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Chapters in the book of Jeremiah:

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | | 51 | 52

Jeremiah

CHAPTER 1 Ju1. 11
God Calls Jeremiah
The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: 2to whom the word of Yahweh came in the days of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3It came also in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, to the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. 4Now the word of Yahweh came to me saying, 5Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you came forth out of the womb, I sanctified you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations. 6Then I said, Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, I don’t know how to speak; for I am a child. 7But Yahweh said to me, Don’t say, ‘I am a child;’ for to whoever I shall send you, you shall go, and whatever I shall command you, you shall speak. 8Don’t be afraid because of them; for I am with you to deliver you, says Yahweh. 9Then Yahweh put forth His hand, and touched my mouth; and Yahweh said to me, Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. 10Behold, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.
Two Visions
11Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? I said, I see a branch of an almond tree. 12Then Yahweh said to me, You have seen well; for I watch over My word to perform it. 13The word of Yahweh came to me the second time saying, What do you see? I said, I see a boiling cauldron; and it is tipping away from the north. 14Then Yahweh said to me, Out of the north evil will break out on all the inhabitants of the land. 15For, behold, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, says Yahweh; and they shall come, and they shall each set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls all around, and against all the cities of Judah. 16I will utter My judgements against them touching all their wickedness, in that they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods and worshipped the works of their own hands. 17You therefore put your belt on your waist, arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Don’t be dismayed at them, lest I dismay you before them. 18For, behold, I have made you this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land. 19They will fight against you; but they will not prevail against you; for I am with you, says Yahweh, to deliver you.
CHAPTER 2 Ju1. 12
Israel's Unfaithfulness
The word of Yahweh came to me saying, 2Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh, I remember the kindness of your youth, the love at the time of your marriage; how you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. 3Israel was holiness to Yahweh, the first fruits of His increase. All who devour him shall be held guilty. Evil shall come on them’, says Yahweh. 4Hear the word of Yahweh O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel! 5Thus says Yahweh, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in Me, that they have gone far from Me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? 6Neither did they say, ‘Where is Yahweh who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that none passed through, and where no man lived?’. 7I brought you into a plentiful land, to eat its fruit and its goodness; but when you entered, you defiled My land and made My heritage an abomination. 8The priests didn’t say, ‘Where is Yahweh?’ and those who handle the law didn’t come to know Me. The rulers also transgressed against Me, the prophets prophesied by Baal and walked after things that do not profit. 9Therefore I will yet contend with you, says Yahweh, and I will contend with your children’s children. 10For pass over to the islands of Kittim, and see; and send to Kedar, and consider diligently; and see if there has been such a thing. 11Has a nation changed its gods, which really are no gods? But My people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. 12Be astonished, you heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid. Be very desolate, says Yahweh. 13For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the spring of living waters, and cut them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
Results of Israel's Unfaithfulness
14Is Israel a servant? Is he a native-born slave? Why has he become a prey? 15The young lions have roared at him and yelled, they have desolated his land. His cities are burned up without inhabitant. 16The children also of Memphis and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of your head. 17Haven’t you procured this to yourself, in that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, when He led you by the way? 18Now what have you to do in the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor? Or what have you to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River? 19Your own wickedness shall correct you, and your backsliding shall reprove you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, and that My fear is not in you, says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies. 20For of old time I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds; and you said, ‘I will not serve;’ for on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed yourself, playing the prostitute. 21Yet I had planted you a noble vine, wholly a right seed. How then have you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to Me? 22For though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before Me, says the Lord Yahweh. 23How can you say, ‘I am not defiled. I have not gone after the Baals’? See your way in the valley. Know what you have done. You are a swift dromedary traversing her ways; 24a wild donkey used to the wilderness, that snuffs up the wind in her desire. When she is in heat, who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not weary themselves. In her month, they will find her. 25Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst. But you said, ‘It is in vain. No, for I have loved strangers, and I will go after them’. 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; 27who tell wood, ‘You are my father;’ and a stone, ‘You have brought me forth’; for they have turned their back to Me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘Arise, and save us’. 28But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble: for according to the number of your cities are your gods, Judah.    
Israel Rebels against God
29Why will you contend with Me? You all have transgressed against Me, says Yahweh. 30I have struck your children in vain. They received no correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion. 31Generation, consider the word of Yahweh. Have I been a wilderness to Israel? Or a land of thick darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We have broken loose. We will come to You no more?’. 32Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number. 33How well you prepare your way to seek love! Therefore you have taught even the wicked women your ways. 34Also the blood of the souls of the innocent poor is found in your skirts, even though you did not catch them in the act of burglary. 35Yet you said, ‘I am innocent. Surely His anger has turned away from me’. Behold, I will judge you, because you say, ‘I have not sinned’. 36Why do you go about so much, ever  changing your way? You will be shamed by Egypt, just as you were shamed by Assyria. 37From there also you shall go forth, with your hands on your head; for Yahweh has rejected those in whom you trust, and you shall not prosper with them.
CHAPTER 3 Ju1. 13
Israel and Judah Likened to an Unfaithful Wife
They say, ‘If a man puts away his wife and she goes from him and become another man’s, should he return to her again?’. Wouldn’t that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the prostitute with many lovers; yet return again to Me, says Yahweh. 2Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been lain with? You have sat for them by the ways, as an Arabian in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and with your wickedness. 3Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain; yet you have a prostitute’s forehead, you refused to be ashamed. 4Will you not from this time cry to Me, ‘My Father, You are the guide of my youth?’. 5‘Will He retain His anger forever? Will He keep it to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken and have done evil things, and have had your way. 6Moreover, Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there has played the prostitute. 7I said after she had done all these things, ‘She will return to Me;’ but she didn’t return; and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8I saw, when, for the very reason of committing adultery that I had put away and given a bill of divorce to backsliding Israel, then treacherous Judah her sister didn’t fear; but likewise went and played the prostitute. 9It happened through the lightness of her prostitution, that the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks. 10Yet for all this her treacherous sister, Judah, has not returned to Me with her whole heart, but only in pretence, says Yahweh.
God Wants Israel to Return to Him
11Yahweh said to me, Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12Go, and proclaim these words towards the north, and say, ‘Return, you backsliding Israel’, says Yahweh; ‘I will not look in anger on you; for I am merciful’, says Yahweh. ‘I will not keep anger forever. 13Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against Yahweh your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed My voice’, says Yahweh. 14Return, backsliding children, says Yahweh; for I am a husband to you. I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion. 15I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16It shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says Yahweh, they shall say no more, ‘The ark of the covenant of Yahweh!’ neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they remember it; neither shall they miss it; neither shall it be made any more. 17At that time they shall call Jerusalem ‘The throne of Yahweh;’ and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of Yahweh, to Jerusalem. Neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness 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 gave for an inheritance to your fathers. 19But I thought how I would set you among My children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the armies of the nations; and I thought you would call Me My Father, and would not turn away from following Me’. 20Surely as a wife faithlessly departs from her husband, so you have dealt treacherously with Me, house of Israel, says Yahweh. 21A voice is heard on the bare heights, the weeping and the petitions of the children of Israel; because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Yahweh their God. 22Return, you backsliding children, I will heal your backsliding. Behold, we have come to You; for You are Yahweh our God. 23Truly in vain is help from the hills, the tumult on the mountains. Truly the salvation of Israel is in Yahweh our God. 24But the shameful thing has devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we have sinned against Yahweh our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. We have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh our God.
CHAPTER 4 Ju1. 14
Repentance Needed
If you will return, Israel, says Yahweh, if you will return to Me, and if you will put away your abominations out of My sight; then you shall not be removed; 2and you shall swear, ‘As Yahweh lives’, in truth, in justice, and in righteousness. The nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him shall they glory. 3For thus says Yahweh to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and don’t sow among thorns. 4Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest My wrath go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
Judah to be Invaded
5Declare in Judah and publish in Jerusalem; say, ‘Blow the trumpet in the land!’ Cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble yourselves! Let us go into the fortified cities!’ 6Set up a standard towards Zion. Flee for safety! Don’t wait; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. 7A lion is gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations; he is on his way, he is gone forth from his place, to make your land desolate, that your cities be laid waste, without inhabitant. 8For this clothe yourself with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger of Yahweh hasn’t turned back from us. 9It shall happen at that day, says Yahweh, 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 I said, Ah, Lord Yahweh! Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem in saying, ‘You shall have peace;’ whereas the sword reaches to the heart. 11At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A hot wind from the bare heights in the wilderness towards the daughter of My people, not to winnow, nor to cleanse; 12a full wind for these things shall come from Me. Now I will also utter judgements against them. 13Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as the whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! For we are ruined. 14Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you? 15For a voice declares from Dan, and publishes evil from the hills of Ephraim: 16Tell the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, ‘Watchers come from a far country and lift up their voice against the cities of Judah. 17As keepers of a field, they are against her all around, because she has been rebellious against Me’, says Yahweh. 18Your way and your doings have brought these things to you. This is your wickedness; for it is bitter, for it reaches to your heart.
Jeremiah's Vision of Destruction
19My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I can’t hold my peace; because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. 20Destruction on destruction is cried; for the whole land is laid waste: suddenly are my tents destroyed, and my curtains in a moment. 21How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? 22For my people are foolish, they don’t know me. They are foolish children, and they have no understanding. They are skilful in doing evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. 23I saw the land and, behold, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. 24I saw the mountains, and behold, they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth. 25I saw, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the sky had fled. 26I saw, and behold, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of Yahweh, before His fierce anger. 27For thus says Yahweh, The whole land shall be a desolation; yet will I not make a full end. 28For this the land will mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and I have not relented, neither will I go back from it. 29Every city flees for the noise of the horsemen and archers; they go into the thickets and climb up on the rocks: every city is forsaken, not a man dwells therein. 30You, when you are made desolate, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with scarlet, though you deck you with ornaments of gold, though you enlarge your eyes with paint, in vain do you make yourself beautiful; your lovers despise you, they seek your life. 31For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, the anguish as of her who brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, who gasps for breath, who spreads her hands saying, Woe is me now! For my soul faints before the murderers.
CHAPTER 5 Ju1. 15
The Sins of Jerusalem
Run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places of it, if you can find a man, if there are any who does justice, who seeks truth; and I will pardon her. 2Though they say, ‘As Yahweh lives;’ surely they swear falsely. 3O Yahweh, don’t Your eyes look on truth? You have stricken them, but they were not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They have refused to return. 4Then I said, Surely these are poor. They are foolish; for they don’t know the way of Yahweh, nor the law of their God. 5I will go to the great men, and will speak to them; for they know the way of Yahweh, and the law of their God. But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds. 6Therefore a lion out of the forest shall kill them, a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them, a leopard shall watch against their cities; everyone who goes out there shall be torn in pieces; because their transgressions are many, and their backsliding is increased. 7How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken Me, and sworn by what are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the prostitutes’ houses. 8They were as fed horses roaming at large: everyone neighed after his neighbour’s wife. 9Shouldn’t I punish them for these things? says Yahweh; and shouldn’t My soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 10Go up on her walls, and destroy; but don’t make a full end. Take away her branches; for they are not Yahweh’s. 11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against Me, says Yahweh. 12They have denied Yahweh and said, It is not He; neither shall evil come on us; neither shall we see sword nor famine. 13The prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them. 14Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Armies, Because you speak this word, behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
Israel to be Invaded
15Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far, house of Israel, says Yahweh. It is a mighty nation. It is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you don’t know, nor understand what they say. 16Their quiver is an open tomb, they are all mighty men. 17They shall eat up your harvest and your bread, which your sons and your daughters should eat. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds. They shall eat up your vines and your fig trees. They shall beat down your fortified cities in which you trust with the sword. 18But even in those days, says Yahweh, I will not make a full end with you. 19It will happen, when you say, ‘Why has Yahweh our God done all these things to us?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘Just like you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours’. 20Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah saying, 21‘Hear now this, foolish people, and without understanding; who have eyes, and don’t see; who have ears, and don’t hear: 22Don’t you fear Me?’ says Yahweh ‘Won’t you tremble at My presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it can’t pass it? and though its waves toss themselves, yet they can’t prevail; though they roar, yet they can’t pass over it’. 23But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart; they have revolted and gone. 24Neither do they say in their heart, ‘Let us now fear Yahweh our God who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; who preserves to us the appointed weeks of the harvest’. 25Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you. 26For among My people are found wicked men. They watch, as fowlers lie in wait. They set a trap. They catch men. 27As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they became great and grew rich. 28They have grown fat. They shine; yes, they excel in deeds of wickedness. They don’t plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and they don’t judge the right of the needy. 29Shall I not punish for these things? says Yahweh. Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 30An astonishing and horrible thing has happened in the land. 31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority; and My people love to have it so. What will you do in the end of it?
CHAPTER 6 Ju1. 16
 A Warning for the People
Flee for safety, you children of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem, blow the trumpet in Tekoa and raise up a signal on Beth Haccherem; for evil looks forth from the north, and a great destruction. 2The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, will I cut off. 3Shepherds with their flocks shall come to her; they shall pitch their tents against her all around; they shall feed each one in his place. 4Prepare war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us! For the day declines, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out. 5Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces. 6For Yahweh of Armies said, Cut down trees, and cast up a mound against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her. 7As a well casts forth its waters, so she casts forth her wickedness: violence and destruction is heard in her; before Me continually is grief and woundedness. 8Be instructed, Jerusalem, lest My soul depart from you; lest I make you a desolation, a land not inhabited. 9Thus says Yahweh of Armies, They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel like a vine. Turn again your hand as a grape gatherer into the baskets. 10To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they can’t listen. Behold, the word of Yahweh has become a reproach to them. They have no delight in it. 11Therefore I am full of the wrath of Yahweh. I am weary with holding in. Pour it out on the youths in the street, and on the assembly of young men together; for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him who is full of days. 12Their houses shall be turned to others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out My hand on the inhabitants of the land, says Yahweh. 13For from their least even to their greatest, everyone is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely. 14They have healed also the hurt of My people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace. 15Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I visit them, they shall be cast down, says Yahweh. 16Thus says Yahweh, Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, ‘Where is the good way?’ and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it’. 17I set watchmen over you saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’. But they said, ‘We will not listen!’. 18Therefore hear, you nations, and know, congregation, what is among them. 19Hear, earth! Behold, I will bring evil on this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to My words; and as for My law, they have rejected it. 20To what purpose comes there to Me frankincense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to Me. 21Therefore thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people. The fathers and the sons together shall stumble against them. The neighbour and his friend shall perish.
Invasion from the North
22Thus says Yahweh, Behold, a people comes from the north country. A great nation shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth. 23They take hold of bow and spear. They are cruel, and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, each one set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Zion. 24We have heard its report; our hands become feeble: anguish has taken hold of us, pains as of a woman in labour. 25Don’t go forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and terror are on every side. 26Daughter of My people, clothe yourself with sackcloth, and wallow in ashes! Mourn, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us. 27I have made you a tester of metals and a fortress among My people; that you may know and try their way. 28They are all grievous rebels, going about with slanders; they are brass and iron: they all of them deal corruptly. 29The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed of the fire: in vain do they go on refining; for the wicked are not plucked away. 30Men will call them rejected silver, because Yahweh has rejected them.
CHAPTER 7 Ju1. 17
Jeremiah Preaches at the Temple Gate
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh saying, 2Stand in the gate of Yahweh’s house and proclaim there this word and say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, all you of Judah, who enter in at these gates to worship Yahweh. 3Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. 4Don’t trust in lying words by saying, Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple, are these. 5For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if you thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbour; 6if you don’t oppress the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, and don’t shed innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your own hurt: 7then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even for evermore. 8Behold, you trust in lying words, that can’t profit. 9Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, burn incense to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known, 10and come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, We are saved; so that you may do all these abominations? 11Is this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, says Yahweh. 12But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I caused My name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of My people Israel. 13Now, because you have done all these works, says Yahweh, and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you didn’t hear; and I called you, but you didn’t answer: 14therefore thus will I do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. 15I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
The People's Disobedience
16Therefore don’t pray for this people, neither lift up a cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you. 17Don’t you see 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 the dough, to make cakes to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger. 19Do they provoke Me to anger? says Yahweh. Don’t they provoke themselves, to the confusion of their own faces? 20Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, My anger and My wrath shall be poured out on this place, on man, and on animal, and on the trees of the field, and on the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched. 21Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat meat. 22For I didn’t speak to your fathers, nor command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: 23but this thing I commanded them, saying, Listen to My voice, and I will be Your God, and you shall be My people; and walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you. 24But they didn’t listen nor turn their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. 25Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: 26yet they didn’t listen to Me, nor inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff: they did worse than their fathers. 27You shall speak all these words to them; but they will not listen to you: you shall also call to them; but they will not answer you. 28You shall tell them, This is the nation that has not listened to the voice of Yahweh their God, nor received instruction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.
The Sinful Deeds of the People of Judah
29Cut off your hair and throw it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for Yahweh has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath. 30For the children of Judah have done that which is evil in My sight, says Yahweh: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 31They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I didn’t command, nor did it come into My mind. 32Therefore behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that it shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter: for they shall bury in Topheth, until there is no place to bury. 33The dead bodies of this people shall be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth; and none shall frighten 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 become a waste.
CHAPTER 8 Ju1. 18
At that time, says Yahweh, 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, the moon and all the army of the sky which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and which they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried, they shall be for dung on the surface of the earth. 3Death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places where I have driven them, says Yahweh of Armies.
False Wisdom
4Moreover you shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh: Shall men fall, and not rise up again? Shall one turn the wrong way, and not return? 5Why then is this people of Jerusalem sliding back by a perpetual backsliding? They hold fast deceit, they refuse to return. 6I listened and heard, but they didn’t speak aright: no man repents him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Each one turns to his course, as a horse that rushes headlong in the battle. 7Yes, the stork in the sky knows her appointed times; and the turtle-dove and the swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming; but My people don’t know Yahweh’s law. 8How do you say, We are wise, and the law of Yahweh is with us? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has worked falsely. 9The wise men are disappointed, they are dismayed and taken: behold, they have rejected the word of Yahweh; and what kind of wisdom is in them? 10Therefore will I give their wives to others, and their fields to those who shall possess them: for each one from the least even to the greatest is given to covetousness; from the prophet even to the priest each one deals falsely. 11They 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? No, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among those who fall; in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, says Yahweh. 13I will utterly consume them, says Yahweh: no grapes shall be 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 fortified cities, and let us be silent there; for Yahweh our God has put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against Yahweh. 15We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of healing, and behold, dismay! 16The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan: at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones the whole land trembles; for they have come, and have devoured the land and all that is in it; the city and those who dwell therein. 17For, behold, I will send serpents, adders, among you, which will not be charmed; and they shall bite you, says Yahweh.
Jeremiah Mourns for His People
18Oh that I could comfort myself against sorrow! My heart is faint within me. 19Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land that is very far off: Isn’t Yahweh in Zion? Isn’t her King in her? Why have they provoked Me to anger with their engraved images, and with foreign 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 mourn; dismay has taken hold on me. 22Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? Why then isn’t the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
CHAPTER 9 Ju1. 19
Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a spring 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 are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
God's Reply to Jeremiah
3They bend their tongue, as their bow, for falsehood; and they are grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they don’t know Me, says Yahweh. 4Beware everyone of his neighbour, and don’t trust in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will go about with slanders. 5They will deceive each one his neighbour and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity. 6Your habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know Me, says Yahweh. 7Therefore thus says Yahweh of Armies, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how should I deal with the daughter of My people? 8Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceit: one speaks peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in his heart he lays wait for him. 9Shall I not visit them for these things, says Yahweh; 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 pastures of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none passes through; neither can men hear the voice of the livestock; both the birds of the sky and the animals are fled, they are gone. 11I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant. 12Who is the wise man, that may understand this? Who is he to whom the mouth of Yahweh has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land perished and burned up like a wilderness, so that none passes through? 13Yahweh says, 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 stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them; 15therefore thus says Yahweh of Armies, 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 nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.
The Wailing Women Summoned
17Thus says Yahweh of Armies, Consider, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for the skilful 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 ruined! We are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because they have cast down our dwellings. 20Yet hear the word of Yahweh, you women, and let your ear receive the word of His mouth; and teach your daughters wailing, and each one her neighbour lamentation. 21For death has come up into our windows, it is entered into our palaces; to cut off the children from outside, and the young men from the streets. 22Speak, Thus says Yahweh, The dead bodies of men shall fall as dung on the open field, and as the handful after the harvester; and none shall gather them. 23Thus says Yahweh, Don’t let the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, don’t let the rich man glory in his riches; 24but let him who glories glory in this, that he has understanding, and knows Me, that I am Yahweh who exercises loving kindness, justice, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, says Yahweh. 25Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will punish all those who are circumcised along with the uncircumcised: 26Egypt, Judah, Edom and the children of Ammon, Moab and all that have the corners of their hair cut off, who dwell in the wilderness; for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.
CHAPTER 10 Ju1. 20
Hear the word which Yahweh speaks to you, house of Israel! 2Thus says Yahweh, Don’t learn the way of the nations, and don’t be dismayed at the signs of the sky; for the nations are dismayed at them. 3For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts 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 not move. 5They are like a palm tree, of turned work, and don’t speak: they must be carried, because they can’t walk. Don’t be afraid of them; for they can’t do evil, neither is it in them to do good.
Jeremiah's Praise of God
6There is none like You, Yahweh; You are great, and Your name is great in might. 7Who should not fear You, King of the nations? For it is appropriate for You; because among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal estate, there is none like You. 8But they are together primitive and foolish: the instruction of idols! It is but a stock. 9There is silver beaten into plates which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the artificer and of the hands of the goldsmith; blue and purple for their clothing; they are all the work of skilful men. 10But Yahweh is the true God; He is the living God and an everlasting King: at His wrath the earth trembles, and the nations are not able to withstand His indignation. 11You shall say this to them: The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens. 12He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, and by His understanding has He stretched out the heavens: 13when He utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and He causes the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightnings for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of His treasuries. 14Every man has become primitive and without knowledge; every goldsmith is disappointed by his engraved image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. 15They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. 16The portion of Jacob is not like these; for He is the former of all things; and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance: Yahweh of Armies is His name.
Coming Destruction
17Gather up your wares out of the land, you who live under siege. 18For thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and will distress them, that they may feel it. 19Woe is me because of my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is my grief, and I must bear it. 20My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth from me, and they are no more: there is none to spread my tent any more, and to set up my curtains. 21For the shepherds are become primitive, and have not inquired of Yahweh: therefore they have not prospered, and all their flocks are scattered. 22The voice of proclamation, behold, it comes, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling place of jackals. 23Yahweh, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. 24Yahweh, correct me, but in measure: not in Your anger, lest you bring me to nothing. 25Pour out Your wrath on the nations that don’t know You, and on the families that don’t call on Your name: for they have devoured Jacob, yes, they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.
CHAPTER 11 Ju1. 21
The Covenant of God
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh saying, 2Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 3and say to them, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: Cursed is the man who doesn’t hear the words of this covenant, 4which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace saying, Obey My voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so you shall be My people, and I will be your God; 5that I may establish the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day. Then answered I and said, Amen, Yahweh. 6Yahweh said to me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem saying, Hear the words of this covenant, and do them. 7For I earnestly protested to your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, rising early and protesting saying, Obey My voice. 8Yet they didn’t obey, nor turn their ear, but walked each one in the stubbornness of their evil heart: therefore I brought on them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they didn’t do them. 9Yahweh said to 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, who refused to hear My words; and they are gone 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 says Yahweh, Behold, I will bring evil on them, which they shall not be able to escape; and they shall cry to Me, but I will not listen to them. 12Then shall the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem go and cry to the gods to which they offer incense: but they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble. 13For according to the number of your cities are your gods, Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have you set up altars to the shameful thing, even altars to burn incense to Baal. 14Therefore don’t pray for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry to Me because of their trouble. 15What has My beloved to do in My house, since she has worked lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from you? When you do evil, then you rejoice. 16Yahweh called your name, A green olive tree, beautiful with goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he has kindled fire on it, and its branches are broken. 17For Yahweh of Armies, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you, because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have worked for themselves in provoking Me to anger by offering incense to Baal. 18Yahweh gave me knowledge of it, and I knew it: then You showed me their evil deeds.
A Plot to Kill Jeremiah
19But I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter; and I didn’t know that they had devised devices against me saying, Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered. 20But, Yahweh of Armies, who judges righteously, who tests the heart and the mind, I shall see Your vengeance on them; for to You have I opened up my cause. 21Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life saying, You shall not prophesy in the name of Yahweh, that you not die by our hand; 22therefore thus says Yahweh of Armies, 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 to them: for I will bring evil on the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation.
CHAPTER 12 Ju1. 22
Jeremiah Reasons With God
You are righteous, Yahweh, when I contend with You; yet I would reason the cause with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are all they at ease who deal very treacherously? 2You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; they grow, yes, they bring forth fruit: You are near in their mouth, and far from their heart. 3But You, Yahweh, know me; You see me, and try my heart towards You: 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 the whole country wither? for the wickedness of those who dwell therein, the animals are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our latter end. 5If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? and though in a land of peace you are secure, yet how will you do in the swelling of the Jordan? 6For even your brothers, and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you; even they have cried aloud after you: don’t believe them, though they speak beautiful words to you.
God Rejects His People
7I have forsaken My house, I have cast off My heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies. 8My heritage has become to Me as a lion in the forest: she has uttered her voice against Me; therefore I have hated her. 9Is My heritage to Me as a speckled bird of prey? Are the birds of prey against her all around? Go, assemble all the animals of the field, bring them to devour. 10Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard, they have trodden My portion under foot, they have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. 11They have made it a desolation; it mourns to Me, being desolate; the whole land is made desolate, because no man lays it to heart. 12Destroyers have come on all the bare heights in the wilderness; for the sword of Yahweh devours from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh has peace. 13They have sown wheat, and have reaped thorns; they have put themselves to pain, and profit nothing: and you shall be ashamed of your fruits, because of the fierce anger of Yahweh.
God's Promise to Other Nations
14Thus says Yahweh against all My evil neighbours, who touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit: behold, I will pluck them up from off their land, and will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. 15It shall happen, after that I have plucked them up, I will return and have compassion on them; and I will bring them again, every man to his inheritance, and every man to his land. 16It shall happen, if they will diligently learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, As Yahweh lives; even as they taught My people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built up in the midst of My people. 17But if they will not hear, then will I pluck up that nation, plucking up and destroying it, says Yahweh.
CHAPTER 13 Ju1. 23
Jeremiah's Linen Belt
Thus said Yahweh to me, Go, and buy yourself a linen belt, and put it on your waist, and don’t put it in water. 2So I bought a belt according to the word of Yahweh, and put it on my waist. 3The word of Yahweh came to me the second time saying, 4Take the belt that you have bought, which is on your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock. 5So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as Yahweh commanded me. 6It happened after many days that Yahweh said to me, Arise, go to the Euphrates and take the belt from there, which I commanded you to hide there. 7Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and took the belt from the place where I had hidden it; and behold, the belt was ruined, it was unfit for use. 8Then the word of Yahweh came to me saying, 9Thus says Yahweh, In this way I will ruin the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and are gone after other gods to serve them and to worship them, shall even be as this belt, which is profitable for nothing. 11For as the belt clings to the waist of a man, so have I caused to cling to Me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, says Yahweh; that they may be to Me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.
Wine Jars
12Therefore you shall speak to them this word: Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall tell you, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? 13Then you shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings who sit on David’s throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness. 14I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, says Yahweh: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have compassion, that I should not destroy them.
The Pride and Shame of Jerusalem
15Hear, and give ear; don’t be proud; for Yahweh has spoken. 16Give glory to Yahweh your God, before He causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and, while you look for light, He turns it into the shadow of death, and makes it gross darkness. 17But if you will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride; and my eye shall weep bitterly, and run down with tears, because Yahweh’s flock is taken captive. 18Say to the king and to the queen mother, Humble yourselves, sit down; for your headdresses have come down, even the crown of your glory. 19The cities of the South are shut up, and there is none to open them: Judah is carried away captive, all of it; it is wholly carried away captive. 20Lift up your eyes, and see those who come from the north: where is the flock that was given you, your beautiful flock? 21What will you say, when He shall punish you? You have provoked them to be captains and rulers over you. Shall not sorrows take hold of you, as of a woman in travail? 22If you say in your heart, Why are these things come on me? For the greatness of your iniquity are your skirts lifted up, and your private parts suffer violence. 23Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, who are accustomed to do evil. 24Therefore will I scatter them, as the stubble that passes away, by the wind of the wilderness. 25This is your lot, the portion measured to you from Me, says Yahweh; because you have forgotten Me, and trusted in falsehood. 26Therefore will I also lift your skirts up above your face, and your shame shall appear. 27I have seen your abominations, even your adulteries, and your neighing, the lewdness of your prostitution, on the hills in the field. Woe to you, Jerusalem! You will not be made clean; how long shall it yet be?
CHAPTER 14 Ju1. 24
The Drought
The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought. 2Judah mourns, and its gates languish, they sit in black on the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. 3Their nobles send their little ones to the waters: they come to the cisterns, and find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are disappointed and confounded, and cover their heads. 4Because of the ground which is cracked, because no rain has been in the land, the ploughmen are disappointed, they cover their heads. 5Yes, the hind also in the field calves and forsakes her young, because there is no grass. 6The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights, they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail, because there is no greenery to eat. 7Though our iniquities testify against us, work for Your name’s sake, Yahweh; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against You. 8You hope of Israel, its Saviour in the time of trouble, why should You be as a foreigner in the land, and as a wayfaring man who turns aside to stay for a night? 9Why should You be like a scared man, as a mighty man who can’t save? Yet You, Yahweh, are in the midst of us, and we are called by Your name; don’t leave us. 10Thus says Yahweh to this people, Even so have they loved to wander; they have not refrained their feet: therefore Yahweh does not accept them; now He will remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.
Lying Prophets
11Yahweh said to me, Don’t pray for this people for their good. 12When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and meal offering, I will not accept them; but I will consume them by the sword, by the famine and by the plague. 13Then I said, Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, the prophets tell them, You shall not see the sword, neither shall you have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place. 14Then Yahweh said to me, The prophets prophesy lies in My name; I didn’t send them, neither have I commanded them, neither spoke I to them: they prophesy to you a lying vision and divination, a thing of nothing and the deceit of their own heart. 15Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name and I didn’t send them, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land: By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed. 16The 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 on them. 17You shall say this word to them, Let my 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 wound. 18If I go forth into the field, then, behold, the slain with the sword! If I enter into the city, then, behold, those who are sick with famine! For both the prophet and the priest go about in the land, and have no knowledge. 19Have You utterly rejected Judah? Has Your soul loathed Zion? Why have You struck us, and there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of healing, and behold, dismay! 20We acknowledge, Yahweh, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against You. 21Do not abhor us, for Your name’s sake; do not disgrace the throne of Your glory: remember, don’t break Your covenant with us. 22Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? or can the sky give showers? Aren’t You He, Yahweh our God? Therefore we will wait for You; for You have made all these things.
CHAPTER 15 Ju1. 25
The People Will be Punished
Then Yahweh said to me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, yet My mind would not be towards this people: cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth. 2It shall happen, when they tell you, Where shall we go forth? Then you shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh: 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 captivity, to captivity. 3I will appoint over them four kinds, says Yahweh: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, the birds of the sky and the animals of the land, to devour and to destroy. 4I will cause them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the land because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem. 5For who will have pity on you, Jerusalem? Or who will bemoan you? Or who will turn aside to ask of your welfare? 6You have rejected Me, says Yahweh, you have gone backward: therefore have I stretched out My hand against you and destroyed you; I am weary with relenting. 7I have winnowed them with a fan in the gates of the land; I have bereaved them of children, I have destroyed My people; they didn’t return from their ways. 8Their widows are increased to Me above the sand of the seas; I have brought on them against the mother of the young men a destroyer at noonday: I have caused anguish and terrors to fall on her suddenly. 9She who has borne seven languishes; she has given up the spirit; her sun is gone down while it was yet day; she has been disappointed and confounded: and their residue will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, says Yahweh.
Jeremiah Complains to God
10Woe is me, my mother, that you have borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole land! I have not lent, neither have men lent to me; yet everyone of them curses me. 11Yahweh said, Most certainly I will strengthen you for good; most certainly I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you in the time of evil and in the time of affliction. 12Can one break iron, even iron from the north, and brass? 13Your substance and your treasures will I give for a spoil without price, and that for all your sins, even in all your borders. 14I will make them to pass with your enemies into a land which you don’t know; for a fire is kindled in My anger, which shall burn on you. 15Yahweh, you know; remember me, and visit me, and avenge me of my persecutors; don’t take me away in Your long suffering: know that for Your sake I have suffered reproach. 16Your words were found, and I ate them; and Your words were to me the joy and the delight of my heart: for I am called by Your name, Yahweh, God of Armies. 17I didn’t sit in the assembly of those who make merry, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of Your hand; for You have filled me with indignation. 18Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed? Will You indeed be to me as a deceitful brook, as waters that fail?
God Replies
19Therefore thus says Yahweh, If you return, then I will restore you, and you shall stand before Me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is base, you shall be as My mouth: they shall return to you, but you shall not return to them. 20I will make you to this people a fortified bronze wall; and they shall fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you; for I am with you to save you and to deliver you, says Yahweh. 21I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you out of the hand of the terrible.
CHAPTER 16 Ju1. 26
How Jeremiah Is to Live His Life
The word of Yahweh came also to me saying, 2You shall not take a wife, neither shall you have sons or daughters in this place. 3For thus says Yahweh concerning the sons and concerning the daughters who are born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bore them, and concerning their fathers who became their father in this land: 4They shall die grievous deaths: they shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried; they shall be as dung on the surface of the ground; and they shall be consumed by the sword and by famine; and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth. 5For thus says Yahweh, Don’t enter into the house of mourning, neither go to lament, neither bemoan them; for I have taken away My peace from this people, says Yahweh, even loving kindness and tender mercies. 6Both great and 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 break bread 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. 8You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and to drink. 9For thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. 10It shall happen, when you shall show this people all these words and they shall tell you, Why has Yahweh pronounced all this great evil against us? Or what is our iniquity? Or what is our sin that we have committed against Yahweh our God?
Exile and Return
11Then you shall tell them, Because your fathers have forsaken Me, says Yahweh, 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 you have done evil more than your fathers; for behold, you walk each one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, so that you don’t listen to Me: 13therefore will I cast you forth out of this land into the land that you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, where I will not show you favour; and there you shall serve other gods day and night. 14Therefore behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that it shall no more be said, As Yahweh lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; 15but, As Yahweh lives, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the countries where He had driven them. I will bring them again into their land that I gave to their fathers. 16Behold, I will send for many fishermen, says Yahweh, and they shall fish them up; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and from every hill and out of the clefts of the rocks. 17For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, neither is their iniquity concealed from My eyes. 18First I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double, because they have polluted My land with the carcasses of their detestable things, and have filled My inheritance with their abominations. 19Yahweh, my strength, my stronghold and my refuge in the day of affliction, to You shall the nations come from the ends of the land and shall say, Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, vanity and things in which there is no profit. 20Shall a man make to himself gods, which yet are no gods? 21Therefore behold, I will cause them to know, this once will I cause them to know My hand and My might; and they shall know that My name is Yahweh.
CHAPTER 17 Ju1. 27
Punishment for Judah
The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of your altars; 2while their children remember their altars and their Asherim by the green trees on the high hills. 3My mountain in the field, I will give your substance and all your treasures for a spoil, and your high places, because of sin, throughout all your borders. 4You, even of yourself, shall discontinue from your inheritance that I gave you; and I will cause you to serve your enemies in the land which you don’t know: for you have kindled a fire in My anger which shall burn forever. 5Thus says Yahweh: Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from Yahweh. 6For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited. 7Blessed is the man who trusts in Yahweh, and whose trust Yahweh is. 8For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, who spreads out its roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat comes, but its 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 it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it? 10I, Yahweh, search the mind, I try the heart, even to give every man according to his works, according to the fruit of his doings. 11As the partridge that sits on eggs which she has not laid, so is he who gets riches, and not by right; in the midst of his days they shall leave him, and at his end he shall be a fool.
Jeremiah Prays to God
12A glorious throne, set on high from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary. 13Yahweh, the hope of Israel, all who forsake You shall be disappointed. Those who depart from Me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken Yahweh, the spring of living waters. 14Heal me, O Yahweh, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for You are my praise. 15Behold, they tell me, Where is the word of Yahweh? let it come now. 16As for me, I have not hurried from being a shepherd after you; neither have I desired the woeful day; you know: that which came out of my lips was before Your face. 17Don’t be a terror to me: You are my refuge in the day of evil. 18Let them be disappointed who persecute me, but let not me be disappointed; let them be dismayed, but don’t let me be dismayed; bring on them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
Observance of the Sabbath
19Thus said Yahweh to me: Go, and stand in the gate of the children of the people through which the kings of Judah come in and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; 20and tell them, Hear the word of Yahweh, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates: 21Thus says Yahweh, 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 any work: but make the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. 23But they didn’t listen neither turn their ear, but made their neck stiff that they might not hear and might not receive instruction. 24It shall happen, if you diligently listen to Me, says Yahweh, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but to make the Sabbath day holy, to do no work therein; 25then shall there enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever. 26They shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places around Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowland, and from the hill country, and from the South, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, meal offerings and frankincense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of Yahweh. 27But if you will not listen to Me to make the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.
CHAPTER 18 Ju1. 28
Jeremiah Goes to the Potter's House
The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh saying, 2Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words. 3Then I went down to the potter’s house, and behold, he was making a work on the wheels. 4When the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made of it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. 5Then the word of Yahweh came to me saying, 6House of Israel, can’t I do with you as this potter? Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel. 7At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation or kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it; 8if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them. 9At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation or kingdom, to build and to plant it; 10if they do that which is evil in My sight, that they not obey My voice, then I will repent of the good, with which I said I would benefit them. 11Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return you now each one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings. 12But they say, It is in vain; for we will walk after our own devices, and we will do everyone after the stubbornness of his evil heart. 13Therefore thus says Yahweh: Ask now among the nations, who has heard such things; the virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing. 14Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field? Shall the cold waters that flow down from afar be dried up? 15For My people have forgotten Me, they have burned incense to false gods; and they have been made to stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths, to walk in byways, in a way not built up; 16to make their land an astonishment and a perpetual hissing; everyone who passes thereby shall be astonished and shake his head. 17I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back and not the face in the day of their calamity. 18Then they said, 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 strike him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
Jeremiah Prays about His Enemies
19Give heed to me, Yahweh, and listen to the voice of those who contend with me. 20Shall evil be recompensed for good? For they have dug a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before You to speak good for them, to turn away Your wrath from them. 21Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives become childless and widows; and let their men be slain of death, and their young men struck of the sword in battle. 22Let a cry be heard from their houses, when You shall bring a troop suddenly on them; for they have dug a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet. 23Yet, Yahweh, You know all their counsel against me to kill me; don’t forgive their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from Your sight; but let them be overthrown before You; may You deal with them in the time of Your anger.
CHAPTER 19 Ju1. 29
Jeremiah Breaks a Bottle
Thus said Yahweh, Go and buy a potter’s earthen bottle, and take some of the elders of the people and of the elders of the priests; 2and go forth to the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the gate Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell you; 3and say, Hear the word of Yahweh, kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil on this place, which whoever hears, his ears shall tingle. 4Because they have forsaken Me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it to other gods that they didn’t know, they and their fathers and the kings of Judah; and have filled this place with the blood of innocents, 5and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt offerings to Baal; which I didn’t command, nor spoke it, neither came it into My mind: 6therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter. 7I will nullify 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 hand of those who seek their life: and their dead bodies will I give to be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth. 8I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing; everyone who passes thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues. 9I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat each one the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies, and those who seek their life, shall distress them. 10Then you shall break the bottle in the sight of the men who go with you, 11and shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh of Armies: Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, that can’t be made whole again; and they shall bury in Topheth, until there is no place to bury. 12Thus will I do to this place, says Yahweh, and to its inhabitants, even making this city as Topheth: 13and the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the army of the sky, and have poured out drink offerings to other gods.
Jeremiah Warns the People
14Then came Jeremiah from Topheth, where Yahweh had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of Yahweh’s house and said to all the people: 15Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring on this city and on all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it; because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear My words.
CHAPTER 20 Ju1. 30
Pashhur Puts Jeremiah in Stocks
Now Pashhur the son of Immer the priest, who was chief officer in the house of Yahweh, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of Yahweh. 3It happened on the next day, that Pashhur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, Yahweh has not called your name Pashhur, but Magormissabib. 4For thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself, and to all your friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes shall see it; and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall kill them with the sword. 5Moreover I will give all the riches of this city, and all its gains, and all the precious things of it, yes, all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies; and they shall make them a prey, and take them, and carry them to Babylon. 6You, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house shall go into captivity; and you shall come to Babylon, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you, and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.
Jeremiah Complains to God
7Yahweh, you have seduced me, and I was seduced; You are stronger than me, and I am overcome: I am become a laughing-stock all the day, every one mocks me. 8For whenever I speak, I cry out Your word; I cry, Violence and destruction! But the word of Yahweh is made a reproach to me and a derision all the day. 9If I say, I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His name; then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with forbearing, and I can’t. 10For I have heard the defaming of many, terror on every side. Denounce, and we will denounce him, say all my familiar friends, those who watch for my fall; Perhaps he will be persuaded, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him. 11But Yahweh is with me as an awesome mighty one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail; they shall be utterly disappointed, because they have not dealt wisely, even with an everlasting dishonour which shall never be forgotten. 12But, Yahweh of Armies, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see Your vengeance on them; for to You have I revealed my cause. 13Sing to Yahweh, praise Yahweh; for He has delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evildoers. 14Cursed is the day in which I was born: don’t let the day in which my mother bore me be blessed. 15Cursed is the man who brought news to my father saying, A boy is born to you; making him very glad. 16Let that man be as the cities which Yahweh overthrew, and didn’t relent: and let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at noontime; 17because God didn’t kill me from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great. 18Why came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
CHAPTER 21 Ju1. 31
Jeremiah's Message for Zedekiah
The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, when king Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest saying, 2Please inquire of Yahweh for us; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon makes war against us: perhaps Yahweh will deal with us according to all His wondrous works, that He may go up from us. 3Then Jeremiah said to them, You shall tell Zedekiah: 4Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who besiege you without the walls; and I will gather them into the midst of this city. 5I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, wrath and great indignation. 6I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and animal: they shall die of a great plague. 7Afterward, says Yahweh, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people, even such as are left in this city from the plague, from the sword and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life: and he shall strike them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy. 8To this people you shall say, Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes out, and passes over to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be to him for a prey. 10For I have set My face against this city for evil and not for good, says Yahweh: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
A Warning for the Royal Family of Judah
11Touching the house of the king of Judah, hear the word of Yahweh: 12House of David, thus says Yahweh, Execute justice in the morning, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest My wrath go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. 13Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley and of the rock of the plain, says Yahweh; you that say, who shall come down against us? Or who shall enter into our habitations? 14I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, says Yahweh; and I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all that is around her.
CHAPTER 22 Aug. 1
How the People of Judah Could Have Pleased God
Thus said Yahweh: Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word saying, 2Hear the word of Yahweh, king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter in by these gates. 3Thus says Yahweh: Execute justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence, to the foreigner, the fatherless, nor the widow; neither shed innocent blood in this place. 4For if you do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. 5But if you will not hear these words, I swear by Myself, says Yahweh, that this house shall become a desolation. 6For thus says Yahweh concerning the house of the king of Judah: You are Gilead to Me, the head of Lebanon. Yet surely I will make you a wilderness, cities which are not inhabited. 7I will prepare destroyers against you, each one with his weapons; they shall cut down your choice cedars and cast them into the fire. 8Many nations shall pass by this city and shall say every man to his neighbour, Why has Yahweh done thus to this great city? 9Then they shall answer, Because they forsook the covenant of Yahweh their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.
Punishment for the Kings of Judah
10Don’t weep for the dead, neither bemoan him; but weep bitterly for him who goes away into exile; for he shall return no more, nor see his native country. 11For thus says Yahweh touching Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went forth out of this place: He shall not return there any more. 12But in the place where they have led him captive, there shall he die, and he shall see this land no more. 13Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his rooms by injustice; who uses his neighbour’s service without wages, and doesn’t give him his hire; 14who says, I will build me a wide house and spacious rooms, and cuts him out windows; and makes a ceiling with cedar, painted with vermilion. 15Shall you reign, because you strive to excel in cedar? Didn’t your father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. 16He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Wasn’t this to know Me? says Yahweh. 17But your eyes and your heart are not but for your covetousness, and for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it. 18Therefore thus says Yahweh 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 a donkey, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem. Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up your voice in Bashan, and cry from Abarim; for all your lovers are destroyed. 21I spoke to you in your prosperity; but you said, I will not hear. This has been your way from your youth, that you didn’t obey My voice. 22The wind shall feed all your shepherds, and your lovers shall go into captivity: surely then you will be ashamed and confounded for all your wickedness. 23Inhabitant of Lebanon, who makes your nest in the cedars, how greatly to be pitied you will be when pangs come on you, the pain as of a woman in travail! 24As I live, says Yahweh, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet on My right hand, yet would I pluck you from there; 25and I will give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of them of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26I will cast you out, and your mother who bore you, into another country where you were not born; and there you will die. 27But to the land to which their soul longs to return, to it they shall not return. 28Is this man Coniah a despised broken vessel? Is he a vessel in which none delights? Why are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into the land which they don’t know? 29O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of Yahweh. 30Thus says Yahweh, Write you this man childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days; for no more shall a man of his seed prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling in Judah.
CHAPTER 23 Aug. 2
Hope for the Future
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! says Yahweh. 2Therefore thus says Yahweh the God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not visited them; behold, I will visit on you the evil of your doings, says Yahweh. 3I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4I will set up shepherds over them who shall feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be lacking, says Yahweh. 5Behold, the days come says Yahweh, that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name by which he shall be called: Yahweh our righteousness. 7Therefore behold, the days come says Yahweh, that they shall no more say, As Yahweh lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; 8but, As Yahweh lives, who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries where I had driven them. They shall dwell in their own land.
Unfaithful Prophets and their Punishment
9Concerning the prophets. My heart within me is broken, all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine has overcome, because of Yahweh, and because of His holy words. 10For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourns; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. Their way is evil, and their might is not right; 11for both prophet and priest are profane; yes, in My house have I found their wickedness, says Yahweh. 12Therefore their way shall be to them as slippery places in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein; for I will bring evil on them, even the year of their visitation, says Yahweh. 13I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied by Baal, and caused My people Israel to err. 14In the prophets of Jerusalem also I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies; and they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that none does return from his wickedness: they are all of them become to Me as Sodom, and its inhabitants as Gomorrah. 15Therefore thus says Yahweh of Armies 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 ungodliness gone forth into all the land.
A Warning from God
16Thus says Yahweh of Armies, Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you: they teach you vanity; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of Yahweh. 17They say continually to those who despise Me, Yahweh has said, You shall have peace; and to each one who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, No evil shall come on you. 18For who has stood in the council of Yahweh, that he should perceive and hear His word? Who has noted My word, and heard it? 19Behold, the storm of Yahweh, His wrath, has gone forth. Yes, a whirling storm. It shall burst on the head of the wicked. 20The anger of Yahweh shall not return, until He has executed, and until He has performed the intents of His heart: in the latter days you shall understand it perfectly. 21I sent not these prophets, yet they ran: I didn’t speak to them, yet they prophesied. 22But if they had stood in My council, then had they caused My people to hear My words, and had turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. 23Am I a God at hand, says Yahweh, and not a God afar off? 24Can any hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him? says Yahweh. Don’t I fill heaven and earth? says Yahweh. 25I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesy lies in My name saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. 26How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceit of their own heart? 27Who think to cause My people to forget My name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal. 28The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the straw to the wheat? says Yahweh. 29Isn’t My word like fire? says Yahweh; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30Therefore behold, I am against the prophets, says Yahweh, who steal My words each one from his neighbour. 31Behold, I am against the prophets, says Yahweh, who use their tongues and say, He says. 32Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, says Yahweh, and do tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies, and by their vain boasting: yet I didn’t send them, nor commanded them; neither do they profit this people at all, says Yahweh.                                                   
The Burden of God
33When this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask you saying, What is the burden of Yahweh? Then you shall tell them, What burden! I will cast you off, says Yahweh. 34As for the prophet, the priest and the people who shall say, The burden of Yahweh, I will even punish that man and his house. 35You shall say each one to his neighbour and each one to his brother, What has Yahweh answered? and, What has Yahweh spoken? 36You shall mention the burden of Yahweh no more: for every man’s own word shall be his burden; for you have perverted the words of the living God, of Yahweh of Armies our God. 37You shall say to the prophet, What has Yahweh answered you? and, What has Yahweh spoken? 38But if you say, The burden of Yahweh; therefore thus says Yahweh: Because you say this word, The burden of Yahweh, and I have sent to you saying, You shall not say, The burden of Yahweh; 39therefore, behold, I will utterly forget you, and I will cast you off, and the city that I gave to you and to your fathers, away from My presence: 40and I will bring an everlasting reproach on you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.
CHAPTER 24 Aug. 3
Good and Bad Figs
Yahweh showed me and behold, two baskets of figs set before Yahweh’s temple, after that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. 2One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first-ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. 3Then Yahweh said to me, What do you see, Jeremiah? I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, that can’t be eaten, they are so bad. 4The word of Yahweh came to me saying, 5Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so will I regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for good. 6For I will set My eyes on 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. 7I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am Yahweh: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God; for they shall return to Me with their whole heart. 8As the bad figs, which can’t be eaten, they are so bad, surely thus says Yahweh, So will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt, 9I will even give them up to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them. 10I will send the sword, the famine, and the plague, among them, until they be consumed from off the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.
CHAPTER 25 Aug. 4
Seventy Years of Exile           
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 (the same was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to 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 to this day, these twenty-three years, the word of Yahweh has come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; but you have not listened. 4Yahweh has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them (but you have not listened, nor inclined your ear to hear) 5saying, Return now each one from his evil way and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that Yahweh has given to you and to your fathers, from of old and even for evermore; 6and don’t go after other gods to serve them or worship them, and don’t provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no harm. 7Yet you have not listened to Me, says Yahweh; so that you provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own hurt. 8Therefore thus says Yahweh of Armies: Because you have not heard My words, 9behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, says Yahweh, and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations around; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a 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 lamp. 11This whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12It shall happen that when seventy years are accomplished, then I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, says Yahweh, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it desolate forever. 13I will bring on that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. 14For many nations and great kings shall make bond servants of them, even of them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.
The Vision of the Cup of Wine
15For thus says Yahweh the God of Israel to me: Take this cup of the wine of wrath at My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. 16They shall drink, and reel back and forth, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. 17Then took I the cup at Yahweh’s hand, and made all the nations to drink, to whom Yahweh had sent me: 18Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and its kings, and its princes, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a 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 mixed people, and all the kings of the land of the Uz, and all the kings of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; 21Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon; 22and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the isle which is beyond the sea; 23Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all who have the corners of their beard cut off; 24and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mixed people who dwell in the wilderness; 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 on the surface of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. 27You shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh of Armies the God of Israel: Drink, and be drunk, vomit, fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. 28It shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at your hand to drink, then you shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh of Armies: You shall surely drink. 29For, behold, I begin to work evil at the city which is called by My name; and should you be utterly unpunished? You shall not be unpunished; for I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth, says Yahweh of Armies.
Jeremiah Must Warn the People
30Therefore you must prophesy against them all these words and tell them, Yahweh will roar from on high, and utter His voice from His holy habitation; He will mightily roar against His fold; He will give a shout, as those who tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. 31A noise shall come even to the end of the land; for Yahweh has a controversy with the nations; He will enter into judgement with all flesh: as for the wicked, He will give them to the sword, says Yahweh. 32Thus says Yahweh of Armies, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great storm shall be raised up from the uttermost parts of the earth. 33The slain of Yahweh shall be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground. 34Wail, you shepherds, and cry; and wallow in dust, you principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are fully come, and you shall fall like a goodly vessel. 35The shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. 36A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and the wailing of the principal of the flock! For Yahweh lays waste their pasture. 37The peaceable folds are brought to silence because of the fierce anger of Yahweh. 38He has left His den, as the lion; for their land has become an astonishment because of the fierceness of the oppression, and because of His fierce anger.

CHAPTER 26 Aug. 5
Jeremiah Speaks God's Words at the Temple
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from Yahweh saying, 2Thus says Yahweh: Stand in the court of Yahweh’s house and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in Yahweh’s house, all the words that I command you to speak to them; don’t diminish a word. 3Perhaps they will listen, and turn every man from his evil way; so that I may repent Me of the evil which I purpose to do to them because of the evil of their doings. 4You shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh: If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, 5to listen to the words of My servants the prophets whom I send to you, even rising up early and sending them, to which you have not listened; 6then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.
Jeremiah on Trial
7The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of Yahweh. 8It happened that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that Yahweh had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold on him saying, You shall surely die. 9Why have you prophesied in the name of Yahweh saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant? All the people were gathered to Jeremiah in the house of Yahweh. 10When the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of Yahweh; and they sat in the entry of the new gate of Yahweh’s house. 11Then spoke the priests and the prophets to the princes and to all the people saying, This man is worthy of death; for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears. 12Then spoke Jeremiah to all the princes and to all the people saying, Yahweh sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. 13Now therefore amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of Yahweh your God; and Yahweh will repent Him of the evil that He has pronounced against you. 14But as for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as is good and right in your eyes. 15Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city, and on its inhabitants; for of a truth Yahweh has sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.
Jeremiah's Life Is Spared
16Then the princes and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets: This man is not worthy of death; for he has spoken to us in the name of Yahweh our God. 17Then rose up certain of the elders of the land and spoke to all the assembled people saying, 18Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus says Yahweh of Armies: Zion shall be ploughed as 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 to death? Didn’t he fear Yahweh, and entreat the favour of Yahweh, and Yahweh relented of the disaster which He had pronounced against them? Thus should we commit great evil against our own souls. 20There was also a man who prophesied in the name of Yahweh, Uriah the son of Shemaiah of Kiriath Jearim; and he 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 Uriah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt: 22and Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him, into Egypt; 23and they fetched forth Uriah out of Egypt, and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people. 24But 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.
CHAPTER 27 Aug. 6
Slaves of Nebuchadnezzar
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, came this word to Jeremiah from Yahweh saying, 2Thus says Yahweh to me: Make bonds and bars and put them on your neck; 3and send them to the king of Edom, to the king of Moab, to the king of the children of Ammon, to the king of Tyre and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah; 4and give them a command to their masters saying, Thus says Yahweh of Armies the God of Israel, You shall tell your masters: 5I have made the earth, the men and the animals that are on the surface of the earth, by My great power and by My outstretched arm; and I give it to whom it seems right to Me. 6Now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the animals of the field also have I given him to serve him. 7All the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the time of his own land come: and then many nations and great kings shall make him their bond servant. 8It shall happen, that the nation and the kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, says Yahweh, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the plague, until I have consumed them by his hand. 9But as for you, don’t you listen to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreams, nor to your soothsayers, nor to your sorcerers, who speak to you saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon: 10for they prophesy a lie to you, to remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out, and you should perish. 11But the nation that shall bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, that nation will I let remain in their own land, says Yahweh; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.
Message for Zedekiah
12I spoke 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 you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as Yahweh has spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14Don’t listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy a lie to you. 15For I have not sent them, says Yahweh, but they prophesy falsely in My name; that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you, and the prophets who prophesy to you.
Serve the King of Babylon and Live
16Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people saying, Thus says Yahweh: Don’t listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you saying, Behold, the vessels of Yahweh’s house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie to you. 17Don’t listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: why should this city become a desolation? 18But if they be prophets, and if the word of Yahweh be with them, let them now make intercession to Yahweh of Armies, that the vessels which are left in the house of Yahweh, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, don’t go to Babylon. 19For thus says Yahweh of Armies concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that are left in this city, 20which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon didn’t take, 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; 21yes, thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of Yahweh, and in the house of the king of Judah and at Jerusalem: 22They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be, until the day that I visit them, says Yahweh; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.
CHAPTER 28 Aug. 7
The False Prophet Hananiah
It happened the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was of Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of Yahweh, in the presence of the priests and of all the people saying, 2Thus speaks Yahweh of Armies, 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 Yahweh’s house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried to Babylon: 4and I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, who went to Babylon, says Yahweh; for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Jeremiah Denounces Hananiah
5Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of Yahweh, 6even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: Yahweh do so; Yahweh perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring again the vessels of Yahweh’s house, and all them of the captivity, from Babylon to this place. 7Nevertheless hear you now this word that I speak in your ears, and in the ears of all the people: 8The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of plague. 9The prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet shall happen, then shall the prophet be known, that Yahweh has truly sent him. 10Then Hananiah the prophet took the bar from off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck, and broke it. 11Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people saying, Thus says Yahweh: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon within two full years from off the neck of all the nations. The prophet Jeremiah went his way. 12Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the bar from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah saying, 13Go, and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus says Yahweh: You have broken the bars of wood; but you have made in their place bars of iron. 14For thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the animals of the field also. 15Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah: Yahweh has not sent you; but you make this people to trust in a lie. 16Therefore thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will send you away from off the surface of the land: this year you shall die, because you have spoken rebellion against Yahweh. 17So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.
CHAPTER 29 Aug. 8
Jeremiah's Letter to the People in Babylon
Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon, 2(after that Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem), 3by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), saying, 4Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, to all the captivity, whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5Build houses and dwell in them; and plant gardens and eat their fruit. 6Take wives, and father sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there, and don’t be diminished. 7Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Yahweh for it; for in its peace you shall have peace. 8For thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Don’t let your prophets who are in the midst of you, and your diviners, deceive you; neither listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. 9For they prophesy falsely to you in My name: I have not sent them, says Yahweh.
 The People's Return Promised
10For thus says Yahweh, After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you and perform My word of grace towards you, in causing you to return to this place. 11For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says Yahweh, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future. 12You shall call on Me, and you shall go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13You shall seek Me and find Me, when you shall search for Me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you, says Yahweh, and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says Yahweh; and I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive. 15Because you have said, Yahweh has raised us up prophets in Babylon; 16thus says Yahweh concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who haven’t gone forth with you into captivity; 17thus says Yahweh of Armies; Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that can’t be eaten, they are so bad. 18I will pursue after them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, to be an object of horror, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations where I have driven them; 19because they have not listened to My words, says Yahweh, with which I sent to them My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear, says Yahweh. 20Hear therefore the word of Yahweh, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.
Punishment for False Prophets
21Thus says Yahweh of Armies the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in My name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall kill them before your eyes; 22and of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captives of Judah who are in Babylon saying, Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire; 23because they have worked folly in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours’ wives, and have spoken words in My name falsely, which I didn’t command them; and I am He who knows, and am witness, says Yahweh. 24Concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak saying, 25Thus speaks Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, saying, Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests saying, 26Yahweh has made you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, that there may be officers in the house of Yahweh, for every man who is mad, and makes himself a prophet, that you should put him in the stocks and in shackles. 27Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who makes himself a prophet to you, 28because he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, The captivity is long: build houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat their fruit? 29Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet. 30Then came the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah, saying, 31Send to all them of the captivity saying, Thus says Yahweh concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I didn’t send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie; 32therefore thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his seed; he shall not have a man to dwell among this people, neither shall he see the good that I will do to My people, says Yahweh, because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh.
CHAPTER 30 Aug. 9
God Will Rescue Israel and Judah
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, 2Thus speaks Yahweh, the God of Israel saying, Write all the words that I have spoken to you in a book. 3For, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will turn again the captivity of My people Israel and Judah, says Yahweh; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. 4These are the words that Yahweh spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah. 5For thus says Yahweh: We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. 6Ask now, and see whether a man does travail with child: why do I see every man with his hands on his waist, 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. 8It shall come to pass in that day, says Yahweh of Armies, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and will burst your bonds; and strangers shall no more make him their bond servant; 9but they shall serve Yahweh their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up to them. 10Therefore don’t you be afraid, O Jacob my servant, says Yahweh; neither be dismayed, Israel: for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. 11For I am with you, says Yahweh, to save you: for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have scattered you, but I will not make a full end of you; but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.
God Will Heal His People
12For thus says Yahweh, Your hurt is incurable, and your wound grievous. 13There is none to plead your cause, that you may be bound up: you have no healing medicines. 14All your lovers have forgotten you; they don’t seek you: for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins were increased. 15Why do you cry for your hurt? Your pain is incurable: for the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins were increased, I have done these things to you. 16Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured; and all your adversaries, each one of them, shall go into captivity; and those who despoil you shall be a spoil, and all who prey on you will I give for a prey. 17For I will restore health to you, and I will heal you of your wounds, says Yahweh; because they have called you an outcast, saying, It is Zion, whom no man seeks after.
Restored to Be God's People
18Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I will turn again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have compassion on his dwelling places; and the city shall be built again on its own hill, and the palace shall be inhabited in its own former way. 19Out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those who 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 before, and their congregation shall be established before Me; and I will punish all who oppress them. 21Their prince shall be of themselves, and their ruler shall proceed from their midst; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach to Me: for who is he who has had boldness to approach to Me? says Yahweh. 22You shall be My people, and I will be your God. 23Behold, the storm of Yahweh, His wrath, has gone forth, a sweeping storm: it shall burst on the head of the wicked. 24The fierce anger of Yahweh will not return, until He has executed, and until He has performed the intentions of His heart. In the latter days you will understand it.
CHAPTER 31 Aug. 10
God Will Rebuild Israel
At that time, says Yahweh, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people. 2Thus says Yahweh, The people who were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. 3Yahweh appeared of old to me saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you. 4Again will I build you, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel: again you shall be adorned with your tambourines, and shall go forth in the dances of those who make merry. 5Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy its fruit. 6For there shall be a day when the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim shall cry, Arise, and let us go up to Zion to Yahweh our God. 7For thus says Yahweh, Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations: publish, praise, and say, Yahweh, save Your people, the remnant of Israel. 8Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, along with the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her who travails with child together: a great company shall they return here. 9They shall come with weeping; and with petitions will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My first born. 10Hear the word of Yahweh, you nations, and declare it in the islands afar off; and say, He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock. 11For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he. 12They shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow to the goodness of Yahweh, to the grain, and to the new wine, and to the oil, and to 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, and the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. 14I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says Yahweh.
God Offers Hope
15Thus says Yahweh: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more. 16Thus says Yahweh: Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says Yahweh; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. 17There is hope for your latter end, says Yahweh; and your children shall come again to their own border. 18I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as an untrained calf: turn me, and I shall be turned; for You are Yahweh my God. 19Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I struck on my thigh: I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth. 20Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says Yahweh. 21Set up road signs, make guideposts; set your heart towards the highway, even the way by which you went: turn again, virgin of Israel, turn again to these your cities. 22How long will you go here and there, you backsliding daughter? For Yahweh has created a new thing in the earth: a woman shall follow after a man. 23Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I shall bring again their captivity: Yahweh bless you, habitation of righteousness, mountain of holiness. 24Judah and all its cities shall dwell therein together, the farmers, and those who go about with flocks. 25For I have satiated the weary soul, and every sorrowful soul have I replenished. 26On this I awakened, and saw; and my sleep was sweet to me. 27Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of animal. 28It shall happen that like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant, says Yahweh. 29In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. 30But each one shall die for his own iniquity: every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
God Makes a New Covenant with the People
31Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, 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 broke, although I was a husband to them, says Yahweh. 33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put My law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I 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 Yahweh; for they shall all know Me, from their least to their greatest, says Yahweh: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more. 35Thus says Yahweh, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar; Yahweh of Armies is His name: 36If these ordinances depart from before Me, says Yahweh, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me forever. 37Thus says Yahweh: If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then will I also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says Yahweh. 38Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that the city shall be built to Yahweh from the tower of Hananel to the gate of the corner. 39The measuring line shall go out further straight onward to the hill Gareb, and shall turn about to Goah. 40The whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields to the brook Kidron, to the corner of the horse gate towards the east, shall be holy to Yahweh; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more forever.
CHAPTER 32 Aug. 11
Jeremiah Buys a Field
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2Now at that time the king of Babylon’s army was besieging Jerusalem; and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah’s house. 3For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up saying, Why do you prophesy and say, Thus says Yahweh, 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 see his eyes; 5and he shall bring Zedekiah to Babylon, and he shall be there until I visit him, says Yahweh: though you fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not prosper? 6Jeremiah said, The word of Yahweh came to me saying, 7Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle shall come to you, saying, Buy my field that is in Anathoth; for the right of redemption is yours to buy it. 8So Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of Yahweh, and said to me, Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself. Then I knew that this was the word of Yahweh. 9I bought the field that was in Anathoth of Hanamel my uncle’s son, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. 10I subscribed the deed, and sealed it, and called witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances. 11So I took the deed of the purchase, both that which was sealed, containing the terms and conditions, and that which was open; 12and I delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses who subscribed the deed of the purchase, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the guard. 13I commanded Baruch before them, saying, 14Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase which is sealed, and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel; that they may continue many days. 15For thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall yet again be bought in this land. 16Now after I had delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to Yahweh, saying,
Jeremiah Prays and Questions God
17Ah Lord Yahweh! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm; there is nothing too hard for You, 18Who show loving kindness to thousands, and recompense the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them; the great, the mighty God, Yahweh of Armies is His name; 19great in counsel, and mighty in working; whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men, to give each one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings: 20who performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even to this day, both in Israel and among other men; and made Yourself a name, as it is at this day; 21and brought forth Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, wonders, a strong hand, an outstretched arm and with great terror; 22and gave them this land, which You swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey; 23and they came in, and possessed it, but they didn’t obey Your voice, neither walked in Your law; they have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do: therefore You have caused all this evil to come on them. 24Behold, the siege mounds, they have come to the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence; and what You have spoken has happened; and behold, You see it. 25You have said to me, Lord Yahweh, Buy the field for money, and call witnesses; whereas the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
God Answers Jeremiah
26Then came the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah saying, 27Behold, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for Me? 28Therefore thus says Yahweh: Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it: 29and the Chaldeans who now fight against this city shall come and set this city on fire and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal, and poured out drink offerings to other gods, so as to provoke Me to anger. 30For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only that which was evil in My sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have only provoked Me to anger with the work of their hands, says Yahweh. 31For this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and of My wrath from the day that they built it even to 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. 33They have turned to Me the back and not the face: and though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction. 34Instead they set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 35They 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 to Molech; which I didn’t command them, neither did it come into My mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. 36Now therefore thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, concerning this city, about which you say, It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence:
God Explains about the Field
37Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries where I have driven them in My anger, and in My wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them again to 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 forever, for their good, and of their children after them: 40and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good; and I will put My fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from Me. 41Yes, 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 says Yahweh: Like as I have brought all this great evil on this people, so will I bring on them all the good that I have promised them. 43Fields shall be bought in this land, about which you say, It is desolate, without man or animal; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. 44Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe the deeds, and seal them, and call witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the hill country, and in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South: for I will cause their captivity to return, says Yahweh.
CHAPTER 33 Aug. 12
God Promises Restoration to Israel and Judah
Moreover the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard, saying, 2Thus says Yahweh who does it, Yahweh who forms it to establish it; Yahweh is His name: 3Call to Me, and I will answer you, and will show you great things, and difficult, which you don’t know. 4For thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down to make a defence against the mounds and against the sword; 5while men come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have killed in My anger and in My wrath, and for all whose wickedness I have hidden My face from this city: 6Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them; and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth. 7I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first. 8I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, by which they have sinned against Me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, by which they have sinned against Me, and by which they have transgressed against Me. 9This city shall be to Me for a name of joy, for a praise and for a glory, before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do to them, and shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I procure to it. 10Thus says Yahweh: Yet again there shall be heard in this place, about which you say, It is waste, without man and without animal, even in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without animal, 11the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, Give thanks to Yahweh of Armies, for Yahweh is good, for His loving kindness endures forever; who bring thanksgiving into the house of Yahweh. For I will cause the captivity of the land to return as at the first, says Yahweh. 12Thus says Yahweh of Armies: Yet again shall there be in this place which is waste, without man and without animal, and in all its cities, a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. 13In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, 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 again pass under the hands of him who numbers them, says Yahweh.
God Promises a King 
14Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will perform that word of grace which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah. 15In those days, and at that time, will I cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up to David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is the name by which it shall be called: Yahweh our righteousness. 17For thus says Yahweh: David shall never want a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; 18neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, and to burn meal offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. 19The word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah saying, 20Thus says Yahweh: If you can break My covenant of the day, and My covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season; 21then may also My covenant be broken with David My servant, that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne; and with the Levites the priests, My ministers. 22As the army of the sky can’t be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of David My servant, and the Levites who minister to Me. 23The word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah saying, 24Don’t consider what this people has spoken saying, The two families which Yahweh chose, has He not cast them off? Thus do they despise My people, that they should be no more a nation before them. 25Thus says Yahweh: If My covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; 26then will I also cast away the seed of Jacob, and of David My servant, so that I will not take of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and will have mercy on them.
CHAPTER 34 Aug. 13
A Warning for Zedekiah
The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army and all the kingdoms of the land that were under his dominion, and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of it, saying: 2Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, Go speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, Thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire: 3and you shall not escape out of his hand, but shall surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and your eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with you mouth to mouth, and you shall go to Babylon. 4Yet hear the word of Yahweh, O Zedekiah king of Judah: thus says Yahweh concerning you, You shall not die by the sword; 5you shall die in peace; and with the burnings of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so shall they make a burning for you; and they shall lament you saying, Ah Lord! Because I have spoken the word, says Yahweh. 6Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, 7when the king of Babylon’s army was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah; for these alone remained of the cities of Judah as fortified cities.
Shameful Treatment of Slaves
8The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them; 9that every man should let his male servant, and every man his female servant, who is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that none should make bond servants of them, of a Jew his brother. 10All the princes and all the people obeyed, who had entered into the covenant, that everyone should let his male servant and everyone his female servant, go free, that none should make bond servants of them any more; they obeyed, and let them go: 11but afterwards 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 Yahweh came to Jeremiah from Yahweh saying, 13Thus says Yahweh, 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 bondage, saying, 14At the end of seven years you shall let go every man his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to you, and has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you: but your fathers didn’t listen to Me, neither inclined their ear. 15You had now turned, and had done that which is right in My eyes, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and you had made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name: 16but you turned and profaned My name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom you had let go free at their pleasure, to return; and you brought them into subjection, to be to you for servants and for handmaids. 17Therefore thus says Yahweh: you have not listened to Me, to proclaim liberty each man to his brother and each man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim to you a liberty, says Yahweh, to the sword, to the plague and to the famine; and I will make you to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth. 18I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts; 19the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf; 20I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth. 21Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army who have for now gone away from you. 22Behold, I will command, says Yahweh, 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 inhabitant.
CHAPTER 35 Aug. 14
Jeremiah Meets with the Rechabites
The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, 2Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into the house of Yahweh, into one of the rooms, and give them wine to drink. 3Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, all his sons and the whole family of the Rechabites; 4and I brought them into the house of Yahweh, into the room of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was by the room of the princes, which was above the room of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold. 5I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine and cups; and I said to them, Drink wine! 6But they said, We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us saying, You shall drink no wine, neither you, nor your sons, forever: 7neither shall you build house, nor sow seed, nor plant a vineyard nor own one; but all your days you shall dwell in tents; that you may live many days in the land in which you live. 8We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters; 9nor to build houses for us to dwell in; neither do we have vineyard, nor field, nor seed: 10but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11But it happened, when Nebuchadnezzar 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.
A Lesson Learned from the Rechabites
12Then came the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah saying, 13Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Go, and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will you not receive instruction to listen to My words? says Yahweh. 14The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab that he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they drink none, for they obey their father’s commandment: but I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; and you have not listened to Me. 15I have sent also to you all My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and don’t go after other gods to serve them, and you shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but you have not inclined your ear, nor listened to Me. 16Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to Me; 17therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them, but they have not heard; and I have called to them, but they have not answered. 18Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he commanded you; 19therefore thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me forever.
CHAPTER 36 Aug. 15
Jeremiah Dictates a Scroll
It happened in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh saying, 2Take a scroll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and against Judah and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day. 3It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do to 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 Yahweh, which He had spoken to him, on a scroll of a book. 5Jeremiah commanded Baruch saying, I am shut up; I can’t go into the house of Yahweh: 6therefore you go, and read in the scroll, which you have written from my mouth, the words of Yahweh in the ears of the people in Yahweh’s house on the fast day; and also you shall read them in the ears of all Judah who come out of their cities. 7It may be they will present their supplication before Yahweh, and will return each one from his evil way; for great is the anger and the wrath that Yahweh has pronounced against this people.
Baruch Reads the Scroll
8Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of Yahweh in Yahweh’s house. 9Now it happened in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that all the people in Jerusalem, and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem, proclaimed a fast before Yahweh. 10Then read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of Yahweh, in the room of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the new gate of Yahweh’s house, in the ears of all the people. 11When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of Yahweh, 12he went down into the king’s house, into the scribe’s room: and behold, all the princes were sitting there, Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. 13Then Micaiah declared to 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, to Baruch, saying, Take in your hand the scroll in which you have read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand, and came to them. 15They said to him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears. 16Now it happened, when they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one towards another, and said to Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words. 17They asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How did you write all these words at his mouth? 18Then Baruch answered them, he pronounced all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book. 19Then the princes said to Baruch, Go, hide, you and Jeremiah; and let no man know where you are. 20They went in to the king into the court; but they had laid up the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe; and they told all the words in the ears of the king. 21So the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll; and he took it out of the room of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes who stood beside the king.
The King Burns the Scroll
22Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month: and there was a fire in the brazier burning before him. 23It happened, when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, that the king cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. 24They were not afraid, nor tore their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants who heard all these words. 25Moreover Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the scroll; but he would not hear them. 26The king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but Yahweh hid them. 27Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the scroll and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, 28Take again another scroll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. 29Concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, Thus says Yahweh: You have burned this scroll saying, Why have you written therein saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from there man and beast? 30Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit on 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. 31I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, because they didn’t listen. 32Then took Jeremiah another scroll, 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 to them many like words.
CHAPTER 37 Aug. 16
A Message for Zedekiah
Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned as king, instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. 2But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, listened to the words of Yahweh, which He spoke by the prophet Jeremiah. 3Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah saying, Pray now to Yahweh our God for us. 4Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people; for they had not put him into prison. 5Pharaoh’s army had come forth out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they broke up from Jerusalem. 6Then came the word of Yahweh to the prophet Jeremiah saying, 7Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, You shall tell the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: Behold, Pharaoh’s army which has come forth to help you shall return to Egypt into their own land. 8The Chaldeans shall return and fight against this city; and they shall take it, and burn it with fire. 9Thus says Yahweh, Don’t deceive yourselves by saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us; for they shall not depart. 10For though you had struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet would they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire. 11It happened 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 receive his portion there, in the midst of the people. 13When he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he laid hold on Jeremiah the prophet saying, You are falling away to the Chaldeans. 14Then Jeremiah said, It is false; I am not falling away to the Chaldeans. But he didn’t listen to him; so Irijah laid hold on Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.
Jeremiah Imprisoned
15The princes were angry with Jeremiah and struck him and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the prison. 16When Jeremiah had come into the dungeon house and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days; 17then Zedekiah the king sent and fetched him: and the king asked him secretly in his house saying, Is there any word from Yahweh? Jeremiah said, There is. He said also, You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. 18Moreover Jeremiah said to king Zedekiah, Wherein have I sinned against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison? 19Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land? 20Now please hear, my lord the king: please let my supplication be presented before you, that you not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, unless I die there. 21Then Zedekiah the king commanded and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guard; and they gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
CHAPTER 38 Aug. 17
Jeremiah Put into the Dungeon
Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal the son of Shelemiah and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people saying, 2Thus says Yahweh, He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine and by the plague; but he who goes forth to the Chaldeans shall live, and his life shall be to him for a prey, and he shall live. 3Thus says Yahweh, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it. 4Then the princes said to the king, Please let this man be put to death; because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them: for this man doesn’t seek the welfare of this people, but their hurt. 5Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand; for the king is not he who can do anything against you. 6Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mud; and Jeremiah sank in the mud. 7Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch who 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 spoke 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 likely to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city. 10Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian saying, Take from here thirty men with you, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon before he dies.
Jeremiah Rescued
11So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took from there rags and worn-out clothes and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. 12Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Put now these rags and worn-out clothes under your armpits under the cords. Jeremiah did so. 13So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
Jeremiah's Last Conversation with Zedekiah
14Then Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah the prophet to him into the third entry that is in the house of Yahweh: and the king said to Jeremiah, I will ask you something. Hide nothing from me. 15Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me. 16So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah saying, As Yahweh lives, who made us this soul, I will not put you to death, neither will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life. 17Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel: If you will go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and you shall live, and your family. 18But if you will 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 you shall not escape out of their hand. 19Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews who are fallen away to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand and they mock me. 20But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver you. Obey, I beg you, the voice of Yahweh, in that which I speak to you: so it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live. 21But if you refuse to go forth, this is the word that Yahweh has shown me: 22behold, all the women who 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, Your familiar friends have deceived you and have prevailed over you. Your feet are now sunk in the mud, and they now turn away from you. 23They shall bring out all your wives and your children to the Chaldeans; and you shall not escape out of their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and you shall cause this city to be burned with fire. 24Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and you shall not die. 25But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and tell you, Declare to us now what you have said to the king; don’t hide it from us, and we will not put you to death; also what the king said to you: 26then you shall tell 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 to 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 stayed in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.
CHAPTER 39 Aug. 18
Jerusalem Is Taken
It happened when Jerusalem was taken, (in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and besieged it; 2in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city), 3that all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, Nergal Sharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergal Sharezer, Rabmag, with all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon. 4It happened that when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, then they fled and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, through the gate between the two walls; and he went out towards the Arabah. 5But the army of the Chaldeans 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; and he gave judgement on him. 6Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon killed all the nobles of Judah. 7Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him in fetters to carry him to Babylon. 8The Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the houses of the people with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the people who remained in the city, the deserters also who fell away to him, and the residue of the people who remained. 10But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, who had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.
Jeremiah Not to Be Harmed
11Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon commanded Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard concerning Jeremiah saying, 12Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do to him even as he shall tell you. 13So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushazban, Rabsaris, Nergal Sharezer, Rabmag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon; 14they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard, and committed him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he lived among the people. 15Now the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the guard, saying, 16Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian saying, Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring My words on this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished before you in that day. 17But I will deliver you in that day, says Yahweh; and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. 18For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but your life shall be for a prey to you; because you have put your trust in me, says Yahweh.
CHAPTER 40 Aug. 19
Jeremiah is Set Free
The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive to Babylon. 2The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, Yahweh your God pronounced this evil on this place; 3and Yahweh has brought it, and done according as He spoke: because you have sinned against Yahweh, and have not obeyed His voice, therefore this thing has come on you. 4Now, behold, I release you this day from the chains which are on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me into Babylon, come, and I will take care of you; but if it seems bad to you to come with me into Babylon, don’t: behold, all the land is before you; where it seems good and right to you to go, there go. 5If you remain, then return to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon appointed governor of the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people. Or go wherever you think it right to go. So the captain of the guard gave him an allowance of food and a present, and let him go. 6Then went Jeremiah to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and lived with him among the people who were left in the land. 7Now when all the captains of the forces who 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 to him men, and women, and children, and of the poorest of the land, of those who were not carried away captive to Babylon; 8then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. 9Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan swore to them and to their men saying, Don’t be afraid to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
The Harvest
10As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who shall come to us: but you, gather grapes and summer fruits and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken. 11Likewise when all the Jews who were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and who 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; 12then all the Jews returned out of all places where they were driven, and came to the land of Judah to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and gathered grapes and summer fruits very much. 13Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, 14and said to him, Do you know that Baalis the king of the children of Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam didn’t believe them. 15Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly saying, Please let me go, and I will kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: why should he take your life, that all the Jews who are gathered to you should be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish? 16But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, You shall not do this thing; for you speak falsely of Ishmael.
CHAPTER 41 Aug. 20
Gedaliah is Killed
Now it happened in the seventh month that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the seed royal and one of the chief officers of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they ate bread together in Mizpah. 2Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him, and struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and killed him whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land. 3Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war. 4It happened the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, and no man knew it, 5that there came men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even eighty men, having their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and having cut themselves, with meal offerings and frankincense in their hand, to bring them to the house of Yahweh. 6Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and it happened, as he met them, he said to them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.
The Evil Done by Ishmael
7It was so that when they came into the midst of the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah killed them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, he, and the men who were with him. 8But ten men were found among those who said to Ishmael, Don’t kill us; for we have stores hidden in the field, of wheat, barley, oil and  honey. So he stopped, and didn’t kill them among their brothers. 9Now the cistern in which Ishmael cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had killed along with Gedaliah was the same which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with those who were killed. 10Then Ishmael carried away captive all the remainder of the people who were in Mizpah, even the king’s daughters, and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the children of Ammon. 11But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who 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 happened that when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces who were with him, then they were glad. 14So all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned about and returned and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. 15But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the children of Ammon. 16Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who 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 killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon: 17and they departed, and lived in Geruth 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 killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor over the land.
CHAPTER 42 Aug. 21
The People Ask Jeremiah to Pray for Them
Then all the captains of the forces, Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah and all the people from the least even to the greatest came near, 2and said to Jeremiah the prophet, Please let our supplication be presented before you, and pray for us to Yahweh your God, even for all this remnant; for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes do see us: 3that Yahweh your God may show us the way in which we should walk, and the thing that we should do. 4Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray to Yahweh your God according to your words; and it shall happen that whatever thing Yahweh shall answer you, I will declare it to you; I will keep nothing back from you. 5Then they said to Jeremiah, Yahweh be a true and faithful witness among us, if we don’t do according to all the word with which Yahweh your God shall send you to us. 6Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of Yahweh our God to whom we send you; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of Yahweh our God.
God Answers
7It happened that after ten days the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah. 8Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, 9and said to them, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel to whom you sent me to present your supplication before Him: 10If you will still live 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 grieve over the distress that I have brought on you. 11Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; don’t be afraid of him, says Yahweh: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. 12I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you, and cause you to return to your own land. 13But if you say, We will not dwell in this land; so that you don’t obey the voice of Yahweh 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: 15now therefore hear the word of Yahweh, O remnant of Judah: Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, If you indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to live there; 16then it shall happen, that the sword which you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are afraid, shall follow close behind you there in Egypt; and there you shall die. 17So shall it be with all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to live there: they shall die by the sword, by the famine and by the plague; and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring on them. 18For thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: As My anger and My wrath has been poured forth on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall My wrath be poured forth on you, when you shall enter into Egypt; and you shall be an object of horror and an astonishment, a curse and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more.
Jeremiah Warns the People
19Yahweh has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah, Don’t you go into Egypt: know certainly that I have testified to you this day. 20For you have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for you sent me to Yahweh your God saying, Pray for us to Yahweh our God; and according to all that Yahweh our God shall say, so declare to us, and we will do it: 21and I have this day declared it to you; but you have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh your God in anything for which He has sent me to you. 22Now therefore know certainly that you shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place where you desire to go to live there.
CHAPTER 43 Aug. 22
The People Flee to Egypt
It happened that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking to all the people all the words of Yahweh their God, with which Yahweh their God had sent him to them, even all these words, 2then spoke Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying to Jeremiah, You speak falsely: Yahweh our God has not sent you to say, You shall not go into Egypt to live there; 3but Baruch the son of Neriah sets you on against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death, and carry us away captive to Babylon. 4So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, didn’t obey the voice of Yahweh, 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, who were returned from all the nations where they had been driven, to live in the land of Judah; 6the men, and the women, and the children, and the king’s daughters, and every person who 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; 7and they came into the land of Egypt; for they didn’t obey the voice of Yahweh: and they came to Tahpanhes.
The Invasion of Egypt Foretold
8Then came the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, 9Take great stones in your hand, and hide them in mortar in the brick work, which is at the entry of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah; 10and tell them, Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will set his throne on these stones that I have hidden; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them. 11He shall come, and shall strike the land of Egypt; such as are for death shall be put to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to the sword. 12I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captive: and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment; and he shall go forth from there in peace. 13He shall also break the pillars of Beth Shemesh that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of Egypt shall he burn with fire.
CHAPTER 44 Aug. 23
God's Message for the Jews in Egypt
The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who lived in the land of Egypt, who lived at Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis and in the country of Pathros, saying, 2Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: You have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem and on all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwells therein, 3because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke Me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, to serve other gods that they didn’t know, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. 4However I sent to you all My servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them saying, Oh, don’t do this abominable thing that I hate! 5But they didn’t listen nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense to other gods. 6Therefore My wrath and My 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 it is this day. 7Therefore now thus says Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel: Why do you commit great evil against your own souls, to cut off from yourselves man and woman, infant and nursing child out of the midst of Judah, to leave yourselves none remaining; 8in that you provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands, burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have gone to live; that you may be cut off, and that you may be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? 9Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, the wickedness of the kings of Judah, the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10They are not humbled even to 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 says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Behold, I will set My face against you for evil, even to cut off all Judah. 12I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to live there, and they shall all be consumed; in the land of Egypt shall they fall; they shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine; they shall die, from the least even to the greatest, by the sword and by the famine; and they shall be an object of horror, an astonishment, a curse and a reproach. 13For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague; 14so that none of the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, shall escape or be left to return into the land of Judah, to which they will have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return save such as shall escape.
The People Refuse to Heed God's Message
15Then all the men who knew that their wives burned incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, even all the people who lived in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah saying, 16As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of Yahweh, we will not listen to you. 17But we will certainly perform every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to 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 food, and were well, and saw no evil. 18But since we left off burning incense to the queen of the sky, and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. 19When we burned incense to the queen of the sky, and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her, without our husbands? 20Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men, and to the women, even to all the people who had given him an answer, saying, 21The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, didn’t Yahweh remember it, and didn’t it come into His mind? 22So that Yahweh could no longer endure you, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which you have committed; therefore your land has become a desolation, an astonishment and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day. 23Because you have burned incense, and because you have sinned against Yahweh, and have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh, nor walked in His law, nor in His statutes, nor in His testimonies; therefore this evil has happened to you, as it is this day. 24Moreover Jeremiah said to all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are in the land of Egypt: 25Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, saying, You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her: establish then your vows, and perform your vows.
God Will Punish Them
26Therefore hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by My great name, says Yahweh, that My name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt saying, As the Lord Yahweh lives. 27Behold, I watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until they are all gone. 28Those who escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to live there, shall know whose word shall stand, Mine, or theirs. 29This shall be the sign to you, says Yahweh, that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that My words shall surely stand against you for evil: 30Thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy, and sought his life.
CHAPTER 45 Aug. 24
God Will Spare Baruch's Life
The message that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote 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 says Yahweh the God of Israel, to you, Baruch: 3You said, Woe is me now! For Yahweh has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning and I find no rest. 4You shall tell him, Thus says Yahweh: Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up; and this will be so in the whole land. 5Do you seek great things for yourself? Don’t seek them; for, behold, I will bring evil on all flesh, says Yahweh; but your life will I give to you for a prey in all places where you go.
CHAPTER 46 Aug. 24
God's Message for Egypt
The word of Yahweh which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. 2Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah. 3Prepare the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle! 4Harness the horses, rise up, you horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail. 5Why have I seen it? They are dismayed and are turned backward; and their mighty ones are beaten down and have fled apace, and don’t look back: terror is on every side, says Yahweh. 6Don’t let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; in the north by the river Euphrates have they stumbled and fallen. 7Who is this who rises up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers? 8Egypt rises up like the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers: and he says, I will rise up, I will cover the land; I will destroy cities and its inhabitants. 9Go up, you horses; and rage, you chariots; and let the mighty ones go forth: Cush and Put, who handle the shield; and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow. 10For that day is of the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, a day of vengeance, that He may avenge Himself of His adversaries: and the sword shall devour and be satiate, and shall drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. 11Go up into Gilead and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain do you use many medicines; there is no healing for you. 12The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry; for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, they are fallen both of them together.
Egypt Is Warned
13The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt. 14Declare in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes: say, Stand forth, and prepare; for the sword has devoured around you. 15Why are your strong ones swept away? They didn’t stand, because Yahweh pushed them over. 16He made many to stumble, yes, they fell one on another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our birth, from the oppressing sword. 17They cried there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he has let the appointed time pass by. 18As I live, says the King whose name is Yahweh of Armies, surely like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea, so shall he come. 19You daughter who dwells in Egypt, furnish yourself to go into captivity; for Memphis shall become a desolation and shall be burnt up without inhabitant. 20Egypt is a very beautiful heifer; but destruction out of the north has come, it has come. 21Also her hired men in the midst of her are like calves of the stall; for they also are turned back, they are fled away together, they didn’t stand: for the day of their calamity has come on them, the time of their visitation. 22The sound of it shall go like the serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as wood cutters. 23They shall cut down her forest, says Yahweh, though it can’t be searched; because they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable. 24The daughter of Egypt shall be disappointed; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north. 25Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods, and her kings; even Pharaoh, and those who trust in him: 26and I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants; and afterwards it shall be inhabited like in the days of old, says Yahweh.
God Will Save His People
27But don’t you be afraid, Jacob My servant, neither be dismayed, Israel: for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. 28Don’t you be afraid, O Jacob My servant, says Yahweh; for I am with you: for although I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you, I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.
CHAPTER 47 Aug. 25
God's Message about the Philistines
The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before that Pharaoh struck Gaza. 2Thus says Yahweh: Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall become an overflowing stream, and shall overflow the land and all that is therein, the city and those who dwell therein; and the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall wail. 3At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong ones, at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers don’t look back to their children for feebleness of hands; 4because of the day that comes to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains: for Yahweh will destroy the Philistines, the remnant of the isle of Caphtor. 5Baldness has come on Gaza; Ashkelon is brought to nothing, the remnant of their valley: how long will you cut yourself? 6You sword of Yahweh, how long will it be before you be quiet? Put up yourself into your scabbard; rest, and be still. 7How can you be quiet, since Yahweh has given you a command? Against Ashkelon, and against the seashore, there has He appointed it.
CHAPTER 48 Aug. 26
God's Message for Moab
Of Moab. Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Woe to Nebo! for it is laid waste; Kiriathaim is disappointed, it is taken; Misgab is put to shame and broken down. 2The praise of Moab is no more; in Heshbon they have devised evil against her: Come, and let us cut her off from being a nation. You also, Madmen, shall be brought to silence: the sword shall pursue you. 3The sound of a cry from Horonaim, desolation and great destruction! 4Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. 5For by the ascent of Luhith with continual weeping shall they go up; for at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distress of the cry of destruction. 6Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness. 7For because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures, you also shall be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, his priests and his princes together. 8The destroyer shall come on every city, and no city shall escape; the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed; as Yahweh has spoken. 9May wings be given to Moab, that she may fly and get her away: and her cities shall become a desolation, without any to dwell therein. 10Cursed is he who does the work of Yahweh negligently; and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood. 11Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither has he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed. 12Therefore behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will send to him those who pour off, and they shall pour him off; and they shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles in pieces. 13Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence. 14How do you say, We are mighty men, and valiant men for the war? 15Moab is laid waste, and they are gone up into his cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Armies. 16The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hurries fast. 17All you who are around him, bemoan him; all you who know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, the beautiful rod! 18You daughter who dwells in Dibon, come down from your glory, and sit in thirst; for the destroyer of Moab has come up against you, he has destroyed your strongholds. 19Inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and watch: ask him who flees, and her who escapes; say, What has been done? 20Moab is disappointed; for it is broken down: wail and cry; tell it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste. 21Judgement has come on the plain country, on Holon, Jahzah, Mephaath, 22Dibon, Nebo, Beth Diblathaim, 23Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul, Beth Meon, 24Kerioth, Bozrah, and on all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.
The Humbling of Moab
25The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, says Yahweh. 26Make him drunken; for he magnified himself against Yahweh: and Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision. 27For wasn’t Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves? For as often as you speak of him, you shake your head. 28You inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock; and be like the dove that makes her nest over the mouth of the abyss. 29We have heard of the pride of Moab. He is very proud; his loftiness, and his pride, and his arrogance, and the highness of his heart. 30I know his wrath, says Yahweh, that it is nothing; his boastings have worked nothing. 31Therefore will I wail for Moab; yes, I will cry out for all Moab: for the men of Kir Heres shall they mourn. 32With more than the weeping of Jazer will I weep for you, vine of Sibmah: your branches passed over the sea, they reached even to the sea of Jazer: on your summer fruits and on your vintage the destroyer is fallen. 33Gladness and joy is taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to cease from the wine presses: none shall tread with shouting; the shouting shall be no shouting. 34From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath Shelishiyah: for the waters of Nimrim also shall become desolate. 35Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, says Yahweh, him who offers in the high place, and him who burns incense to his gods. 36Therefore my heart sounds for Moab like pipes, and my heart sounds like pipes for the men of Kir Heres: therefore the abundance that he has gotten is perished. 37For every head is bald, and every beard clipped: on all the hands are cuttings, and on the waist sackcloth. 38On all the housetops of Moab and in its streets there is lamentation every where; for I have broken Moab like a vessel in which none delights, says Yahweh. 39How it is broken down! How they wail! How Moab has turned the back with shame! So shall Moab become a derision and a terror to all who are around him. 40For thus says Yahweh: Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread out his wings against Moab. 41Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are seized, and the heart of the mighty men of Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. 42Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he has magnified himself against Yahweh. 43Fear, the pit and the snare are upon you, inhabitant of Moab, says Yahweh. 44He who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he who gets up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring on him, even on Moab, the year of their visitation, says Yahweh. 45Those who fled stand without strength under the shadow of Heshbon; for a fire is gone forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and has devoured the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones. 46Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh is undone; for your sons are taken away captive, and your daughters into captivity. 47Yet will I revive the fortunes of Moab in the latter days, says Yahweh. Thus far is the judgement of  Moab.
CHAPTER 49 Aug. 27
God's Message for Ammon
Of the children of Ammon. Thus says Yahweh: Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? why then does Malcam possess Gad, and his people dwell in its cities? 2Therefore behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard against Rabbah of the children of Ammon; and it shall become a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel possess those who possessed him, says Yahweh. 3Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste; cry, you daughters of Rabbah, clothe yourself in sackcloth: lament, and run back and forth among the fences; for Malcam shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together. 4Why do you glory in the valleys, your flowing valley, backsliding daughter? Who trusted in her treasures, saying, who shall come to me? 5Behold, I will bring a fear on you, says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, from all who are around you; and you shall be driven out every man right forth, and there shall be none to gather together the fugitives. 6But afterwards I will revive the fortunes of the children of Ammon, says Yahweh.
God's Message for Edom
7Of Edom. Thus says Yahweh of Armies: Is wisdom no more in Teman? Is counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished? 8Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau on him, the time that I shall visit him. 9If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves by night, wouldn’t they steal until they had 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 destroyed, and his brothers, and his neighbours; and he is no more. 11Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in Me. 12For thus says Yahweh: Behold, they to whom it didn’t pertain to drink of the cup shall certainly drink; and are you he who shall altogether go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink. 13For I have sworn by Myself, says Yahweh, that Bozrah shall become an astonishment, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all its cities shall be perpetual wastes. 14I have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations saying, Gather yourselves together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle. 15For, behold, I have made you small among the nations, and despised among men. 16As for your terror, the pride of your heart has deceived you, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill: though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there, says Yahweh. 17Edom shall become an astonishment: each one who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all its plagues. 18As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbouring cities, says Yahweh, no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man live therein. 19Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like Me? And who will appoint Me a time? And who is the shepherd who will stand before Me? 20Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh that He has taken against Edom; and His purposes, that He has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely they shall drag them away, the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them. 21The earth trembles at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise which is heard in the Red Sea. 22Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings against Bozrah: and the heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
God's Message for Damascus
 23Of Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad; for they have heard evil news, they are melted away: there is sorrow on the sea; it can’t be quiet. 24Damascus has grown feeble, she turns herself to flee, and trembling has seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in travail. 25How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of My joy! 26Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, says Yahweh of Armies. 27I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben Hadad.
God's Message for Kedar, Hazor and Elam
28Of Kedar, and of the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck. Thus says Yahweh: Arise, go up to Kedar, and destroy the children of the east. 29Their tents and their flocks shall they take; they shall carry away for themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry to them, Terror on every side! 30Flee, wander far off, dwell in the depths, you inhabitants of Hazor, says Yahweh; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has taken counsel against you, and has conceived a purpose against you. 31Arise, go up to a nation that is at ease, that dwells without care, says Yahweh; that have neither gates nor bars, that dwell alone. 32Their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their livestock a spoil: and I will scatter to all winds those who have the corners of their beards cut off; and I will bring their calamity on them from every side, says Yahweh. 33Hazor shall be a dwelling place of jackals, a desolation forever: no man shall dwell there, neither shall any son of man live therein. 34The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, 35Thus says Yahweh of Armies: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might. 36On Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of the sky, and will scatter them towards all those winds; and there shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come. 37I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before those who seek their life; and I will bring evil on them, even My fierce anger, says Yahweh; and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them; 38and I will set My throne in Elam, and will destroy from there king and princes, says Yahweh. 39But it shall happen in the latter days, that I will restore the fortunes of Elam, says Yahweh.
CHAPTER 50 Aug. 28
The Fall of Babylon and Israel's Return
The word that Yahweh spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet. 2Declare among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and don’t conceal: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is disappointed, Merodach is dismayed; her images are disappointed, her idols are dismayed. 3For out of the north there comes up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they are fled, they are gone, both man and animal. 4In those days, and in that time, says Yahweh, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek Yahweh their God. 5They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces turned towards it saying, Come, and join yourselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that shall not be forgotten. 6My people have 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 resting place. 7All who found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Yahweh, the habitation of righteousness, even Yahweh, the hope of their fathers. 8Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the male goats before the flocks. 9For behold, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they shall set themselves in array against her; from there she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of an expert mighty man; none shall return in vain. 10Chaldea shall be a prey: all who prey on her shall be satisfied, says Yahweh. 11Because you are glad, because you rejoice, O you who plunder My inheritance, because you are wanton as a heifer that treads out the grain, and neigh as strong horses; 12your mother shall be utterly disappointed; she who bore you shall be confounded: behold, she shall be the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. 13Because of the wrath of Yahweh she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate: everyone who goes by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. 14Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she has sinned against Yahweh. 15Shout against her all around: she has submitted herself; her bulwarks are fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of Yahweh: take vengeance on her; as she has done, do to her. 16Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn each one to his people, and they shall flee each one to his own land. 17Israel is a hunted sheep; the lions have driven him away: first, the king of Assyria devoured him; and now at the last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones. 18Therefore thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. 19I will bring Israel again to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead. 20In those days and in that time, says Yahweh, 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 leave as a remnant.
The Destruction of Babylon
21Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: kill and utterly destroy after them, says Yahweh, and do according to all that I have commanded you. 22A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. 23How is the hammer of the whole earth cut apart and broken! How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! 24I have laid a snare for you, and you are also caught, Babylon, and you weren’t aware: you are found, and also caught, because you have struggled against Yahweh. 25Yahweh has opened His armoury and has brought forth the weapons of His indignation; for the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, has a work to do 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. 27Kill all her bulls; let them go down to the slaughter: woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their visitation. 28The voice of those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Yahweh our God, the vengeance of His temple. 29Call together the archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow; encamp against her all around; let none of it escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do to her; for she has been proud against Yahweh, against the Holy One of Israel. 30Therefore her young men will fall in her streets, and all her men of war will be brought to silence in that day, says Yahweh. 31Behold, I am against you, you proud one, says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies; for your day has come, the time that I will visit you. 32The proud one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up; and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all who are around him. 33Thus says Yahweh of Armies: The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together; and all who took them captive hold them fast; they refuse to let them go. 34Their Redeemer is strong; Yahweh of Armies is His name: He will thoroughly plead their cause, that He may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. 35A sword is on the Chaldeans, says Yahweh, and on the inhabitants of Babylon, on her princes and on her wise men. 36A sword is on the boasters, and they shall become fools; a sword is on her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed. 37A sword is on their horses, and on their chariots, and on all the mixed people who are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is on her treasures, and they shall be robbed. 38A drought is on her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of engraved images, and they are mad over idols. 39Therefore the wild animals of the desert with the wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited forever; neither shall it be lived in from generation to generation. 40As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbouring cities, says Yahweh, so shall no man dwell there, neither shall any son of man live therein. 41Behold, a people comes from the north; and a great nation and many kings shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth. 42They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, each one set in array as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Babylon. 43The king of Babylon has heard the news of them, and his hands wax feeble: anguish has taken hold of him, pains as of a woman in labour. 44Behold, the enemy shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan against the strong habitation: for I will suddenly make them run away from it; and whoever is chosen, him will I appoint over it: for who is like Me? And who will appoint Me a time? And who is the shepherd who can stand before Me? 45Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh that He has taken against Babylon; and His purposes, that He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely they shall drag them away, even the little ones of the flock; surely he shall make their habitation desolate over them. 46At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles, and the cry is heard among the nations.
CHAPTER 51 Aug. 29
More Judgement against Babylon
Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I will raise up a destroying wind against Babylon and against those who dwell in Lebkamai. 2I will send to Babylon strangers who shall winnow her; and they shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her around. 3Against him who bends let the archer bend his bow, and against him who lifts himself up in his coat of mail: don’t spare her young men; utterly destroy all her army. 4They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets. 5For neither Israel nor Judah is forsaken, of his God, of Yahweh of Armies; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel. 6Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life; don’t be cut off in her iniquity: for it is the time of Yahweh’s vengeance; He will render to her a recompense. 7Babylon has been a golden cup in Yahweh’s hand, who made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. 8Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: wail for her; take her 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 each one into his own country; for her judgement reaches to the sky, and is lifted up even to heaven. 10Yahweh has brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of Yahweh our God. 11Make sharp the arrows; hold firm the shields: Yahweh has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; because His purpose is against Babylon to destroy it: for it is the revenge of Yahweh, the revenge for His temple. 12Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set the watchmen, prepare the ambushes; for Yahweh has both purposed and done that which He spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon. 13You who dwell on many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your covetousness. 14Yahweh of Armies has sworn by Himself saying, Surely I will fill you with men, as a swarm of locusts; and they shall lift up a shout against you.
A Hymn of Praise to God
15He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, and by His understanding has He stretched out the heavens: 16when He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and He causes the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of His treasuries. 17Every man has become a brute, without knowledge. Every goldsmith is disappointed by his image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. 18They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. 19The portion of Jacob is not like these; for He is the former of all things; and Jacob is the tribe of His inheritance: Yahweh of Armies is His name. 20You are my battle axe and weapons of war: and with you will I break in pieces the nations; and with you will I destroy kingdoms; 21and with you will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; 22and with you will I break in pieces the chariot and him who rides therein; and with you will I break in pieces man and woman; and with you will I break in pieces the old man and the youth; and with you will I break in pieces the young man and the virgin; 23and with you will I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock; and with you will I break in pieces the farmer and his yoke; and with you will I break in pieces governors and deputies.
Babylon to Be Desolate Forever
24I will render to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, says Yahweh. 25Behold, I am against you, destroying mountain, says Yahweh, which destroys all the land; and I will stretch out My hand on you and roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burnt mountain. 26They shall not take of you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but you shall be desolate for ever, says Yahweh. 27Set 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 Ashkenaz: appoint a marshal against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough canker worm. 28Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, its governors, and all its deputies, and all the land of their dominion. 29The land trembles and is in pain; for the plans of Yahweh against Babylon do stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant. 30The mighty men of Babylon have declined to fight, they remain in their strongholds; their might has failed; they are become as women: her dwelling places are set on fire; her bars are broken. 31One runner will run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter: 32and the passages are seized, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are frightened. 33For thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come for her. 34Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me, he has crushed me, he has made me an empty vessel, he has, like a monster, swallowed me up, he has filled his maw with my delicacies; he has cast me out. 35The violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and, my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say. 36Therefore thus says Yahweh: Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you; and I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry. 37Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment and a hissing, without inhabitant. 38They shall roar together like young lions; they shall growl as lions’ cubs. 39When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake, says Yahweh. 40I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats. 41How is Sheshach taken and the praise of the whole earth seized! How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! 42The sea has come up on Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of its waves. 43Her cities are become a desolation, a dry land and a desert, a land in which no man dwells, neither does any son of man pass thereby. 44I will execute judgement on Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up; and the nations shall not flow any more to him: yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
Hope for God's People
45My people, go away from the midst of her, and save yourselves every man from the fierce anger of Yahweh. 46Don’t let your heart faint, neither fear for the news that shall be heard in the land; for news shall come one year, and after that in another year shall come news, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler. 47Therefore behold the days come, that I will execute judgement on the engraved images of Babylon; and her whole land shall be confounded; and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. 48Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers shall come to her from the north, says Yahweh. 49As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the land. 50You who have escaped the sword, go, don’t stand still; remember Yahweh from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. 51We are confounded, because we have heard reproach; confusion has covered our faces: for strangers have come into the sanctuaries of Yahweh’s house. 52Therefore behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will execute judgement on her engraved images; and through all her land the wounded shall groan. 53Though Babylon should mount up to the sky, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from Me shall destroyers come to her, says Yahweh. 54The sound of a cry from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans! 55For Yahweh lays Babylon waste, and destroys out of her the great voice; and their waves roar like many waters; the noise of their voice is uttered: 56for the destroyer has come on her, even on Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, their bows are broken in pieces; for Yahweh is a God of recompenses, He will surely requite. 57I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up, says the King whose name is Yahweh of Armies. 58Thus says Yahweh of Armies: The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the peoples shall labour for vanity, and the nations for the fire; and they shall be weary.
Jeremiah Gives a Scroll to Seraiah
59The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now Seraiah was chief quartermaster. 60Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come on Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon. 61Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words, 62and say, Yahweh, You have spoken concerning this place to cut it off, that none shall dwell therein, neither man nor animal, but that it shall be desolate forever. 63It shall be, when you have made an end of reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates: 64and you shall say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring on her; and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
CHAPTER 52 Aug. 30
Nebuchadnezzar Takes Jerusalem
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign; he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 3For through the anger of Yahweh it happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He had cast them out from His presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4It happened in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it round about. 5So the city was besieged to the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. 6In the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was severe in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. 7Then a breach was made in the city, 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 against the city all around;) and they went towards the Arabah. 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 to the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he gave judgement on him. 10The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he killed also all the princes of Judah in Riblah. 11He put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon, and imprisoned him until the day of his death. 12Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, who stood before the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem: 13and he burned the house of Yahweh, and the king’s house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house, burned he with fire. 14All the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around. 15Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the poorest of the people, and the residue of the people who were left in the city, and those who fell away, who fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the multitude. 16But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poorest of the land to be vineyard keepers and farmers.
Desecration of God's Temple
17The Chaldeans broke the pillars of brass that were in the house of Yahweh, and the bases and the bronze sea that were in the house of Yahweh they broke in pieces and carried all of their brass to Babylon. 18They also took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the spoons and all the vessels of brass with which they ministered. 19The captain of the guard took away the cups, the fire pans, the basins, the pots, the lampstands, the spoons and the bowls; that which was of gold, in gold, and that which was of silver, in silver. 20They took the two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh. The brass of all these vessels was without weight. 21As for the pillars, the height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a line of twelve cubits encircled it; and its thickness was four fingers. It was hollow. 22A capital of brass was on it; and the height of the one capital was five cubits, with network and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of brass: and the second pillar also had like these, and pomegranates. 23There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; all the pomegranates were one hundred on the network all around.
The People of Judah Taken to Babylon
24The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold: 25and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war; and seven men of those who saw the king’s face, who were found in the city; and the scribe of the captain of the army, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the midst of the city. 26Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. 27The king of Babylon struck them, and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land. 28This is the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand and twenty-three Jews; 29in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred and thirty-two persons; 30in the twenty third year of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred and forty-five persons: all the persons were four thousand  six hundred. 31It happened in the thirty seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the twenty fifth 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 he spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon, 33and changed his prison garments. Jehoiachin ate bread before him continually all the days of his life: 34and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him by the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.