Jeremiah 1-6

Jeremiah 1

¹The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:

²to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

³It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah; unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

⁴Now the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

⁵Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.

⁶Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.

⁷But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for to whomsoever I shall send thee thou shalt go, and whatsoever I shall command thee thou shalt speak.

⁸Be not afraid because of them: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.

⁹Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth; and the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth:

¹⁰see, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, and to destroy and to overthrow; to build, and to plant.

¹¹Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.

¹²Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I watch over my word to perform it.

¹³And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething caldron; and the face thereof is from the north.

¹⁴Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

¹⁵For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.

¹⁶And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness; in that they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.

¹⁷Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at them, lest I dismay thee before them.

¹⁸For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.

¹⁹And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.

Jeremiah 2

¹And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals; how thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

³Israel was holiness unto the LORD, the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall be held guilty; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.

⁴Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:

⁵thus saith the LORD, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?

⁶Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt; that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that none passed through, and where no man dwelt?

⁷And I brought you into a plentiful land, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.

⁸The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the rulers also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

⁹Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children’s children will I plead.

¹⁰For pass over to the isles of Kittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently; and see if there hath been such a thing.

¹¹Hath a nation changed their gods, which yet are no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.

¹²Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.

¹³For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

¹⁴Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he become a prey?

¹⁵The young lions have roared upon him, and yelled: and they have made his land waste; his cities are burned up, without inhabitant.

¹⁶The children also of Noph and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of thy head.

¹⁷Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?

¹⁸And now what hast thou to do in the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor? or what hast thou to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?

¹⁹Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.

²⁰For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not serve; for upon every high hill and under every green tree thou didst bow thyself, playing the harlot.

²¹Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?

²²For though thou wash thee with lye, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.

²³How canst thou say, I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways;

²⁴a wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind in her desire; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.

²⁵Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.

²⁶As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets;

²⁷which say to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.

²⁸But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.

²⁹Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD.

³⁰In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

³¹O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? or a land of thick darkness? wherefore say my people, We are broken loose; we will come no more unto thee?

³²Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

³³How trimmest thou thy way to seek love! therefore even the wicked women hast thou taught thy ways.

³⁴Also, in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor: I have not found it at the place of breaking in, but upon all these.

³⁵Yet thou saidst, I am innocent; surely his anger is turned away from me. Behold, I will enter into judgment with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.

³⁶Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou shalt be ashamed of Egypt also, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.

³⁷From him also shalt thou go forth, with thine hands upon thine head: for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.

Jeremiah 3

¹They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.

²Lift up thine eyes unto the bare heights, and see; where hast thou not been lain with? By the ways hast thou sat for them, as an Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.

³Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; yet thou hadst a whore’s forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.

⁴Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?

⁵Will he retain his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and hast done evil things, and hast had thy way.

⁶Moreover the LORD said unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.

⁷And I said after she had done all these things, She will return unto me; but she returned not: and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

⁸And I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorcement, yet treacherous Judah her sister feared not; but she also went and played the harlot.

⁹And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks.

¹⁰And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.

¹¹And the LORD said unto me, Backsliding Israel hath shewn herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.

¹²Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; I will not look in anger upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, I will not keep anger for ever.

¹³Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.

¹⁴Return, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am a husband unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

¹⁵and I will give you shepherds according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

¹⁶And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD; neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.

¹⁷At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.

¹⁸In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance unto your fathers.

¹⁹But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of the nations? and I said, Ye shall call me My father; and shall not turn away from following me.

²⁰Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.

²¹A voice is heard upon the bare heights, the weeping and the supplications of the children of Israel; for that they have perverted their way, they have forgotten the LORD their God.

²²Return, ye backsliding children, I will heal your backslidings, Behold, we are come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.

²³Truly in vain is the help that is looked for from the hills, the tumult on the mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.

²⁴But the shameful thing hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

²⁵Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day: and we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.

Jeremiah 4

¹If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, unto me shalt thou return: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not be removed;

²and thou shalt swear, As the LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.

³For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

⁴Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury go forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

⁵Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry aloud and say? Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fenced cities.

⁶Set up a standard toward Zion: flee for safety, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

⁷A lion is gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations; he is on his way, he is gone forth from his place; to make thy land desolate, that thy cities be laid waste, without inhabitant.

⁸For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.

⁹And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.

¹⁰Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.

¹¹At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A hot wind from the bare heights in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse;

¹²a full wind from these shall come for me: now will I also utter judgments against them.

¹³Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as the whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.

¹⁴O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thine evil thoughts lodge within thee?

¹⁵For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth evil from the hills of Ephraim:

¹⁶make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

¹⁷As keepers of a field are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.

¹⁸Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness; for it is bitter, for it reacheth unto thine heart.

¹⁹My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I cannot hold my peace; because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

²⁰Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.

²¹How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?

²²For my people is foolish, they know me not; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

²³I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

²⁴I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved to and fro.

²⁵I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.

²⁶I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and before his fierce anger.

²⁷For thus saith the LORD, The whole land shall be a desolation; yet will I not make a full end.

²⁸For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and I have not repented, neither will I turn back from it.

²⁹The whole city fleeth for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they go into the thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city is forsaken, and not a man dwelleth therein.

³⁰And thou, when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with scarlet, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou enlargest thine eyes with paint, in vain dost thou make thyself fair; thy lovers despise thee, they seek thy life.

³¹For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that gaspeth for breath, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul fainteth before the murderers.

Jeremiah 5

¹Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that doeth justly, that seeketh truth; and I will pardon her.

²And though they say, As the LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.

³O LORD, do not thine eyes look upon truth? thou hast stricken them, but they were not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

⁴Then I said, Surely these are poor: they are foolish; for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God:

⁵I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they know the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God. But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bands.

⁶Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities, every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.

⁷How can I pardon thee? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the harlots’ houses.

⁸They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.

⁹shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

¹⁰Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her branches: for they are not the LORD’S.

¹¹For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.

¹²They have denied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:

¹³and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.

¹⁴Wherefore thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

¹⁵Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.

¹⁶Their quiver is an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.

¹⁷And they shall eat up thine harvest and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall beat down thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustest, with the sword.

¹⁸But even in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you.

¹⁹And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD our God done all these things unto us? then shalt thou say unto them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

²⁰Declare ye this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,

²¹Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:

²²Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it? and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it.

²³But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.

²⁴Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; that reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.

²⁵Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good from you.

²⁶For among my people are found wicked men: they watch, as fowlers lie in wait; they set a trap, they catch men.

²⁷As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.

²⁸They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass in deeds of wickedness: they plead not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they should prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.

²⁹shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

³⁰A wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land;

³¹the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

Jeremiah 6

¹Flee for safety, ye children of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise up a signal on Beth-haccherem: for evil looketh forth from the north, and a great destruction.

²The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, will I cut off.

³Shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place.

⁴Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day declineth, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.

⁵Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces.

⁶For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast up a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.

⁷As a well casteth forth her waters, so she casteth forth her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is sickness and wounds.

⁸Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul be alienated from thee; lest I make thee a desolation, a land not inhabited.

⁹Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn again thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.

¹⁰To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is become unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.

¹¹Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in: pour it out upon the children in the street, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days.

¹²And their houses shall be turned unto others, their fields and their wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD.

¹³For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

¹⁴They have healed also the hurt of my people lightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

¹⁵Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.

¹⁶Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls: but they said, We will not walk therein.

¹⁷And I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet; but they said, We will not hearken.

¹⁸Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.

¹⁹Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it.

²⁰To what purpose cometh there to me frankincense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing unto me.

²¹Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people: and the fathers and the sons together shall stumble against them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.

²²Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north country; and a great nation shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.

²³They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride upon horses; every one set in array, as a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Zion.

²⁴We have heard the fame thereof; our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pangs as of a woman in travail.

²⁵Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for there is the sword of the enemy, and terror on every side.

²⁶O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.

²⁷I have made thee a tower and a fortress among my people; that thou mayest know and try their way.

²⁸They are all grievous revolters, going about with slanders; they are brass and iron: they all of them deal corruptly.

²⁹The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed of the fire: in vain do they go on refining; for the wicked are not plucked away.

³⁰Refuse silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.