THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH   

1 The word of God which came to Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who dwelt at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
2 as the word of God came to him in the days of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
3 And it was in the days of Joakim, son of Josiah king of Judah, until the eleventh year of Zedekiah king of Judah, even until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

The Prophet is Called
4 And the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; and before you came forth from the womb, I sanctified you; I have ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
6 And I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I know not how to speak, for I am a youth.”  
7 And the Lord said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ for you shall go to all to whomsoever I shall send you, and according to all the words that I shall command you, you shall speak.
8 Do not be afraid of them; for I am with you, to deliver you,” says the Lord.
9 And the Lord stretched forth His hand to me, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put My words into your mouth.
10 “Behold, I have appointed you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to rebuild, and to plant.”
11 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “A rod of an almond tree.”  
12 And the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I have watched over My words, to perform them.”
13 And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “A caldron on the fire; and it is facing the north.”
14 And the Lord said to me, “From the north shall flame forth evils upon all the inhabitants of the land.
15 For behold, I am calling together all the kingdoms of the earth from the north,” says the Lord. “And they shall come, and shall set each one his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls round about her, and against all the cities of Judah.
16 And I will speak to them in judgment concerning all their wickedness, because they have forsaken Me, and sacrificed to strange gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
17 “Gird up your loins, and stand up, and speak all the words that I shall command you. Do not be afraid of them, nor terrified at their presence, for I am with you, to deliver you,” says the Lord.
18 “Behold, I have made you this day as a strong city, and as a bronze wall, strong against all the kings of Judah and its princes, and the people of the land.  
19 And they shall fight against you, but they shall by no means prevail against you; because I am with you, to deliver you,” says the Lord.       

              JEREMIAH CHAPTER 2  


God’s Case Against Israel
1 And He said, “Thus says the Lord,
2 I remember the kindness of your youth, and the love of your betrothal,  
3 in following the Holy One of Israel,” says the Lord. “Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the firstfruits of His increase. All that devoured him shall offend; evils shall come upon them,” says the Lord.
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and every family of the house of Israel.
5 Thus says the Lord: “What trespass have your fathers found in Me, that they have revolted far from Me, and gone after vanities, and have become vain?
6 And they did not say, ‘Where is the Lord, who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who guided us in the wilderness, in an untried and trackless land, in a land in which no man has entered, and no man has dwelt in?’
7 And I brought you to Carmel, that you should eat its fruits, and its goods; and you went in, and defiled My land, and made My heritage an abomination.
8 The priest did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ And they that held by the law did not know Me. The shepherds also sinned against Me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after that which did not profit.
9 “Therefore I will yet plead with you, and with your children's children.  
10 For go to the isles of Kittim, and see; and send to Kedar, and observe accurately, and see if there has ever been such a thing;
11 if the nations have changed their gods, though they are not gods. But My people have changed their glory for that which will not profit them.  
12 The heaven is amazed at this, and is very exceedingly horrorstruck,” says the Lord.
13 “For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out for themselves broken cisterns, which will not be able to hold water.
14 “Is Israel a servant, or a home-born slave? Why has he become a spoil?
15 The lions roared at him, and uttered their voice, which have made his land a wilderness; and his cities are broken down, that they should not be inhabited.
16 Also the children of Memphis and Tahpanhes have known you, and mocked you.
17 Has not your forsaking Me brought these things upon you?” Says the Lord your God.
18 “And now what have you to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the water of Gihon? And what have you to do with the way of the Assyrians, to drink the water of rivers?
19 Your apostasy shall correct you, and your wickedness shall reprove you. Know then, and see, that your forsaking Me has been bitter to you,” says the Lord your God; “and I have taken no pleasure in you,” says the Lord your God.
20 “For of old you have broken your yoke, and burst your bonds; and you have said, ‘I will not serve You, but will go upon every high hill, and under every shady tree, there will I indulge in my fornication.’  
21 Yet I planted you a fruitful vine, entirely of the right sort—how are you a strange vine turned to bitterness!  
22 Though you should wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, still you are stained by your iniquities before Me,” says the Lord.
23 “How will you say, ‘I am not polluted, and have not gone after Baal?’ Behold your ways in the burial ground, and know what you have done: her voice has howled in the evening;  
24 she has extended her ways over the waters of the desert; she was hurried along by the lusts of her soul; she is given up to them; who will turn her back? None that seek her shall be weary; at the time of her humiliation they shall find her.
25 Withdraw your foot from a rough way, and your throat from thirst: but she said ‘I will strengthen myself’—for she loved strangers, and went after them.  
26 “As is the shame of a thief when he is caught, so shall the children of Israel be ashamed; they, and their kings, and their princes, and their priests, and their prophets.
27 They said to a tree, ‘You are my father’; and to a stone, ‘You have begotten me’; and they have turned their backs to Me, and not their faces. Yet in the time of their afflictions they will say, ‘Arise, and save us.’
28 And where are your gods which you have made for yourself? Will they arise and save you in the time of your affliction? For according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem they sacrificed to Baal.
29 “Why do you speak unto Me? You all have been ungodly, and you all have transgressed against Me,” says the Lord.
30 “In vain have I chastened your children; you did not receive correction. A sword has devoured your prophets as a destroying lion; yet you did not fear.
31 Therefore hear the word of the Lord: thus says the Lord, ‘Have I been a wilderness or a dry land to Israel? Why have My people said, “We will not be ruled over, and will not come to You anymore?”
32 Will a bride forget her attire, or a virgin her ornaments? But My people have forgotten Me days without number!  
33 What fair device will you yet employ in your ways, so as to seek love? It shall not be so; moreover you have done wickedly in corrupting your ways;
34 and in your hands have been found the blood of innocent souls; I have not found them in holes, but on every oak.  
35 Yet you said, “I am innocent: only let His wrath be turned away from me.” Behold, I will plead with you, in that you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
36 For you have been so exceedingly contemptuous as to repeat your ways; but you shall be ashamed of Egypt, as you were ashamed of Assyria.  
37 For you shall go forth from here also with your hands upon your head; for the Lord has rejected your hope, and you shall not prosper in it.         

           JEREMIAH CHAPTER 3  


Israel is Shameless
1 “If a man divorce his wife, and she depart from him, and become another man's, shall she return to him anymore? Shall not that woman be utterly defiled? But you have played the harlot with many shepherds, and have returned to Me,” says the Lord.
2 Lift up your eyes and look straight ahead, and see where you have not been utterly defiled. You have sat for them by the wayside as a deserted crow, and have defiled the land with your fornications and your wickedness.
3 And you retained many shepherds for a stumbling block to yourself. You had a whore's face; you became shameless toward all.
4 Have you not called Me as it were a home, and the father and guide of your youth?
5 Will God’s anger continue forever, or be preserved to the end? Behold, you have spoken and done these bad things, as you were able.”  

A Call to Repentance
6 And the Lord said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what things the house of Israel has done to Me? They have gone on every high mountain, and under every shady tree, and have committed fornication there.
7 And I said after she had committed all these acts of fornication, ‘Turn again to Me.’ Yet she did not return. And faithless Judah saw her faithlessness.
8 And I saw that (for all the sins of which she was convicted, wherein the house of Israel committed adultery, and I put her away, and gave into her hands a certificate of divorce) yet faithless Judah did not fear, but went and also committed fornication herself.
9 And her fornication was nothing accounted of; and she committed adultery with wood and stone.
10 And for all these things faithless Judah did not turn to Me with all her heart, but falsely.”
11 And the Lord said to me, “Israel has justified himself more than faithless Judah.
12 Go and read these words toward the north, and you shall say: ‘Return to Me, O house of Israel,’ says the Lord; ‘and I will not set My face against you: for I am merciful,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will not be angry with you forever.
13 Nevertheless, know your iniquity, that you have sinned against the Lord your God, and have scattered your ways to strangers under every shady tree, but you did not listen to My voice,’ says the Lord.
14 ‘Turn, you children that have revolted,’ says the Lord; ‘for I will rule over you. And I will take you, one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you in to Zion.
15 And I will give you shepherds after My heart, and they shall certainly tend you with knowledge.
16 And it shall come to pass that when you are multiplied and increased upon the land,’ says the Lord, ‘in those days they shall say no more, “The ark of the Covenant of the Holy One of Israel.” It shall not come to mind; it shall not be named; neither shall it be visited; nor shall this be done anymore.  
17 In those days and at that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered to it: and they shall not walk anymore after the imaginations of their evil heart.
18 In those days the house of Judah shall come together to the house of Israel, and they shall come, together, from the land of the north, and from all the countries, to the land, which I caused their fathers to inherit.’”
19 And I said, “So be it, Lord, for You said ‘I will set you among children, and will give you a choice land, the inheritance of the Almighty God of the Gentiles.’” And He said, “You shall call me Father; and you shall not turn away from Me.
20 But as a wife acts treacherously against her husband, so has the house of Israel dealt treacherously against Me,” says the Lord.
21 A voice from the lips was heard, even of weeping and supplication of the children of Israel; for they have dealt unrighteously in their ways, they have forgotten God, their Holy One.
22 “Turn, you children that are given to turning, and I will heal your bruises.” Behold, we will be Your servants; for You are the Lord our God.
23 Truly the hills and the strength of the mountains were a lying refuge; but by the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.
24 But shame has consumed the labors of our fathers from our youth; their sheep and their calves, and their sons and their daughters.
25 We have lain down in our shame, and our disgrace has covered us. Because we and our fathers have sinned before our God, from our youth until this day; and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”         

               JEREMIAH CHAPTER 4  

1 “If Israel will return to Me,” says the Lord, “he shall return: and if he will remove his abominations out of his mouth, and fear before Me, and swear,
2 ‘The Lord lives,’ in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness,’ then shall nations bless by him, and by him they shall praise God in Jerusalem.”  
3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: “Break up fresh ground for yourselves, and do not sow among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to your God, and circumcise your hardness of heart, you men of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest My wrath go forth as fire, and burn, and there be none to quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

An Imminent Invasion
5 “Declare in Judah, and let it be heard in Jerusalem. Say, ‘Sound the trumpet in the land’; cry aloud: say, ‘Gather yourselves together, and let us enter into the fortified cities.’
6 Gather up your wares and flee to Zion. Hasten, do not delay: for I will bring evils from the north, and great destruction.
7 The lion has gone up from his lair, he has roused himself to the destruction of the nations, and has gone forth out of his place, to make the land desolate; and the cities shall be destroyed, so as to be without inhabitant.
8 For these things gird yourselves with sackcloth and lament, and howl; for the anger of the Lord has not turned away from you.
9 And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord, “that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be amazed, and the prophets shall wonder.”
10 And I said, “Ah, Lord God! Surely You have deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘There shall be peace’; whereas behold, the sword has reached even to their soul.”
11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “There is a spirit of error in the wilderness: the way of the daughter of My people is not to purity, nor to holiness.
12 But a spirit of full vengeance shall come upon Me; and now I declare My judgments against them.”  
13 Behold, he shall come up as a cloud, and his chariots as a tempest. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us, for we are in misery!
14 Cleanse your heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved; how long will your grievous thoughts be within you?
15 For a voice of a messenger shall come from Dan, and distress out of Mount Ephraim shall be heard of.
16 “Remind the nations: behold, they have come. Proclaim it in Jerusalem, that bands are approaching from a land afar off, and have uttered their voice against the cities of Judah.
17 As keepers of a field, they have surrounded her; because you,” says the Lord, “have neglected Me.
18 Your ways and your devices have brought these things upon you; this is your wickedness, for it is bitter, for it has reached to your heart.”
19 I am pained in my bowels, my bowels, and the sensitive powers of my heart. My soul is in great commotion, my heart is torn. I will not be silent, for my soul has heard the sound of a trumpet, the cry of war, and of distress: it calls on destruction.
20 For all the land is distressed. Suddenly my tabernacle is distressed, my curtains have been torn in two.
21 How long shall I see fugitives, and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 “For the princes of My people have not known Me, they are foolish and unwise children. They are wise to do evil, but how to do good they have not known.”
23 I looked upon the earth, and behold, it was not; and to the sky, and there was no light in it.
24 I beheld the mountains, and they trembled, and I saw all the hills in commotion.
25 I looked, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the sky were scared.
26 I saw, and behold, Carmel was desert, and all the cities were burnt with fire at the presence of the Lord, and at the presence of His fierce anger they were utterly destroyed.
27 Thus says the Lord: “The whole land shall be desolate; but I will not make a full end.
28 For these things let the earth mourn, and let the sky be dark above. For I have spoken, and I will not relent; I have purposed, and I will not turn back from it.  
29 The whole land has recoiled from the noise of the horseman and the bent bow; they have gone into the caves, and have hidden themselves in the groves, and have gone up upon the rocks: every city was abandoned, no man dwelt in them.
30 And what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with scarlet, and adorn yourself with golden ornaments; though you adorn your eyes with paint, your beauty shall be in vain. Your lovers have rejected you, they seek your life.  
31 For I have heard your groaning as the voice of a woman in travail, as of her that brings forth her first child; the voice of the daughter of Zion shall fail through weakness, and she shall lose the strength of her hands, saying, ‘Woe is me, for my soul faints because of the slain!’      

            JEREMIAH CHAPTER 5  


The Utter Corruption of God’s People
1 “Run about in the streets of Jerusalem and see, and know, and seek in her broad places, if you can find one, if there is anyone that executes judgment, and seeks faithfulness, and I will pardon them,” says the Lord.
2 “The Lord lives,” they say; do they not therefore swear falsely?
3 O Lord, Your eyes are upon faithfulness. You have scourged them, but they have not grieved; You have consumed them; but they would not receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock; and they would not return.
4 Then I said, “It may be they are poor; for they are weak, for they do not know the way of the Lord, or the judgment of God.
5 I will go to the rich men, and will speak to them; for they have known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of God.” But, behold, with one consent they have broken the yoke, they have burst the bonds.
6 Therefore has a lion out of the forest smitten them, and a wolf has destroyed them, even to their houses, and a leopard has watched against their cities. All that go forth from them shall be hunted, for they have multiplied their ungodliness, they have strengthened themselves in their backslidings.  
7 “In what way shall I forgive you for these things? Your sons have forsaken Me, and sworn by them that are not gods. And I fed them to the full, and they committed adultery, and lodged in harlots' houses.
8 They became as wanton horses—each one neighed after his neighbor's wife.
9 Shall I not punish them for these things?” says the Lord. “And shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?”
10 “Go up upon her battlements and break them down, but do not make a full end; leave her buttresses; for they are the Lord's.
11 For the house of Israel have indeed dealt treacherously against Me,” says the Lord. “The house of Judah also
12 have lied to their Lord, and they have said, ‘These things are not so; no evils shall come upon us; and we shall not see sword or famine.
13 Our prophets became wind, and the word of the Lord was not in them.’
14 Therefore thus says the Lord Almighty: “Because you have spoken this word, behold, I have made My words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
15 Behold, I will bring upon you a nation from afar, O house of Israel,” says the Lord; “a nation the sound of whose language you shall not understand.
16 They are all mighty men;
17 and they shall devour your harvest and your bread, and shall devour your sons, and your daughters. And they shall devour your sheep, and your calves, and devour your vineyards, and your fig trees, and your olive yards. And they shall utterly destroy your strong cities, in which you trusted, with the sword.  
18 “And it shall come to pass in those days,” says the Lord your God, “that I will not utterly destroy you.
19 And it shall come to pass, when you shall say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ That you shall say to them, ‘Because you served strange gods in your land, so shall you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’
20 “Proclaim these things to the house of Jacob, and let them be heard in the house of Judah.
21 Hear now these things, O foolish and senseless people; who have eyes and do not see, and have ears and do not hear:
22 Will you not fear Me?” says the Lord. “And will you not fear before Me, who has set the sand as a boundary for the sea, as a perpetual ordinance, and it shall not pass over it. Yes, it shall rage, but not prevail; and its waves shall roar, but not pass over it.  
23 But this people have a disobedient and rebellious heart; and they have turned aside and gone back.
24 And they have not said in their heart, ‘Let us fear now the Lord our God, who gives us the early and latter rain, according to the season of the fulfillment of the ordinance of harvest, and has preserved it for us.’
25 Your transgressions have turned away these things, and your sins have removed good things from you.
26 For among My people were found ungodly men; and they have set snares to destroy men, and have caught them.
27 As a snare which has been set is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore have they grown great, and become rich.
28 They have transgressed the rule of judgment; they have not judged the cause of the orphan, nor have they judged the cause of the widow.
29 Shall I not punish for these things?” says the Lord, “and shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
30 “Shocking and horrible deeds have been done in the land; 31 the prophets utter unrighteous prophecies, and the priests have clapped their hands, and My people have loved it! And what will you do for the future?         

                  JEREMIAH CHAPTER 6  


Impending Destruction from the North
1 “Strengthen yourselves, you children of Benjamin, to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and sound an alarm with the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a signal over Beth Haccerem; for evil threatens from the north, and a great destruction is coming.
2 And your pride shall be taken away, O daughter of Zion.
3 The shepherds and their flocks shall come to her; and they shall pitch their tents against her round about, and shall feed their flocks, each with his hand.”
4 “Prepare yourselves for war against her; rise up, and let us go up against her at noon. Woe to us, for the day has gone down, and the shadows of the day fail.
5 Rise, and let us go up against her by night, and destroy her foundations.”
6 For thus says the Lord: “Cut down her trees, array a numerous force against Jerusalem. O false city, she is full of oppression.  
7 As a cistern cools water, so her wickedness cools her, ungodliness and misery shall be heard in her, as continually before her.
8 You shall be chastened, O Jerusalem, with pain and the scourge, lest My soul depart from you; lest I make you a desert land, which shall not be inhabited.
9 For thus says the Lord: ‘Glean, glean thoroughly as a vine the remnant of Israel: turn back your hands as a grape-gatherer to his basket.’
10 “To whom shall I speak and testify, that he may hear? Behold, your ears are uncircumcised, and they shall not be able to hear. Behold, the word of the Lord has become a reproach to them, they will not at all desire it.
11 And I allowed My wrath to come to full, yet I kept it in, and did not utterly destroy them. I will pour it out on the children outside, and on the assembly of young men together; for man and woman shall be taken together, the old man with him that is full of days.  
12 And their houses shall be turned to others, with their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out My hand upon the inhabitants of this land,” says the Lord.
13 “For from the least of them even to the greatest they have all committed iniquity; from the priest even to the false prophet they have all dealt falsely.
14 And they healed the breach of My people imperfectly, making light of it, and saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ and where is peace?
15 They were ashamed because they failed; yet they were not ashamed as those who were truly ashamed, and they knew not their own disgrace; therefore shall they utterly fall when they do fall, and in the time of visitation shall they perish,” says the Lord.
16 Thus says the Lord: “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths of the Lord; and see what is the good way and walk in it, and you shall find purification for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in them.’
17 I have set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Hear the sound of the trumpet.’ But they said, ‘We will not hear.’
18 Therefore have the nations heard, and they that feed their flocks.
19 Hear, O earth; behold, I will bring evils upon this people, even the fruit of their rebellions; for they have not heeded My words, and they have rejected My law.
20 Why do you bring Me frankincense from Sheba, and cinnamon from a land afar off? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices have not been pleasing to Me.
21 Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will bring weakness upon this people, and the fathers and sons shall be weak together; the neighbor and his friend shall perish.’
22 Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a people come from the north, and nations shall be stirred up from the end of the earth.  
23 They shall lay hold of bow and spear; the people are fierce, and will have no mercy; their voice is as the roaring sea; they shall array themselves for war against you as fire on horses and chariots, O daughter of Zion.’”
24 We have heard the report of them; our hands are weakened. Anguish has seized us, the pangs as of a woman in travail.
25 “Do not go forth into the field, and do not walk in the ways, for the sword of the enemy lingers round about.
26 O daughter of My people, gird yourself with sackcloth; sprinkle yourself with ashes; make for yourself lamentation, as the mourning for a beloved son; for misery will come suddenly upon you.
27 “I have caused you to be tried among tried nations, and you shall know Me when I have tested their way.
28 They are all disobedient, walking perversely. They are brass and iron; they are all corrupted.
29 The bellows have failed from the fire, the lead has failed. The silversmith works at his trade in vain; their wickedness is not consumed.  
30 Call them reprobate silver, because the Lord has rejected them.”        

          JEREMIAH CHAPTER 7  

1 (This verse omitted in LXX)

Trusting in Lying Words
2 Hear the word of the Lord, all Judea.
3 Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Correct your ways and your devices, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
4 Trust not in yourselves with lying words, for they shall not profit you at all, saying, ‘It is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’
5 For if you thoroughly correct your ways and your practices, and do indeed execute judgment between a man and his neighbor;
6 and do not oppress the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and do not go after strange gods to your hurt;
7 then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land which I gave to your fathers of old, and forever.
8 But seeing you have trusted in lying words, whereby you shall not be profited;
9 and you murder, and commit adultery, and steal, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and have gone after strange gods whom you do not know,
10 so that it is evil with you; yet have you come, and stood before Me in the house which is called by My name, and you have said, ‘We have refrained from doing all these abominations.’
11 Is My house, which is called by My name, a den of robbers in your eyes? And behold, I have seen it,” says the Lord.  
12 “For go to My place which is in Shiloh, where I caused My name to dwell before, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.
13 And now, because you have done all these deeds, and I spoke to you, but you did not listen to Me; and I called you, but you did not answer.
14 Therefore I also will 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.
15 And I will cast you out of My sight, as I cast away your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.
16 “Therefore do not pray for this people, and do not intercede for them to be pitied. Yes, do not pray, and do not approach Me for them, for I will not listen.
17 Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?
18 Their children gather wood, and their fathers kindle a fire, and their women knead dough, to make cakes to the host of heaven; and they have poured out drink offerings to strange gods, that they might provoke Me to anger.
19 Do they provoke Me to anger?” says the Lord. “Do they not provoke themselves, that their faces may be ashamed?
20 Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, My anger and wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and upon the men, and upon the cattle, and upon every tree of their field, and upon the fruits of the land; and it shall burn, and not be quenched.’”  
21 Thus says the Lord: “Gather your burnt offerings with your grain offerings, and eat flesh.  
22 For I did not speak to your fathers, nor did I command them in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifice;
23 but I commanded them this thing, saying, ‘Hear My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all My ways which I shall command you, that it may be well with you.’
24 But they did not obey Me, and their ear did not hear, instead they walked in the imaginations of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
25 From the day that their fathers went forth out of the land of Egypt, even until this day, and I sent to you all My servants the prophets, by day and early in the morning. Yes, I have sent them,
26 but they did not listen to Me, and their ear did not hear; and they made their neck harder than their fathers.
27 Therefore you shall speak this word to them:

Judgment on Obscene Religion
28 “This is the nation that has not heeded the voice of the Lord, nor received correction; truth has failed from their mouth.
29 Cut off your hair, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on your lips; for the Lord has reprobated and rejected the generation that does these things.
30 For the children of Judah have done evil before Me,” says the Lord; “they have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 31 And they have built the altar of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters with fire; which I did not command them to do, neither did I design it in My heart.
32 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when they shall no more say, ‘The altar of Tophet,’ and, ‘the valley of the son of Hinnom,’ but ‘The Valley of Slaughter’; and they shall bury in Tophet, for need of room.
33 And the dead bodies of this people shall be for food to the birds of the sky, and to the wild beasts of the earth; and there shall be none to drive them away.
34 And I will destroy out of the cities of Judah, and the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of them that make merry, and the voice of them that rejoice, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride; for the whole land shall become a desolation.         

       JEREMIAH CHAPTER 8  

1 “At that time,” says the Lord, “they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves;
2 and they shall spread them out to the sun, and the moon, and to all the stars, and to all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and to which they have held, and which they have worshipped. They shall not be mourned for, neither shall they be buried; but they shall be for an example on the face of the earth,  
3 because they chose death rather than life, even to all the remnant that are left of that family, in every place where I shall drive them out.”

The Peril of False Teaching
4 “For thus says the Lord: shall not he that falls arise? Or he that turns away, shall he not turn back again?  
5 Why have My people turned away with a shameless revolting, and strengthened themselves in their willfulness, and refused to return?
6 Pay attention, and listen: will they not say, ‘There is no man that repents of his wickedness’, saying, ‘What have I done?’ The runner has failed from his course, as a tired horse in his neighing.
7 Even the stork in the heaven knows her time, also the turtledove and wild swallow; the sparrows observe the times of their coming in; but My people do not know the judgments of the Lord.
8 “How will you say, ‘We are wise,’ and, ‘the law of the Lord is with us?’ In vain have the scribes used a false pen.
9 The wise men are ashamed, and alarmed, and taken; because they have rejected the word of the Lord; what wisdom is there in them?
10 Therefore will I give their wives to others, and their fields to new inheritors; and they shall gather their fruits,” says the Lord.
11  (This verse omitted in LXX)
12  (This verse omitted in LXX)
13 There are no grapes on the vines, and there are no figs on the fig trees, and the leaves have fallen off.
14 Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the strong cities, and let us be cast out there: for God has cast us out, and made us drink water of gall, because we have sinned against Him.
15 We assembled for peace, but there was no prosperity; for a time of healing, but there was anxiety.
16 We shall hear the neighing of His swift horses out of Dan. The whole land quaked at the sound of the neighing of His horses; and He shall come, and devour the land and its fullness; the city, and them that dwell in it.  
17 “For behold, I send forth against you deadly serpents, which cannot be charmed, and they shall bite you
18 mortally with the pain of your distressed heart.
19 Behold, there is a sound of the cry of the daughter of My people from a land afar off. Is not the Lord in Zion? Is there not a king there? Because they have provoked Me with their graven images, and with strange vanities.”
20 The summer is gone, the harvest is past, and we are not saved.
21 For the breach of the daughter of my people I have been saddened: in my perplexity pangs have seized upon me as of a woman in travail.
22 And is there no balm in Gilead, or is there no physician there? Why has not the healing of the daughter of my people taken place?         

             JEREMIAH CHAPTER 9  

1 Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes? Then would I weep for this my people day and night, even for the slain of the daughter of my people.
2 Who would give me a most distant lodge in the wilderness, that I might leave my people, and depart from them? For they all commit adultery, an assembly of treacherous men.
3 “And they have bent their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not faithfulness has prevailed upon the earth; for they have gone on from evil to evil, and have not known Me,” says the Lord.
4 “Beware, each of you, of his neighbor, and do not trust in your brother, for everyone will surely supplant, and every friend will walk craftily.
5 Everyone will mock his friend; they will not speak truth; their tongue has learned to speak falsehoods; they have committed iniquity, they have not ceased, so as to return.  
6 There is usury upon usury, and deceit upon deceit: they would not know Me,” says the Lord.
7 Therefore thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will try them with fire, and prove them; for I will do thus because of the wickedness of the daughter of My people.
8 Their tongue is a wounding arrow; the words of their mouth are deceitful. One speaks peaceably to his neighbor, but in himself retains enmity.
9 Shall I not punish them for these things?” says the Lord. “And shall not My soul be avenged on such a people as this?
10 Take up a lamentation for the mountains, and a mournful dirge for the paths of the wilderness, for they are desolate from a lack of men; they did not hear the sound of life from the birds of the sky, nor the cattle. They were amazed, they are gone.
11 And I will remove the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and make it a dwelling place of dragons; and I will utterly waste the cities of Judah, so that they shall not be inhabited.”
12 Who is the wise man, that he may understand this? And he that has the word of the mouth of the Lord addressed to him, let him tell you why the land has been destroyed, and has been ravaged by fire like a desert, so that no one passes through it.
13 And the Lord said to me, “Because they have forsaken My law, which I set before them, and have not heeded My voice, 14 but went after the lusts of their evil heart, and after the idols which their fathers taught them to worship.
15 Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel: behold, I will feed them with trouble and will cause them to drink water of gall:
16 and I will scatter them among the nations, to them whom neither they nor their fathers knew; and I will send a sword upon them, until I have consumed them with it.”
17 Thus says the Lord: “Call the mourning women, and let them come; and send to the wise women, and let them utter their voice;
18 and let them take up a lamentation for you, and let your eyes pour down tears, and your eyelids drop water.
19 For a voice of lamentation has been heard in Zion, saying, ‘How we have become wretched! We are greatly ashamed, for we have forsaken the land, and have abandoned our tabernacles!’”
20 Hear the word of God, you women, and let your ears receive the words of His mouth, and teach your daughters a lamentation, and a dirge to every woman her neighbor.
21 For death has come up through your windows, it has entered into our land, to destroy the infants outside, and the young men from the streets.
22 And the carcasses of the men shall be for an example on the face of the field of your land, like grass after the mower, and there shall be none to gather them.  
23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, and let not the strong man boast in his strength, and let not the rich man boast in his wealth;
24 but let him that boasts, boast in this: that he understands and knows that I am the Lord that exercises mercy, and judgment, and righteousness upon the earth; for in these things I delight,” says the Lord.  
25 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will visit upon all the circumcised their uncircumcision:  
26 on Egypt, on Idumea, on Edom, on the children of Ammon, on the children of Moab, and on everyone that shaves his face round about, even them that dwell in the wilderness; for all the Gentiles are uncircumcised in flesh, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in their hearts.”          

       JEREMIAH CHAPTER 10  


Idols and the True God
1 Hear the word of the Lord, which He has spoken to you, O house of Israel.
2 Thus says the Lord: “Do not learn the ways of the heathen, and do not be alarmed at the signs of the sky, for they are alarmed at them, falling on their faces.
3 For the customs of the nations are vain; it is a tree cut out of the forest, the work of the carpenter, or a molten image.
4 They are beautified with silver and gold, they fix them with hammers and nails;
5 they will set them up that they may not move.
6 It is wrought silver, they will not walk, it is forged silver  
7 (This verse omitted in LXX)  
8  (This verse omitted in LXX)
9 brought from Tarshish, gold will come from Uphaz, and the work of goldsmiths. They are all the works of craftsmen, they will clothe themselves with blue and scarlet.
10 They must certainly be borne, for they cannot ride of themselves. Do not fear them, for they cannot do any evil, and there is no good in them.
11 “Thus shall you say to them: ‘Let the gods which have not made heaven and earth perish from off the earth, and from under this sky.’”
12 It is the Lord that made the earth by His strength, who set up the world by His wisdom, and by His understanding stretched out the sky,
13 and set abundance of waters in the sky, and brought up clouds from the ends of the earth. He made lightnings for the rain, and brought forth light out of His treasures.
14 Every man is deprived of knowledge, every goldsmith is confounded because of his graven images; for he has cast false gods, there is no breath in them.  
15 They are vain works, wrought in mockery; in the time of their visitation they shall perish.  
16 Such is not the portion of Jacob; for He that formed all things, He is his inheritance; the Lord is His name.  
17 He has gathered your substance from abroad, dwelling in chosen places.
18 For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will overthrow the inhabitants of this land with affliction, that your plague may be discovered.”
19 Alas for your ruin! Your plague is grievous. And I said, “Surely this is your wound, and it has overtaken you.”
20 Your tabernacle is in a ruinous state, it has perished; and all your curtains have been torn asunder. My children and my cattle are no more; there is no longer any place for my tent, nor place for my curtains.
21 For the shepherds have become foolish, and have not sought the Lord; therefore the whole pasture has failed, and the sheep have been scattered.
22 Behold, there comes a sound of a noise, and a great earthquake from the land of the north, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, and a resting place for ostriches.
23 I know, O Lord, that man's way is not his own; neither shall a man go, and direct his own steps.
24 Chasten us, O Lord, but with judgment; and not in wrath, lest You make us few in number.
25 Pour out Your wrath upon the nations that have not known You, and upon the families that have not called upon Your name; for they have devoured Jacob, and consumed him, and have made his pasture desolate.        

            JEREMIAH CHAPTER 11  


The Broken Covenant
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2 “Hear the words of this covenant, and you shall speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
3 And you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Cursed is the man who shall not heed the words of this covenant
4 which I commanded your fathers, in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying, “Obey My voice, and do all things that I shall command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your God,
5 that I may confirm My oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.”’” Then I answered and said, “So be it, O Lord.”
6 And the Lord said to me, “Read these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Hear the words of this covenant, and do them.’” 7 (This verse omitted in LXX)
8 But they did not do them.
9 And the Lord said to me, “A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitantsof Jerusalem.
10 They have turned aside to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear My words, and behold, they have gone after strange gods, to serve them. And the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers.
11 Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I bring evils upon this people, out of which they shall not be able to come forth; and they shall cry to Me, but I will not listen to them.
12 And the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall go, and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense; which shall not deliver them in the time of their troubles.
13 For according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have you set up altars to burn incense to Baal.
14 “So do not pray for this people, and do not intercede for them with supplication and prayer; for I will not hear in the day in which they call upon Me, in the day of their affliction.
15 Why has My beloved done abominable things in My house? Will prayers and holy offerings take away your wickedness from you, or shall you escape by these things?  
16 The Lord has called your name a fair olive tree, of a pleasant shade in appearance, at the noise of its being lopped, fire was kindled against it; great is the affliction coming upon you. Her branches have become good for nothing.
17 And the Lord that planted you has pronounced evils against you, because of the iniquity of the house of Israel and the house of Judah, whatsoever they have done against themselves to provoke Me to anger by burning incense to Baal.”
18 O Lord, teach me, and I shall know: then I saw their practices.
19 But I, as an innocent lamb led to the slaughter, did not know. Against me they devised an evil device, saying, “Come and let us put wood into his bread, and let us utterly destroy him from off the land of the living, and let his name not be remembered any more.”  
20 O Lord, You that judges righteously, and who tests the heart and the most secret parts, let me see Your vengeance taken upon them, for to You I have declared my cause.
21 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of Anathoth, that seek my life, that say, “You shall not prophesy at all in the name of the Lord, but if you do, you shall die by our hands.”
22 “Behold, I will visit them. Their young men shall die by the sword, and their sons and their daughters shall die of famine.  23 And there shall be no remnant of them, for I will bring evil upon the inhabitants of Anathoth, in the year of their visitation.        

        JEREMIAH CHAPTER 12  


Jeremiah Complains to God
1 Righteous are You, O Lord, that I may make my defense to You: yet I will speak to You of judgments. Why is it that the way of the ungodly prospers? And why are all that deal very treacherously flourishing?
2 You have planted them, and they have taken root; they have begotten children, and become fruitful; You are near to their mouth, but far from their mind.
3 But You, O Lord, know me; You have tested my heart before You; purify them for the day of their slaughter.
4 How long shall the land mourn, and the grass of the field wither, because the wickedness of them that dwell in it? The beasts and birds are utterly destroyed, because the people said, “God shall not see our ways.”
5 Your feet run, and they cause you to faint; how will you prepare to ride upon horses? And you have been confident in the land of your peace? How will you do in the roaring of the Jordan?  
6 For even your brothers and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you; and they have cried out, they are gathered together in pursuit of you. Do not trust in them, though they shall speak fair words to you.  
7 “I have forsaken My house, I have left My heritage; I have given My beloved one into the hands of her enemies.  
8 My inheritance has become to Me as a lion in a forest; she has uttered her voice against Me; therefore have I hated her.
9 Is not My inheritance to Me like a hyena’s cave, or a cave round about her? Go, gather together all the wild beasts of the field, and let them come to devour her.  
10 Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard, they have defiled My portion, they have made My desirable portion a trackless wilderness.
11 It is made a complete ruin: for My sake the whole land has been utterly ruined, because there is none that takes the matter to heart.
12 The ravagers have come to every passage in the wilderness: for the sword of the Lord will devour from one end of the land to the other—no flesh has any peace.
13 Sow wheat, and reap thorns; their portions shall not profit them. Be ashamed of your boasting, because of your reproach before the Lord.
14 “For thus says the Lord concerning all the evil neighbors that touch My inheritance, which I have divided to My people Israel: ‘Behold, I will draw them away from their land, and I will cast out Judah from the midst of them.
15 And it shall come to pass, after I have cast them out, that I will return and have mercy upon them, and will cause them to dwell everyone in his inheritance, and everyone in his land.
16 And it shall be, if they will indeed learn the way of My people, to swear by My name, saying, “The Lord lives”; as they taught My people to swear by Baal; then shall that nation be built in the midst of My people.
17 But if they will not return, then will I cut off that nation with utter ruin and destruction.’”      

   JEREMIAH CHAPTER 13  


Symbol of the Linen Sash
1 Thus says the Lord: “Go and procure for yourself a linen sash, and put it around your waist, but do not put it in water.”
2 So I procured the sash according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist.
3 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
4 “Take the sash that is around your waist, and get up, and go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.”
5 So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.  
6 And it came to pass after many days, that the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the sash from there, which I commanded you to hide there.”
7 So I went to the river Euphrates, and dug, and took the sash out of the place where I had buried it. And behold, it was ruined, utterly good for nothing.
8 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Thus says the Lord:
9 ‘Thus will I ruin the pride of Judah, and the pride of Jerusalem;
10 even this great pride of the men that will not listen to My words, and have gone after strange gods, to serve them, and to worship them. And they shall be as this sash, which is profitable for nothing.
11 For as a sash clings about the waist of a man, so have I caused the house of Israel, and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me; that they might be to Me a famous people, and a praise, and a glory. But they did not listen to Me.
12 “And you shall say to this people, ‘Every bottle shall be filled with wine. And it shall come to pass, if they shall say to you, “Shall we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?” That you shall say to them,
13 “Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will fill the inhabitants of this land, and their kings, the sons of David that sit upon their throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with strong drink.
14 And I will scatter them, a man and his brother, and their fathers and their sons together. I will not have compassion,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will not spare, neither will I pity to save them from destruction.’”
15 Hear, and give ear, and do not be proud; for the Lord has spoken.
16 Give glory to the Lord your God, before He causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and you shall wait for light, and behold the shadow of death, and they shall be brought into darkness.
17 But if you will not hear it, your soul shall weep in secret because of pride, and your eyes shall pour down tears, because the Lord's flock is sorely bruised.
18 Say to the king and the princes, “Humble yourselves, and sit down; for your crown of glory is removed from your head.”
19 The cities toward the south were shut up, and there was none to open them. Judah is removed into captivity; they have suffered a complete removal.  
20 Lift up your eyes, O Jerusalem, and behold them that come from the north; where is the flock that was given you, the sheep of your glory?
21 What will you say when they shall visit you, for you have taught them lessons to rule over you; shall not pangs seize you as a woman in travail?
22 And if you should say in your heart, “Why have these things happened to me?” Because of the abundance of your iniquity have your skirts been discovered, that your heels might be exposed.
23 If the Ethiopian shall change his skin, or the leopard its spots, then shall you be able to do good, having learned to do evil.
24 So I scattered them as sticks carried by the wind into the wilderness.
25 “Thus is your lot, and the reward of your disobedience to Me,” says the Lord. “As you have forgotten Me, and trusted in lies,  
26 I also will expose your skirts upon your face, and your shame shall be seen;  
27 your adultery also, and your neighing, and the looseness of your fornication. On the hills and in the fields I have seen your abominations. Woe to you, O Jerusalem, for you have not been purified so as to follow Me; how long yet shall it be?         

                JEREMIAH CHAPTER 14  


Sword, Famine, and Pestilence
1 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah concerning the drought.
2 “Judah has mourned, and her gates are emptied, and are darkened upon the earth; and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.
3 And her nobles have sent their little ones to the water: they came to the wells, and found no water: and brought back their vessels empty.
4 And the labors of the land failed, because there was no rain: the plowmen were ashamed; they covered their heads.
5 And the deer gave birth in the field, but left because there was no grass.
6 The wild donkeys stood by the forests, and snuffed up the wind; their eyes failed, because there was no grass.”
7 Our sins have risen up against us. O Lord, do for us for Your name’s sake; for our sins are many before You; for we have sinned against You.
8 O Lord, You are the hope of Israel, and deliver us in times of trouble; why have You become as a sojourner upon the land, or as one born in the land, yet turning aside for a resting place?
9 Will You be as a man asleep, or as a strong man that cannot save? Yet You are among us, O Lord, and we are called by Your name; do not forget us.
10 Thus says the Lord to this people: “They have loved to wander, and they have not spared, therefore God has not prospered them; now will He remember their iniquity.”  
11 And the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for this people, for their good:
12 for though they fast, I will not hear their supplication; and though they offer burnt offerings and sacrifices, I will take no pleasure in them: for I will consume them with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence.”  
13 And I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, their prophets prophesy, and say, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall famine be among you; for I will give truth and peace on the land, and in this place.’”
14 Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not send them, commanded them, nor spoken to them: for they prophesy to you false visions, divinations, and worthless things, and devices of their own heart.
15 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets that prophesy lies in My name, and I have not sent them, who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not be upon this land’; they shall die by a grievous death, and the prophets shall be consumed by famine.  
16 And the people to whom they prophesy, they also shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, because of the sword and famine; and there shall be none to bury them. Their wives also, and their sons, and their daughters shall die thus; and I will pour out their wickedness upon them.
17 “And you shall speak this word to them: ‘Let your eyes shed tears day and night, and let them not cease; for the daughter of My people has been sorely bruised, and her plague is very grievous.
18 If I go forth into the plain, then behold the slain by the sword! And if I enter into the city, then behold the distress of famine! For priest and prophet have gone to a land which they did not know.’”
19 Have You utterly rejected Judah? And has Your soul departed from Zion? Why have You stricken us, and there is no healing for us? We waited for peace, but there was no prosperity; for a time of healing, and behold trouble!
20 We know our sins, O Lord, and the iniquities of our fathers, for we have sinned before You.
21 Refrain for Your name's sake; do not destroy the throne of Your glory. Remember, O Lord, and do not break Your covenant with us.
22 Is there anyone among the idols of the Gentiles that can give rain? And will the sky yield His fullness at their bidding? Are You not He? We will even wait on You, O Lord, for You have made all these things.        

        JEREMIAH CHAPTER 15  


The Lord Will Not Relent
1 And the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before My face, My soul would not be favorable toward them: dismiss this people, and let them go forth.
2 And it shall be, if they say to you, ‘Where shall we go forth?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: As many as are for death, to death; and as many as are for famine, to famine; and as many as are for the sword, to the sword; and as many as are for captivity, to captivity.’
3 And I will punish them with four kinds of death,” says the Lord; “the sword to slay, the dogs to tear, the wild beasts of the earth, and the birds of the sky to devour and destroy.
4 And I will deliver them up for distress to all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for all that he did in Jerusalem.
5 “Who will spare you, O Jerusalem? And who will fear for you? Or who will turn back to ask about your welfare?  
6 You have turned away from Me,” says the Lord; “you will go back. Therefore I will stretch out My hand, and I will destroy you, and will spare them no more.
7 And I will completely scatter them; in the gates of My people they are bereaved of children. They have destroyed My people because of their iniquities.
8 Their widows have been multiplied more than the sand of the sea. I have brought young men against the mother, and distress at noonday. I have suddenly cast trembling and anxiety upon her.
9 She that bore seven is spent; her soul has fainted under trouble; her sun has gone down while it is yet noon; she is ashamed and disgraced. I will give the remnant of them to the sword before their enemies.”  
10 Woe is me, my mother! You have born me as some man of strife, and at variance with the whole earth. I have not helped others, nor has anyone helped me; my strength has failed among them that curse me.
11 Be it so, O Lord, in their prosperity; surely I stood before You in the time of their calamities, and in the time of their affliction, for their good against the enemy.
12 “Will iron be known? Whereas your strength is a bronze covering.
13 Yes, I will give your treasures for a spoil as a recompense, because of all your sins, and that in all your borders.
14 And I will enslave you to your enemies round about, in a land which you have not known; for a fire has been kindled out of My wrath; it shall burn upon you.”
15 O Lord, remember me, and visit me, and vindicate me before them that persecute me. Do not bear long with them; know how I have met with reproach for Your sake, from those who nullify Your words.
16 Consume them, and Your word shall be to me for the joy and gladness of my heart. For Your name has been called upon me, O Lord Almighty.
17 I have not sat in the assembly of them as they mocked, but I feared because of Your power. I sat alone, for I was filled with bitterness.
18 Why do those that grieve me prevail against me? My wound is severe; when shall I be healed? It has indeed become to me as deceitful water that has no faithfulness.  

The Lord Reassures Jeremiah
19 Therefore thus says the Lord: “If you will return, then will I restore you, and you shall stand before My face. And if you will bring forth the precious from the worthless, you shall be as My mouth; and they shall return to you; but you shall not return to them.
20 And I will make you to this people as a strong bronze wall; and they shall fight against you, but they shall by no means prevail against you.
21 For I am with you, to save you, and to deliver you out of the hand of wicked men; and I will ransom you out of the hand of pestilent men.        

             JEREMIAH CHAPTER 16  


Jeremiah’s Celibacy and Message
1 “And you shall not take a wife,” says the Lord God of Israel.
2 “And there shall be no son born to you, nor daughter in this place.
3 For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that have born them, and their fathers that have begotten them in this land:
4 ‘They shall die a grievous death. They shall not be lamented over, nor buried; they shall be for an example on the face of the earth; and they shall be for the wild beasts of the land, and for the birds of the sky. They shall fall by the sword, and shall be consumed with famine.’
5 “Thus says the Lord: ‘Do not enter into their mourning feast, and do not go to lament, nor mourn for them, for I have removed My peace from this people.
6 They shall not bewail them, nor make cuttings for them, and they shall not shave themselves for them.
7 And there shall be no bread broken in mourning for them in consolation over the dead; they shall not give one to drink a cup for consolation over his father or his mother.
8 You shall not enter into the banquet house, to sit with them to eat and to drink.
9 For thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Behold, I will make the voice of joy to cease out of this place before your eyes, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.
10 “And it shall come to pass, when you report to this people all these words, and they shall say to you, ‘Why has the Lord pronounced all these evils against us? What is our unrighteousness? And what is our sin which we have sinned before the Lord our God?’
11 Then you shall say to them, ‘Because your fathers forsook Me,’ says the Lord, ‘and went after strange gods and served them, and worshipped them, and forsook Me, and did not keep My law.’
12 (And you sinned worse than your fathers—for behold, you walk everyone after the lusts of your own evil heart, so as not to listen to Me).
13 Therefore I will cast you off from this good land into a land which neither you nor your fathers have known. And you shall serve their other gods, who shall have no mercy upon you.  

God Will Restore Israel
14 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when they shall no more say, ‘The Lord lives, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt’;
15 but, ‘The Lord lives, who brought up the house of Israel from the land of the north, and from all countries in which they were thrust out.’ And I will restore them to their own land, which I gave to their fathers.
16 “Behold, I will send many fishermen,” says the Lord, “and they shall fish them; and afterward I will send many hunters, and they shall hunt them upon every mountain, and upon every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.  
17 For My eyes are upon all their ways; and their iniquities have not been hidden from My eyes.
18 And I will recompense double for their iniquity and their sins, whereby they have profaned My land with the carcasses of their abominations, and with their iniquities, whereby they have trespassed against My inheritance.”
19 O Lord, You are my strength and my help, and my refuge in days of evil. To You the Gentiles shall come from the ends of the earth, and shall say, “How worthless were the idols which our fathers procured for themselves, and there is no help in them.”
20 Will a man make gods for himself, whereas these are no gods?
21 “Therefore behold, I will at this time manifest My hand to them, and will make known to them My power; and they shall know that My name is the Lord.”       

       JEREMIAH CHAPTER 17  

1  (This verse omitted in LXX)
2  (This verse omitted in LXX)
3  (This verse omitted in LXX)
4  (This verse omitted in LXX)

Judah’s Sin and Punishment
5 “Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and will lean his arm of flesh upon him, while his heart departs from the Lord.
6 And he shall be as the wild tamarisk in the desert. he shall not see when good comes; but he shall dwell in barren places, and in the wilderness, in a salty land which is not inhabited.  
7 But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord.
8 And he shall be as a thriving tree by the waters, and he shall cast forth his root toward a moist place. He shall not fear when heat comes, and there shall be shady branches upon him; he shall not fear in a year of drought, and he shall not fail to bear fruit.
9 “The heart is deep beyond all things, and it constitutes the man, and who can know him?  
10 I, the Lord, search the hearts, and test the mind, to give to everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruits of his doings.  
11 “The partridge utters her voice; she gathers eggs which she did not lay. So is a man gaining his wealth unjustly: in the midst of his days his riches shall leave him, and at his latter end he will be a fool.”
12 An exalted throne of glory is our sanctuary.
13 O Lord, the hope of Israel, let all that have left You be ashamed, let them that have revolted be written on the earth, because they have forsaken the fountain of life, the Lord.

Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance
14 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed. Save me, and I shall be saved; for You are my boast.
15 Behold, they say to me, “Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come.”
16 But I have not been weary of following You, nor have I desired the day of man. You know the words that proceed out of my lips; they are before Your face.
17 Be not a stranger to me, but spare me in the evil day.
18 Let them that persecute me be ashamed, but let me not be ashamed. Let them be alarmed, but let me not be alarmed. Bring upon them the evil day, crush them with double destruction.

Hallow the Sabbath Day
19 Thus says the Lord: “Go and stand in the gates of the children of your people, by which the kings of Judah enter, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem.
20 And you shall say to them: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judea, and all Jerusalem, all who go in at these gates:
21 thus says the Lord: “Take heed to your souls, and take up no burdens on the Sabbath day, and do not go forth through the gates of Jerusalem;
22 and carry forth no burdens out of your houses on the Sabbath day, and you shall do no work. Sanctify the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.
23 But they would not obey, and would not listen, but stiffened their neck more than their fathers did, so as not to hear Me, and not to receive correction.  
24 “And it shall come to pass, if you will hearken to Me,” says the Lord, “to carry in no burdens through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, and to sanctify the Sabbath day, so as to do no work upon it,
25 that there shall enter through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, and riding on their chariots and horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever.
26 And men shall come out of the cities of Judah, and from round about Jerusalem, and out of the land of Benjamin, and out of the plain country, and from the hill country, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, incense, manna, and frankincense, and bringing praise to the house of the Lord.
27 But it shall come to pass, that if you will not listen to Me and sanctify the Sabbath day, to bear no burdens, nor go in with them by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then will I kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the streets of Jerusalem, and shall not be quenched.”         

       JEREMIAH CHAPTER 18  


The Potter and the Clay
1 The word that came from the Lord to
2 Jeremiah, saying, “Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there you shall hear My words.”
3 So I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he was making a vessel on the stones.
4 And the vessel which he was making with his hands fell apart. So he made it into another vessel, as it seemed good to him.
5 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter? Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hands.
7 If I shall pronounce a decree upon a nation, or upon a kingdom, to cut them off, and to destroy them;  
8 and that nation turn from all their sins, then will I relent of the disasters which I purposed to do to them.  
9 And if I shall pronounce a decree upon a nation and kingdom, to rebuild and to plant it;
10 and they do evil before Me, so as not to heed My voice, then will I relent of the good which I spoke of, to do it to them.
11 “And now, say to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ‘Behold, I prepare disasters against you, and devise a plan against you: let everyone turn now from his evil way, and amend your practices.’”
12 And they said, “We will act like men, for we will pursue our perverse ways, and we will every one perform the lusts of his evil heart.”  

God’s Warning Rejected
13 Therefore thus says the Lord: “Inquire now among the nations, who has heard such horrible things as what the virgin of Israel has done?
14 Will fertilizing streams fail to flow from a rock, or snow fail from Lebanon? Will water violently impelled by the wind turn aside?  
15 For My people have forgotten Me, they have offered incense in vain, and they fail in their ways, leaving the ancient tracks, to enter upon impassable paths;  
16 to make their land a desolation, and a perpetual hissing. All that go through it shall be amazed, and shall shake their heads.
17 I will scatter them before their enemies like an east wind. I will show them the day of their destruction.”  

Jeremiah Persecuted
18 Then they said, “Come, and let us devise a plan 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 attack him with the tongue, and we will hear all his words.”
19 Hear me, O Lord, and hear the voice of my pleading.
20 Forasmuch as evil is rewarded for good; for they have spoken words against my soul, and they have hidden the punishment they meant for me. Remember that I stood before Your face, to speak good concerning them, to turn away Your wrath from them.
21 Therefore deliver up their sons to famine, and gather them to the power of the sword. Let their women be childless and widows, and let their men be cut off by death, and their young men fall by the sword in war.
22 Let there be a cry in their houses: You shall bring upon them robbers suddenly— for they have formed a plan to take me, and have hidden snares for me.
23 And You, O Lord, know all their deadly counsel against me: provide no atonement for their iniquities, and do not blot out their sins from before You. Let their weakness come before You; deal with them in the time of Your wrath.         

           JEREMIAH CHAPTER 19  


The Broken Earthen Bottle
1 Then the Lord said to me, “Go and get an earthen bottle, the work of the potter, and you shall bring some of the elders of the people, and of the priests.
2 And you shall go forth to the burial place of the sons of their children, which is at the entrance of the Potsherd Gate; and proclaim there all these words which I shall speak to you.
3 And you shall say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and men of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and they that enter in by these gates. Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Behold, I will bring such a catastrophe upon this place, that the ears of everyone that hears it shall tingle.
4 “Because they forsook Me, and profaned this place, and burned incense in it to strange gods, which they and their fathers did not know; and the kings of Judah have filled this place with innocent blood,  
5 and built high places for Baal, to burn their children in the fire, which things I did not command, neither did I design them in My heart.  
6 Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when this place shall no more be called Tophet, or the fall and burial place of the son of Hinnom, but the burial place of slaughter.
7 And I will destroy the counsel of Judah and the counsel of Jerusalem in this place; and I will cast them down with the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives. And I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the sky, and to the wild beasts of the earth.
8 And I will bring this city to desolation and make it a hissing: everyone that passes by it shall scowl, and hiss because of all her plagues.
9 And they shall eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat, everyone the flesh of his neighbor in the blockade, and in the siege with which their enemies shall besiege them.
10 “And you shall break the bottle in the sight of the men that go forth with you,
11 and you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Thus will I break in pieces this people, and this city, even as an earthen vessel is broken in pieces which cannot be mended again.
12 Thus will I do to this place,” says the Lord, “and to the inhabitants of it, that this city may be given up, as one that is falling to ruin.
13 And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be as a ruinous place, because of their uncleanness in all the houses, in which they burnt incense upon their roofs to all the host of heaven, and poured out drink offerings to strange gods.”’”
14 And Jeremiah came from Tophet, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the Lord's house. And said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord:  
15 ‘Behold I bring upon this city, and upon all the cities belonging to it, and upon the villages of it, all the doom which I have spoken against it, because they have hardened their neck, that they might not hearken to My commands.’”         

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 20  


The Word of God to Pashur
1 Now Pashur the son of Immer, the priest, who also had been appointed chief of the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these words.
2 And he struck him, and cast him into the dungeon which was by the gate of the upper house that was set apart, which was by the house of the Lord.  
3 And Pashur brought Jeremiah out of the dungeon. And Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord has not called your name Pashur, but Exile.
4 For thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will give you up to captivity with all your friends, and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes shall see it. And I will give you and all Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon, and they shall carry them captives, and cut them to pieces with swords.
5 And I will give all the strength of this city, and all the labors of it, and all the treasures of the king of Judah, into the hands of his enemies, and they shall bring them to Babylon.
6 And you and all who live in your house shall go into captivity, and you shall die in Babylon, and there you and all your friends shall be buried, to whom you have prophesied lies.’”

Jeremiah’s Unpopular Ministry
7 You have deceived me, O Lord, and I have been deceived. You have been strong, and have prevailed. I have become a laughing stock, I am continually mocked every day.
8 For I will laugh with my bitter speech, I will call upon rebellion and misery; for the word of the Lord has become a reproach to me and a mockery all my days.
9 Then I said, “I will by no means name the name of the Lord, and I will no longer speak in His name.” But it was a burning fire flaming in my bones, and I am utterly weakened on all sides, and cannot bear up.
10 For I have heard the reproach of many gathering round, saying, “Conspire, and let us conspire together against him, even all his friends. Watch his intentions, if perhaps he shall be deceived, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall be avenged on him.”  
11 But the Lord was with me as a mighty man of war; therefore they persecuted me, but could not perceive anything against me. They were greatly confounded, for they did not perceive their disgrace, which shall never be forgotten.
12 O Lord, You who tests the righteous, and who understands the mind and heart, let me see Your vengeance upon them: for to You I have revealed my cause.  
13 Sing to the Lord, sing praises to Him: for He has rescued the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.
14 Cursed be the day in which I was born! Let the day not be blessed in which my mother bore me!
15 Cursed be the man who brought the glad tidings to my father, saying, “A male child has been born to you.”
16 Let that man rejoice as the cities which the Lord overthrew in wrath, and did not repent: let him hear crying in the morning, and loud lamentation at noon;
17 because he did not slay me in the womb, and my mother did not become my tomb, and her womb always enlarged with me.  18 Why is it that I came forth from the womb to see troubles and distresses, and my days are spent in shame?        

             JEREMIAH CHAPTER 21  


Jeremiah’s Doom is Sealed
1 The word that came from the Lord to Jeremiah, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashur, the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
2 “Inquire of the Lord for us, for the king of Babylon has risen up against us. Perhaps the Lord will do according to all His wonderful works, and the king shall depart from us.”
3 And Jeremiah said to them, “Thus shall you say to Zedekiah, king of Judah:
4 ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war with which you fight against the Chaldeans that have besieged you from outside the wall, and I will gather them into the midst of this city.
5 And I will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, with wrath and great anger.
6 And I will strike all the inhabitants of this city, both men and cattle, with grievous pestilence, and they shall die.  
7 And after this,” says the Lord, “I will give Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people that are left in this city from the pestilence, and from the famine, and from the sword, into the hands of their enemies that seek their lives, and they shall cut them in pieces with the edge of the sword. I will not spare them, and I will not have compassion upon them.”’
8 “And you shall say to this people, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I have set before you the way of life, and the way of death.
9 He that remains in this city shall die by the sword, and by famine; but he that goes forth to defect to the Chaldeans that have besieged you shall live, and his life shall be as a prize to him, and he shall live.  
10 For I have set My face against this city for evil, and not for good: it shall be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall consume it with fire.”’

Message to the House of David
11 O house of the king of Judah, hear the word of the Lord.
12 O house of David, thus says the Lord: “Administer judgment in the morning, and act rightly, and rescue the spoiled one from the hand of him that wrongs him, lest My anger be kindled like fire, and it burn, and there be none to quench it.  
13 “Behold, I am against you that dwell in the valley of Sor; in the plain country, even against them that say, ‘Who shall alarm us? Or who shall enter into our dwellings?’
14 And I will kindle a fire in its forest, and it shall devour all things round about it.”’        

           JEREMIAH CHAPTER 22  

1 Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and you shall speak this word to him there,
2 and you shall say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David; you, your house, your people, and those that go in at these gates.
3 Thus says the Lord: “Execute judgment and justice, rescue the spoiled out of the hand of him that wrongs him; and do not oppress the stranger, the orphan, or widow, and do not sin, and shed no innocent blood in this place.
4 For if you will indeed perform this word, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, and riding on chariots and horses; they, their servants, and their people.
5 But if you will not perform these words, by Myself have I sworn,” says the Lord, “that this house shall be brought to desolation.”’”
6 For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah: “You are Gilead to Me, and the head of Lebanon. Yet surely I will make you a desert, even cities that shall not be inhabited;  
7 and I will bring upon you a destroying man, and his axe; and they shall cut down your choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
8 And nations shall pass through this city, and each shall say to his neighbor, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this great city?’
9 And they shall say, ‘Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped strange gods, and served them.’”
10 Weep not for the dead, nor lament for him: weep bitterly for him that goes away; for he shall return no more, nor see his native land.

Message to the Sons of Josiah
11 For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, who reigns in the place of Josiah his father, who has gone forth out of this place: “He shall not return here anymore.  12 But in that place where I have carried him captive, there shall he die, and shall see this land no more.”
13 “Woe to him that builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper chambers by injustice, who uses his neighbor’s service without wages, and gives him nothing for his work.  
14 You have built for yourself a well-proportioned house, with airy chambers, fitted with windows, and paneled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
15 Shall you reign because you are provoked with your father Ahaz? They shall not eat, and they shall not drink: it is better for you to execute justice and righteousness.
16 They did not understand, they did not judge the cause of the afflicted, nor the cause of the poor—is not this your not knowing Me?” says the Lord.
17 “Behold, your eyes are not good, nor your heart, but they go after your covetousness, and after the innocent blood to shed it, and after acts of injustice and slaughter, to commit them.”
18 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, even concerning this man: “They shall not lament for him, saying, ‘Ah brother!’ Neither shall they weep for him, saying, ‘Alas Lord.’  
19 He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey; he shall be dragged roughly along and cast outside the gate of Jerusalem.
20 “Go up to Lebanon and cry; and utter your voice to Bashan, and cry aloud to the extremity of the sea: for all your lovers are destroyed.  
21 I spoke to you on occasion of your trespass, but you said, ‘I will not listen.’ This has been your way from your youth, you have not listened to My voice.  
22 The wind shall tend all your shepherds, and your lovers shall go into captivity; for then shall you be ashamed and disgraced because of all your lovers.
23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, making your nest in the cedars, you shall groan heavily, when pangs as of a travailing woman have come upon you.  

Message to Jeconiah
24 “As I live,” says the Lord, “though Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet ring upon My right hand, yet would I pluck you off;
25 and I will deliver you into the hands of them that seek you life, before whom you are afraid, into the hands of the Chaldeans.
26 And I will cast you out, and your mother that bore you, into a land where you were not born; and there you shall die.
27 But they shall by no means return to the land which they long for in their souls.
28 Jeconiah is dishonored as a good for nothing vessel; for he is thrown out and cast forth into a land which he did not know.
29 “O earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord!
30 Write this man down as childless; for by no means shall his descendants ever grow up to sit on the throne of David, or be as a prince yet in Judah.”          

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 23  

Restoration After Exile
1 Woe to the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep of their pasture!  
2 Therefore thus says the Lord against them that tend My people: “You have scattered My sheep, and driven them out, and you have not visited them: behold, I will take vengeance upon you according to your evil practices.
3 And I will gather in the remnant of My people in every land, where I have driven them out, and will set them in their pasture; and they shall increase and be multiplied.  
4 And I will raise up shepherds to them, who shall feed them, and they shall fear no more, nor be alarmed,” says the Lord.

The Righteous Branch of David
5 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will raise up to David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and understand, and shall execute judgment and righteousness on the earth.  
6 In his days both Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell securely. And this is His name, which the Lord shall call Him, Josedek among the prophets.  
7 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when they shall no more say, ‘The Lord lives, who brought up the house of Israel out of the land of Egypt’;
8 but, ‘The Lord lives, who has gathered the whole seed of Israel from the north land, and from all the countries where He had driven them out, and has restored them into their own land.’”

False Prophets of Hope Denounced
9 My heart is broken within me; all my bones are shaken. I have become as a broken down man, and as a man overcome with wine, because of the Lord, and because of the excellence of His glory.
10 For because of these things the land mourns; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up; and their course has become evil, and so also their strength.  
11 “For priest and prophet are defiled, and I have seen their iniquities in My house.
12 Therefore let their way be slippery and dark to them, and they shall be tripped up and fall in it; for I will bring evils upon them, in the year of their visitation.
13 And in the prophets of Samaria I have seen lawless deeds; they prophesied by Baal, and led My people Israel astray.
14 Also in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen horrible things: as they committed adultery, and walked in lies, and strengthened the hands of many, that they should not return each from his evil way. They have all become to Me as Sodom, and its inhabitants as Gomorrah.  
15 Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will feed them with pain, and give them bitter water to drink; for from the prophets of Jerusalem has defilement gone forth into all the land.’”
16 Thus says the Lord Almighty: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets, for they frame a vain vision for themselves; they speak from their own heart, and not from the mouth of the Lord.
17 They say to them that reject the word of the Lord, ‘There shall be peace to you’; and to all that walk after their own lusts, and to everyone that walks in the error of his heart, they have said, ‘No evil shall come upon you.’”
18 For who has stood in the counsel of the Lord, and seen His word? Who has hearkened, and heard?
19 Behold, there is an earthquake from the Lord, and anger proceeds to a convulsion, it shall come violently upon the ungodly.  
20 And the Lord's wrath shall return no more, until He has accomplished it, and until He has established it, according to the purpose of His heart. At the end of the days they shall understand it.
21 “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: neither did I speak to them, yet they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in My counsel, and if they had hearkened to My words, then would they have turned My people from their evil practices.
23 “I am a God close at hand,” says the Lord, “and not a God afar off.
24 Shall anyone hide himself in secret places, and I not see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth?” Says the Lord.
25 “I have heard what the prophets say, what they prophesy in My name, saying falsely, ‘I have seen a night vision.’
26 How long shall these things be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies, when they prophesy the purposes of their own heart?
27 Who devise that men may forget My law by their dreams, which they have told everyone to his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name in the worship of Baal.
28 The prophet who has a dream, let him tell his dream; and he in whom is My word spoken to him, let him tell My word truly. What is the chaff to the wheat? So are My words,” says the Lord.
29 “Behold, are not My words as fire?” says the Lord; “and as an axe cutting the rock?
30 “Behold, I am therefore against the prophets,” says the Lord God, “that steal My words everyone from his neighbor.
31 Behold, I am against the prophets that put forth prophecies of mere words, and slumber their sleep.
32 Therefore behold, I am against the prophets that prophesy false dreams, and have not told them truly, and have caused My people to err by their lies, and by their errors; yet I did not send them, nor have I commanded them. Therefore, they shall not profit this people at all.  
33 “And if this people, or the priest, or the prophet, should ask, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,’ and I will dash you down,” says the Lord.
34 “As for the prophet and the priests and the people, who shall say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ I will even take vengeance on that man, and on his house.
35 Thus shall you say everyone to his neighbor, and everyone to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ And, ‘What has the Lord said?’
36 And the burden of the Lord you shall mention no more; for his own word shall be a man's burden.
37 “But what,” you say, “has the Lord our God spoken?”
38 Therefore thus says the Lord our God: “Because you have spoken this word, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ and I sent to you, saying, you shall not say, ‘The burden of the Lord’;
39 therefore behold, I will seize and dash you down and the city which I gave to you and your fathers.
40 And I will bring upon you an everlasting reproach, and everlasting disgrace, which shall not be forgotten.”         

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 24  

The Good and the Bad Figs
1 The Lord showed me two baskets of figs, lying in front of the temple of the Lord, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried Jeconiah son of Joakim king of Judah captive, along with the princes, the craftsmen, the prisoners, and the rich men out of Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
2 The one basket was full of very good figs, as the early figs; and the other basket was full of very bad figs, which could not be eaten, for they were so bad.
3 And the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, for they are so bad.”
4 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
5 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge the Jews that have been carried away captive, whom I have sent forth out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for good.
6 And I will fix My eyes upon them for good, and I will restore them into this land for good; and I will build them up, and not pull them down, and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
7 And I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be to Me a people, and I will be to them a God: for they shall turn to Me with all their heart.
8 ‘And as the bad figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad’; thus says the Lord: ‘So will I deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his nobles, and the remnant of Jerusalem, them that are left in this land, and those that dwell in the land of Egypt.
9 And I will cause them to be dispersed into all the kingdoms of the earth, and they shall be for a reproach, and a proverb, and an object of hatred, and a curse, in every place where I have driven them out.
10 And I will send against them famine, and pestilence, and the sword, until they are consumed from off the land which I have given them.’”         

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 25  

Seventy Years of Desolation
1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah;
2 which he spoke to all the people of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,
3 “In the thirteenth year of Josiah, son of Amon, king of Judah, even until this day for twenty-three years, I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking,
4 and I sent to you My servants the prophets, sending them early; (but you would not listen, nor incline your ear to hear) saying,
5 ‘Turn, everyone of you, from his evil way, and from your evil practices, and you shall dwell in the land which I gave to you and your fathers, forever and ever.
6 Do not go after strange gods, to serve them, and to worship them, lest you provoke Me by the works of your hands, to do you harm.’
7 But you hearkened not to Me.
8 “Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Since you did not believe My words,
9 behold I will send and take a family from the north, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants of it, and against all the nations round about it. And I will utterly destroy them, and make them a horror, and a hissing, and an everlasting reproach.  
10 And I will destroy from among them the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the scent of ointment, and the light of a candle.
11 And all the land shall be a desolation; and they shall serve among the Gentiles seventy years.
12 ‘And when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will take vengeance on that nation, and will make them a perpetual desolation.
13 And I will bring upon that land all My words which I have spoken against it, even all things that are written in this book.’”
14  (This verse omitted in LXX)

The Cup of God’s Wrath
15 “Thus said the Lord God of Israel: ‘Take the cup of this unmixed wine from My hand, and you shall cause all the nations to drink, to whom I send you.
16 And they shall drink, and vomit, and be mad, because of the sword which I send among them.’”
17 So I took the cup out of the Lord's hand, and caused the nations to whom the Lord sent me to drink:
18 Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings of Judah, and his princes, to make them a desert place, a desolation, and a hissing.
19 And Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his nobles, and all his people;
20 and all the mixed multitude, and all the kings of the Philistines, namely Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,
21 and Edom, and the land of Moab, and the children of Ammon,
22 and the kings of Tyre, and the kings of Sidon, and the kings in the country beyond the sea,
23 and Dedan, Tema, Buz, and everyone that is shaved round about the face,
24 and all the mixed multitude dwelling in the wilderness,
25 and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Persians, 26 and all the kings from the north, the far and the near, each one with his brother, and all the kingdoms which are on the face of the earth.
27 “And you shall say to them, ‘Thus said the Lord Almighty: “Drink, and be drunk; and you shall vomit and fall, and shall by no means rise, because of the sword which I send among you.”’  
28 And it shall come to pass, when they refuse to take the cup out of your hand, to drink it, that you shall say, ‘Thus said the Lord: “You shall surely drink.  
29 For I am beginning to afflict the city which is called by My name, and you shall by no means be held guiltless: for I am calling a sword upon all that dwell upon the earth.”  
30 “And you shall prophesy against them these words, and shall say: ‘The Lord shall speak from on high, from His sanctuary He will utter His voice. He will pronounce a declaration on His place; and these shall answer like men gathering grapes. And destruction is coming on them that dwell on the earth,  
31 even upon the extreme part of the earth; for the Lord has a controversy with the nations, He is pleading with all flesh, and the ungodly are given to the sword,” says the Lord.
32 “Thus said the Lord: ‘Behold, evils are proceeding from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind goes forth from the end of the earth.
33 And the slain of the Lord shall be in the day of the Lord from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They shall not be buried; they shall be as dung on the face of the earth.
34 “Howl, O you shepherds, and cry; lament, you rams of the flock: for your days have been completed for slaughter, and you shall fall as the choice rams.
35 And flight shall perish from the shepherds, and safety from the rams of the flock.
36 A voice of the crying of the shepherds, and a moaning of the sheep and the rams: for the Lord has destroyed their pastures.
37 And the peaceful dwellings that remain shall be destroyed before the fierceness of My anger.  
38 He has forsaken His lair, as a lion: for their land has become desolate before the great sword.”         

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 26  

Jeremiah’s Prophecies in the Temple
1 In the beginning of the reign of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah, there came this word from the Lord:
2 “Thus said the Lord: ‘Stand in the court of the Lord's house, and you shall declare to all the Jews, and to all that come to worship in the house of the Lord, all the words which I commanded you to speak to them; do not leave out one word.
3 Perhaps they will listen, and turn from their evil ways; then I will cease from the evils which I purpose to do to them, because of their evil practices.’
4 And you shall say, ‘Thus said the Lord: “If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My statutes which I set before you,
5 to listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I sent to you early in the morning; yes, I sent them, but you did not listen to Me;
6 then will I make this house as Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse to all the nations of all the earth.”’”
7 And the priests, and the false prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord.
8 And it came to pass, when Jeremiah had ceased speaking all that the Lord had ordered him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the false prophets and all the people grabbed hold of him, saying,
9 “You shall surely die, because you have prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be as Shiloh, and this city shall be made quite destitute of inhabitants.’” And all the people assembled against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.
10 And the princes of Judah heard this word, and they went up out of the house of the king to the house of the Lord, and sat in the entrance of the new gate.
11 Then the priests and the false prophets said to the princes and to all the people, “The judgment of death is due to this man, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.”
12 Then Jeremiah spoke to the princes, and to all the people, saying, “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city, all the words which you have heard.
13 And now amend your ways and your works, and listen to the voice of the Lord, and the Lord shall relent from the doom which He has pronounced against you.
14 And behold, I am in your hands; do to me as seems best to you.
15 But be certain of this: that if you kill me, you shall bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon its inhabitants; for in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”
16 Then the princes and all the people said to the priests and to the false prophets; “Judgment of death is not due to this man; for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”
17 And there rose up men of the elders of the land, and said to all the assembly of the people,
18 “Micah the Moreshite lived in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and said to all the people of Judah, ‘Thus says the Lord; Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become a desolation, and the mountain of the house shall be a thicket of trees.’
19 Did Hezekiah and all Judah in any way kill him? Was it not that they feared the Lord, and they made supplication before the Lord, and the Lord relented from the doom which He had pronounced against them? But we have wrought great evil against our own souls.”  
20 And there was another man prophesying in the name of the Lord, Urijah the son of Shemaiah, of Kirjath Jearim; and he prophesied concerning this land according to all the words of Jeremiah.
21 And King Jehoiakim and all the princes heard all his words, and sought to kill him; and Urijah heard it and went to Egypt.
22 And the king sent men to Egypt,
23 and they brought him out, and brought him into the king; and he struck him with the sword, and cast him into the tomb of the children of his people.
24 Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, to prevent his being delivered into the hands of the people, or from being killed.          

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 27  

The Sign of the Yoke
1 (This verse omitted in LXX)
2 “Thus says the Lord: ‘Make for yourself bonds and yokes, and put them about your neck,
3 and you shall 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 hands of their messengers that come to meet them at Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.
4 And you shall commission them to say to their masters, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Thus shall you say to your masters:
5 “I have made the earth by My great power, and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to whomsoever it shall seem good in My eyes.
6 I have given the earth to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to serve him, and the wild beasts of the field to labor for him.
7 (This verse omitted in LXX)
8 “And the nation and kingdom, all that shall not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, with sword and famine will I visit them,” says the Lord, “until they are consumed by his hand.
9 And do not listen to your false prophets, nor to them that divine to you, nor to them that foretell events by dreams to you, nor to your soothsayers, nor your sorcerers, that say, ‘You shall by no means work for the king of Babylon’;
10 for they prophesy lies to you, to remove you far from your land.
11 But the nation which shall put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, I will even leave it upon its land, and it shall serve him, and dwell in it.”’”
12 I spoke also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, “Put your neck into the yoke, and serve the king of Babylon.”
13   (This verse omitted in LXX)
14 “These men prophesy unrighteous words to you,  
15 for I did not send them, says the Lord; “and they prophesy in My name unjustly, that I might destroy you, and you should perish, and your prophets, who unrighteously prophesy lies to you.
16 “I spoke to you, and to all this people, and to the priests, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets that prophesy to you, saying, ‘Behold, the vessels of the Lord's house shall return from Babylon’—for they prophesy unrighteous words to you.
17 I did not send them.
18 If they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is in them, let them meet Me, for thus has the Lord spoken.”
19 “And as for the remaining vessels,
20 which the king of Babylon did not take, when he carried Jeconiah prisoner out of Jerusalem,
21 (This verse omitted in LXX)
22 they shall go into Babylon,” says the Lord.              

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 28  

Hananiah Opposes Jeremiah and Dies
1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth month, that Hananiah the false prophet, the son of Azur, from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord, in the sight of the priests and all the people, saying,
2 “Thus says the Lord: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
3 Yet two full years, and I will return into this place the vessels of the house of the Lord,
4 with Jeconiah, and the captivity of Judah; for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”
5 Then Jeremiah spoke to Hananiah in the sight of all the people, and in the sight of the priests that stood in the house of the Lord,
6 and Jeremiah said, “May the Lord indeed do thus; may He confirm your word which you prophesy, to return the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the captivity, out of Babylon to this place.
7 Nevertheless hear the word of the Lord which I speak in your ears, and in the ears of all the people:
8 The prophets that were before me and before you of old, also prophesied over much country, and against great kingdoms, concerning war.  
9 As for the prophet that has prophesied for peace, when the word has come to pass, they shall know the prophet whom the Lord has truly sent.”  
10 Then Hananiah took the yokes from the neck of Jeremiah in the sight of all the people, and broke them to pieces.
11 And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus said the Lord: Thus will I break the yoke of the king of Babylon from the necks of all the nations.” And Jeremiah went his way.
12 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after Hananiah had broken the yokes off his neck, saying,
13 “Go and speak to Hananiah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: You have broken the yokes of wood, but I will make yokes of iron in their place.
14 For thus said the Lord: I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all the nations, that they may serve the king of Babylon.’”
15 And Jeremiah said to Hananiah, “The Lord has not sent you; and you have caused this people to trust in unrighteousness.
16 Therefore thus said the Lord: ‘Behold, I will cast you off from the face of the earth—this year you shall die!’”
17 So he died in the seventh month.       

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 29   

Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles in Babylon
1 And these are the words of the book which Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, and to the false prophets, even an epistle to Babylon for the captivity, and to all the people:
2 (after the departure of Jeconiah the king, with the queen, the eunuchs, every freeman and bondsman, and craftsman, out of Jerusalem)
3 by the hand of Elasah son of Shaphan, and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to Babylon) saying,
4 “Thus said the Lord God of Israel concerning the captivity which I caused to be carried away from Jerusalem:
5 ‘Build houses, and inhabit them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruits thereof;
6 and take for yourselves wives, and bear sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, and be multiplied, and not diminished.
7 And seek the peace of the land into which I have carried you captive, and you shall pray to the Lord for the people: for in its peace you shall have peace.’  
8 ‘For thus says the Lord: Let not the false prophets that are among you persuade you, and let not your diviners persuade you, and do not heed the dreams which you dream.
9 For they prophesy to you unrighteous words in My name; and I did not send them.’
10 ‘For thus said the Lord: When seventy years shall be on the verge of being accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you, and I  will confirm My words to you, to bring back your people to this place.
11 And I will devise for you a plan of peace, and not evil, to bestow upon you these good things.
12 And pray to Me, and I will hear you; and you shall earnestly seek Me, and you shall find Me;
13 for you shall seek Me with your whole heart.
14 And I will appear to you.
15 Because you have said, ‘The Lord has appointed for us prophets in Babylon.’
16  (This verse omitted in LXX)
17  (This verse omitted in LXX)
18  (This verse omitted in LXX)
19  (This verse omitted in LXX)
20  (This verse omitted in LXX)
21 “Thus says the Lord concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah: Behold, I will deliver them into the hands of the king of Babylon; and he shall slay them in your sight.
22 And they shall make of them a curse in all the captivity of Judah in Babylon, saying, ‘The Lord do to you as He did to Zedekiah, and as He did to Ahab, whom the king of Babylon fried in the fire’;  
23 because of the iniquity which they have done in Israel, and because they committed adultery with the wives of their fellow citizens, and spoke a word in My name, which I did not command them to speak, and I am witness,” says the Lord.
24 “And to Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall say,
25 ‘I did not send you in My name.’ And to Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, say,
26 ‘The Lord has made you priest in the place of Jehoida the priest, to be ruler in the house of the Lord over every prophet, and to every madman, and you shall put them in prison, and into the dungeon.
27 And now, why have you together reviled Jeremiah of Anathoth, who prophesied to you?
28 Did he not send for this purpose? For in the course of this month he sent to you to Babylon, saying, “It is far off: build houses, and inhabit them; plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.”’”
29 And Zephaniah read the book in the ears of Jeremiah.
30 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,
31 “Send to the captivity, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Since Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I did not send him, and he has caused you to trust in iniquity,
32 therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will visit Shemaiah and his family; and there shall not be a man of them in the midst of you to see the good which I will do for My people; they shall not see it.’”       

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 30  

Restoration Promised for Israel and Judah
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2 “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book.
3 For behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will bring back the captivity of My people Israel and Judah; and I will bring them back to the land which I gave to their fathers, and they shall be masters over it,” says the Lord.
4 And these are the words which the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah:
5 “Thus said the Lord: You shall hear a sound of fear—fear, and not peace.
6 Ask, and see if a male has ever born a child? And ask concerning the fear, why they shall hold their loins, and look for safety; for I have seen every man, and his hands are on his loins; their faces have turned pale.  
7 For that day is great, and there is none like it; and it is a time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.
8 In that day, said the Lord, I will break the yoke off their neck, and will burst their bonds, and they shall no longer serve strangers.
9 But they shall serve the Lord their God; and I will raise up to them David their king.”
10  (This verse omitted in LXX)
11  (This verse omitted in LXX)
12 “Thus says the Lord: I have brought on you destruction. Your stroke is painful.
13 There is none to judge your cause; you have been painfully treated for healing, there is no help for you.
14 All your friends have forgotten you; they shall not ask about you at all, for I have struck you with the stroke of the enemy, even severe correction. Your sins have abounded above all your iniquity.
15 Your sins have abounded beyond the multitude of your iniquities, therefore they have done these things to you.
16 Therefore all that devour you shall be eaten, and all your enemies shall eat all their own flesh. And they that spoil you shall become a spoil, and I will give up to be plundered all that have plundered you.  
17 For I will bring about your healing, I will heal you of your grievous wound, says the Lord; for you are called Dispersed: she is your prey, for no one seeks after her.”
18 “Thus said the Lord: Behold, I will turn the captivity of Jacob, and will have pity upon his prisoners; and the city shall be built upon her hill, and the people shall settle after their manner.  
19 And there shall go forth from them singers, even the sound of men making merry, and I will multiply them, and they shall by no means be diminished.
20 And their sons shall go in as before, and their testimonies shall be established before Me, and I will visit those that afflict them.
21 And their mighty ones shall be over them, and their prince shall proceed of themselves; and I will gather them, and they shall return to Me; for who is this that has set his heart to return to Me?” says the Lord.
22 (This verse omitted in LXX)  
23 For the wrathful anger of the Lord has gone forth, even a whirlwind of anger has gone forth: it shall come upon the ungodly.
24 The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until He shall execute it, and until He shall establish the purpose of His heart. In the latter days you shall know these things.        

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 31  

The Joyful Return of the Exiles
1 “At that time, says the Lord, I will be a God to the family of Israel, and they shall be to Me a people.  
2 Thus says the Lord: I found him warm in the wilderness with them that were slain with the sword: therefore go and do not destroy Israel.”  
3 The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn you.
4 For I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel. You shall yet take your timbrel, and go forth with the party of them that make merry.
5 For you have planted vineyards on the mountains of Samaria. Plant, and praise.  
6 For it is a day when those that plead on the mountains of Ephraim shall call, saying, ‘Arise, and go up to Zion to the Lord your God.’”
7 “For thus says the Lord to Jacob: Rejoice, and exult over the head of the nations: make proclamation, and praise. Say, ‘The Lord has delivered His people, the remnant of Israel.’
8 Behold, I bring them from the north, and I will gather them from the end of the earth to the feast of the Passover: and the people shall beget a great multitude, and they shall return there.
9 They went forth with weeping, and I will bring them back with consolation, causing them to lodge by the channels of waters in a straight way, and they shall not err in it: for I have become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.  
10 “Hear the words of the Lord, you nations, and proclaim them to the islands afar off. Say, ‘He that scattered Israel will also gather him, and keep him as one that feeds his flock.’
11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, He has rescued him out of the hand of them that were stronger than he.
12 And they shall come, and shall rejoice in the mount of Zion, and shall come to the good things of the Lord, to a land of wheat, and wine, and fruits, and cattle, and sheep. And their soul shall be as a fruitful tree; and they shall hunger no more. 13 Then shall the virgins rejoice in the assembly of youth, and the old men shall rejoice; and I will turn their mourning into joy, and will make them merry.
14 I will expand and cheer with wine the soul of the priests, the sons of Levi, and My people shall be satisfied with My good things. Thus says the Lord.”  
15 A voice was heard in Ramah, that of lamentation, and of weeping, and wailing— Rachel would not cease weeping for her children, because they are not.  
16 “Thus says the Lord: Let your voice cease from weeping, and your eyes from your tears; for your work shall be rewarded, and they shall return from the land of your enemies. 17 There shall be an abiding home for your children.
18 “I have heard the sound of Ephraim lamenting, and saying, ‘You have chastened me, and I was chastened; I as a calf was not willingly taught: turn me, and I shall turn; for You are the Lord my God.
19 For after my captivity I repented, and after I knew, I groaned for the day of shame, and showed You that I bore reproach from my youth.’  
20 Ephraim is a beloved son, a pleasing child to Me: for because My words are in him, I will surely remember him. Therefore I made haste to help him. I will surely have mercy upon him, says the Lord.”
21 “Prepare yourself, O Zion; execute vengeance. Look to your ways; return, O virgin of Israel, by the way in which you went, return mourning to your cities.  22 How long, O disgraced daughter, will you turn away? For the Lord has created safety for a new plantation. Men shall go about in safety.
23 For thus says the Lord: “They shall yet speak this word in the land of Judah, and in its cities, when I shall turn his captivity: ‘Blessed be the Lord on His righteous holy mountain!’
24 And there shall be inhabitants in the cities of Judah, and in all his land, together with the farmers, and the shepherd shall go forth with the flock.  
25 For I have saturated every thirsting soul, and filled every hungry soul.”
26 Therefore I awoke, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet to me.
27 “Therefore behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and the seed of beast.
28 And it shall come to pass, that as I watched over them, to pull down, and to afflict, so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, says the Lord.
29 In those days they shall certainly not say, ‘The fathers ate a sour grape, and the children's teeth were set on edge.’
30 But everyone shall die in his own sin; and the teeth of him that eats the sour grape shall be set on edge.
31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah.  
32 Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took hold of their hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not abide in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.
33 For this is My covenant which I will make with the house of Israel: after those days, says the Lord, I will surely put My laws into their mind, and write them on their hearts. And I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people.  
34 And no more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord.’ For all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins I will remember no more.”
35 Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for a light by day, the moon and the stars for a light by night, and makes a roaring in the sea, so that its waves roar: the Lord Almighty is His name: 36 “If these ordinances cease from before Me, says the Lord, then shall the family of Israel cease to be a nation before Me forever.
37 Though the sky should be raised to a greater height, says the Lord, and though the ground of the earth should be sunk lower beneath, yet I will not cast off the family of Israel, says the Lord, for all that they have done.
38 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.
39 And the measurement of it shall proceed in front of them as far as the hills of Gareb, and it shall be compassed with a circular wall of choice stones.  
40 And all the Asaremoth, even to the Brook Kidron, as far as the corner of the Horse Gate eastward, shall be holiness to the Lord; and it shall not fail anymore, and shall not be destroyed forever.”        

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 32  

Jeremiah Buys a Field
1 The word that came from the Lord to Jeremiah in the tenth year of King Zedekiah, this is the eighteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
2 And the army of the king of Babylon had made a rampart against Jerusalem; and Jeremiah was kept in the court of the prison, which is in the king's house.
3 For King Zedekiah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you prophesy, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; 4 and Zedekiah shall by no means be delivered out of the hand of the Chaldeans, for he shall certainly be given up into the hands of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak to his mouth, and his eyes shall look upon his eyes;
5 and Zedekiah shall go into Babylon, and dwell there?’”  
6 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,
7 “Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallom your father's brother is coming to you, saying, ‘Buy my field that is in Anathoth: for you have the right of redemption, to buy it.’”
8 So Hanamel the son of Shallom my father's brother came to me into the court of the prison, and said, “Buy my field that is in the land of Benjamin, in Anathoth: for you have a right to buy it, and you are the elder.” So I knew that it was the word of the Lord.
9 And I bought the field of Hanamel the son of my father's brother, and I weighed him seventeen shekels of silver.
10 And I wrote it in a book, and sealed it, and took the testimony of witnesses, and weighed the money on the scales. 11 And I took the book of the purchase that was sealed;
12 and I gave it to Baruch son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my father's brother's son, and in the sight of the men that stood by and wrote in the book of the purchase, and in the sight of the Jews that were in the court of the prison.
13 And I charged Baruch in their presence, saying, Thus says the Lord Almighty:
14 “Take this book of the purchase, and the book that has been read; and you shall put it into an earthen vessel, that it may remain many days.
15 For thus says the Lord: There shall yet be bought fields and houses and vineyards in this land.”  
16 And I prayed to the Lord after I had given the book of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, saying,
17 “O great Lord! You have made the heaven and the earth by Your great power, and with Your high and outstretched arm; nothing can be hidden from You;
18 granting mercy to thousands, and recompensing the sins of the fathers into the bosoms of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God;  
19 the Lord of great counsel, and mighty in deeds, the Great Almighty God, and Lord of great name. Your eyes are upon the ways of the children of men, to give to everyone according to his way;
20 who has wrought signs and wonders in the land of Egypt even to this day, and in Israel, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and You made for Yourself a name, as it is this day; 21 and You brought out Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great sights.  
22 And You gave them this land, which You swore to their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey;
23 and they went in, and took it; but they did not heed Your voice, and did not walk in Your ordinances. They did none of the things which You commanded them, and they caused all these calamities to come upon them.
24 Behold, a multitude has come against the city, to take it; and the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans that fight against it, by the power of the sword, and the famine. As You have spoken, so has it happened.
25 And You have said to me, ‘Buy the field for money’; and I wrote a book, and sealed it, and took the testimony of witnesses: and the city was given into the hands of the Chaldeans.”  

God’s Assurance of the People’s Return
26 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
27 “I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: shall anything be hidden from Me?
28 Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel: This city shall certainly be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it:
29 and the Chaldeans shall come to war against this city, and they shall burn this city with fire, and shall burn down the houses where they burnt incense on its roofs to Baal, and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me.
30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah alone did evil in My sight from their youth.
31 For this city was obnoxious to My anger and My wrath, from the day that they built it, even to this day; that I should remove it from My presence,
32 because of all the wickedness of the children of Israel and Judah, which they have done to provoke Me, they and their kings, and their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
33 And they turned their backs to Me, and not their faces; though I taught them early in the morning, but they listened no more to receive instructions,
34 and they set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, by their uncleannesses.
35 And they built to Baal the altars that are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to offer their sons and their daughters to King Moloch; which things I did not command them, neither came it into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.  
36 “And now thus has the Lord God of Israel said concerning this city, of which you say, ‘It shall be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by famine, and banishment’:
37 “Behold, I will gather them out of every land, where I have scattered them in My anger, and My wrath, and great fury; and I will bring them back into this place, and will cause them to dwell safely:
38 and they shall be to Me a people, and I will be to them a God.
39 And I will give them another way, and another heart, to fear Me continually, and that for good to them and their children after them.
40 And I will make with them an everlasting covenant, which I will by no means turn away from them, and I will put My fear into their heart, that they may not depart from Me.
41 And I will visit them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, and with all My heart, and with all My soul.
42 “For thus says the Lord: As I have brought upon this people all these great evils, so will I bring upon them all the good things which I pronounced upon them.
43 And there shall yet be fields bought in the land, of which you say, ‘It shall be destitute of man and beast; and they are delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans.’
44 And they shall buy fields for money, and you shall write a book, and seal it, and shall take the testimony of witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountain, and in the cities of the plain, and in the cities of the south: for I will turn their captivity.”         


JEREMIAH CHAPTER 33  

Healing After Punishment
1 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, when he was yet bound in the court of the prison, saying,
2 “Thus says the Lord, who made the earth and formed it, to establish it; the Lord is His name:
3 Cry out to Me, and I will answer you, and I will declare to you great and mighty things, which you know not.
4 For thus says the Lord concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the king of Judah, which have been pulled down for mounds and fortifications,  
5 to fight against the Chaldeans, and to fill it with the corpses of men, whom I struck down in My anger and My wrath, and turned away My face from them, for all their wickedness:
6 ‘Behold, I bring upon her healing and a cure, and I will show Myself to them, and will heal her, and make both peace and security.
7 And I will turn the captivity of Judah, and the captivity of Israel, and will build them, even as before.
8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me, and I will not remember their sins by which they have sinned against Me, and revolted from Me.
9 And it shall be for joy and praise, and for glory to all the people of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I will do. And they shall fear and be provoked for all the good things and for all the peace which I will bring upon them.
10 Thus says the Lord: There shall yet be heard in this place, of which you say, It is destitute of men and cattle, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, the places that have been made desolate for lack of men and cattle,  
11 the voice of gladness, and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of men saying, ‘Give thanks to the Lord Almighty; for the Lord is good; for His mercy endures forever.’ And they shall bring gifts into the house of the Lord, for I will turn all the captivity of that land as before,’ says the Lord.
12 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: There shall yet be in this place, that is desolate of man and beast, and in all its cities, resting places for shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
13 In the cities of the hill country, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the cities round about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, flocks shall yet pass under the hand of him that numbers them,” says the Lord.
14  (This verse omitted in LXX)  
15 (This verse omitted in LXX)  
16 (This verse omitted in LXX)  
17 (This verse omitted in LXX)  
18 (This verse omitted in LXX)  
19 (This verse omitted in LXX)  
20 (This verse omitted in LXX)  
21 (This verse omitted in LXX)  
22 (This verse omitted in LXX)  
23 (This verse omitted in LXX)  
24 ( This verse omitted in LXX)  
25 (This verse omitted in LXX)  
26 (This verse omitted in LXX)    

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 34  

Death in Captivity Predicted for Zedekiah
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord (now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the country of his dominion, were fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah), saying,
2 “Thus says the Lord: Go to Zedekiah king of Judah, and you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: This city shall certainly be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it, and shall burn it with fire.
3 And you shall not escape out of his hand, but shall certainly be taken, and shall be given into his hands; and your eyes shall see his eyes, and you shall enter into Babylon.  
4 But hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah: Thus says the Lord:
5 You shall die in peace; and as they wept for your fathers that reigned before you, so shall they weep for you, saying, “Alas, lord!” And they shall lament for you down to the grave; for I have spoken the word, says the Lord.’”  
6 And Jeremiah spoke to King Zedekiah all these words in Jerusalem.
7 And the army of the king of Babylon fought against Jerusalem, and against the cities of Judah, and against Lachish, and against Azekah; for these fortified cities were left among the cities of Judah.  

Treacherous Treatment of Slaves
8 This is the word that came from the Lord to Jeremiah, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with the people, to proclaim a release:  
9 That every man should set his servant free, and every man his maidservant, the Hebrew man and Hebrew woman, that no one from Judah should be in bondage.
10 Then all the nobles, and all the people who had entered into the covenant, engaging to set free everyone of his male and female slaves, changed their minds,  
11 and gave them over to be male and female slaves.
12 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,
13 “Thus says the Lord: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying,
14 ‘When six years are accomplished, you shall set free your brother the Hebrew, who shall be sold to you; for he shall serve you six years, and then you shall let him go free.’ But they did not listen to Me, nor incline their ear.
15 And this day they turned to do that which was right in My sight, to proclaim everyone the release of his neighbor; and they had made a covenant before Me, in the house which is called by My name.
16 But you turned and profaned My name, to bring back everyone his servant, and everyone his maid, whom you had set free and at their own disposal, to be to you male and female slaves.  
17 Therefore thus said the Lord: You have not listened to Me, to proclaim a release everyone to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim a release to you, to the sword, and to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will give you up to dispersion among all the kingdoms of the earth.
18 And I will give the men that have transgressed My covenant, who have not kept My covenant, which they made before Me, the calf which they prepared to sacrifice with it,  
19 the princes of Judah, and the men in power, and the priests, and the people.
20 I will even give them to their enemies, and their carcasses shall be food for the birds of the sky and for the wild beasts of the earth.
21 And I will give Zedekiah king of Judah, and their princes, into the hands of their enemies, and the host of the king of Babylon shall come upon them that run away from them.
22 Behold, I will give command, says the Lord, and will bring them back to this land; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire, and the cities of Judah; and I will make them desolate without inhabitants.”        

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 35  

The Rechabites Commended
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, saying,
2 “Go to the house of the Rechabites, and you shall bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of the courts, and give them wine to drink.”
3 So I brought forth Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers, and his sons, and all the family of the Rechabites.
4 And I brought them into the house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Ananias, the son of Godolias, a man of God, who dwells near the house of the princes that are over the house of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, who kept the court.  
5 And I set before them a jar of wine, and cups, and I said, “Drink some wine.”
6 But they said, “We will by no means drink wine, for our father Jonadab the son of Rechab commanded us, saying, ‘You shall by no means drink wine, neither you, nor your sons, forever.
7 Neither shall you build houses, nor sow any seed, nor shall you have a vineyard; for you shall dwell in tents all your days, that you may live many days upon the land in which you sojourn.’
8 And we heeded the voice of Jonadab our father, so as to drink no wine all our days—we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters;
9 and so as to build no houses to dwell in. And we have had no vineyard, nor field, nor seed.
10 But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
11 And it came to pass, when Nebuchadnezzar came up against the land, that we said we would come in; and we entered into Jerusalem, for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Assyrians; and we dwelt there.”
12 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
13 “Thus says the Lord: Go, and say to the men of Judah, and to them that dwell in Jerusalem, ‘Will you not receive correction, and listen to My words?  
14 The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the word which he commanded his children, that they should drink no wine; and they have not drunk; but I spoke to you early, and you would not listen.
15 And I sent to you My servants the prophets, saying, ‘Turn, everyone from his evil way, and amend your practices, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and you shall dwell upon the land which I gave to you and to your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ears, and you would not listen.
16 But the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command of their father; but this people have not obeyed Me.
17 Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evils which I pronounced against them.”
18 “Therefore thus says the Lord: Since the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have obeyed the command of their father, to do as their father commanded them,
19 there shall never lack a man of the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab to stand before My face while the earth remains.”         

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 36  


The Scroll Read in the Temple
1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 “Take a scroll of a book, and write upon it all the words which I spoke to you against Jerusalem, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day when I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah king of Judah, even to this day.  
3 Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the evils which I purpose to do to them; that they may turn from their evil way; and so I will be merciful to their iniquities and their sins.”
4 So Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah. And he wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord, which He had spoken to him, on a roll of a book.
5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am in prison; I cannot enter into the house of the Lord.
6 So you shall read this scroll in the ears of the people in the house of the Lord, on the day of fasting; and in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities, you shall read to them.
7 Perhaps their supplication will come before the Lord, and they will turn from their evil way; for great is the wrath and the anger of the Lord, which He has pronounced against this people.”
8 And Baruch did according to all that Jeremiah commanded him—reading in the book the words of the Lord in the Lord's house.
9 And it came to pass in the eighth year of King Jehoiakim, in the ninth month, that all the people in Jerusalem and the house of Judah proclaimed a fast before the Lord.  
10 And Baruch read in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, in the house of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, in the entrance of the new gate of the house of the Lord, and in the ears of all the people.
11 And Michaiah the son of Gemariah the son of Shaphan heard all the words of the Lord, read from out of the book.
12 And he went down to the king's house, into the house of the scribe. And behold, there were sitting there all the princes, Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Jonathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes.
13 And Michaiah reported to them all the words which he had heard Baruch reading in the ears of the people.
14 And 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 read in the ears of the people, and come.” So Baruch took the scroll, and went down to them.
15 And they said to him, “Read it again in our ears.” And Baruch read it.
16 And it came to pass, when they heard all the words, that they took counsel each with his neighbor, and said, “Let us by all means tell the king all these words.”
17 And they asked Baruch, saying, “Where did you write all these words?”
18 And Baruch said, “Jeremiah told me from his own mouth all these words, and I wrote them in a book.”
19 And they said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah; let no man know where you are.”
20 And they went in to the king into the court, and gave the scroll to one to keep in the house of Elishama; and they told the king all these words.
21 And the king sent Jehudi to bring the scroll. And he took it out of the house of Elishama, and Jehudi read the scroll in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes who stood round the king.
22 Now the king was sitting in the winter house, and there was a fire on the hearth before him.
23 And it came to pass when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut them off with a penknife, and cast them into the fire that was on the hearth, until the whole scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.  
24 And the king and his servants that heard all these words did not seek the Lord, and did not tear their clothes.
25 But Elnathan and Gemariah suggested to the king that he should burn the scroll.
26 And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch and Jeremiah, but they were hidden.
27 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after the king had burnt the scroll, and all the words which Baruch had written by the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
28 “Again take another scroll, and write all the words that were on the scroll which King Jehoiakim has burned.  
29 And you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord: You have burned this scroll, saying, “Why have you written in here, saying, ‘The king of Babylon shall certainly come in, and destroy this land, and man and beast shall fail from off it?’”  
30 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall not have a man to sit on the throne of David, and his carcass shall be cast out in the heat by day, and in the frost by night.
31 And I will visit him, and his family, and his servants; and I will bring upon him, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the land of Judah, all the evils which I spoke of to them; and they did not heed.”
32 And Baruch took another scroll, and wrote upon it by the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim had burned. And there were yet more words added to it like the former.         

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 37  


Zedekiah’s Vain Hope
1 And Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar appointed to reign over Judah.  
2 And he and his servants and the people of the land would not listen to the words of the Lord, which He spoke by Jeremiah.
3 And King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the priest, son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah, saying, “Pray now for us to the Lord.”
4 Now Jeremiah came and went through the midst of the city, for they had not put him into the house of the prison.  
5 And Pharaoh’s army had come forth out of Egypt; and the Chaldeans heard the report of them, and they went up from Jerusalem.  
6 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,
7 “Thus says the Lord: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who sent to you, to seek Me: ‘Behold, the army of Pharaoh which has come forth to help you shall return to the land of Egypt.
8 And the Chaldeans themselves shall turn again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.
9 For thus says the Lord: Do not assume in your hearts, saying, ‘The Chaldeans will certainly depart from us’: for they shall not depart.
10 And though you should strike the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there should be left a few wounded men, these should rise up each in his place, and burn this city with fire.”

Jeremiah Imprisoned
11 And it came to pass, when the army of the Chaldeans had gone up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army,
12 that Jeremiah went forth from Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to buy some property from there among the people.  
13 And he was in the gate of Benjamin, and there was a man there with whom he lodged, Irajah the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he caught Jeremiah, saying, “You are fleeing to the Chaldeans!”
14 And he said, “That’s a lie! I am not fleeing to the Chaldeans!” But he would not listen to him. So Irajah caught Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.
15 And the princes were very angry with Jeremiah, and struck him, and sent him into the house of Jonathan the scribe, for they had turned his house into a prison.
16 So Jeremiah came into the dungeon, and into the cells, and he remained there many days.  
17 Then Zedekiah sent, and called him. And the king asked him secretly, saying, “Is there a word from the Lord?” And he said, “There is. You shall be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.”
18 And Jeremiah said to the king, “How have I wronged you, or your servants, or this people, that you have put me in prison?
19 And where are your prophets who prophesied to you saying, ‘The king of Babylon shall not come against this land?’
20 Now therefore, my lord the king, let my supplication come before your face; and why do you send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe? And by no means let me die there.”  
21 Then the king commanded, and they cast him into the prison, and gave him a loaf a day out of the place where they bake, until the bread failed out of the city. So Jeremiah continued in the court of the prison.        

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 38  


Jeremiah in the Cistern
1 And Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, heard the words which Jeremiah spoke to the people, saying,
2 “Thus says the Lord: He that remains in this city shall die by the sword, and by famine. But he that goes out to the Chaldeans shall live; and his life shall be to him as a found treasure, and he shall live.  
3 For thus says the Lord: This city shall certainly be delivered into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, and they shall take it.”  
4 And they said to the king, “Let that man be slain, for he weakens the hands of the fighting men that are left in the city, and the hands of all the people, speaking to them according to these words; for this man does not prophesy peace to this people, but evil.”
5 Then the king said, “Behold, he is in your hands.” (For the king could not resist them).
6 And they cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the king’s son, which was in the court of the prison; and they let him down into the pit: and there was no water in the pit, but mire. And he was in the mire.

Jeremiah Rescued my Ebed-Melech
7 And Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian heard (now he was in the king's household) that they had put Jeremiah into the dungeon; and the king was in the Gate of Benjamin.
8 And he went forth to him, and spoke to the king and said,
9 “You have wrought evil in what you have done to slay this man with hunger, for there is no more bread in the city.”
10 And the king commanded Ebed-Melech, saying, “Take with you thirty men from here, and bring him up out of the dungeon, lest he die.”
11 So Ebed-Melech took the men and went into the underground part of the king's house, and took from there old rags and old ropes, and threw them down to Jeremiah into the dungeon.
12 And he said, “Put these under the ropes.” And Jeremiah did so.
13 And they pulled him up with the ropes, and lifted him out of the dungeon. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

Zedekiah Consults Jeremiah Again
14 Then the king sent, and called Jeremiah to himself into the house of Aselisel, which was in the house of the Lord. And the king said to him, “I will ask you a question, and I pray you hide nothing from me.”
15 And Jeremiah said to the king, “If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will by no means listen to me.”
16 And the king swore to him, saying, “As the Lord lives, who gave us this soul, I will not slay you, neither will I give you into the hands of these men.”  
17 And Jeremiah said to him, Thus says the Lord: “If you will indeed go forth to the captains of the king of Babylon, your soul shall live, and this city shall certainly not be burned with fire; and you shall live, and your house.
18 But if you will not go forth, then this city shall be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall by no means escape.”
19 And the king said to Jeremiah, “I consider the Jews that have gone over to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hands, and they mock me.”  
20 And Jeremiah said, “They shall by no means deliver you up. Hear the word of the Lord which I speak to you; and it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live.
21 But if you will not go forth, this is the word which the Lord has shown me.”
22 And behold, all the women that are left in the house of the king of Judah were brought forth to the princes of the king of Babylon. And they said, “The men who were at peace with you have deceived you, and will prevail against you; and they shall cause your foot to slide and fail, they have turned back from you.
23 And they shall bring forth your wives and your children to the Chaldeans; and you shall by no means escape, for you shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned.”
24 Then the king said to him, “Let no man know any of these words, and certainly you shall not die.
25 And if the princes shall hear that I have spoken to you, and they come to you, and say to you, ‘Tell us, what did the king say to you? Do not hide it from us, and we will by no means kill you, and what did the king say to you?’
26 Then you shall say to them, ‘I brought my supplication before the presence of the king, that he would not send me back into the house of Jonathan, that I should die there.’”  
27 And all the princes came to Jeremiah, and asked him. And he told them according to all these words which the king had commanded him. And they were silent, because the word of the Lord was not heard.
28 And Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison, until the time when Jerusalem was taken.          

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 39  


The Fall of Jerusalem
1 And it came to pass in the ninth month of Zedekiah king of Judah, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, he and all his army, and they besieged it.
2 And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the city was penetrated.
3 And all the leaders of the king of Babylon went in, and sat in the middle gate, Marganasar, Samagoth, Nabusachar, Nabusaris, Nagargas, Naserrabamath, and the rest of the leaders of the king of Babylon,
4  (This verse omitted in LXX)  
5  (This verse omitted in LXX)  
6  (This verse omitted in LXX)  
7  (This verse omitted in LXX)  
8  (This verse omitted in LXX)  
9  (This verse omitted in LXX)  
10 (This verse omitted in LXX)  
11 (This verse omitted in LXX)  
12 (This verse omitted in LXX)  
13 (This verse omitted in LXX)  
14 and they sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. And they brought him out, and he sat in the midst of the people.
15 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in the court of the prison, saying,
16 “Go and say to Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, ‘Thus said the Lord God of Israel: Behold, I will bring My words upon this city for evil, and not for good.
17 But I will save you in that day, and I will by no means deliver you into the hands of the men before whom you are afraid.
18 For I will surely save you, and you shall by no means fall by the sword; and you shall find your life, because you trusted in Me, says the Lord.’”          

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 40  


Jeremiah with Gedaliah the Governor
1 The word that came from the Lord to Jeremiah, after that Nabuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go out of Ramah, when he had taken him in chains in the midst of the captivity of Judah, even those who were carried to Babylon.
2 And the chief captain of the guard took him, and said to him, “The Lord your God has pronounced all these evils upon this place;
3 and the Lord has done it; because you sinned against Him, and did not heed His voice.
4 Behold, I have loosed you from the chains that were upon your hands. If it seems good to you to go with me to Babylon, then will I set my eyes upon you.
5 But if not, depart. Return to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed governor in the land of Judah, and dwell with him in the midst of the people in the land of Judah. Or go to wherever places seems good in your sight to go.” And the captain of the guard made him presents, and let him go.  
6 And he came to Gedaliah, to Mizpah, and dwelt among his people that were left in the land.
7 And all the leaders of the army that were in the country, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor in the land, and they committed to him the men and their wives whom Nebuchadnezzar had not taken to Babylon.
8 And there came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah son of a Maachathite, they and their men.
9 And Gedaliah swore to them and to their men, saying, “Do not be afraid before the children of the Chaldeans; dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
10 And behold, I dwell in your presence at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans who shall come against you. And gather grapes, and fruits, and oil, and put them into your vessels, and dwell in the cities which you have obtained possession of.”
11 And all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and those that were in Edom, and those that were in all the rest of the country, heard that the king of Babylon had granted a remnant to Judah, and that he had appointed over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.
12 And they came to Gedaliah into the land of Judah, to Mizpah, and gathered grapes, and very much summer fruit, and oil.
13 And Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the army, who were in the fields, came to Gedaliah at Mizpah,
14 and said to him, “Do you indeed know that King Baalis son of Ammon has sent Ismael to you, to kill you?” But Gedaliah did not believe them.
15 And Johanan said to Gedaliah secretly in Mizpah, “I will go now and kill Ishmael, and let no man know it; lest he kill you, and all the Jews that are gathered to you be dispersed, and the remnant of Judah perish.”
16 But Gedaliah said to Johanan, “Do not do this thing, for you speak lies concerning Ishmael.”        

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 41  


Insurrection Against Gedaliah
1 Now it came to pass in the seventh month that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama of the royal family came, and ten men with him, to Gedaliah, at Mizpah. And they ate bread there together.
2 And Ishmael rose up, and the ten men that were with him, and killed Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had appointed governor over the land,
3 and all the Jews that were with him at Mizpah, and all the Chaldeans that were found there.
4 And it came to pass on the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, and no man knew,
5 that there came men from Shechem, and from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men, having their beards shaven, and their clothes torn, and beating their breasts, and they had manna and frankincense in their hands, to bring into the house of the Lord.
6 And Ishmael went out to meet them; and they went on and wept. And he said to them, “Come in to Gedaliah.”
7 And it came to pass, when they had entered into the midst of the city, that he killed them and cast them into a pit.
8 But ten men were found there, and they said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us, for we have treasures in the field, wheat and barley, honey and oil.” So he passed by, and did not kill them in the midst of their brothers.
9 Now the pit into which Ishmael cast all whom he killed is the great pit, which King Asa had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel. Ismael filled this with the slain.  
10 And Ishmael brought back all the people that were left in Mizpah, and the king's daughter, whom the captain of the guard had committed in charge to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. And he went away beyond the children of Ammon.  
11 And Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the leaders of the army that were with him, heard of all the evil deeds which Ishmael had done.
12 And they brought all their army, and went to fight against him, and found him near much water in Gibeon.  
13 And it came to pass, that when all the people that were with Ishmael saw Johanan, and the leaders of the army that were with him,
14 that they returned to Johanan.
15 But Ishmael escaped with eight men and went to the children of Ammon.
16 And Johanan, and all the leaders of the army that were with him, took all the remnant of the people, whom he had brought back from Ishmael, mighty men in war, and the women, and the other property, and the eunuchs, whom they had brought back from Gibeon;
17 and they departed, and dwelt in Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go into Egypt, for fear of the Chaldeans;
18 for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael had killed Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had appointed in the land.        

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 42  


Jeremiah Advises Survivors Not to Migrate
1 Then all the leaders of the army came, and Johanan, and Azarias the son of Maasaiah, and all the people great and small,
2 to Jeremiah the prophet, and said to him, “Let now our supplication come before your face, and pray to the Lord your God for this remnant; for we are left but a few out of many, as your eyes see.
3 And let the Lord your God declare to us the way in which we should walk, and the thing which we should do.”
4 And Jeremiah said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I will pray for you to the Lord our God, according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever word the Lord God shall answer, I will declare to you; I will not hide anything from you.”  
5 And they said to Jeremiah, “Let the Lord be between us for a just and faithful witness, if we do not according to every word which the Lord shall send to us.
6 And whether it be good or bad, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send you; that it may be well with us, because we shall obey the voice of the Lord our God.”
7 And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.
8 And he called Johanan, and the leaders of the army, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,
9 and he said to them, “Thus says the Lord:
10 If you will indeed dwell in this land, I will build you, and will not pull you down, and I will plant you, and by no means pluck you up; for I have ceased from the calamities which I brought upon you.  
11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; do not fear him, says the Lord. For I am with you, to deliver you, and save you out of their hand.
12 And I will grant you mercy, and pity you, and will restore you to your land.
13 ‘But if you say, “We will not dwell in this land,” and so not listen to the voice of the Lord;
14 “and we will go into the land of Egypt, and we shall see no war, and shall not hear the sound of a trumpet, and we shall not hunger for bread; and there we will dwell”—
15 then hear the word of the Lord. “Thus says the Lord:
16 If you set your face toward Egypt, and go in there to dwell; then it shall be that the sword in which you fear shall find you in the land of Egypt, and the famine in which you have regard, shall overtake you in Egypt; and there you shall die.
17 And all the men, and all the strangers who have set their face toward the land of Egypt to dwell there, shall be consumed by the sword, and by the famine; and there shall not one of them escape from the evils which I bring upon them.  
18 “For thus says the Lord: As My wrath has dropped upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall My wrath drop upon you, when you have entered into Egypt. And you shall be a desolation, and under the power of others, and a curse and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more.”
19 Thus says the Lord concerning you the remnant of Judah: “Do not go into Egypt.” And now know this for certain,
20 that you have wrought wickedness in your hearts, when you sent for me, saying, “Pray for us to the Lord; and according to all that the Lord shall speak to you we will do.”  
21 And you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, with which He sent me to you.
22 Now therefore you shall perish by the sword and by famine, in the place in which you desire to dwell.        

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 43  


Jeremiah Taken to Egypt
1 And it came to pass, when Jeremiah ceased speaking to the people all the words of the Lord, for which the Lord had sent him to them,
2 that Azariah son of Hoshaiah spoke, and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the men who had spoken to Jeremiah, saying, “You speak falsely! The Lord has not sent you to us, saying, ‘Do not go into Egypt, to dwell there.  
3 But Baruch the son of Neriah sets you against us, that you may deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, to kill us, and that we should be carried away captive to Babylon.”
4 So Johanan, and all the leaders of the army, and all the people, refused to obey the voice of the Lord, to dwell in the land of Judah.
5 And Johanan, and all the leaders of the army, took all the remnant of Judah, who had returned to dwell in the land;  
6 the mighty men, and the women, and the children that were left, and the daughters of the king, and the people which Nebuzaradan had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.
7 And they came into Egypt, for they would not obey the voice of the Lord, and they entered into Tahpanhes.
8 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,
9 “Take for yourself large stones, and hide them in the entrance, at the gate of the house of Pharaoh in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah.
10 And you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will send, and will bring Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall place his throne upon these stones which you have hidden, and he shall lift up weapons against them.  
11 And he shall enter in, and strike the land of Egypt, and deliver to death those appointed for death; and to captivity those appointed for captivity; and to the sword those appointed for the sword.
12 And he shall kindle a fire in the houses of their gods, and shall burn them, and shall carry them away captives; and shall search the land of Egypt, as a shepherd searches his garment; and he shall go forth in peace.  
13 And he shall break to pieces the pillars of Heliopolis that are in On, and shall burn their houses with fire.”       

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 44  


Denunciation of Persistent Idolatry
1 The word that came to Jeremiah for all the Jews dwelling in the land of Egypt, and for those settled in Migdol and in Tahpanhes, and in the land of Pathura, saying,
2 “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: You have seen all the evils which I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon the cities of Judah; and behold, they are desolate without inhabitants,
3 because of their wickedness which they have done to provoke Me, by going to burn incense to other gods, whom you did not know.
4 Yet I sent to you My servants the prophets early in the morning; and I sent, saying, ‘Do not do this abominable thing which I hate.’  
5 But they would not listen to Me, and would not incline their ear to turn from their wickedness, so as not to burn incense to strange gods.
6 So My anger and My wrath fell upon them, and was kindled in the gates of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they became a desolation and a waste, as it is this day.  
7 And now thus says the Lord Almighty: Why do you commit these great evils against your souls, to cut off man and woman from you, infant and suckling from the midst of Judah, to the end that not one of you should be left;
8 by provoking Me with the works of your hands, to burn incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, into which you entered to dwell there, that you might be cut off, and that you might become a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
9 Have you forgotten the sins of your fathers, and the sins of the kings of Judah, and the sins of your princes, and the sins of your wives, which they did in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?  
10 And have not ceased even to this day, and they have not kept My ordinances, which I set before their fathers.
11 “Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I set My face against you,
12 to destroy all the remnant that are in Egypt; and they shall fall by the sword, and by famine, and shall be consumed, small and great; and they shall be for a reproach, and for destruction, and for a curse.
13 And I will visit them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have visited Jerusalem, with sword and with famine.  
14 And there shall not one be preserved of the remnant of Judah that sojourn in the land of Egypt, to return to the land of Judah, to which they hope in their hearts to return. They shall not return, but only they that escape.”
15 Then all the men that knew that their wives burned incense, and all the women, a great multitude, and all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,  
16 “As for the word which you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you.
17 For we will surely perform every word that shall proceed out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour drink offerings to her, as we and our fathers have done, and our kings and princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem. And so we were filled with bread, and were well, and saw no evils.
18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, we have all been brought low, and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.  
19 And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured drink offerings to her, did we make cakes to her, and pour drink offerings to her, without our husbands?”
20 Then Jeremiah answered all the people, the mighty men, and the women, and all the people that returned him these words for an answer, saying,
21 “Did not the Lord remember the incense which you burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem—you, and your fathers, and your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land? Did it not enter into His heart?
22 And the Lord could no longer bear you, because of the wickedness of your doings, and because of your abominations which you wrought; and so your land became a desolation and a waste, and a curse, as it is this day.
23 Because of your burning incense, and because of the things in which you sinned against the Lord. And you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, and you have not walked in His ordinances, and in His law, and in His testimonies; and so these evils have come upon you.”  
24 And Jeremiah said to the people, and to the women, “Hear the word of the Lord.
25 Thus says the Lord God of Israel: You women have spoken with your mouth, and you have fulfilled it with your hands, saying, ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour drink offerings to her.’ Full well did you keep to your vows, and you have indeed performed them.
26 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all you Jews dwelling in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by My great name, says the Lord, My name shall no longer be in the mouth of every Jew to say, ‘The Lord lives,’ in all the land of Egypt.  
27 For I have watched over them, to hurt them, and not to do them good. And all the Jews dwelling in the land of Egypt shall perish by sword and by famine, until they are utterly consumed.  
28 And they that escape the sword shall return to the land of Judah few in number, and the remnant of Judah, who have continued in the land of Egypt to dwell there, shall know whose word shall stand.  
29 And this shall be a sign to you, that I will visit you for evil.
30 Thus said the Lord: Behold, I will give Hophra king of Egypt into the hands of his enemy, and into the hands of one that seeks his life, as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and who sought his life.”        

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 45  


A Word of Comfort to Baruch
1 The word which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in the book by the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.
2 Thus says the Lord to you, O Baruch:  
3 “Seeing that you have said, ‘Alas! alas! For the Lord has laid a grievous trouble upon me; I lay down in groaning, and I find no rest.’
4 Thus you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I pull down those whom I have built up, and I pluck up those whom I have planted.
5 And will you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For behold, I bring evil upon all flesh, says the Lord; but I will give to you your life for a prize in every place that you go.”         


JEREMIAH CHAPTER 46  


Judgment of Egypt
1 In the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah, there came this word concerning the nations.
2 For Egypt, against the power of Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt, who was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim king of Judah:
3 “Take up arms and spears, and draw close to battle;  
4 and harness the horses. Mount, you horsemen, and stand ready in your helmets; advance the spears, and put on your breastplates.
5 Why do they fear, and turn back? Even their mighty men shall be slain; they have utterly fled, and being hemmed in they have not rallied, says the Lord.  
6 Let not the swift flee, and let not the mighty man escape to the north. Those at the Euphrates have become feeble, and they have fallen.
7 Who is this that shall come up as a river, and as rivers roll their waves?  
8 The waters of Egypt shall come up like a river. And he said, ‘I will go up, and will cover the earth, and will destroy its inhabitants.’
9 Mount the horses, prepare the chariots; go forth, you warriors of the Ethiopians, and Libyans armed with shields; and mount, you Libyans, bend the bow.  
10 And that day shall be to the Lord our God a day of vengeance, to take vengeance on His enemies. And the sword of the Lord shall devour, and be glutted, and be drunken with their blood; for the Lord has a sacrifice from the land of the north at the River Euphrates.
11 Go up to Gilead, and take balm for the virgin daughter of Egypt. In vain have you multiplied your medicines; there is no help for you.  
12 The nations have heard your voice, and the land has been filled with your cry; for the warriors have fainted fighting, one against another, and both have fallen together.”

Babylonia Will Strike Egypt
13 The words which the Lord spoke by Jeremiah, concerning the coming of the king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt.
14 “Proclaim it at Migdol, and declare it at Memphis. Say, ‘Stand up, and prepare; for the sword has devoured your yew tree.’
15 Why has Apis fled from you? Your choice calf has not remained; for the Lord has utterly weakened him.  
16 And your multitude has fainted and fallen; and each one has said to his neighbor, ‘Let us arise, and return into our country to our people, from the Grecian sword.’
17 Call on the name of Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt; he has passed the appointed time.  
18 As I live, says the Lord God, he shall come, surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel that is on the sea.
19 O daughter of Egypt dwelling at home, prepare for yourselves stuff for removing: for Memphis shall be utterly desolate, and shall be called ‘Woe,’ because there are no inhabitants in it.
20 “Egypt is a fair heifer, but destruction from the north has come upon her.
21 Also her hired soldiers in the midst of her are as fatted calves fed in her; for they also have turned, and fled with one accord. They did not stand, for the day of destruction had come upon them, and the time of their retribution.
22 Their voice is as that of a hissing serpent, for they go upon the sand. They shall come upon Egypt with axes, as men that cut wood.
23 They shall cut down her forest, says the Lord, for their number cannot at all be determined, for it exceeds the locust in multitude, and they are innumerable. 24 The daughter of Egypt is confounded; she is delivered into the hands of a people from the north.
25 Behold, I will avenge Ammon her son upon Pharaoh, and upon them that trust in him.”  
26  (This verse omitted in LXX)  

God Will Preserve Israel
27 “But fear not, My servant Jacob, neither be alarmed, Israel; for behold, I will save you from afar, and your descendants from their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be at ease, and sleep, and there shall be no one to trouble him.
28 Do not fear, My servant Jacob, says the Lord; for I am with you. She that was without fear and in luxury, has been delivered up; for I will make a full end of every nation among whom I have thrust you forth. But I will not cause you to fail. Yet will I chastise you in the way of judgment, and will not hold you entirely guiltless.”        


JEREMIAH CHAPTER 47  

Judgment on the Philistines
1 Thus says the Lord against the Philistines:
2 “Behold, waters come up from the north, and shall become a sweeping torrent, and it shall sweep away the land, and its fullness. The city, and them that dwell in it; and men shall cry and all that dwell in the land shall howl,
3 at the sound of his rushing, at the sound of his hoofs, and at the rattling of his chariots, at the noise of his wheels. The fathers did not turn to their children because of the weakness of their hands,
4 in the day that is coming to destroy all the Philistines. And I will utterly destroy Tyre and Sidon and all the rest of their allies; for the Lord will destroy the remaining inhabitants of the islands.
5 Baldness has come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cast away, and the remnant of the Enakim.”
6 “How long will you strike, O sword of the Lord? How long will it be till you are quiet? Return into your sheath; rest, and be removed.  
7 How shall it be quiet, seeing the Lord has given it a commission against Ashkelon, and against the regions on the sea coast, to awake against the remaining countries!”          

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 48  


Judgment on Moab
1 Thus says the Lord concerning Moab: “Woe to Nebo! For it has perished. Kirjathaim is taken; Amath and Agath are put to shame.
2 There is no longer any healing for Moab, nor glorying in Heshbon. He has devised evils against her. We have cut her off from being a nation, and she shall be completely still. After you shall go a sword;
3 for there is a voice of men crying out of Horonaim, destruction and great ruin.
4 Moab is ruined, proclaim it to Zoar;
5 for Aloth is filled with weeping; one shall go up weeping by the way of Horonaim; you have heard a cry of destruction.
6 “Flee, and save your lives, and you shall be as a wild donkey in the desert.
7 Since you have trusted in your stronghold, therefore you shall be taken; and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, and his priests, and his princes together.
8 And destruction shall come upon every city, it shall by no means escape. The valley also shall perish, and the plain country shall be completely destroyed, as the Lord has said.
9 Set marks upon Moab, for she shall be hit with a plague, and all her cities shall become desolate; where shall there be an inhabitant for her?  
10 Cursed is the man that does the works of the Lord carelessly, keeping back his sword from blood.
11 “Moab has been at ease from a child, and trusted in his glory; he has not poured out his liquor from vessel to vessel, and has not gone into banishment, therefore his taste remained in him, and his smell did not depart.
12 Therefore behold, his days are coming, says the Lord, when I shall send upon him bad leaders, and they shall lead him astray, and they shall utterly break in pieces his possessions, and shall cut off his horns.
13 And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their hope, having trusted in them.
14 How will you say, ‘We are strong, and men strong for war?’
15 Moab is ruined, even his city, and his choice young men have gone down to slaughter.
16 The day of Moab is near at hand, and his iniquity moves swiftly to vengeance.
17 Shake the head at him, all you that are round about him; all of you utter his name. Say, ‘How is the glorious staff broken to pieces, the rod of magnificence!’
18 Come down from your glory, and sit down in a damp place. Dibon shall be broken, because Moab is destroyed. There has gone up against you one to ravage your stronghold.
19 Stand by the way, and look, you that dwell in Aroer; and ask him that is fleeing, and him that escapes, and say, ‘What has happened?’
20 Moab is put to shame, because he is broken. Howl and cry, proclaim in Arnon, that Moab has perished.
21 And judgment is coming against the land of Misor, upon Chelon, and Rephas, and Mophas,
22 and upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth Diblathaim,
23 and upon Kirjathaim, and upon Beth Gamul, and upon Beth Meon,
24 and upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of Moab, far and near.
25 The horn of Moab is broken, and his arm is crushed.
26 “Make him drunk; for he has magnified himself against the Lord. And Moab shall clap with his hand, and shall be also himself a laughing stock.
27 For surely Israel was to you a laughing stock, and was found among your thefts, because you fought against him.
28 The inhabitants of Moab have left the cities, and dwelt in rocks; they have become as doves nestling in rocks, at the mouth of a cave.
29 And I have heard of the pride of Moab, he has greatly heightened his pride and his haughtiness, and his heart has been lifted up.
30 But I know his works. Is it not enough for him? Has he not done thus?
31 Therefore howl for Moab on all sides; cry out against the shorn men in a gloomy place. I will weep for you,
32 O vine of Sibmah, as with the weeping of Jazer. Your branches are gone over the sea, they reached the cities of Jazer; destruction has come upon your fruits, and upon your grape gatherers.  
33 Joy and gladness have been utterly swept off the land of Moab; and though there was wine in your presses, in the morning they did not tred the grapes, neither in the evening did they raise the cry of joy.
34 “From the cry of Heshbron even to Elealeh their cities uttered their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim, and their tidings as a heifer of three years old, for the water also of Nimrim shall be dried up.  
35 And I will destroy Moab, says the Lord, as he comes up to the altar, and burns incense to his gods.
36 Therefore the heart of Moab shall sound as pipes, My heart shall sound as a pipe for the shorn men; forasmuch as what every man has gained has perished from him.
37 They shall all have their heads shaved in every place, and every beard shall be shaved; and all hands shall beat their breasts, and on all loins shall be sackcloth.  
38 And on all the housetops of Moab, and in his streets shall be mourining; for I have broken him, says the Lord, as a vessel, which is useless.
39 How has he changed! How has Moab turned his back! Moab is put to shame, and become a laughing stock, and an object of anger to all that are round about him.  
40 “For thus said the Lord:
41 Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds have been taken together.
42 And Moab shall perish from being a multitude, because he has magnified himself against the Lord.
43 A snare, and fear, and the pit, are upon you, O inhabitant of Moab.
44 He that flees from the terror shall fall into the pit, and he that comes up out of the pit shall even be taken in the snare; for I will bring these things upon Moab in the year of their visitation.”
45 (This verse omitted in LXX)  
46 (This verse omitted in LXX)  
47 (This verse omitted in LXX)  

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 49  


Judgment on Ammon
1 Concerning the sons of Ammon, thus says the Lord: “Are there no sons in Israel? Or have they no one to succeed them? Why has Milcom inherited Gilead, and why shall their people dwell in their cities?
2 Therefore behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will cause a tumult of wars to be heard in Rabbah; and they shall become a waste and ruined place, and her altars shall be burned with fire; then shall Israel succeed to his dominion.  
3 Howl, O Heshbron, for Ai has perished; cry, you daughters of Rabbah, gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament; for Milcom shall go into banishment, his priests and his princes together.
4 Why do you boast in the plains of the Enakim, you haughty daughter, that trust in your treasures, that say, Who shall come in to me?
5 Behold, I will bring terror upon you, says the Lord, from all the country round about you; and you shall be scattered, everyone right before him, and there is none to gather you.”
6 (This verse omitted in LXX)  

Judgment on Edom
7 Concerning Edom, thus says the Lord: “There is no longer wisdom in Teman, counsel has perished from the wise ones, their wisdom is gone,
8 their place has been deceived. Dig deep for a dwelling, you that inhabit Dedan, for he has wrought grievously. I have brought trouble upon him in the time at which I visited him.
9 For grape gatherers have come, who shall not leave to you a remnant; as thieves by night, they shall lay their hand upon your possessions.
10 For I have stripped Esau, I have uncovered their secret places; they shall have no power to hide themselves, they have perished, each by the hand of his brother, My neighbor, and it is impossible
11 for your fatherless one to be left to live, but I shall live, and the widows trust in Me.
12 “For thus says the Lord: They who were not appointed to drink the cup have drunk; and you shall by no means be cleared.  
13 For by Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, that you shall be in the midst of her an impassable land, and a reproach, and a curse; and all her cities shall be deserted forever.”
14 I have heard a report from the Lord, and He has sent messengers to the nations, saying, “Assemble yourselves, and come against her; rise up to war.
15 I have made you small among the nations, utterly contemptible among men.
16 Your insolence has risen up against you, the fierceness of your heart has burst the holes of the rocks, it has seized upon the strength of a lofty hill; for as an eagle he set his nest on high; from there will I bring you down.  
17 And Edom shall be a desert; everyone that passes by shall hiss at it.
18 As Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown, and they that sojourned in her, says the Lord Almighty, no man shall dwell there, nor shall any son of man inhabit there.
19 Behold, he shall come up as a lion out of the midst of the Jordan to the place of Etham; for I will speedily drive them from it, and I will set the young men against her; for who is like Me? And who will withstand Me? And who is this shepherd, who shall confront Me?  
20 “Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord which He has framed against Edom, and his device, which he has devised against the inhabitants of Teman: surely the least of the sheep shall be swept off; surely their dwelling shall be made desolate for them.
21 For at the sound of their fall the earth was scared, and the cry of the sea was not heard.
22 Behold, He shall look upon her as an eagle, and spread forth His wings over her strongholds; and the heart of the mighty men of Edom shall be in that day as the heart of a woman in her pangs.”

Judgment on Damascus
23 Concerning Damascus: “Hamath is brought to shame, and Arpad; for they have heard an evil report. They are amazed, they are angry, they shall be utterly unable to rest.
24 Damascus is utterly weakened, she is put to flight; trembling has seized upon her.
25 How has she not left My city, they have loved the village?
26 Therefore shall the young men fall in your streets, and all your warriors shall fall, says the Lord.
27 And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall devour the streets of the son of Ader.”

Judgment on Kedar and Hazor
28 Concerning Kedar, the queen of the palace, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck, thus says the Lord: “Arise, and go up to Kedar, and fill the sons of Kedem.  
29 They shall take their tents and their sheep, they shall take for themselves their garments, and all their baggage and their camels; and summon destruction against them from every side.  
30 Flee, dig very deep for a dwelling place, you that dwell in the palace; for the king of Babylon has framed a counsel, and devised a plan against you.
31 Rise up, and go up against a nation settled and dwelling at ease, who have no doors, nor bolts, nor bars, who dwell alone.  
32 And their camels shall be a spoil, and the multitude of their cattle shall be destroyed; and I will scatter them as chaff with every wind, having their hair cut about their foreheads; I will bring on their overthrow from all sides,” says the Lord.
33 “And the palace shall be a resting place for ostriches, and desolate forever. No man shall abide there, and no son of man shall dwell there.”

Judgment on Elam
34 The prophecies of Jeremiah against the nations of Elam:  
35 Thus says the Lord: “The bow of Elam is broken, even the chief of their power.
36 And I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four corners of heaven, and I will disperse them toward all these winds; and there shall be no nation to which they shall not come, even the outcasts of Elam.  
37 And I will put them in fear before their enemies that seek their life; and I will bring evils upon them according to My great anger; and I will send forth My sword after them, until I have utterly destroyed them.
38 And I will set My throne in Elam, and I will send forth from there king and rulers.
39 But it shall come to pass at the end of days, that I will turn the captivity of Elam,” says the Lord.         

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 50  


Judgment on Babylon
1 The word of the Lord which He spoke against Babylon:
2 “Proclaim among the Gentiles, and cause the tidings to be heard, and do not suppress them. Say, ‘Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded; the fearless, the luxurious Merodach is delivered up.’
3 For a nation has come up against her from the north, he shall utterly ravage her land, and there shall be none to dwell in it, neither man nor beast.
4 “In those days, and at that time, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall proceed, weeping as they go, seeking the Lord their God.
5 They shall ask the way till they come to Zion, for that way shall they set their face; and they shall come and flee for refuge to the Lord their God; for the everlasting covenant shall not be forgotten.
6 “My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds thrust them out, they caused them to wander on the mountains; they went from mountain to hill, they forgot their resting place.
7 All that found them consumed them. Their enemies said, ‘Let us not leave them alone, because they have sinned against the Lord. He that gathered their fathers had a pasture of righteousness.’
8 “Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and from the land of the Chaldeans, and go forth, and be as serpents before sleep.  
9 For behold, I shall stir up against Babylon the gatherings of nations out of the land of the north, and they shall set themselves in array against her. From there shall she be taken, as the dart of an expert warrior shall not return empty.  10 And Chaldea shall be a spoil. All that spoil her shall be satisfied.
11 “Because you rejoiced, and boasted, while plundering My heritage; because you exulted as calves in the grass, and pushed with the horn as bulls.
12 Your mother is greatly ashamed; your mother that bore you for prosperity is confounded. She is the last of the nations, desolate,
13 by reason of the Lord's anger. It shall not be inhabited, but it all shall be a desolation; and everyone that passes through Babylon shall scowl, and they shall hiss at all her plagues.  
14 Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all you that bend the bow; shoot at her, do not spare your arrows,
15 and prevail against her. Her hands are weakened, her bulwarks are fallen, and her wall is broken down; for it is vengeance from God. Take vengeance upon her; as she has done, so do to her.
16 Utterly destroy the seed out of Babylon, and him that holds a sickle in time of harvest; for fear of the Grecian sword, they shall return everyone to his people, and everyone shall flee to his own land.
17 “Israel is a wandering sheep; the lions have driven him out. The king of Assyria first devoured him, and afterward this king of Babylon has gnawed his bones.
18 Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will take vengeance on the king of Babylon, and upon his land, as I took vengeance on the king of Assyria.
19 And I will restore Israel to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and on Mount Ephraim and in Gilead, and his soul shall be satisfied.
20 In those days, and at that time, they shall seek for the iniquity of Israel, and there shall be none; and for the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for I will be merciful to them that are left on the land, says the Lord.  
21 Go up against it roughly, and against them that dwell on it. Avenge, O sword, and destroy utterly, says the Lord, and do according to all that I command you.  
22 A sound of war, and great destruction in the land of the Chaldeans!
23 How has the hammer of the whole earth been broken and crushed! How has Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
24 They shall come upon you, and you shall not know it, O Babylon, that you will even be taken captive. You are found and taken, because you resisted the Lord.
25 The Lord has opened His treasury, and brought forth the weapons of His anger; for the Lord God has a work in the land of the Chaldeans.
26 For her times have come. Open her storehouses; search her as a cave, and utterly destroy her; let there be no remnant of her.
27 Dry up all her fruits, and let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, and the time of their retribution.
28 A voice of men fleeing and escaping from the land of Babylon, to declare to Zion the vengeance that comes from the Lord our God.
29 “Summon many against Babylon, everyone that bends the bow. Camp against her round about; let none of her people escape. Render to her according to her works, according to all that she has done, do to her; for she has resisted the Lord, the Holy God of Israel.
30 Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her warriors shall be cast down, says the Lord.
31 Behold, I am against you, O haughty one, says the Lord; for your day has come, and the time of your retribution.
32 And your pride shall fail, and fall, and there shall be no one to set it up again. And I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all things round about her.
33 “Thus says the Lord: The children of Israel and the children of Judah have been oppressed. All those that have taken them captive have oppressed them together, for they would not let them go.
34 But their Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is His name. He will enter into judgment with His adversaries, that He may destroy the earth;
35 and He will sharpen a sword against the Chaldeans, and against the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her nobles and upon her wise men.
36 A sword upon her warriors, and they shall be weakened. A sword upon their horses, and upon their chariots.
37 A sword upon their warriors and upon the mixed people in the midst of her; and they shall be as women. A sword upon the treasures, and they shall be scattered upon her water,
38 and they shall be ashamed; for it is a land of graven images; and in the islands, where they boasted.
39 Therefore shall idols dwell in the islands, and the young ostriches shall dwell in it. It shall not be inhabited anymore, forever.  
40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities bordering upon them, says the Lord: no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn there.
41 “Behold, a people comes from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be stirred up from the end of the earth, holding bow and dagger.
42 The people are fierce, and will have no mercy; their voices shall sound as the sea, they shall ride upon horses, prepared for war, like fire, against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon heard the sound of them, and his hands grew feeble. Anguish overcame him, pangs as of a woman in travail.
44 Behold, he shall come up as a lion from Jordan to Gaethan; for I will speedily drive them from her, and I will set all the youths against her; for who is like Me? And who will resist Me? And who is this shepherd who will stand before Me?  
45 Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord, which He has taken against Babylon; and His devices, which He has devised upon the Chaldeans inhabiting it. Surely lambs of their flock shall be destroyed. Surely pasture shall be cut off from them.
46 Or at the sound of the taking of Babylon the earth shall quake, and a cry shall be heard among the nations.”        

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 51  

1 Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I stir up against Babylon, and against the Chaldeans dwelling there, a deadly burning wind.
2 And I will send forth against Babylon spoilers, and they shall spoil her, and shall ravage her land. Woe to Babylon round about her in the day of her affliction.
3 Let the archer bend his bow, and him that has armor put it on, and do not spare her young men, but destroy all her host.
4 And slain men shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and men pierced through shall fall without it.
5 For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken of their God, of the Lord Almighty; whereas their land was filled with iniquity against the holy things of Israel.” 6 Flee from the midst of Babylon, and deliver everyone his soul; and do not be overthrown in her iniquity; for it is the time of her retribution from the Lord. He is rendering to her a recompense.
7 Babylon has been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, causing all the earth to be drunken. The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore they were shaken.
8 And Babylon has fallen suddenly, and is broken to pieces. Lament for her; take balm for her deadly wound, if by any means she may be healed.
9 We tried to heal Babylon, but she was not healed. Let us forsake her, and depart everyone to his own country; for her judgment has reached to the heaven, it has mounted up to the stars.
10 The Lord has brought forth His judgment. Come, and let us declare in Zion the works of the Lord our God.
11 Prepare the arrows; fill the quivers. The Lord has stirred up the spirit of the king of the Medes; for His wrath is against Babylon, to destroy it utterly; for it is the Lord's vengeance, it is the vengeance of His people.
12 Lift up a standard on the walls of Babylon, prepare the quivers, rouse the guards, prepare the weapons; for the Lord has taken the work in hand, and will execute what He has spoken against the inhabitants of Babylon,
13 dwelling on many waters, and amidst the abundance of her treasures. Assuredly your end has come, into your inward parts.
14 For the Lord has sworn by His arm, saying, “I will fill you with men as with locusts; and they that come down shall cry against you.”
15 The Lord made the earth by His power, preparing the world by His wisdom, by His understanding He stretched out the heaven.
16 At His voice He makes a sound of water in the heaven, and brings up clouds from the extremity of the earth. He makes the lightning for rain, and brings light out of His treasuries.
17 Every man has completely lost understanding; every goldsmith is confounded because of his graven images; for they have cast false gods; there is no breath in them.  
18 They are vain works, objects of scorn; in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
19 Not so is Jacob's portion; for He that formed all things, He is his inheritance; the Lord is His name.
20 “You scatter for Me the weapons of war, and I will scatter nations by you, and will destroy kings by means of you.
21 And by you I will scatter the horse and his rider; and by you I will scatter chariots and them that ride in them.
22 And by you I will scatter youth and maid; and by you I will scatter man and woman.
23 And by you I will scatter the shepherd and his flock; and by you I will scatter the farmer and his yoke of oxen; and by you I will scatter leaders and the captains.
24 “And I will recompense to Babylon and to all the Chaldeans that dwell there all the evil that they have done to Zion before your eyes, says the Lord.
25 Behold, I am against you, the ruined mountain, that destroys the whole earth; and I will stretch out My hand upon you, and will roll you down upon the rocks, and will make you as a burnt mountain.
26 And they shall not take from you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for a foundation; for you shall be a desolation forever, says the Lord.
27 Set up a standard in the land, sound the trumpet among the nations, consecrate the nations against her, raise up kings against her by Me, and for the people of Ashkenaz; set against her engines of war; bring up against her horses as a multitude of locusts.  
28 Bring up nations against her, even the king of the Medes and of the whole earth, his rulers, and all his captains.  
29 The earth has quaked and been troubled, because the purpose of the Lord has risen up against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, and uninhabitable.
30 The warrior of Babylon has failed to fight; they shall sit there in the siege. Their power is broken; they have become like women; her tabernacles have been set on fire; her bars are broken.
31 One shall rush, running to meet another runner, and one shall go with tidings to meet another with tidings, to bring tidings to the king of Babylon, that his city is taken.
32 At the end of his passages they were taken, and his cisterns they have burned with fire, and his warriors are going forth.
33 “For thus says the Lord: The houses of the king of Babylon shall be threshed as a floor in the season; yet a little while, and her harvest shall come.”
34 He has devoured me, he has torn me asunder, airy darkness has come upon me; Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has swallowed me up, as a dragon has he filled his belly with my delicacies.
35 My troubles and my distresses have driven me out into Babylon, shall she that dwells in Zion say; and my blood shall be upon the Chaldeans dwelling there, shall Jerusalem say.
36 Therefore thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will judge your adversary, and I will execute vengeance for you; and I will waste her sea, and dry up her fountain. 37 And Babylon shall be a desolation, and shall not be inhabited.
38 For they rose up together as lions, and as lions' whelps.
39 In their excitement I will give them a drink, and make them drunk, that they may be stupefied, and sleep an everlasting sleep, and not awake, says the Lord.
40 And bring them down as lambs to the slaughter, and rams with kids.
41 How has the boast of all the earth been taken and caught in a snare! How has Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
42 The sea has come up upon Babylon with the sound of its waves, and she is covered.
43 Her cities have become like a dry and trackless land; not so much as one soul shall dwell in it, neither shall a son of man lodge in it.
44 And I will take vengeance on Babylon, and bring forth out of her mouth what she has swallowed down, and the nations shall no more be gathered to her.”
45  (This verse omitted in LXX)  
46  (This verse omitted in LXX)  
47  (This verse omitted in LXX)  
48  (This verse omitted in LXX)  
49 And in Babylon the slain men of all the earth shall fall.
50 Go forth of the land, you that escape, and do not stay; you that are afar off, remember the Lord, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.  
51 We are ashamed, because we have heard our reproach; disgrace has covered our face; aliens have come into our sanctuary, even into the house of the Lord.
52 “Therefore behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will take vengeance upon her graven images; and slain men shall fall in all her land.
53 For though Babylon should go up as the heaven, and though she should strengthen her walls with her power, from Me shall come they that shall destroy her, says the Lord.”
54 A sound of a cry in Babylon, and great destruction in the land of the Chaldeans;
55 for the Lord has utterly destroyed Babylon, and cut off from her the great voice sounding as many waters; He has consigned her voice to destruction.
56 For distress has come upon Babylon, her warriors are taken, their bows are useless; for God has recompensed them.
57 “The Lord recompenses, and will make her leaders and her wise men and her captains completely drunk,” says the King, the Lord Almighty is His name.
58 Thus says the Lord: “The wall of Babylon was made broad, but it shall be completely broken down, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall not labor in vain, nor the nations fail in their rule.”
59 The word which the Lord commanded the prophet Jeremiah to say to Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went from Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign. And Seraiah was over the bounties.
60 And Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evils which should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.
61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you have come to Babylon, and shall see and read all these words;
62 then you shall say, ‘O Lord God, You have spoken against this place to destroy it, and that there should be none to dwell in it, neither man nor beast; for it shall be a desolation forever.’  
63 And it shall come to pass, when you shall cease from reading this book, that you shall bind a stone upon it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates;
64 and shall say, ‘Thus shall Babylon sink, and not rise, because of the evils which I bring upon it.’”        

JEREMIAH CHAPTER 52  


The Destruction of Jerusalem Reviewed
1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah, of Libnah.
2  (This verse omitted in LXX)   
3  (This verse omitted in LXX)  
4 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the ninth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzr king of Babylon came, and all his army, against Jerusalem, and they made a rampart round it, and built a wall round about it with large stones.  
5 So the city was besieged, until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah,
6 on the ninth day of the month. And then the famine was severe in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
7 And the city was broken up, and all the men of war went out by night by the way of the gate, between the wall and the outworks, which were by the king's garden. And the Chaldeans were by the city round about; and they went by the way leading to the wilderness.
8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him beyond Jericho. And all his servants were dispersed.
9 And they took the king, and brought him to the king of Babylon to Riblah, and he judged him.
10 And the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; and he killed all the princes of Judah in Riblah.
11 And he put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters. And the king of Babylon brought him to Babylon, and put him into the grinding-house, until the day he died.
12 And in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nabuzaradan the captain of the guard, who waited on the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem;
13 and he burned the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all the houses of the city, and every great house he burned with fire.
14 And the army of the Chaldeans that was with the captain of the guard pulled down all the wall of Jerusalem round about.
15  (This verse omitted in LXX)  
16 But the captain of the guard left the remnant of the people to be vinedressers and farmers.
17 And the Chaldeans broke in pieces the bronze pillars that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases, and the bronze sea that was in the house of the Lord, and they took the brass thereof, and carried it away to Babylon.
18 Also the rim, and the bowls, and the flesh-hooks, and all the bronze vessels, which they ministered with;
19 and the basins, and the snuffers, and the oil-funnels, and the lampstands, and the censers, and the cups, and whatever was solid gold, and the silver, and whatever was of solid silver, the captain of the guard took away.  
20 And the two pillars, and the one sea, and the twelve bronze oxen under the sea, which things King Solomon made for the house of the Lord; the brass of which was without weight.
21 And as for the pillars, the height of one pillar was thirty-five cubits; and a line of twelve cubits compassed it round; and the thickness of it all round was four fingers.
22 And there was a bronze chapiter upon them, and the length was five cubits, even the height of one chapiter; and there was on the chapiter round about network and pomegranates, all of brass. And correspondingly the second pillar had eight pomegranates to a cubit for the twelve cubits.  
23 And the pomegranates were ninety-six on a side; and all the pomegranates on the network round about were a hundred.  
24 And the captain of the guard took the chief priest, and the second priest, and those that kept the way;
25 and one eunuch, who was over the men of war, and seven men of renown, who were in the king's presence that were found in the city; and the scribe of the forces, who did the part of a scribe to the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the midst of the city.  
26 And Nabuzaradan the captain of the king's guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.
27 And the king of Babylon struck them in Riblah, in the land of Hamath.
28  (This verse omitted in LXX)  
29  (This verse omitted in LXX)  
30  (This verse omitted in LXX)  
31 And it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year after that Jehoiakim king of Judah had been carried away captive, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fourth day of the month, that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the year in which he began to reign, raised the head of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and shaved him, and brought him out of the house where he was kept,  
32 and spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the kings that were with him in Babylon,  
33 and changed his prison garments. And he ate bread continually before him all the days that he lived.
34 And his appointed portion was given him continually by the king of Babylon from day to day, until the day that he died.