it
to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing
for the which he hath sent me unto you.
22Now therefore know certainly that ye
shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place
whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.
43
And it
came to pass, that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the
people all the words of the LORD their God, for which the LORD their God had
sent him to them, even all these words,
2Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and
Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou
speakest falsely: the LORD our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt
to sojourn there:
3But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on
against us, for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might
put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon.
4So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the
captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of the LORD,
to dwell in the land of Judah.
5But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the
captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, that were returned from
all nations, whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah;
6Even men, and women, and children, and the
king’s daughters, and every person that
Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam
the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.
7So they came into the land of Egypt: for they
obeyed not the voice of the LORD: thus came they even to Tahpanhes.
8Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah
in Tahpanhes, saying,
9Take great stones in thine hand, and hide
them in the clay in the brickkiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of
the men of Judah;
10And say unto them, Thus saith the
LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar
the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that
I have hid; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.
11And when he cometh, he shall smite
the land of Egypt, and deliver such as are for death to death; and such as are
for captivity to captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword.
12And I will kindle a fire in the
houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away
captives: and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd
putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace.
13He shall break also the images of
Bethshemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the
Egyptians shall he burn with fire.
44
The
word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt,
which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of
Pathros, saying,
2Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon
all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no
man dwelleth therein,
3Because of their wickedness which they have
committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to
serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers.
4Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the
prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable
thing that I hate.
5But they hearkened not, nor inclined their
ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.
6Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured
forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem;
and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day.
7Therefore now thus saith the LORD, the God of
hosts, the God of Israel; Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your
souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to
leave you none to remain;
8In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the
works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt,
whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye
might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
9Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your
fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their
wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they
have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?
10They are not humbled even unto this
day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I
set before you and before your fathers.
11Therefore thus saith the LORD of
hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and
to cut off all Judah.
12And I will take the remnant of Judah,
that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and
they shall all be consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be
consumed by the sword and by the famine: they shall die, from the least even
unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine: and they shall be an
execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.
13For I will punish them that dwell in
the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine,
and by the pestilence:
14So that none of the remnant of Judah,
which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain,
that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire
to return to dwell there: for none shall return but such as shall escape.
15Then all the men which knew that
their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood
by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in
Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
16As for the word that thou hast spoken
unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.
17But we will certainly do whatsoever
thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of
heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our
fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets
of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no
evil.
18But since we left off to burn incense
to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have
wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
19And when we burned incense to the
queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes
to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?
20Then Jeremiah said unto all the
people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him
that answer, saying,
21The incense that ye burned in the
cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your
kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember
them, and came it not into his mind?
22So that the LORD could no longer
bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which
ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment,
and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.
23Because ye have burned incense, and
because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the
LORD, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies;
therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day.
24Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the
people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that are in
the land of Egypt:
25Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God
of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and
fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have
vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings
unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows.
26Therefore hear ye the word of the
LORD, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my
great name, saith the LORD, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of
any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord GOD liveth.
27Behold, I will watch over them for
evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt
shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of
them.
28Yet a small number that escape the
sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the
remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall
know whose words shall stand, mine, or their’s.
29And this shall be a sign unto you,
saith the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my
words shall surely stand against you for evil:
30Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will
give Pharaohhophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the
hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand
of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.
45
The
word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had
written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of
Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,
2Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto
thee, O Baruch:
3Thou didst say, Woe is me now! for the LORD
hath added grief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest.
4Thus shalt thou say unto him, The LORD saith
thus; Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have
planted I will pluck up, even this whole land.
5And seekest thou great things for thyself?
seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD:
but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.
46
The
word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles;
2Against Egypt, against the army of
Pharaohnecho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish,
which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the
son of Josiah king of Judah.
3Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw
near to battle.
4Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen,
and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the
brigandines.
5Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and
turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace,
and look not back: for fear was round about, saith the LORD.
6Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty
man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river
Euphrates.
7Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose
waters are moved as the rivers?
8Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters
are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the
earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.
9Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots;
and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle
the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.
10For this is the day of the Lord GOD
of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and
the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their
blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the
river Euphrates.
11Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O
virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou
shalt not be cured.
12The nations have heard of thy shame,
and thy cry hath filled the land: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the
mighty, and they are fallen both together.
13The word that the LORD spake to
Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite
the land of Egypt.
14Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in
Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare
thee; for the sword shall devour round about thee.
15Why are thy valiant men swept away?
they stood not, because the LORD did drive them.
16He made many to fall, yea, one fell
upon another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and
to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword.
17They did cry there, Pharaoh king of
Egypt is but a noise; he hath passed the time appointed.
18As I live, saith the King, whose name
is the LORD of hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by
the sea, so shall he come.
19O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt,
furnish thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate
without an inhabitant.
20Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but
destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.
21Also her hired men are in the midst
of her like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back, and are fled away
together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon
them, and the time of their visitation.
22The voice thereof shall go like a
serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as
hewers of wood.
23They shall cut down her forest, saith
the LORD, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the
grasshoppers, and are innumerable.
24The daughter of Egypt shall be
confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
25The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,
saith; Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with
their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him:
26And I will deliver them into the hand
of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward it shall be
inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the LORD.
27But fear not thou, O my servant
Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar
off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and
be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
28Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant,
saith the LORD: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the
nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but
correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.
47
The
word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines,
before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
2Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up
out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the
land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the
men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
3At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of
his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his
wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of
hands;
4Because of the day that cometh to spoil all
the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that
remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country
of Caphtor.
5Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut
off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
6O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be
ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
7How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath
given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he
appointed it.
48
Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the
God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and
taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed.
2There shall be no more praise of Moab: in
Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from
being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue
thee.
3A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim,
spoiling and great destruction.
4Moab is destroyed; her little ones have
caused a cry to be heard.
5For in the going up of Luhith continual
weeping shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a
cry of destruction.
6Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath
in the wilderness.
7For because thou hast trusted in thy works
and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into
captivity with his priests and his princes together.
8And the spoiler shall come upon every city,
and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be
destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken.
9Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and
get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell
therein.
10Cursed be he that doeth the work of
the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.
11Moab hath been at ease from his
youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel
to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in
him, and his scent is not changed.
12Therefore, behold, the days come,
saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to
wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.
13And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh,
as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.
14How say ye, We are mighty and strong
men for the war?
15Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of
her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the
King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
16The calamity of Moab is near to come,
and his affliction hasteth fast.
17All ye that are about him, bemoan
him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and
the beautiful rod!
18Thou daughter that dost inhabit
Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab
shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds.
19O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the
way, and espy; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What is
done?
20Moab is confounded; for it is broken
down: howl and cry; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled,
21And judgment is come upon the plain
country; upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath,
22And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and
upon Bethdiblathaim,
23And upon Kiriathaim, and upon
Bethgamul, and upon Bethmeon,
24And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah,
and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.
25The horn of Moab is cut off, and his
arm is broken, saith the LORD.
26Make ye him drunken: for he magnified
himself against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also
shall be in derision.
27For was not Israel a derision unto
thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst
for joy.
28O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the
cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the
sides of the hole’s mouth.
29We have heard the pride of Moab, (he
is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the
haughtiness of his heart.
30I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but
it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it.
31Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I
will cry out for all Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kirheres.
32O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for
thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach
even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon
thy vintage.
33And joy and gladness is taken from
the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab, and I have caused wine to fail
from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be
no shouting.
34From the cry of Heshbon even unto
Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even
unto Horonaim, as an heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim
shall be desolate.
35Moreover I will cause to cease in
Moab, saith the LORD, him that offereth in the high places, and him that
burneth incense to his gods.
36Therefore mine heart shall sound for
Moab like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kirheres:
because the riches that he hath gotten are perished.
37For every head shall be bald, and every
beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins
sackcloth.
38There shall be lamentation generally
upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have broken
Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the LORD.
39They shall howl, saying, How is it
broken down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab be a
derision and a dismaying to all them about him.
40For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he
shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab.
41Kerioth is taken, and the strong
holds are surprised, and the mighty men’s hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the
heart of a woman in her pangs.
42And Moab shall be destroyed from
being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the LORD.
43Fear, and the pit, and the snare,
shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the LORD.
44He that fleeth from the fear shall
fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the
snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation,
saith the LORD.
45They that fled stood under the shadow
of Heshbon because of the force: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon,
and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and
the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.
46Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people
of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters
captives.
47Yet will I bring again the captivity
of Moab in the latter days, saith the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
49
Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the LORD;
Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth their king inherit Gad, and
his people dwell in his cities?
2Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites;
and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire:
then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the LORD.
3Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye
daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the
hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes
together.
4Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy
flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying,
Who shall come unto me?
5Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith
the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that be about thee; and ye shall be
driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wandereth.
6And afterward I will bring again the
captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD.
7Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of
hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is
their wisdom vanished?
8Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants
of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will
visit him.
9If grapegatherers come to thee, would they
not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till
they have enough.
10But I have made Esau bare, I have
uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed
is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not.
11Leave thy fatherless children, I will
preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me.
12For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they
whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou
he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou
shalt surely drink of it.
13For I have sworn by myself, saith the
LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse;
and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.
14I have heard a rumour from the LORD,
and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together, and
come against her, and rise up to the battle.
15For, lo, I will make thee small among
the heathen, and despised among men.
16Thy terribleness hath deceived thee,
and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock,
that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as
high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.
17Also Edom shall be a desolation:
every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues
thereof.
18As in the overthrow of Sodom and
Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide
there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.
19Behold, he shall come up like a lion
from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will
suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may
appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who
is that shepherd that will stand before me?
20Therefore hear the counsel of the
LORD, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed
against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them
out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them.
21The earth is moved at the noise of
their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea.
22Behold, he shall come up and fly as
the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of
the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
23Concerning Damascus. Hamath is
confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted;
there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.
24Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth
herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken
her, as a woman in travail.
25How is the city of praise not left,
the city of my joy!
26Therefore her young men shall fall in
her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the
LORD of hosts.
27And I will kindle a fire in the wall
of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.
28Concerning Kedar, and concerning the
kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith
the LORD; Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east.
29Their tents and their flocks shall
they take away: they shall take to themselves their curtains, and all their
vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry unto them, Fear is on every side.
30Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O
ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the LORD; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon
hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you.
31Arise, get you up unto the wealthy
nation, that dwelleth without care, saith the LORD, which have neither gates
nor bars, which dwell alone.
32And their camels shall be a booty,
and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds
them that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all
sides thereof, saith the LORD.
33And Hazor shall be a dwelling for
dragons, and a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son
of man dwell in it.
34The word of the LORD that came to
Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah
king of Judah, saying,
35Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold,
I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.
36And upon Elam will I bring the four
winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those
winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not
come.
37For I will cause Elam to be dismayed
before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring
evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword
after them, till I have consumed them:
38And I will set my throne in Elam, and
will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the LORD.
39But it shall come to pass in the
latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.
50
The word
that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by
Jeremiah the prophet.
2Declare ye among the nations, and publish,
and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is
confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images
are broken in pieces.
3For out of the north there cometh up a nation
against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein:
they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
4In those days, and in that time, saith the
LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah
together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God.
5They shall ask the way to Zion with their
faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a
perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.
6My people hath been lost sheep: their
shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the
mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their
restingplace.
7All that found them have devoured them: and
their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the
LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.
8Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go
forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the
flocks.
9For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up
against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they
shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken:
their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.
10And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all
that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD.
11Because ye were glad, because ye
rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the
heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;
12Your mother shall be sore confounded;
she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall
be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
13Because of the wrath of the LORD it
shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth
by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
14Put yourselves in array against
Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows:
for she hath sinned against the LORD.
15Shout against her round about: she
hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for
it is the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do
unto her.
16Cut off the sower from Babylon, and
him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing
sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to
his own land.
17Israel is a scattered sheep; the
lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and
last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
18Therefore thus saith the LORD of
hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his
land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.
19And I will bring Israel again to his
habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be
satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.
20In those days, and in that time,
saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be
none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon
them whom I reserve.
21Go up against the land of Merathaim,
even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly
destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have
commanded thee.
22A sound of battle is in the land, and
of great destruction.
23How is the hammer of the whole earth
cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
24I have laid a snare for thee, and
thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and
also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD.
25The LORD hath opened his armoury, and
hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the
Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.
26Come against her from the utmost
border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly:
let nothing of her be left.
27Slay all her bullocks; let them go
down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their
visitation.
28The voice of them that flee and
escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD
our God, the vengeance of his temple.
29Call together the archers against
Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none
thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she
hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the
Holy One of Israel.
30Therefore shall her young men fall in
the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the
LORD.
31Behold, I am against thee, O thou
most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I
will visit thee.
32And the most proud shall stumble and
fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and
it shall devour all round about him.
33Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children
of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took
them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.
34Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of
hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest
to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
35A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith
the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon
her wise men.
36A sword is upon the liars; and they
shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.
37A sword is upon their horses, and
upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of
her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they
shall be robbed.
38A drought is upon her waters; and
they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad
upon their idols.
39Therefore the wild beasts of the
desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls
shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall
it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
40As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there,
neither shall any son of man dwell therein.
41Behold, a people shall come from the
north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of
the earth.
42They shall hold the bow and the
lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the
sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the
battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.
43The king of Babylon hath heard the
report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs
as of a woman in travail.
44Behold, he shall come up like a lion
from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make
them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint
over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that
shepherd that will stand before me?
45Therefore hear ye the counsel of the
LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath
purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall
draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them.
46At the noise of the taking of Babylon
the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.
51
Thus
saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that
dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;
2And will send unto Babylon fanners, that
shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall
be against her round about.
3Against him that bendeth let the archer bend
his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare
ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.
4Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the
Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.
5For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah
of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against
the Holy One of Israel.
6Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver
every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the
LORD’s vengeance; he will render unto her
a recompence.
7Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, that made all the earth
drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
8Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed:
howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
9We would have healed Babylon, but she is not
healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her
judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
10The LORD hath brought forth our
righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.
11Make bright the arrows; gather the
shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his
device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the
LORD, the vengeance of his temple.
12Set up the standard upon the walls of
Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for
the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants
of Babylon.
13O thou that dwellest upon many
waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy
covetousness.
14The LORD of hosts hath sworn by
himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and
they shall lift up a shout against thee.
15He hath made the earth by his power,
he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven
by his understanding.
16When 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.
17Every man is brutish by his
knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten
image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
18They are vanity, the work of errors:
in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
19The 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.
20Thou art my battle axe and weapons of
war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I
destroy kingdoms;
21And with thee will I break in pieces
the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and
his rider;
22With thee also will I break in pieces
man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with
thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;
23I will also break in pieces with thee
the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman
and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.
24And I will render unto Babylon and to
all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in
your sight, saith the LORD.
25Behold, I am against thee, O
destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will
stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will
make thee a burnt mountain.
26And they shall not take of thee a
stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for
ever, saith the LORD.
27Set ye up a standard in the land,
blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call
together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a
captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.
28Prepare against her the nations with
the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and
all the land of his dominion.
29And the land shall tremble and
sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to
make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.
30The mighty men of Babylon have
forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed;
they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
31One post shall run to meet another,
and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is
taken at one end,
32And that the passages are stopped,
and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
33For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the
God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to
thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
34Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon
hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath
swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he
hath cast me out.
35The violence done to me and to my
flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the
inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
36Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold,
I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea,
and make her springs dry.
37And Babylon shall become heaps, a
dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an
inhabitant.
38They shall roar together like lions:
they shall yell as lions’ whelps.
39In their heat I will make their
feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a
perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.
40I will bring them down like lambs to
the slaughter, like rams with he goats.
41How is Sheshach taken! and how is the
praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment
among the nations!
42The sea is come up upon Babylon: she
is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
43Her cities are a desolation, a dry
land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of
man pass thereby.
44And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and
I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the
nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon
shall fall.
45My people, go ye out of the midst of
her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.
46And lest your heart faint, and ye
fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come
one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in
the land, ruler against ruler.
47Therefore, behold, the days come,
that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land
shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48Then the heaven and the earth, and
all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto
her from the north, saith the LORD.
49As Babylon hath caused the slain of
Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.
50Ye that have escaped the sword, go
away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into
your mind.
51We are confounded, because we have heard
reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the
sanctuaries of the LORD’s house.
52Wherefore, behold, the days come,
saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all
her land the wounded shall groan.
53Though Babylon should mount up to
heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me
shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.
54A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon,
and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:
55Because the LORD hath spoiled
Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like
great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:
56Because the spoiler is come upon her,
even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is
broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite.
57And I will make drunk her princes,
and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they
shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the
LORD of hosts.
58Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The
broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be
burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the
fire, and they shall be weary.
59The word which Jeremiah the prophet
commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with
Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And
this Seraiah was a quiet prince.
60So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the
evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written
against Babylon.
61And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When
thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;
62Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou
hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it,
neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.
63And it shall be, when thou hast made
an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it
into the midst of Euphrates:
64And thou shalt say, Thus shall
Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and
they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
52
1 Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when
he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of
Jeremiah of Libnah.
2And he did that which was evil in the eyes of
the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
3For through the anger of the LORD it came to
pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence, that
Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
4And it came to pass in the ninth year of his
reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar
king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched
against it, and built forts against it round about.
5So the city was besieged unto the eleventh
year of king Zedekiah.
6And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of
the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the
people of the land.
7Then the city was broken up, and all the men
of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate
between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the city
round about:) and they went by the way of the plain.
8But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after
the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was
scattered from him.
9Then they took the king, and carried him up
unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave
judgment upon him.
10And the king of Babylon slew the sons
of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.
11Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah;
and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and
put him in prison till the day of his death.
12Now in the fifth month, in the tenth
day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, which served the king of
Babylon, into Jerusalem,
13And burned the house of the LORD, and
the king’s house; and all the houses of
Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire:
14And all the army of the Chaldeans,
that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem
round about.
15Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the
guard carried away captive certain of the poor of the people, and the residue
of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to
the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.
16But Nebuzaradan the captain of the
guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen.
17Also the pillars of brass that were in
the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house
of the LORD, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon.
18The caldrons also, and the shovels,
and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass
wherewith they ministered, took they away.
19And the basons, and the firepans, and
the bowls, and the caldrons, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the
cups; that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver,
took the captain of the guard away.
20The two pillars, one sea, and twelve
brasen bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the
house of the LORD: the brass of all these vessels was without weight.
21And concerning the pillars, the height
of one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass
it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow.
22And a chapiter of brass was upon it;
and the height of one chapiter was five cubits, with network and pomegranates
upon the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the
pomegranates were like unto these.
23And there were ninety and six
pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were an
hundred round about.
24And the captain of the guard took
Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three
keepers of the door:
25He took also out of the city an
eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war; and seven men of them that were
near the king’s person, which were found in the
city; and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the
land; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the
midst of the city.
26So Nebuzaradan the captain of the
guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.
27And the king of Babylon smote them,
and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried
away captive out of his own land.
28This is the people whom
Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand Jews
and three and twenty:
29In the eighteenth year of
Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and
two persons:
30In the three and twentieth year of
Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the
Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand
and six hundred.
31And it came to pass in the seven and
thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month,
in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon
in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah,
and brought him forth out of prison.
32And spake kindly unto him, and set
his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,
33And changed his prison garments: and
he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life.
34And for his diet, there was a
continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the
day of his death, all the days of his life.

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