J. Vernon McGee Thru the Bible Radio - (24) Book of Jeremiah

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Chapter summaries:http://www.biblesummary.info/jeremiah

Streamed Audio	Download Thru the Bible Chapters	Bible Chapter Listen or Download	Chapter Descriptions
Listen	Download		Jeremiah Introduction
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 1 Jer1: The LORD said to me: I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. Do not be afraid. I am calling the northern kingdoms against Judah.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 2 Jer2: Go and proclaim: My people have exchanged their glory for idols. You have all rebelled against me. Now I will bring you to judgement.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 3 Jer3: Israel played the whore on every hill. Her false sister Judah saw it. Return, O faithless children! Surely the LORD is our salvation.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 4 Jer4: Flee to safety! I am bringing disaster from the north, says the LORD. I have heard the trumpet! The whole land shall be a desolation.
Listen	Download	Bible-KJV Ch. 5	Jeremiah Ch. 5 & Ch. 6 Jer5: Israel and Judah have been utterly unfaithful to me. I am bringing a distant nation against you. Your sins have deprived you of good. Jer6: Flee from Jerusalem! I appointed watchmen but you would not listen. An army is coming from the north. My people are rejected silver.
	Download	Bible-KJV Ch. 6
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 7 Jer7: Proclaim at the temple: Has this house become a den of thieves? I sent prophets but you did not listen. Judah will become desolate.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 8 Jer8: Why do these people refuse to return? They have no shame. The LORD has doomed us because we have sinned. Is there no balm in Gilead?
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 9 Jer9: No one speaks the truth. I will scatter these people, says the LORD. The sound of wailing is heard from Zion. I act with justice.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 10 Jer10: Do not learn the ways of the nations. The LORD is the true God. Listen, a great commotion from the north! They have devoured Jacob.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 11 Jer11: Both Israel and Judah have broken my covenant. I will bring disaster. Do not pray for them. I will punish those who seek your life.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 12 Jer12: O LORD, why do the wicked prosper? I have left my house. Many shepherds have ruined my vineyard. I will uproot my evil neighbours.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 13 Jer13: The LORD told me to hide a sash in the rocks. So I will ruin the pride of Judah, says the LORD. All Judah will be carried into exile.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 14 Jer14: There is no water in the cisterns. O LORD, do not forsake us! I will destroy them by sword and by famine. Can any idols bring rain?
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 15 Jer15: Send these people away from my presence! Who will mourn for Jerusalem? O LORD, I suffer insult for you. I am with you, says the LORD.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 16 Jer16: The LORD said to me: Do not marry or have children. Why has the LORD pronounced evil against us? You have followed your evil hearts.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 17 Jer17: Cursed are those who trust in man. Blessed are those who trust in the LORD. If you keep the Sabbath, Jerusalem will remain forever.
Listen	Download	Bible-KJV Ch. 18	Jeremiah Ch. 18 & Ch. 19 Jer18: The LORD said: Go to the potter. You are clay in my hand, O Israel. My people have forgotten me. O LORD, they have dug a pit for me. Jer19: The LORD said: Buy a clay jar. These people have burned sacrifices to foreign gods. Then break the jar. So I will smash this nation.
	Download	Bible-KJV Ch. 19
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 20 Jer20: Pashhur put Jeremiah in the stocks. Everyone mocks me. But the word of the LORD is a fire in my bones. Cursed be the day I was born!
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 21 Jer21: Zedekiah enquired about Nebuchadnezzar. The LORD says: Whoever stays in the city will die. Nebuchadnezzar will destroy it with fire.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 22 Jer22: Proclaim at the palace: I will make you a desert. Shallum will not return. They will not lament for Jehoiakim. Coniah is cast away.
Listen	Download	Bible-KJV Ch. 23	Jeremiah Ch. 23 & Ch. 24 Jer23: I will raise up a righteous Branch, says the LORD. The prophets fill you with false hopes. I did not speak, yet they have prophesied. Jer24: The LORD showed me two baskets of figs after the exile to Babylon. The good figs are the exiles. The bad figs are those who remain.
	Download	Bible-KJV Ch. 24
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 25 Jer25: You did not listen, says the LORD. So I will summon Babylon. Make the nations drink my cup of wrath. The LORD will roar from on high.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 26 Jer26: The LORD said: Speak in the courts. The priests seized Jeremiah to kill him, but the officials refused. Uriah had been put to death.
Listen	Download	Bible-KJV Ch. 27	Jeremiah Ch. 27 & Ch. 28 Jer27: The LORD said: Put a yoke on your neck. I will hand all the nations over to serve Nebuchadnezzar. Do not listen to your prophets. Jer28: Hananiah took Jeremiah's yoke and broke it. The LORD said: Tell Hananiah, I have put an iron yoke on these nations. Hananiah died.
	Download	Bible-KJV Ch. 28
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 29 Jer29: Jeremiah wrote to the exiles: Seek peace for the city. After seventy years you will return. Ahab, Zedekiah and Shemaiah speak lies.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 30 Jer30: Write these words in a book. I will restore my people, says the LORD. I have punished you but I will heal you. I will be your God.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 31 Jer31: Sing with joy for Jacob! Return to your cities. I will make a new covenant with Israel, says the LORD. I will put my law within them.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 32 Jer32: Jeremiah bought a field in Anathoth. O LORD, the city has been handed over to Babylon. The LORD says: I will surely gather my people.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 33 Jer33: The LORD says: I will tell you great things. I will bring healing to the land. David will never lack a son on the throne of Israel.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 34 Jer34: Tell Zedekiah: You will not escape the king of Babylon. The people took back their slaves. The LORD says: You have not obeyed me.
Listen	Download	Bible-KJV Ch. 35	Jeremiah Ch. 35 & Ch. 36 Jer35: The Rechabites refused to drink wine. The LORD said to Judah: The command of Jonadab has been obeyed, yet you have not obeyed me. Jer36: Baruch read out Jeremiah's words at the temple. The king sent for the scroll and burned it. The LORD said: I will bring disaster.
	Download	Bible-KJV Ch 36
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 37 Jer37: Zedekiah became king. Jeremiah said: Do not think the Babylonians will leave us. Irijah arrested Jeremiah. Zedekiah gave him bread.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 38 Jer38: Jeremiah was thrown into a cistern. Zedekiah sent for him. Jeremiah said: If you surrender to the king of Babylon then you will live.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 39 Jer39: The Babylonians besieged Jerusalem and captured Zedekiah. They took the people into exile. Nebuchadnezzar said: Do not harm Jeremiah.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 40 Jer40: Nebuzaradan said to Jeremiah: Go back to Gedaliah, who has been appointed over Judah. The captains warned Gedaliah about Ishmael.
Listen	Download	Bible-KJV Ch. 41	Jeremiah Ch. 41 & 42 Jer41: Ishmael killed Gedaliah and eighty men. Johanan went to fight Ishmael but he escaped. Johanan led the survivors on the way to Egypt. Jer42: The people asked Jeremiah to pray. The LORD says: If you stay in the land, I will grant you mercy. If you go to Egypt, you will die.
	Download	Bible-KJV Ch. 42
Listen	Download	Bible-KJV Ch. 43	Jeremiah Ch. 43 & 44 Jer43: Johanan and all the people did not obey the LORD. They went to Egypt. The LORD said: Nebuchadnezzar will ravage the land of Egypt. Jer44: The LORD says: Why do you provoke me with other gods? The people said: We will not listen. The LORD says: I am going to punish you.
	Download	Bible-KJV Ch. 44
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 45 Jer45: When Baruch wrote these words, the LORD said to him: I am going to break what I have built. Do not seek great things for yourself.
Listen	Download	Bible-KJV Ch. 46	Jeremiah Ch. 46 thru Ch. 48 Jer46: Of Egypt: There is no healing for you. Prepare yourselves for exile. I will deliver Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar. But fear not, O Jacob!Jer47: Of the Philistines: Waters are rising from the north. The LORD is destroying the Philistines. How can the sword of the LORD be quiet? Jer48: Of Moab: Woe to Nebo, for it is laid waste. We have heard of his arrogance. How it is broken! Moab has become a derision to all.
	Download	Bible-KJV Ch. 47
	Download	Bible-KJV Ch. 48
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 49 Jer49: The LORD says: Rabbah will become desolate. I will make Edom small. Damascus has become feeble. Flee, O Hazor. I will destroy Elam.
Listen	Download	Bible - KJV	Jeremiah Ch. 50 Jer50: Of Babylon: A nation will make her desolate. Judah will seek the LORD. Repay Babylon for all her deeds. A sword against her warriors!
Listen	Download	Bible-KJV Ch. 51	Jeremiah Ch. 51 & Ch. 52 Jer51: The LORD says: I will send a destroyer against Babylon. I will repay them for the evil done in Zion. Read these words in Babylon. Jer52: Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan burned the temple and took the people into exile. Evil-merodach released Jehoiachin.
	Download	Bible-KJV Ch. 52

Book of Jeremiah Outlines by J.Vernon McGee PDF format <Link>

http://www.easyenglish.info/bible-outline/jeremiah-summary.htm

The Book of Jeremiah - Summary

Jeremiah was a prophet (holy man). God chose Jeremiah as a prophet when Jeremiah was a young man (Jeremiah 1). Jeremiah lived at the same time as the last kings of Judah. Jeremiah warned the people that God would punish them (Jeremiah 4). They must return to God. Otherwise, they would suffer terrible troubles (Jeremiah chapters 14-16).

God wanted the people to trust him. But they refused (Jeremiah 18). So, God told Jeremiah that the people must serve their enemies for 70 years (Jeremiah 25). But then, people from Israel would return to their land (Jeremiah chapters 30-33).

Jeremiah also wrote about the future of other nations (Jeremiah chapters 46-51). And Jeremiah knew that God would send Jesus (Jeremiah 23:1-8, Jeremiah 31:31-37, and Jeremiah 33).

This Book is in the Old Testament section of the Bible.

Jeremiah Speaks God’s Words

The translated Bible text has yet to go through Advanced Checking.

Words in boxes are comments on the text.

A word list at the end explains words with a *star by them.

About Jeremiah

Chapter 1

v1 Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah, spoke to the people of Israel. He was a *priest. He lived at Anathoth, a town in the country that God gave to the family of Benjamin. v2 God spoke to him when Josiah, son of Amon, had been king of Judah for 13 (thirteen) years. v3 God continued to speak to him all the time that Josiah’s son, Jehoiakim, was king. And he went on speaking to Jeremiah for the 11 (eleven) years and 5 (five) months, that Zedekiah was king. Zedekiah was a son of King Josiah. After this, enemies took the people from Jerusalem away to a far country.

God chooses Jeremiah.

v4 God spoke to me. v5 ‘I knew you even before your father planted his seed in your mother. I chose you before you were born. I decided to make you a *prophet to all the countries in the world’, he said.

v6 ‘Great and powerful *Lord’, I said. ‘I do not know how to speak. I am only a child.’

v7 ‘Do not say, “I am only a child” ’, the *Lord said to me. ‘You must go to everyone that I send you to. You must say whatever I tell you to say. v8 You need not be afraid of them, because I am with you. I will save you’, he said.

v9 Then the *Lord touched my mouth with his hand. ‘Now I have put my words into your mouth’, he said. v10 ‘Look, I give you authority over countries and *kingdoms. You can pull them down or break them up to destroy them. You can build them up and make them safe.’

The *Lord shows Jeremiah two pictures.

v11 The *Lord spoke to me. ‘What do you see, Jeremiah?’ he said.

‘I see the branch of an *almond tree’, I replied.

v12 ‘Yes, that is correct’, he said. ‘I am watching to see that my words will happen.’

v13 The *Lord spoke to me again. ‘What do you see?’ ‘I see a boiling pot. It is in the north and it is pouring this way’, I answered. v14 ‘People from the north will pour out and destroy all who live in this country’, the *Lord said. v15 ‘I am going to bring all the *nations who live in the north’, he said. ‘Their kings will come and sit in the gates of Jerusalem. They will rule there. They will be round its walls. They will be round all the towns of Judah. v16 I will *judge my people, because they have turned away from me. They have done very wrong things. They have given gifts to *false gods. They have *worshipped things that they have made with their own hands. v17 You must get ready! Stand up and say whatever I tell you to say. Do not be afraid of them or I will make you afraid in front of them! v18 Today I have made you as strong as a city with great walls. You will be like a tree made out of iron. You will be like a metal wall to stand against the whole *nation. You will stand against the kings of Judah and their officers. You will stand against the *priests and the people of the country. v19 They will fight against you. But they will not win, because I am with you. I will save you’, says the *Lord.

Chapter 2

Israel’s people have turned away from the *Lord.

v1 God spoke to me again. v2 ‘Speak to the people in Jerusalem’, he said.

‘I remember how you used to love me, when I first made you my people.

You loved me as a young wife loves her husband.

You followed me through a wild place,

where no one grew any food.

v3 Israel belonged to me. It was special.

It was like the first food that grew on my land.

Anyone else who ate this food was doing something bad.

And I caused bad things to happen to them.’

The *Lord said this.

v4 ‘Listen to what the *Lord says, you sons of Jacob,

and all the family of Israel.’

v5 This is the *Lord’s message.

‘Your fathers were angry with me.

But I did nothing that was wrong. But they went a long way from me.

They went to gods of wood and stone, who could do nothing for them.

And they could do nothing for themselves.

v6 They did not ask the *Lord for help.

He brought them out of Egypt.

He led them through the place where nothing grows,

an empty place with many valleys.

It was a dry and dark place,

a place where nobody goes or lives.

v7 I, the *Lord, brought you to a good country,

where you could eat very good food.

But you came and destroyed my country.

You made it too bad for me to look at.

v8 The *priests did not ask “Where is the *Lord?”

Men who *judged the people did not know me.

Your leaders did not obey me.

The *prophets asked *Baal what to say to you.

They looked to gods of wood and stone for help.

Those gods cannot help anyone.’

v9 ‘So I must *judge you’, says the *Lord.

‘And I will *judge your children and their children.

v10 Go to the people who live in the east and the west.

Ask them if anyone has ever done this before.

v11 I have never known a people who changed their gods

(even if they are not really gods at all).

But my people have changed him who is greater than any god.

They have changed him for things of wood and stone that cannot help them.

v12 The skies cannot understand this.

They *shake and are afraid’, says the *Lord.

v13 ‘My people have *sinned twice.

They have left me. I am like a river of living water.

And they have dug holes in the earth for themselves.

These holes cannot hold water. They let water run away.

v14 Israel’s people are not slaves, born to be servants.

But they have become slaves to their enemies.

v15 The enemies attacked them like *lions.

They have destroyed their country.

They have burnt their towns and no one lives in them.

v16 The men from Memphis and Tahpanhes have made you ashamed.

v17 You have caused this to happen.

It is because you stopped following the *Lord, your God.

He was leading you in the way that you should go.

v18 The water of the river Shihor in Egypt is no better than yours.

Neither is the water from the river of Assyria any better!

v19 God will *punish you for the bad things that you have done.

You will be sorry that you stopped following him.

You must think how much God will hurt you.

He will cause you pain because you went away from him.

He will cause you pain because you do not show him *honour.’

This is what the great, powerful *Lord says.

v20 ‘You stopped working for me a long time ago.

You cut through any thing that tied us together.

You said, “I will not work for you!”

So you sold yourselves to any people that would take you.

You were like a woman that sells sex.

v21 But I had planted you like a young *vine.

You were strong and had good strong fathers.

I cannot understand how you became weak, *dirty and really bad.

v22 You will always look *dirty to me.

Even if you wash yourself with clean water,

and use a lot of soap’, says the most powerful *Lord.

v23 ‘You say that you are not *dirty.

And you say that you do not run after *false gods.

But remember what you did in the valley.

Think carefully what you have done.

You are like a fast female animal.

You run all over the country.

v24 You are like a wild horse

that lifts its nose in the air.

It is looking for a husband.

No one can keep you from what you want.

Any males who follow you will catch you easily.

v25 You do not run until you are tired or until your feet hurt.

“I cannot change”, you say.

“I love foreign gods. I must obey them!”

v26 A man may take things that are not his.

He is ashamed when people catch him.

So the people of Israel are ashamed.

They, their kings, officers, and their *prophets all do what is wrong.

v27 They say to a piece of wood, “You are my father.”

They call a stone their mother.

They have turned away from me.

They do not show me their faces.

But then troubles happen to them.

“Come and save us!” they ask me.

v28 I tell them to ask the gods that they made for themselves.

Ask them to come and save you.

Ask for their help when you have troubles.

Judah, you have many towns.

And you have as many gods.’

v29 ‘You must not *judge me.

You have all turned against me’, says the *Lord.

v30 ‘I *punished your people,

But they would not turn back to me.

You have killed your *prophets.

You are like hungry animals.’

God will *punish Judah.

v31 Think about the *Lord’s message, you people who are alive today.

‘I have not been like a place where nothing grows.

I have not been like a dark place where no one lives.’

But my people say, ‘We can go where we like.

We do not want to visit you any more.’

v32 ‘A young woman does not forget her pretty things.

A wife does not forget her valuable gifts.

But my people have forgotten me for many years.

v33 You are so clever. You can always find love!

Very bad women, even, can learn from you.

v34 Your clothes have blood on them.

That blood gave life to people who never hurt you.

It was the blood of people who never took your things.

v35 But still you say, “I have not done anything that is wrong.

God is not angry with me!”

But I will *judge you.

You say that you have not done anything that is wrong.

So I will *judge you.

v36 You look at *nations who live near to you.

You want to change.

You will find that Egypt cannot help you.

Just as Assyria could not help you.

v37 You will become their slaves.

The *Lord has not chosen the people that you have chosen.

They will not help you.’

Chapter 3

v1 ‘A man may *divorce his wife.

Then she may leave him and marry another man.

If her first husband returned to her, he would not be *clean.

He would make the whole country bad.

But you have lived with many lovers.

And you want to return to me’, says the *Lord.

v2 ‘Look at the tops of the hills.

You have loved other gods on all of them.

You sat by the side of the road, waiting for lovers.

You waited to catch men.

You have made the country bad.

It is dirty with all the wrong things that you have done.

You have loved other gods when you should have loved me.

v3 This is why I have sent you no rain.

And the spring rains have not come.

But you seem to be quite happy.

You are not ashamed.

v4 But you say to me, “You have been my friend, who has loved me all my life.

v5 Surely you cannot be angry with me!

You cannot always be angry.”

These are the things that you say.

But you do as many wrong things as you can.’

Israel is not *faithful to God.

v6 The *Lord spoke to me while Josiah was king. ‘Have you seen what Israel’s people have done?’ he asked. ‘They have not been *faithful to me. They have *worshipped *false gods under every great tree and on every high hill. They have been like a wife who is not *faithful to her husband. v7 I thought that they would come back to me. But they did not return when it was over. Israel’s sister, Judah, saw what Israel did. v8 I sent Israel away, like a wife who is *divorced. I sent her away because she had loved so many other gods. But Judah, who had not been *faithful, was not afraid. Judah also went out and found other lovers. v9 Israel’s people were not sorry that they had not been *faithful to me. So they *worshipped gods made from wood and stone. They made the country *dirty by doing bad things. v10 Judah saw this, but Judah was not *faithful. Judah’s people did not really return to me. They only made it look as if they had returned to me’, says the *Lord.

v11 ‘Israel is not *faithful to me. But Israel is not so bad as Judah. Judah’s people think that their *faith has no value. v12 Go, turn to the north, and say,

“You people of Israel who have no *faith, return to me”, says the *Lord.

“I will not always be angry with you,

because I am full of *mercy.

v13 But you must believe that you have done many wrong things.

You must agree with me that you turned against me.

You loved many foreign gods.

You *worshipped them under great trees.

You have not obeyed me” ’, says the *Lord.

v14 ‘Return to me, you people with no *faith’, says the *Lord. ‘I am your husband. I will bring some of you to Zion. I will choose one from a town and two from a family.

v15 Then I will give you *shepherds that I can *trust. They will lead you and teach you good things. v16 After some time, the number of your people will grow. Then you will think in a new way’, says the *Lord. ‘You will not talk or even think about the *ark of the *Lord. You will forget all about it, and you will not make another one. v17 Then they will call Jerusalem the *throne of the *Lord. At that time, people from all countries will come to Jerusalem. They will all give *honour to the name of the *Lord. They will not do the wrong things that they want any more. v18 Then the people from Israel and from Judah will join together in Jerusalem. They will come from a country in the north. They will come to this country that I gave to your fathers. I gave it to you and to your families to keep.’

v19 I myself said,

‘I want very much to make you my sons.

I want to give you a good country,

a country more beautiful than any other people enjoy.

I thought that you would call me ‘Father’.

I thought that you would continue to do the things that I like.

v20 But you have been like a woman who is not *faithful to her husband.

You, children of Israel, have not been *faithful to me’, says the *Lord.

v21 I can hear a noise on the high places.

The people of Israel are crying and asking for help.

They are crying because they have left the good ways.

They have forgotten the *Lord, their God.

v22 ‘Return to me, you people with no *faith.

I will bring you back from your bad ways.’

‘Yes, we will come to you

because you are the *Lord our God.

v23 This noisy *worship of *false gods on the hills and mountains

*worships nothing that is good.

We are sure that the *Lord our God will save Israel.

v24 Since we were young,

we have lost all our good things.

*False gods have used them up.

They ate the things that our fathers worked for.

They took their sheep and cows.

They took their sons and daughters.

v25 We are ashamed.

We want to lie down and hide ourselves.

From early times until now,

we and our fathers have not obeyed you.’

Chapter 4

v1 ‘If you want to return, then return to me’, the *Lord says.

‘Throw away your gods that I *hate.

You must not go away from me again.

v2 And if you make a true, good and fair promise to me,

then you can say, “It is sure that the *Lord is alive.”

He will *bless all the *nations in the world.

And they will be very happy to give him *honour and *praise.’

v3 This is what the *Lord says to the people in Judah, and to Jerusalem.

‘Break up your hard ground.

Do not put seed among weeds.

v4 Give all of yourself to the *Lord.

Cut off everything that does not belong to him.

Men in Judah and people in Jerusalem,

You must do this. If you do not,

I will be angry. My *anger will burn you like a fire.

I will hurt you because of the bad things that you have done.

No one will save you.’

An enemy will attack from the north.

v5 ‘Shout to the people in Judah. Tell this to the people in Jerusalem.

“Blow the *trumpets in all the country!”

Shout to them and say,

“Come together!

We must all run to the cities with strong walls!”

v6 Tell everyone to go to Zion!

Do not wait to run to a safe place

because I will bring trouble from the north.

I am going to destroy your country.

v7 A big strong wild animal was hiding in the hills.

It has come out to destroy the *nations.

It has left its home to destroy your country.

It will break down your towns.

They will be empty.

v8 So put on special clothes to show that you are sad.

Cry and be very sad.

Cry because the *Lord is still angry with us.

He has not forgotten his *anger.’

v9 ‘The king and his officers will not be happy on that day’,

says the *Lord.

The *priests will be very sad,

and the *prophets will be very, very sad.’

v10 ‘Oh, great and powerful *Lord’, I said. ‘You have not spoken what is true to this people and to Jerusalem. You said, “You will have *peace.” But now our enemies will attack us!’

v11 ‘A hot wind from the empty mountains will blow towards my people’, the *Lord will tell them at that time. ‘But it will not make them clean. It will not blow away the wrong things that they have done.’ The *Lord will tell them this. v12 ‘I will send a wind that is too strong for that. Now I will tell you how I will *judge them.’

v13 Look! He is coming like the clouds.

He is like a strong, fast wind.

He flies faster than a great bird.

We are really in trouble. We will lose everything!

v14 Jerusalem, wash away your bad thoughts.

Then the *Lord will save you.

You must not hold on to your bad thoughts.

v15 A voice is calling out from Dan.

It says that trouble is coming from the hills of Ephraim.

v16 ‘Tell this to all the *nations,

shout it to Jerusalem.

“An army is coming from a far country.

It will attack Jerusalem.

v17 Their soldiers are round its walls.

This is because Jerusalem’s people have not obeyed me” ’,

says the *Lord.

v18 ‘I have done this to you

because of the wrong things that you have done.

You have caused this trouble.

I am *punishing you.

Yes, it is painful.

The pain goes all through you.’

v19 I am in such great pain!

All my body hurts. I have to go on moving.

My thoughts are full of pain.

My heart keeps hitting hard inside me.

I feel that I have to shout.

I have heard the noise of the *trumpet.

I have heard the enemy when they were shouting.

v20 It is bad, but it is getting worse!

Our enemies have destroyed everything in the country.

They have are quickly broken down my *tents.

They did not wait to destroy my home.

v21 I do not know how long the *battle will last.

I can still hear the sound of people who are fighting.

v22 ‘My people are fools.

They do not know me.

They are like children who know nothing.

They understand nothing.

They know how to do bad things.

But they have no idea how to do good things.’

v23 I looked at the earth,

and it had no shape.

I looked at the sky,

and its light was gone.

v24 I looked at the mountains,

and they kept moving about.

All the hills were moving.

v25 I looked, and I saw no people.

The birds had all flown away.

v26 I looked at the good country, but no plants grew there.

Our enemies had knocked down all its towns.

The *Lord was very angry. He caused them to do all this.

v27 ‘I will cause bad things to happen in the whole country’,

the *Lord says.

‘But I will not completely destroy it.

v28 So the whole earth will be sad.

The sky will become dark.

This will happen as I have said.

And I will not change my plan.

I have spoken and I will not turn back.’

v29 The people in every town will run away

when they hear the sound of soldiers and horses.

Some of them hide in bushes.

Some of them climb up among the rocks.

All the towns are empty.

No one lives in them.

v30 You are like a woman who wears bright red clothes.

You are like a woman who wears things made out of gold.

You paint your eyes,

but this does not help you.

The men that you loved do not give you *honour.

They want to kill you.

v31 I can hear that people are shouting. It is like the noise that a woman makes as she has a baby.

It is like the noise of a woman who is having her first child.

It is the people in Jerusalem, who shout for help.

They call out and say,

‘I am very weak, and getting weaker.

I am afraid that they will kill me.’

Chapter 5

v1 Go along the streets of Jerusalem, and come back again.

Look all round you, carefully.

Look in all parts of the city.

Try to find one person who is honest. Try to find a person who wants to know the *truth.

If you find one, I will *forgive all the people in the city.

v2 They may say, ‘As the *Lord lives’.

They want people to think that they are honest.

But what they are saying is *false.

v3 *Lord, you want us to speak words that are true.

But the people that you have hurt do not feel any pain.

You hit them, but they would not change.

They would not do the things that you wanted.

They held on to the bad things that they were doing.

And they refused to turn away from them.

v4 ‘These are poor people, and they are fools’, I thought.

‘They do not know what the *Lord asks them to do.

They have no idea what he wants.

v5 So I will go to speak to the leaders.

They will certainly know what the *Lord wants.

They will know what they must do to please him.’

But every one of them turned away from him.

They said that they were not his slaves.

v6 A big wild animal from the forest will attack them for this.

Another animal will tear them into pieces.

Other animals will wait near their towns to hurt anyone who leaves.

This is because they have turned so far from the *Lord.

It is because they have done so many bad things.

v7 ‘I cannot *forgive you.

Your children have gone away from me.

They have *trusted gods that are not gods.

I gave them everything that they needed.

But they left me and went to the houses of *false gods.

They are like men who have sex with other men’s wives.

v8 They are like wild horses.

Wild horses run after any female that they want.

v9 I must *punish them for this’, the *Lord says.

‘They have hurt me so much.

They are such bad people that I must *punish them.’

v10 ‘Go through their *vineyards and destroy their fruits.

But do not completely destroy them.

Tear the branches from the trees

because these people do not belong to the *Lord.

v11 All the families in Judah and in Israel

have gone far from me’, says the *Lord.

v12 They spoke about the *Lord. They said what is not true.

‘He will do nothing’, they said.

‘He will never hurt us.

We shall have enough to eat. Soldiers will not kill us.

v13 The *prophets speak empty words.

They do not know what the *Lord says.

So they may say that something bad will happen.

If that is true, let it happen to them.’

v14 ‘So the people have said this’,

says the strong and powerful *Lord.

‘I will make the words in your mouth like a fire.

And the people will burn like wood in that fire.’

v15 ‘People of Israel’, the *Lord says,

‘I will send soldiers to attack you.

They will come from a country far away.

They have lived there for a long time.

You do not know their language.

You cannot understand what they say.

v16 They want to kill and destroy you.

They are all powerful soldiers.

v17 They will eat all the food in your fields

and the food that you have stored.

They will take your sons and daughters.

They will eat your sheep and cows.

They will take the fruit from your trees.

They will fight and break down the strong cities.

You thought that these cities would keep you safe.’

v18 ‘But even at that time’, says the *Lord, ‘I will not destroy you completely. v19 And when the people ask, “Why has the *Lord, our God, done this to us?” you will speak to them. Say, “You have left me, and you *serve foreign gods in your own country. So now you will *serve foreign people in a country that is not your own”.’

v20 ‘Tell this to the families of Jacob. Shout it in the country called Judah.

v21 Hear this, you people who are fools with no understanding.

You have eyes, but you do not see.

You have ears, but you do not hear.

v22 You should be afraid of me’, says the *Lord.

‘Your knees should knock together when you are near to me.

I made the sand to be an edge to the sea.

It is like a wall that the sea cannot cross.

The water of the sea may attack it, but it cannot win.

It can make a loud noise, but it cannot cross the sand.

v23 This people will not do as I demand.

They have turned and gone away from me.

v24 They do not say to themselves,

“We must *honour and obey the *Lord our God.

He gives the autumn and spring rains to us.

Each year he makes sure that we have food.”

v25 But you have done many wrong things.

So he has not sent you rain or food.

He has taken away good things because you have *sinned.

v26 Many bad men belong to my people.

They hide like men who catch birds.

They are like people who try to catch men.

v27 Their houses are full of valuable things

that they have taken with *false words.

They are rich and powerful.

v28 Now they are fat and look good.

They will never stop doing bad things.

They do not try to help children who have no fathers.

They do not help poor people to get what is theirs.

v29 You must see that I should *punish them for this’,

says the *Lord.

‘I must show them how angry I am.

The people are very, very bad.’

v30 A really bad thing has happened in this country.

v31 The *prophets tell people things that are not true.

The *priests make their own rules.

And my people like what they do.

I will stop all this. Then they will not know what to do.

Chapter 6

Enemies are all round Jerusalem.

v1 ‘You people of Benjamin, you must run away to be safe!

Run away from Jerusalem!

Blow the *trumpet in Tekoa!

Shout over to Beth Hakkerem!

Big trouble is coming from the north.

v2 I will send enemies to destroy Jerusalem and its people.

It is such a lovely city.

v3 Men will come with the sheep that they keep.

They will put their *tents all round it.

Each man will have a small part of the land.’

v4 ‘Get ready to fight against it!

Let us get up and attack at noon!

But the day is getting dark.

It is already evening.

v5 Rise up. Let us attack in the night.

Let us destroy their strong cities!’

v6 The strong and powerful *Lord spoke.

‘Cut down the trees’, he said.

‘Build high hills up to the walls of the city.

I must *punish Jerusalem.

It is full of men who hurt other people.

v7 It contains so many people who do bad things.

Bad things pour out from it, like water from a well.

It is full of fighting and of men who destroy.

All the time I can see how sick and weak it is.’

v8 ‘Listen to my words’, says the *Lord, to the people in Jerusalem.

‘If you do not listen, I will turn away from you.

I will destroy your country.

Then no one can live in it.’

v9 The strong, powerful *Lord spoke again.

‘I will let the enemy take everything from Israel.

They will take things like a farmer who is picking his fruit’, he said.

v10 I want to speak to people and tell them what may happen.

But no one will listen to me.

They close their ears so that they cannot hear.

They hate the *Lord’s message.

It gives them no pleasure.

v11 But the *Lord is full of *anger.

He is so angry that he cannot contain it.

‘His *anger will be like water that pours out on the children in the street.

It will pour out on the groups of young men.

It will cover both husbands and wives.

It will pour over the very old people.

v12 I will give their houses to other people.

Other people will take their fields and their wives.

This will happen when I decide to *punish the people in this country’,

says the *Lord.

v13 ‘All the people, important and not important, want to get more and more things.

*Priests and *prophets are all the same.

They all say things that are not true.

v14 They tell my people that there is no great trouble.

They say that there is nothing to be afraid of.

“*Peace, *peace”, they say.

But they have no *peace to give.

v15 They are not ashamed of the wrong things that they do.

They are not even slightly ashamed.

They have forgotten how to be sorry.

So they will fall when other people fall.

I will bring them down when I decide to *punish them’,

says the *Lord.

v16 The *Lord spoke to the people.

‘Stand at the place where the roads cross. And look’, he said.

‘Ask where the old ways lead.

Find the good way, and walk along that way.

Then I will give you proper *peace.

But you said, “We will not walk that way.”

v17 I gave you men to help you and to lead you. I said,

“Listen for the noise of the *trumpet!”

But you said, “We will not listen.”

v18 So listen to me, all you countries.

Look. And you will see

what I will do to them.

v19 Hear me, people on the earth.

I am causing great trouble for these people.

They will have trouble because they have done many wrong things.

And they have not listened to my words.

They have not obeyed my *law.

v20 I do not want nice smells from Sheba.

I do not want oils from countries far away.

The food and drink that you give to me

do not give me pleasure.’

v21 So this is the message from the *Lord.

‘I will make it difficult for this people to give me pleasure.

Both sons and their fathers will have difficulties.

Friends and those who are close will die.’

v22 The *Lord spoke again.

‘Look, an army is coming from the country in the north.

I am calling up a great people from the ends of the earth.

v23 They carry arms, bows and spears (throwing knives on long sticks).

They are never kind and they never *forgive.

As they ride on their horses,

they sound like the noise of the sea.

They are ready to fight,

and they are coming to attack you, Jerusalem.’

v24 We have heard about them,

and we are afraid.

Pain is all over our bodies.

It is like the pain of a woman who is having a baby.

v25 Do not go out into the fields.

Do not walk along the roads.

Our enemies have long, sharp knives.

We are afraid that they are all round us.

v26 My people must become very sorry.

They wear special clothes when someone dies.

They must wear clothes like those.

They cry with loud voices.

They cry like a man whose only son has died.

They do this because the enemy will quickly come to destroy us.

v27 ‘My people are like metals.

And you must *test them to see if they are good.

I want you to watch them.

Then you can see what they do.’

v28 They never obeyed God.

They enjoy telling stories that are not true.

Their minds are as hard as iron.

They all do very bad things.

v29 A very hot fire makes metals clean.

I send *punishment like a fire.

But it does not cause bad men to do what is good.

v30 God will throw them out like dirty metal.

The *Lord will not receive them.

Chapter 7

To *worship *false gods is wrong.

v1 The *Lord spoke to Jeremiah. v2 ‘Stand at the gate of the *Lord’s house and speak to the people there. Say, “Hear the *Lord’s message, all you people of Judah. You come through this gate to *worship the *Lord.” ’ v3 The great, powerful God of Israel says, ‘Change the things that you do. Do the things that I say that you should do. Then I will let you live in this place. v4 People may say, “We are safe. This is the *temple of the *Lord, the *temple of the *Lord!” But words are not enough. v5 You must really change. You must be fair to each other. v6 You must not be cruel to *foreigners, *orphans or widows. You must not kill people. You must not *worship other gods. If you do these things, I will destroy you. v7 If you obey me, then I will let you live in this country. This is the country that I gave to your fathers. I gave it to them to live in for all time. v8 But you believe in words that are not true.

v9 You take things that are not yours. And you kill people. You tell *judges things that are not true. You have sex with wives or husbands of other people. You offer gifts to the *false god, Baal. You *worship other gods. v10 And then you come to this, my house! You stand in front of this house that is mine. You say, “We are safe!” v11 My *temple is not a place for people who hurt, kill, or say things that are not true! I have seen what you are doing’, says the *Lord.

v12 ‘Go to Shiloh. It was the first place that I chose as a house for my name. See what I did to it. I destroyed it because you had done so many bad things. v13 I spoke to you while you were doing these bad things’, the *Lord said. ‘I spoke to you again and again, but you would not listen. I called you, but you did not answer. v14 I gave this *temple to you and your fathers. But I will do to it what I did to the house at Shiloh. You think that the house for my name will save you. v15 But I will push you away from me, just as I pushed away your brothers, Ephraim’s family.’

v16 ‘Jeremiah, you must not pray for this people. You must not ask me to help them. If you ask me, I will not listen to you. v17 You can see what they are doing in the towns in Judah. You see what they are doing in the streets in Jerusalem. v18 The children fetch wood and their fathers light a fire. The women prepare and cook cakes of bread. Then they offer them to the ‘Queen of *Heaven’ (a *false female god). And they offer gifts of drink to other *false gods. This makes me very angry. v19 I am angry. But they are the people who will hurt themselves’, says the *Lord. ‘They will be ashamed.’

v20 ‘So I will send out my *anger’, says the strong, powerful *Lord. ‘I will send it, like fire, on this place. I will send it on men, animals, trees and fruits. It will burn them up, and nothing will stop it.’

v21 ‘Continue to give your *offerings to me. Give burnt *offerings of meat and other things, and eat the meat yourselves! v22 I brought your fathers out of Egypt. Then I did not only tell them how to give burnt *offerings. v23 I also told them to obey me, and to keep all my *laws. Then I would be their God, and they would be my people. I said that they would have good lives if they obeyed me. v24 But they did not listen. They did not think that my words had any value. Instead, they did the bad things that they liked to do. They went away from me, and did not want to come to me. v25 I sent my servants, the *prophets to you again and again. I did this from the day that you left Egypt until today. v26 But they did not listen to me. They did not try to do as I asked them. They went on doing the same bad things, and did even worse things than their fathers.’

v27 ‘Jeremiah, you will tell them all that I have said. But when you tell them, they will not listen to you. When you call them, they will not answer. v28 So you will have to speak to them. “The people in this country have not obeyed the *Lord, their God. They have not turned away from the wrong things that they were doing”, you must say. “No one now says anything that is true. v29 Cut off your hair. Sing sad songs on the empty hills. The *Lord has turned away from the people who are still alive. He has left them because he is so angry.” ’

The valley of death

v30 ‘The people in Judah have done wrong things. I told them that those things were wrong’, says the *Lord. ‘They have put *false gods in my house. I *hate this, they have made it *dirty. v31 They have made big fires in Topheth. There, in Ben Hinnom Valley, they burn their sons and daughters. I did not tell them to do this. I never thought to ask them to do such a thing. v32 So you must be careful. The day will come when it will not be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom. No, it will be called Death Valley. They will put dead persons in the earth there, until it is full up. v33 Birds and animals will eat the dead persons, and no one will make them afraid. They will not go away. v34 I will make the place quiet. No people will sing or be happy there. No one in the towns in Judah or in Jerusalem will have marriage parties. No people will live in the country any more.’

Chapter 8

v1 ‘Enemies will remove the bones of the kings of Judah and their officers. And they will remove the bones of the *priests and *prophets and the people from Jerusalem. They will take them out of the earth at that time. v2 The sun will shine on them, and the moon, too. My people worked for and loved the sun and moon. They *worshipped them. No one will take the bones and put them back in the ground. They will be like dirt. v3 All the people in this bad country will want to die, and not to live’, says the great, powerful *Lord.

People who choose to do wrong things will be *punished.

v4 Speak to the people, and tell them,

‘When men fall down, they get up again.

When a man goes away, he comes back.

v5 I ask why these people have turned away.

The people of Jerusalem always turn away.

They choose to believe things that are not true.

They refuse to return to me.

v6 I have listened carefully.

But they do not say what is right.

No one is sorry for the bad things that they have done.

They think that nobody knows what they have done.

Each person does the things that he wants.

He is like a horse that is running to the fight.

v7 Even a big bird in the sky knows when it should go away.

Small birds know when it is time for them to fly away.

But my people do not know

what I want them to do.’

v8 ‘You must not say, “We know what is right.

We know it because we have the *law of the *Lord.”

Your writers have written what is not true!

v9 Some people think that they are clever.

Those people will be ashamed. Enemies will catch them like animals in a field.

They have refused to hear the *Lord’s message.

They are not very clever.

v10 So I will give their wives to other men.

Other men will have their fields.

All people, rich and poor, want to have more and more.

Both *priests and *prophets

tell people things that are not true.

v11 They can see that my people are hurt.

But they say that it is not important.

They say, “*Peace, *peace”, when there is no *peace.

v12 They are not ashamed of the wrong things that they do.

They are not sorry.

Their faces do not get red.

So they will fall when other men fall.

I will bring them down when they are *punished’,

says the *Lord.

v13 ‘I will take away the fruit and seed from their fields’,

says the *Lord.

‘No *figs or *grapes will grow on their trees.

The leaves of the trees will dry up and die.

I will take away all that I have given them.’

v14 We ask ourselves why we are waiting.

We must come together.

Let us run to the cities with strong walls.

We will die there!

The *Lord our God has said that we must die.

He has given us poisoned water to drink

because we have not obeyed him.

v15 We wanted *peace, but it has not happened.

We wanted God to make us well, but he made us afraid.

v16 The people can hear the noise of the enemy’s horses.

They can hear them, even from Dan.

All the country *shakes when they hear their noise.

They have come to destroy the country and everything in it.

They will take the city and all the people who live there.

v17 ‘I will send you snakes with poison in their mouths.

Nobody can cause them to sleep.

They will bite you’, says the *Lord.

v18 *Lord, you made me happy when I was sad.

I feel weak and afraid.

v19 Listen to your people who are crying from a country far away.

They ask if the *Lord is still in Jerusalem.

They think that their king has gone away.

‘They have made me angry with their *false gods.

Their foreign gods have no value.’

v20 ‘We have taken in all the food from the fields.

The summer is finished.

And you have not saved us.’

v21 I am very sad because my people are so sad.

I feel sad as if they were dead. And I am afraid for them.

v22 God has hurt his people so that no doctor can help them.

He will not make them better.

Chapter 9

v1 My head should be like a river of water,

and my eyes like a pool of tears.

Then I would cry all day and night

for my people who have died.

v2 I would like to have a place to stay in the *desert.

Then I could leave my people.

I could go away from them.

They have all gone away from God.

Not one person has *faith in him.

v3 ‘Their *tongues are like bows.

They shoot words that are not true.

These people win their fights when they say *false things.

They *sin and sin and sin again.

They do not give me *honour’,

says the *Lord.

v4 ‘Watch your friends.

Every brother says words that are not true.

So do not put *faith in your brothers.

And every friend speaks words that can hurt you.

v5 One friend will say words that are not true to another friend.

No one speaks true words.

They have taught their *tongues to say things that are *false.

They have *sinned so much that they are tired.

v6 *False words are all round you.

People say so many things that are not true.

And they give me no *honour’,

says the *Lord.

v7 So this is what the great, strong *Lord says,

‘I will see how *clean they are.

I want to make them more *clean.

I must do this because my people have *sinned.

v8 Their *tongue is like poison.

It does not say things that are true.

A man may speak kind words to his friend,

but he is really trying to hurt him.

v9 I must *punish men for this’,

says the *Lord.

‘I must be angry

because the people in this country do not give *honour to me.

v10 I will cry and be sad

because there are no people on the mountains.

No animals live on the hills where they fed.

The hills and mountains are empty.

Nobody can hear the sound of cows and sheep.

No birds fly in the air,

and the animals are gone.

v11 I will make Jerusalem a hill of broken stones.

Wild animals will live there.

I will destroy the towns in Judah

so that no one can live there.’

v12 No one can understand this. The *Lord has told no one how it happened. No man can say why the *Lord has made the country into a *desert. Now nobody can walk across it.

v13 ‘It is because they have not obeyed my *law’, the *Lord said. ‘They have not obeyed the *law that I gave to them. They have gone away from it and they have chosen to do bad things. v14 They have left me and have gone to *worship the Baals (*false male gods). They are doing as their fathers taught them.’ v15 So this is what the great strong *Lord, the God of Israel says, ‘I will cause this people to eat food that is bad. I will put poison in the water that they drink. v16 I will send them to many foreign countries. Neither they nor their fathers knew these countries. I will send enemies after them to kill and destroy them.’

v17 ‘Call the women who cry for people in trouble. Call them now!’

the great powerful *Lord says.

‘Send for those who cry the loudest.

v18 Tell them to come quickly to make their sad noise.

Then our eyes will make water.

And it will be like rivers that fall from them.

v19 We can hear the sound of people who are crying in Zion (Jerusalem).

“We are destroyed! We are very ashamed!

We have to leave our country

because all our houses are broken down.” ’

v20 Now hear the *Lord’s message, you women.

Listen to the words of his mouth.

Teach your daughters how to cry for their troubles.

Teach each other sad songs.

v21 We are all dying. Dead bodies fill our strong cities.

No children play in the streets.

The open places of the city are empty.

The young men have all gone.

v22 ‘Men’s dead bodies will lie on the open fields.

No one will take them away’, says the *Lord.

‘They will lie like plants that people have cut for food.

But no one will pick them up.’

v23 ‘The *wise man cannot say that he is *wise.

And the strong man cannot say that he is strong’,

says the *Lord.

v24 ‘But they can say that they know me and understand me.

Then they could say that they were clever.

They would know that I am the *Lord.

They would know that I am kind.

And I do only good things.

I am fair when I *judge the earth.

They would know that too.

These are the things that give me pleasure’, says the *Lord.

v25 ‘The time is coming’, says the *Lord, ‘when I will *punish the people in other countries. I will *punish the people in those countries who do not obey my *law.’ ‘People in many countries have *circumcised bodies. But they do not do the things that please me. v26 They are the people in Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and the people who live in the *desert. They are like people who are not *circumcised. And the whole people of Israel do not live like *circumcised people, either.’

Chapter 10

v1 People of Israel, listen to what the *Lord says to you.

v2 ‘Do not do the things that people in other countries do’, he says.

‘You should not be afraid of things that happen in the sky.

You must not be like people in other countries.

v3 The things that those people do have no value.

They take a tree from the forest,

and a worker gives it shape with a knife.

v4 They make it pretty with *silver and gold.

They fix it to the floor so that it will not fall.

v5 We put things like them in the fields.

Our things save the fruit from the birds.

And they cannot speak.

Men carry *idols, because they cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of them.

They cannot hurt you

and they cannot help you.’

v6 There is no one like you, *Lord.

You are great and your name is powerful.

v7 Everyone should *honour you,

King of the countries.

This is their duty.

There is no one like you in all the countries.

No men are as *wise as you are.

There is no king like you.

v8 All men are fools, and they learn from fools.

Things made out of wood can teach them nothing.

v9 They cover the wood with *silver from Spain.

They make it pretty with gold from Uphaz.

Then they take expensive clothes that men have made with their hands.

They put them on this *idol that other men have made.

v10 But the *Lord is the true God.

He is the God who is alive. He is the King who will always be alive.

When he is angry, the earth moves like a leaf in the wind.

When he is angry, the people in a country cannot stand.

v11 Speak to them. Say, ‘Your gods did not make the earth or the sky. The *Lord will destroy them. He will push them out of the earth and from all places under the sky.’

v12 But God made the earth by his power.

Only he could do this.

He was the person who put the sky over the earth.

v13 He shouts, and the waters in the sky make a loud noise (thunder).

He causes clouds to rise from the ends of the earth.

He sends the bright lines of light with the rain (lightning).

And he brings the winds from the place where he hides them.

v14 Nobody knows God or understands him.

Men who work to make things from metal are ashamed.

*Idols that they make have no life in them.

v15 They are silly because they have no value.

God will destroy them when he *judges them.

v16 The God of Jacob is not like these *idols.

He made everything.

He made Israel to be the people that he chose.

He is the great and powerful *Lord.

v17 Get all your things together, ready to leave the country.

Your enemies are all round you.

v18 This is what the *Lord says,

‘I will now throw out those people who live in this country.

I will make their lives difficult,

then their enemies will take them as their *prisoners.’

v19 I am hurt and in great pain.

No one can make me well.

I said to myself, ‘This is my hurt, and I must live with it!’

v20 They have destroyed my *tent.

They have broken all its *ropes.

My sons have gone away, and they are dead.

Now no one will put up my *tent.

v21 The *shepherds are fools.

They do not ask the *Lord to help them,

so their work does not make them rich.

And all their sheep have run away.

v22 Listen to the noise!

People are coming from the country in the north (Babylon).

They will take the people out from the towns in Judah.

Only wild animals will live there.

Jeremiah’s *prayer

v23 I know, *Lord, that you give life to each man.

Only you can say where he should walk.

v24 Please lead me back to the right path, *Lord, but be fair to me.

Do not be angry with me.

If you are, you might completely destroy me.

v25 Be angry, *Lord, with the people in the countries that do not *honour you.

Be angry with the *nations who do not ask you to lead them.

The people in these countries have completely destroyed your people,

the sons of Jacob.

They have destroyed the country that you gave to them.

Chapter 11

The people have not obeyed the rules of the *covenant that they made with God.

v1 God spoke to Jeremiah, the *prophet. v2 ‘Listen to the rules of this *covenant’, he said. ‘Tell them to the people in Judah and the people who live in Jerusalem. v3 Tell them that this is what the *Lord, the God of Israel says. “I will send *curses to the man who does not obey the rules of this *covenant. v4 I gave the rules to your fathers when I brought them out of Egypt. Enemies caught your fathers like wood in a fire, but I took them out. I said, ‘Obey me and do everything that I say that you should do. Then you will be my people and I will be your God.’ v5 Then I will keep the promise that I gave to your fathers. I promised to give them a country that would give them plenty of milk and sweet food. This is the country that you now live in.” ’

I answered, ‘*Amen (I want that to happen), *Lord.’

v6 ‘Speak out all these words in the towns in Judah and the streets in Jerusalem’, the *Lord said to me. ‘Say, “Listen to these rules of the *covenant, and obey them. v7 I have said this all the time since I brought your fathers out of Egypt. Again and again, until now, I have said this, ‘You must obey me.’ v8 But they did not listen. They did not think that my rules were important. Instead, they did all the bad things that they wanted to do. All their thoughts were *evil. So I had to *punish them. I sent them all the *curses that I promised. I promised those *curses if they did not obey me. I *punished them because they did not obey the rules of the *covenant.” ’

v9 ‘The people in Judah and those who live in Jerusalem have decided to choose a wrong path. v10 They have returned to the *sins of their fathers. Their fathers refused to listen to my words. They left me and now they work for other gods. I made a *covenant with their fathers. None of the people from Judah or Israel has obeyed the rules of this *covenant.’ v11 Because of this, the *Lord says, ‘I will bring great trouble to you. You will not get away from it. Even if you call out to me, I will not listen to you. v12 The people in the towns in Judah and in Jerusalem will shout to the gods that they *worship. But those gods will not help them when trouble happens to them. v13 Judah, you have different gods in every town. You have made *altars to burn oils to make nice smells for them. You have built as many *altars as there are streets in Jerusalem.’

v14 ‘Jeremiah, do not pray for this people or ask me to do anything for them. I will not listen to them when they ask me for help.

v15 The people that I love are doing *evil things in my *temple.

They cannot stop me from *punishing them.

If you give me gifts of meat, I will still *punish you.

You enjoy doing these wrong things.’

v16 The *Lord said that you were like an *olive tree.

It was beautiful and it gave much fruit.

But now he will burn the tree with a loud noise,

and he will break all its branches.

v17 The *Lord, who has all power, planted you like a tree. Now he will cause great trouble to Israel and to Judah. This is because you have burnt oils with nice smells to *worship the god Baal. You have caused the *Lord to be very angry.

The men in Anathoth want to kill Jeremiah.

v18 I knew what the people wanted to do. The *Lord had showed me what they were doing. v19 I was like a young animal that is waiting for men to kill it. I had no idea what they had been saying.

‘We must destroy the tree and its fruit’, they said. ‘He must not go on living. Men will forget all about him.’

v20 ‘But *Lord of all power, you *judge in a fair way. You can see into the thoughts and minds of men. I believe that I have done nothing that is wrong. So I ask you to *punish them.

v21 The men in Anathoth wanted to kill me. ‘Do not go on telling us what the *Lord says’, they said. ‘If you do continue to give us his messages, we will kill you.’ v22 So the *Lord of all power spoke to me. ‘I will *punish them. Their young men will die as they fight. And their children will not have enough food and they will die.’ v23 He said, ‘I will destroy all the men in Anathoth when I *punish them. I will not leave one man alive there at that time.’

Chapter 12

Jeremiah tells the *Lord about his troubles.

v1 You always *judge me in a good and fair way *Lord,

when I tell you about my problems.

But I must ask you some questions.

Why do bad people have such an easy life?

Why does everything seem to happen in the way that pleases them?

Why do you give the people who do not obey you such comfortable lives?

v2 They are like plants that you have planted. And they are growing.

They grow and make fruit.

They talk about you a lot.

But they do not listen to you.

v3 But you know me, *Lord.

You watch me. And you *judge the thoughts that I have about you.

Take those bad men away like animals to kill them!

Put them in a special place, ready to die.

v4 The country has been dry for a long time.

The grass in every field is brown and bent.

The people who live in this country are bad.

So all the animals and birds have died.

It is even worse than that. People are saying,

‘He will not see what happens to us.’

God answers.

v5 ‘You get very tired when you try to run faster than other men.

So you could never run faster than horses.

You can fall over on flat fields.

So you will certainly fall near the river Jordan,

when you are among many trees and bushes.

v6 Even your brothers and your own family

are against you.

They join in the attacks against you.

Do not believe them,

even when they speak kind words about you.’

v7 ‘I will go away and leave my house.

I will leave the country of my people empty.

I will let their enemies take the people that I loved.

v8 The people that belong to me

are like a *lion.

They are like a *lion that is hiding in the trees.

They shout, ready to jump on me.

This is why I *hate them.

v9 The people that I chose are like a small bird.

Their enemies are like big birds. They will attack and kill them.

Call to the wild animals

to come and eat them!

v10 My people are like a garden where soft plants grow.

But the men who keep the garden are walking all over it.

They are making my garden into a *desert.

v11 It will become dry and empty

and nothing will grow there.

The whole country will become empty

because no one *cares for it.

v12 Enemies will come over the empty country.

They will come to destroy my people.

No one will be safe in any part of the country.

v13 They will plant good seed, but bad plants will grow.

My people will work very hard, but they will get nothing.

Because I am very angry, they will have no food.’

v14 ‘I will remove all the enemies who took this country. They took the country that I gave to my people, Israel. I will take them out of their countries. I will separate the people of Judah from them’, says the *Lord. v15 ‘But after I have taken away the family of Judah, I will be kind to them. I will bring them back, each to the country of his fathers. I will bring them back to their own country. v16 Then they must learn to obey the rules of my people. They must give me *honour. They must not continue to believe in the name of Baal. They must learn to say, “As the *Lord lives”. Then they will become part of my people. v17 But if the people in any country will not obey these rules, I will destroy it completely’, says the *Lord.

Chapter 13

A belt made from cloth

v1 ‘Go and buy a belt made from cloth and put it round your body’, the *Lord said to me. ‘But you must not let it get wet.’ v2 So I bought a belt, as the *Lord had said. I tied it on.

v3 The *Lord spoke to me again. v4 ‘Take the belt that you bought. You are now wearing it. Take it to Perath and hide it in a hole in the rocks.’ v5 So I went and hid it at Perath as the *Lord had told me.

v6 It was many days later that I heard from the *Lord. ‘Now go to Perath. Get the belt that I told you to hide there’, he said to me. v7 So I went to Perath, to the place where I had hidden the belt. I dug it up. But it was dirty and I could not use it.

v8 Then the *Lord spoke to me.

v9 ‘This is how I will destroy all that has value in Judah and in Jerusalem. v10 These people are very bad. They refuse to listen to my words. They do what they want. They work for other gods and they *worship them’, he said. ‘They will be of no use at all, just like this belt. v11 I was like a belt. I tied the whole families of Israel and of Judah to myself. They should have been my people and they should have brought me *honour and *praise. But they have not listened to me.’

v12 ‘You must speak to them. Say, “People should fill with *wine every skin of a goat that is for keeping *wine, says the *Lord.” They may answer, “We know that.” v13 Then tell them that I will make all of them like people who have drunk very much *wine. Everyone in the country will become *drunk. All the kings, *prophets, *priests and people who live in Jerusalem will be *drunk. v14 I will hit them against each other like jars, whether they are old or young. I will not be sorry for them or be kind to them. I will destroy them, and nothing can stop me.’

The people must not think that they are better than other people.

v15 Listen to me.

Listen very carefully.

Do not think that you do not need to listen!

The *Lord has spoken.

v16 Give *honour to the *Lord your God,

before he makes it dark.

Then your feet will not find the path,

as the hills grow dark.

You hope that it will get light.

But God will make it very dark.

v17 If you do not listen

I will weep in secret.

You think that you do not need the *Lord.

That is why I will cry.

Water will fall from my eyes

like a great river.

This will happen because the *Lord will make his people *prisoners.

v18 Speak to the king and to the queen, his mother.

Say, ‘Come down from your *thrones.

The gold *crowns will fall from your heads.’

v19 The cities in the Negev will be shut,

and there will be no one to open them.

Enemies will take all the people in Judah to a foreign country.

They will take them away completely.

v20 Look up. See people who are coming from the north.

The people that made you important are gone.

You are like *shepherds who have lost their sheep.

v21 The *Lord will give your authority to other people.

People from the country that was your special friend will rule over you.

You will have pain,

pain like the pain of a woman who is having a baby.

v22 You may ask, ‘Why is this happening to me?’

It is because of the many wrong things that you have done.

That is why people have torn off your clothes.

And they have hurt you.

v23 A black man cannot make himself white,

and an animal cannot change its colour.

In the same way, you cannot do good things

if you have always done *evil things.

v24 ‘I will blow you away

as the *desert wind blows a leaf.

v25 This is what I have decided to do to you’, says the *Lord.

‘I will do it because you have forgotten me.

And you have listened to *false gods.

v26 I will pull off your clothes.

You will be ashamed.

v27 Everyone will see that you have had sex

with women who are not your wives.

They will know that men have paid women

to have sex with them.

I have seen the bad things that you do

on the hills and in the fields.

People in Jerusalem, you will never be happy.

You should not always do wrong things.’

Chapter 14

God will stop sending food and water and he will send wars.

v1 This is what the *Lord told Jeremiah. He said that he would stop sending rain.

v2 ‘Judah’s people are very sad. The people in their cities are tired.

They are sitting on the ground and crying.

Jerusalem’s people are weeping.

v3 Rich men send their servants for water.

But they find no water

in the big holes where they keep it.

They return with empty water jars.

Their trouble is great and they are sad.

They cover their heads.

v4 The ground has long holes in it

because God has sent no rain.

The farmers have great trouble.

They cover their heads.

v5 Mother animals leave their new babies in the fields

because the grass is dead.

v6 Wild horses stand on the empty hills and they pant.

They cannot see well because they have no food.’

v7 We know that we have done many bad things.

But please help us, *Lord.

People will give you *honour if you will help us.

We have done very many bad things.

We have gone away from you.

We have not obeyed your *laws.

v8 You are our hope. You are Israel’s hope.

You saved us from our troubles.

But now you are like a *foreigner.

You are like a visitor who stays for only one night.

v9 You are like a man who is surprised.

He is surprised when enemies make him a *prisoner.

Yes, you are like a soldier who cannot save anyone.

You are among us, *Lord.

People call us by your name.

Do not leave us alone!

v10 ‘This people love to go away from me.

They let their feet go anywhere that they like.

So they cannot please the *Lord.

Now he will remember the bad things that they have done.

And he will *punish them for their *sins.’

That is what the *Lord says.

v11 The *Lord spoke to me again. ‘Do not pray that I will do good things for this people. v12 Even if they stop eating food, I will not listen to them. If they burn meat and seeds to offer to me, I will not accept their gifts. Instead, I will destroy them. They will have no food. Or they will become ill and die. I will send men to kill some of them’, the *Lord said to me.

v13 ‘*Lord, ruler of all, the *prophets say other things’, I said. ‘They say that soldiers will not kill the people. They do not believe that they will have no food. The *prophets say that they will have no troubles. They say that their *peace will continue.’

v14 ‘The *prophets are saying what is not true’, the *Lord said to me. ‘And they said that I had said it. I did not send them or give them my authority. I did not speak to them. Their words are *false. They are giving you *prophesies and pictures that their own minds have made. They *worship *false gods. v15 So this is what the *Lord says about these *prophets. “I did not send them. But they are saying that I have spoken to them.” They say, “Enemies will not kill anyone in this country. No one will die because they have no food.” But I say, “Those same *prophets will have no food and die. Or soldiers will kill them. v16 And men will throw the people that listened to them into the streets of Jerusalem. They will die because they have no food. Or they may die because soldiers will kill them. No one will bury the dead people. They and their dead wives, sons and daughters will lie in the street. They will be *punished because they did not obey me.” ’

v17 Say this to them.

‘Water runs from my eyes

all day and all night without stopping.

I am crying because my own people are hurt very badly.

Their life is finished.

v18 I see dead people

when I go into the country.

Soldiers have killed them.

In the city, I see dead people.

They died because they had no food.

Both *prophets and *priests

have gone to a place that they never knew.’

Jeremiah asks the *Lord to save his people.

v19 Surely you have not completely turned away from Judah.

You cannot hate Zion (Jerusalem).

You have hurt us so much

that no one can make us well again.

We had the hope that you would save us from trouble.

But you have not done anything good for us.

We had the hope that you would make us well.

But we are only very afraid.

v20 *Lord, we agree that we have done many bad things.

We remember, too, the bad things that our fathers did.

We have not obeyed you, and we have hurt you.

v21 People may think that you are bad because we are bad.

We do not want this.

We want people to give *honour to you.

Remember that you made a promise to us.

Please keep your promise.

v22 Gods made from wood and stone belong to other countries.

They cannot bring rain.

The sky itself does not make rain.

No, you our *Lord, our God,

you bring rain.

So you are our hope.

Only you can do all this.

Chapter 15

v1 ‘Even if Moses and Samuel asked me not to *punish my people, I would not listen to them’, the *Lord said to me. ‘Send them away from me. Let them go! v2 They may ask you, “Where shall we go?” Then tell them this is what the *Lord says.

“Those who should die will die.

Other soldiers will kill those who are soldiers.

Those that should have no food will have no food.

Those who should be *prisoners will become *prisoners.” ’

v3 ‘I will send 4 (four) kinds of *punishments to destroy them’, the *Lord says. ‘I will send soldiers to kill them and *dogs to carry them away. And I will send birds from the air and wild animals to eat and destroy them. v4 I will cause all the *nations on the earth to hate them. I will do this because of the *evil things that Manasseh, Hezekiah’s son, did in Jerusalem.’

v5 ‘No one will be sorry for you, people in Jerusalem.

No one will weep for you.

No one will stop to ask how you are.

v6 You have turned away from me’, says the *Lord.

‘You go on doing things that are wrong.

So I will attack and destroy you.

I cannot be kind to you.

v7 I will *judge you at the gates of the country.

Many of you will see your sons die.

And I will destroy many people

because they have not returned to me.

v8 I will kill many husbands.

More men will die than you can count.

I will send an enemy at midday

against mothers and young children.

They will become afraid quickly.

v9 A mother who has 7 (seven) children

will fall and die.

Her life will end before she is old.

She will be ashamed and without *honour.

I will send soldiers to kill

those people who are not already dead’,

says the *Lord.

Jeremiah is angry with the *Lord.

v10 I am sorry, mother, that I was ever born.

Everyone in the country is against me.

I have not lent money or taken it,

But everyone says bad things about me.

v11 ‘I will save you so that I can do good things.

I will cause your enemies to ask you for help.

They will come to you when they have great trouble’, the *Lord said to me.

v12 ‘A man cannot break iron or other metals.

He cannot break the iron from the north.’

v13 ‘I will give all your valuable things and all your money

to enemies who will attack you.

They will not pay for them

because you have done so many wrong things.

You have done bad things all over the country.

v14 Your enemies will make you slaves.

They will take you to a country that you do not know.

I am so angry that I am like a fire that burns you.’

v15 You understand my problems, *Lord.

Remember me and *care for me.

Please *punish those who give me so much trouble.

You are patient but do not let them kill me. Remember me.

They have made my life difficult because I work for you.

v16 Your words were like sweet food to me.

They made me very happy.

I belong to you, *Lord, powerful God.

v17 I never sat with happy people at a party.

I sat alone, because you had touched me.

You had made me very angry.

v18 My pain has no end.

My hurts do not get better.

I feel that you are not always there.

You are not always there when I need your help.

v19 So the *Lord spoke to me.

‘If you will turn to me, I will take you back.

Then you can be my servant.

If you will speak good words and not bad words,

you can speak for me.

This people will return to you,

but you must not become like them.

v20 I will make you like a wall to this people.

You will be like a wall of strong metal.

They will fight against you,

but they will not win the fight.

They will not win because I am with you.

I will save you’, says the *Lord.

v21 ‘I will save you from bad men who attack you.

I will save you from people who want to hurt you.’

Chapter 16

The *Lord tells Jeremiah about great troubles that he will cause for his people.

v1-2 ‘You must not marry or have sons or daughters here’, the *Lord said to me. v3 He told me that sons and daughters who were born in this country would die from bad illnesses. Their mothers and fathers would die, too. v4 Their bodies would lie on the ground. And no one would be sad, or bury them. No one would give them any *honour. Soldiers would kill them. Or they would die because they had no food. Birds and wild animals would feed on the dead people.

v5 ‘Do not go into a house where they are eating a meal to remember a dead person. You may be sorry that the person is dead. But do not show them that you are sorry. Do this because I have taken my love and my *blessing away from them’, says the *Lord. v6 ‘No one will bury dead persons. No one will bury them, whether they are rich or poor. No one will be sad. No one will show other people how sad they are. They will not cut themselves, or remove the hair from their heads. v7 No one will give food to families when someone has died. They will not even give them food if their mother or father has died. And no one will give them a drink to try to make them happy.’ This is what the *Lord says.

v8 ‘And do not go into a house where they are having a party. Do not sit down with them to eat and drink’, v9 the *Lord of power, the God of Israel, said to me. ‘This is because I will stop their happy songs and marriage parties in this place’, he said.

v10 ‘You will tell the people all that I have said. Then they will ask questions. “Why has the *Lord said that he will do all these bad things to us? What wrong things have we done? What *sin have we done against the *Lord, our God?” v11 Then you must speak to them. “It is because your fathers went away from me”, says the *Lord. “They *worshipped other gods and they became their servants. They turned away from me and they did not obey my *law. v12 But you have done worse things than your fathers. Each of you does what he wants. You know that. You do it even when it is wrong. You do not obey me. v13 So I will throw you out of this country into a country that you and your fathers have not known. There you will be servants to other gods, day and night, because I will not help you.” ’

v14 ‘But a better time will come’, says the *Lord. ‘Men will not talk about the time when I, the living God, took them out of Egypt. v15 No, they will say that they are sure that I am alive. They will say that I saved the people of Israel from the countries in the north. They will remember how I saved them from all the countries where I had sent them. I had sent them away to *punish them. I will give them back the country that I gave to their fathers.’

v16 ‘But now I will make them like fish. I will send for many men to fish for them’, says the *Lord. ‘And these men will catch them. Then I will send hunters to run after them like wild animals. The hunters will find them in the mountains and hills and in holes in the rocks. v17 I am watching them all the time. They cannot hide from me. And they cannot hide the wrong things that they do. v18 I will *punish them twice as much for their *sin and for the bad things that they have done. This is because they have made my country like a place full of dirt. They have filled it with their *idols that have no life. They have made the country that I gave to you full of their *dirty *idols.’

v19 *Lord, you are the person who makes me strong.

You are like a city with strong walls in which I can hide.

I can hide in you when troubles happen to me.

People will come to you from countries all over the earth.

They will say, ‘Our fathers had only *false gods.

They had no power and they did not help us.

v20 Men make ‘gods’, but they are not really gods.’

v21 ‘So I will teach them.

This time I will teach them

how strong and powerful I am.

Then they will know that the *Lord is my name.’

Chapter 17

v1 ‘All the people in Judah are full of *sin.

It is deep in every part of their bodies.

And they use their *altars to *sin against me.

v2 Even their children

use their *altars and sticks that they call gods.

They put these tall sticks on high hills (places where the people *worshipped *idols)

and under big trees.

v3 Enemies will take my mountain that is in your country (Mount Zion).

I will give away all your valuable things,

the things that make you rich.

I will do this because of the *sin of the people in all my country.

v4 You will lose the country that I gave to your fathers.

You will lose it because of your own *sin.

Your enemies will make you their slaves.

You will live in a country that you do not know.

You have made me very angry,

and you cannot stop me from being angry.’

v5 The *Lord spoke again.

‘Some people think that human people know what is best.

I will *punish everyone who thinks like that.

They think that they can save themselves.

They think that they are strong.

They do not ask the *Lord for help.

v6 These people will be like a bush in a wild place.

They will not become rich when other people become rich.

They will stay in dry salty places where no one lives.

v7 The person who lets the *Lord lead him is not like that.

The *Lord will *bless the man who follows him.

v8 He will be like a tree near water

that drinks from the river.

He will not be afraid of the sun’s heat.

He will be like a tree that is always green.

This tree gives much fruit and always has enough water.’

v9 ‘One part of a man decides what he will do or feel.

This can lead him into trouble.

It is bad and sick and no one can make it better.

No one can understand it.’

v10 ‘I, the *Lord, can look inside a man.

I can see what he feels and thinks.

I will give him good gifts if he does good things.

And I will *punish him if he does bad things.’

v11 ‘A man may get rich by not being fair to other people.

He is like a bird that sits on eggs. But the eggs are not its own.

He will lose his riches before he is old.

At the end of his life people will see that he is a fool.’

v12 Our God’s throne was from the beginning.

It is high up in the *holy place (the *temple on Mount Zion).

v13 *Lord, you are the hope of your people, Israel.

All who go away from you will be ashamed.

Those who turn away from you will die.

They will die because they have gone away from the *Lord.

He is the living water that gives them life.

Jeremiah tells the *Lord about his troubles.

v14 *Lord, make me well, and I will be well.

Save me and I will be saved.

Save me because I *praise you.

v15 People keep asking me questions.

‘Where are the words of the *Lord?

When will they come true?’

v16 *Lord, I have not stopped giving help to your sheep (people).

You know that I did not want bad things to happen to them.

You know that I have spoken your words.

v17 Please do not make me afraid!

When bad things happen, I run to you to hide me.

v18 I want you to make the people ashamed who hurt me.

Please make them very afraid.

But help me not to be afraid.

Cause them to have a lot of trouble.

Destroy them again and again.

The *Lord tells Jeremiah about his rules for the *Sabbath.

v19 ‘Go and stand in the gate of the city’, the *Lord said to me. ‘Stand in the gate that the kings of Judah use to go in and out of the city. And stand at the other city gates, too. v20 Speak to the people. Say, “Listen, you kings of Judah, people of Judah, and everyone who lives in Jerusalem. Hear the message from the *Lord. v21 This is what the *Lord says. ‘Do not carry anything on the *Sabbath day. Do not carry anything through the gates of Jerusalem. v22 Do not carry anything out of your houses or do any work on the *Sabbath day. You must keep the *Sabbath day *holy as I told your fathers. v23 But they did not listen to me. They did not do the things that I said that they must do. They thought that my words had no value. They would not listen when I corrected them. v24 But you must be careful to listen to me and to obey me. Then you will neither carry things through these gates nor work on the *Sabbath. You will keep the *Sabbath day *holy’, says the *Lord. v25 ‘Then kings who sit on David’s *throne will come to the city. They will come through the gates with their officers. Some will ride on horses. Some will ride in beautiful *chariots that horses are pulling. The men of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem will come with them. Then people will always live in this city. v26 People will come from the towns and villages in Judah. They will come from the country that belongs to Benjamin. They will come from the hills and the little hills in the west. They will come from the Negev. They will bring animals, *grain and oils with nice smells. They will offer these to the *Lord in his house (*temple). They will offer these to the *Lord to thank him. They will thank him for all the good things that he has done. v27 If you do not obey me then I will *punish you. You must not carry things on the *Sabbath day. You must not even take them through the gates. If you do not obey me, I will send fire to the gates of Jerusalem. You will not be able to put it out. Your strong city will burn down.’ ” ’

Chapter 18

Jeremiah at the *potter’s house

v1 The *Lord spoke to Jeremiah. v2 ‘Go down to the *potter’s house, and there I will tell you my message’, he said. v3 So I went down to the *potter’s house. There I saw him as he was working at his *wheel. v4 He was working with *clay to make a pot with his hands. But, as he worked, it became the wrong shape. So he made it into a pot of another shape, as he chose.

v5 Then the *Lord spoke to me. ‘You know that I can change the *Jewish people. I can change them just as the *potter changes the shape of the *clay’, he said. v6 ‘You *Jewish people are in my hands. I hold you as the *potter holds the *clay in his hands. v7 I may say at any time that I will break down a country and destroy it. v8 But the people in that country might hear my words. And they might stop doing the things that made me angry. Then I would change my mind. I would not cause the trouble that I had promised. v9 Or I might say that I will build up a country and make it strong. v10 But the people in that country might do wrong things, and not obey my rules. Then I would think again about the good things that I had said. I might not do them.’

v11 ‘So now you must speak to the people who live in Judah and Jerusalem. Tell them that this is what the *Lord says. “Look! I will cause you great trouble. I have decided to come against you. So each person must stop doing bad things and start to do good things. You must live in the way that gives me pleasure.” v12 But they will say to you, “We do not want to. We will continue to do just as we want. We will do every bad thing that we choose to do.” ’

v13 So this is what the *Lord said to Jeremiah.

‘The people in other countries have never heard about anything like this.

My people, Israel, have done a very wrong thing.

v14 The snow stays on the rocky sides of Mount Lebanon.

Cold water never stops falling from its high rocks.

v15 But my people have forgotten me.

They burn oils with a nice smell

to please gods that have no value.

Those gods cause them to get lost.

They go away from the right paths.

They walk along side paths and poor roads.

v16 I will send their enemies to take their country.

They will destroy everything in it.

My people will be ashamed.

Men who pass the country will be very surprised.

They will show how sad they are.

v17 I will come to my people like the east wind.

I will blow them like sand before their enemies.

I will not show them my face.

I will turn my back to them when this day comes.’

v18 The people said, ‘Let us attack Jeremiah. We do not need him. The *priests will still teach the *law, and *wise men will still lead us. We will still have the words of the *prophets. So we will speak against Jeremiah with our *tongues. We will not listen to anything that he says.’

v19 Listen to me, *Lord.

Hear what people are saying against me.

v20 I have tried to teach them well,

but they will do bad things to me.

Remember that I stood in front of you. And I spoke to you.

I asked you not to be angry with them.

v21 So now cause them to have no food.

Let their enemies kill them with sharp knives.

I want their wives to lose their husbands and their children.

Let their enemies kill the men.

And let the young men die as they fight.

v22 They will shout from their houses

when you bring enemies to surprise them.

They are trying to catch me in a hole

or tie me like an animal.

v23 But you, *Lord, know

the bad things that they want to do to me.

Please do not *forgive them.

And do not forget the bad things that they have done.

Watch as their enemies win the fight against them.

*Punish them while you are angry.

Chapter 19

The *Lord sends Jeremiah to a valley.

v1 This is what the *Lord said to me. ‘Go and buy a pot made out of *clay from a *potter. Take some of the leaders of the people and some *priests with you. v2 Go out into Ben Hinnom Valley, near to the Potsherd gate. There you must speak the words that I will give to you. v3 Say, “Hear the *Lord’s message, you kings of Judah and people in Jerusalem. This is what the great and powerful *Lord says. ‘Listen! I will bring very great trouble to this place. It will be very bad. It will hurt the ears of everyone who hears about it. v4 I will do this because you have brought foreign gods to this place. People have burnt animals here to offer to these gods. Neither their fathers nor the kings of Judah knew those gods. People have killed those who had done no wrong thing. v5 They burned their sons in fires on the high hills. They offered them to the *false god, Baal. This is something that I never asked you to do. I would never have thought to ask it. v6 This is why the name of this valley will be changed’, says the *Lord. ‘At a future time, it will not be called Topheth or Ben Hinnom Valley. No, it will be called ‘Death Valley’.

v7 Judah and Jerusalem will not grow in the way that they want. In this place, I will cause their enemies to destroy them. They will kill those who live here. I will give their dead bodies to the birds and to the wild animals for food. v8 I will completely destroy this city so that people will be ashamed. Anyone who walks past it will see how bad it is. They will think that it had no value. That is because you have destroyed it. v9 Enemies who want to kill its people will be all round the city. And its people will have no food. They will be so hungry that they will eat the dead bodies of their children and of each other.’ ”

v10 Then break the pot that you bought. Break it in front of all those who are watching you. v11 Say to them, “This is what the great and powerful *Lord says. ‘I will break this country. I will break this city as someone breaks a pot. No one will be able to mend it. Topheth will not be able to hold all the dead bodies. v12 I will make this city like Topheth. That is what I will do to this city. And I will do it to those who live here. v13 I will make the houses in Jerusalem and those of the kings of Judah full of dead bones like Topheth. I will do this to all the places where they burned nice oils and poured drinks. This is because they offered them to the stars in the sky and to other gods.’ ” ’

v14 Jeremiah returned from Topheth where he had given the *Lord’s message to the rulers. Then he went and stood in the outside part of the *Lord’s *temple. He spoke to the people. v15 ‘This is what the great and powerful *Lord is saying to you. “Listen! I will do all the really bad things that I promised to do. I will destroy this city and the villages near to it. I will do it because they did not listen to me. I will do it because they would not obey my words.” ’

Chapter 20

Jeremiah and Pashhur

v1 Pashhur, son of Immer, was the leader of the *priests in the *Lord’s *temple. He heard what Jeremiah was *prophesying. v2 So he caused his men to hit Jeremiah, and to tie him up. They tied him on a seat by the highest gate. That is the gate of Benjamin at the *Lord’s *temple. v3 The next day, Pashhur let Jeremiah go. ‘The *Lord’s name for you is not Pashhur, but Magor-Missabib’, Jeremiah said.

v4 ‘This is what the *Lord says, “I will make you afraid of yourself and your friends will be afraid of you too. With your own eyes, you will see their enemies kill them all. I will give all of the people in Judah to the king of Babylon, who will take them away. He will take them to Babylon or cause his soldiers to kill them. v5 I will give all the rich things in the city to their enemies. I will give them all your valuable things, the things that you have made. They will take all the valuable things of the kings of Judah. They will take them away to Babylon because they have won their fight against you. v6 And they will take you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house, to Babylon. You will die there and so will all your friends. You gave them *false *prophecies. They will bury you there.” ’

Jeremiah cries out to the *Lord.

v7 *Lord, you did not tell me how bad they would be to your *prophet.

You caused me to believe something that was not true.

You are stronger than I am. And you won.

No one believes the words that I speak. They think all the time that I am a fool.

v8 Every time that I speak, I have to tell them bad things.

I shout out that their enemies are all round them.

And I shout that the enemy will fight and destroy them.

These words of yours make them angry with me.

So they say bad things about me all the time.

v9 I want to keep quiet and not talk about you.

I tried to do this. I said that I would not speak on your behalf.

But then your words burned like a fire inside me. They gave me no rest.

I am too tired to hold them in. I cannot do it.

v10 I hear voices that say, ‘Everything round me makes me afraid!

Let us tell the officers what he is saying.’

All my friends are waiting for me to make a mistake. They say,

‘Perhaps we can cause him to believe something that is not true.

Then we can *punish him for the bad things that he has said.’

v11 But the *Lord is with me like a strong soldier.

So those who are against me will fail. And they will not win.

They will fail completely. People will think that they are worth nothing.

People will always remember that they have no value.

v12 Great and powerful *Lord, you look at all the people.

You know what they think. They think that they are right.

Let me see you *punish them. Do this because I am obeying you.

v13 Sing to the *Lord!

Give *praise to the *Lord!

He saves the lives of poor people from the things that bad men do.

v14 I will put a *curse on the day that I was born.

I do not want the day that I was born ever to be happy.

v15 I will put a *curse on the man who told the news to my father.

He made my father very happy. He said,

‘You have a son!’

v16 I want the *Lord to destroy that man.

The *Lord was not sorry to destroy our towns.

Destroy him like that.

I want him to hear people who are crying in the morning.

I want him to hear the shouts of men who fight at noon.

v17 The *Lord did not kill me before I was born. I am angry about that.

I was not a dead body buried inside my mother.

That body would have kept her big for all her life.

v18 I do not know why I came out from my mother.

All that I get are troubles and things that make me sad.

People will only say bad things about me when I die.

Chapter 21

King Zedekiah asks the *Lord for help.

v1 King Zedekiah sent Pashhur, son of Malkijah, and the *priest Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah. v2 ‘Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, is attacking us’, they said. ‘Ask the *Lord for us if he will do something great for us. He did many good things for us before now. Perhaps he will cause Nebuchadnezzar to go away.’

The *Lord speaks to them by Jeremiah.

v3 ‘Tell Zedekiah what the *Lord says’, Jeremiah answered them. v4 ‘You have arms in your hands to fight the king of Babylon and his soldiers. But I will turn your arms against you. The enemy are all round your city’s walls. And I will bring them together inside this city. v5 I will fight against you myself with my own hand. I am very strong and very angry. v6 I will attack all who live in this city. I will kill them with a great illness, both people and animals. v7 After that’, the *Lord says, ‘I will take Zedekiah, king of Judah. With him, I will take any of his officers or people that are alive. I will take any that the soldiers have not killed. And I will take any who have not died from illness. I will give them to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. I will give them to the enemies who want to kill them. He will kill them. He will not be sorry, or be kind to them.’

v8 ‘And tell the people more’, the *Lord said. ‘Say, “ ‘I am showing you two different paths’, says the *Lord. ‘One path is the way to life and the other path is the way to death. v9 Anyone who stays in the city will die from *hunger or illness. Or soldiers will kill them. But anyone can go out and give himself to the soldiers from Babylon. If he goes outside the city, he will save his life. v10 I have decided to hurt this city and not to help it’, says the *Lord. ‘I will give it to the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.’ ”

v11 ‘Now hear what the *Lord says, you kings of Judah. v12 “Family of David, this is what the *Lord says.

‘You must *judge people fairly every day.

Perhaps men have taken things from another man.

Then save that man from those who have taken his things.

If you do not, I will be very, very angry.

I will be angry because of the bad thing that you have done.

I will be so angry that my *anger will burn like a fire.

No one can put out that fire.

v13 I am your enemy, people in Jerusalem.

You live over this valley on a rocky hill’,

the *Lord says.

‘You say, “No one can attack us.

Nobody can get into our strong city.”

v14 But I will *punish you for all the bad things that you have done’,

says the *Lord.

‘I will light a fire in your trees.

Then that will destroy everything that is round you.’ ” ’

Chapter 22

The *Lord will *judge kings that are *evil.

v1 ‘Go down to the house of the king of Judah’, the *Lord said to me. ‘This is what you must say to them there. v2 “Hear the *Lord’s message, king of Judah, who sits on the *throne of David. This word is for you. And it is for your officers and all the people who come here. v3 This is what the *Lord says. ‘You must do what is right and fair. If someone has taken away a person’s things, you should save that person. Save him from the man who took them. Do not hurt foreign people or children whose parents are dead. Do not hurt women whose husbands have died. Do not kill anyone who has done no wrong thing. v4 If you are careful to obey all these rules, your kings will stay here. The sons of David will ride in on horses, and on *chariots. Their officers and people will come with them. v5 But you will have trouble if you do not obey my rules’, the *Lord says. ‘I, myself, promise that your enemies will break down your house.’ ” ’

v6 This is what the *Lord says. He speaks about the *palace of the king of Judah.

‘I will make you like a *desert.

You may be like Gilead or like the mountains of Lebanon.

But I will make you like towns where no one lives.

v7 I will send enemies against you with their arms.

They will cut down your strong walls of wood

and throw them into the fire.

v8 People from many countries will pass by. They will ask, “Why has the *Lord done this to such a great city?” v9 Other people will answer, “It is because they have not kept their promise to the *Lord, their God. They have *worshipped other gods, and become their servants.” ’

v10 Do not cry because the king is dead. Do not be sad that he is gone.

But cry much for the people that enemies have taken to a foreign country.

Cry because they will never come back.

They will never see their own country again.

v11 This is what the *Lord says about Shallum (Jehoahaz), son of Josiah. ‘He became king after his father, but he has gone away. He will never return to this place. v12 He will die in the place where they have taken him. They have put him in prison there. He will not see this country again.’

v13 ‘A man might use the bad things that he does to build his *palace.

But he will never be happy.

The person who is not fair to his workers will also never be happy.

He causes people in his own country to work for nothing.

He does not give them the money for their work.

v14 He says, “I will build myself a great *palace.

I will build rooms on the ground and big rooms over them.

I will make big windows and cover the walls with nice smelling wood.

I will make it beautiful with red paint.”

v15 But red wood does not make you a greater king.

Your father had enough food and drink.

And he did what was right and fair. So his life was good.

v16 He helped people who were poor. And he helped those who needed his help.

So everything was good (went well).

That happens when people know me’,

the *Lord says.

v17 ‘But you only want to get rich in ways that are not fair.

People do no wrong thing, but you kill them.

And you cause people to give money to you that is not yours.’

v18 So the *Lord says this about Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah.

‘They will not be sad when he dies.

They will not say, “My brother, how sad, my sister.”

They will not say, “My poor master, how great he was.”

v19 They will bury him like a dead animal.

They will pull his dead body to the gate and throw it outside Jerusalem.’

v20 ‘Go up to Lebanon and shout.

Shout loudly in Bashan.

Shout out from Abarim.

Shout because all your friends are gone.

v21 I did tell you what would happen.

But you thought that you were safe.

And you said, “I will not listen!”

You have been like this since you were young.

You have not obeyed me.

v22 Your rulers will leave you, as if the wind had blown them away.

Enemies will take your friends to a country far away.

Then you will be ashamed and you will feel sad.

You will be sorry for all the wrong things that you have done.

v23 Some of you live in Lebanon in houses of wood that smells nice.

But you will shout with pain when you start to have troubles.

It will be like the pain of a woman who is having a baby.’

v24 ‘I tell you that this is as sure as that I am alive’, says the *Lord. ‘I will let this happen to you, Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. I will pull you off as I would pull a valuable ring from my right hand. v25 I will give you to those of whom you are afraid. I will give you to those who want to kill you. I will give Nebuchadnezzar and the people from Babylon power over you. v26 I will throw you and your mother into another country. I will send you both to a country that you do not know. It is a country where neither of you was born. You will both die there. v27 You will never come back to the country where you want to be.’

v28 This man Jehoiachin must be like a broken pot. Nobody seems to want him.

He and his children will go out into a country that they do not know.

v29 Country, country, country, listen to the *Lord’s message!

v30 ‘Write this man’s name. Write it as the name of a man with no children.’

This is what the *Lord says.

‘Nothing good will happen to this man while he lives.

And no good thing will happen to his children.

Not one child will sit on the *throne of David. (None of them would become king of Israel.)

None of them will rule in Judah.’

Chapter 23

A son of David will rule one day. He will do what is right.

v1 ‘I will cause trouble to the rulers who are destroying my people. They cause them to run away’, the *Lord says. v2 So this is what he says to them. ‘This is what the *Lord says to the rulers who should *care for my people. I will *punish you because you have done this *evil thing. You have caused my people to run away to many different places. You have not *cared for them’, says the *Lord. v3 ‘I myself will fetch all my people who are left. I will fetch them from the countries to which they ran. I will bring them back to their own country. There they will have children and they will grow in number. v4 I will give them rulers who will *care for them. My people will not be afraid. Not one person will be lost’, says the *Lord.

v5 ‘The time is coming’, says the *Lord,

‘when I will give a good son to David’s family.

He will rule in a right way and with understanding.

He will *judge fairly in the country.

v6 When he is ruling, Judah will be safe.

And Israel will not be afraid then.

People will give him this name,

‘the *Lord makes us right and good’.’

v7 ‘People will speak in a new way at a future time’, says the *Lord. ‘They will not say again, “I am as sure of this as that the *Lord is alive. I am sure that he brought the people of Israel out of Egypt.” v8 But they will say, “I am as sure of this as that the *Lord is alive. I am sure that he brought Israel’s children out of the countries in the north. And he brought them out of all the countries to which he had sent them.” Then they will live in their own country.’

*Prophets who say things that are not true

v9 I must speak about the *prophets.

My mind is not happy.

My body feels weak and ill.

I am like a man who has drunk too much *wine.

The *Lord has spoken to me, and his words are *holy.

v10 The country is full of men who have sex with other men’s wives.

Because of this, the country is as dry as dead bones.

And all the plants in the fields are dead.

The *prophets are doing what is wrong.

And they do not use their power in the right way.

v11 ‘Neither the *prophets nor the *priests give *honour to me.

Even in my *temple I see them doing things that are very wrong’,

says the *Lord.

v12 ‘Because of this, I will make it difficult for them to do their work.

I will send them away to a dark place where they will fall.

Many bad things will happen to them when I start to *punish them’,

says the *Lord.

v13 ‘I saw a very bad thing that the *prophets in Samaria did.

They told the people what the *false god, Baal said.

They did not tell them things that were right.

So my people did what was wrong.

v14 Some of the *prophets in Jerusalem

were doing wrong things too.

I saw them having sex with other men’s wives.

But they let people think that they were good.

They say that it is good for men to do *evil things.

So they do not stop them from doing what is wrong.

They seem as bad to me as were the people in Sodom.

The people of Jerusalem are as bad as the people in Gomorrah.’

v15 So the great and powerful *Lord says this about the *prophets.

‘I will cause them to eat food that tastes bad.

And I will cause them to drink water that will make them ill.

This is because of what the *prophets in Jerusalem have done.

They have caused all the people in the country to turn away from God.’

v16 This is what the great and powerful *Lord says.

‘Do not listen to what the *prophets are *prophesying to you.

They cause you to hope for something that is not true.

They tell you about pictures that they have made in their own minds.

They do not speak the words that come from the *Lord’s mouth.

v17 They continue to think that I am worth nothing.

And they cause other people to think like them.

They say that the *Lord has spoken to them.

“You will have *peace”, he says.

“Nothing bad will happen to you”, he says.

Some people think that they know what is best.

The *prophets say this to all those people.

v18 But none of them has been with the *Lord.

They have not seen him or heard his word.

They have not listened to him.

v19 But you will see that the *Lord will be very angry.

He will be angry like a storm and a strong wind.

He will knock down people who do wrong things.

v20 Nothing will cause the *Lord to stop being angry.

He will finish completely all that he wants to do.

At a future time, you will understand all of this.

v21 I did not send these *prophets.

But they have still run to tell you their message.

I did not speak to them,

but they have *prophesied.

v22 If they had met with me,

they would have spoken my words to the people.

Then my people would have turned away from the things that are wrong.

They would have stopped doing bad things.

v23 I can see things that happen a long way away.

I do not see only what is close to me.

v24 No one can hide in a secret place

so that I cannot see him’, says the *Lord.

‘I am in all the earth and the sky’, says the *Lord.

v25 ‘I have heard what these *prophets say. They say things that are not true. They give *false messages. They say that they are messages from me. They say, “I had a dream.” v26 I ask how long they will continue to speak *false words. They make pictures in their own minds. And they say that they are *prophecies. v27 They tell each other their dreams. They think that their dreams will cause my people to forget my name. Then they would be just like their fathers who forgot me. They forgot me when they *worshipped the *false god, Baal. v28 The *prophet who has a dream can tell people that it is only a dream. But anyone who has heard my words must be sure to give people my message. The dream and my message are very different’, says the *Lord. v29 ‘My word is like a fire’, says the *Lord. ‘It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces.’

v30 ‘The *prophets take each other’s words. Then they say that they came from me. That is why I am against them’, says the *Lord. v31 ‘Yes’, says the *Lord, ‘They tell people what they think. But they say, “The *Lord says.” ’ v32 ‘Yes, I am against those who *prophesy *false dreams’, says the *Lord. ‘Those dreams that they tell the people lead them away from me. Their stories cause people to believe things that are not true. I did not send them or give them my authority. They do not do any good to my people’, the *Lord says.

*False *prophets and their *false *prophecies

v33 ‘These people or a *prophet or a *priest may ask you, “What is the *Lord saying?” Then you must say to them, “I will leave you”, he says. v34 If a *prophet or a *priest says, “This is a message from the *Lord”, I will *punish him. I will *punish that man and all who are in his house. v35 You can ask your friends and families questions. “What is the *Lord’s answer?” or “What has the *Lord said?” you can say. v36 But you must not speak again about the *Lord’s message. You say that it is a message from the *Lord. But you are really speaking your own words. In this way, you change the words of the living God. You change the words of the great powerful *Lord, our God. v37 You can ask a *prophet, “What is the *Lord’s answer to you?” or “What did the *Lord say?” v38 You might say, “This is the *Lord’s message.” But the *Lord says to you, “You said that your words were my message. You did this. But I had told you not to use the words, ‘This is the *Lord’s message.’ ” v39 Because of this, I will certainly forget you. I will push you away from me and from this city. You will leave the city that I gave to you and your fathers. v40 I will make you ashamed. People will always remember that I made you ashamed. They will not forget.’

Chapter 24

The *Lord shows Jeremiah another picture.

v1 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon took Jehoiachin, away to Babylon. Jehoiachin was the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. He took with him all Jehoiachin’s officers and all the men who had clever hands. After this, the *Lord showed me two baskets of figs (a kind of fruit). v2 One basket had very good fruit, like the first fruit on a tree. The other basket had very bad fruit. It was so bad that no one could eat it.

v3 Then the *Lord asked me, ‘What do you see, Jeremiah?’

‘*Figs’, I answered, ‘the good ones are very good. But the bad ones are so bad that no one can eat them.’

v4 Then the *Lord spoke to me,

v5 ‘This is what the *Lord, the God of Israel, says, “The people from Judah are like the good *figs. I see them as good. I sent them away from this place to Babylon. v6 I will watch them, and cause good things to happen to them. I will bring them back to this country. I will build them like a strong building, and I will not destroy them. I will put them where they can grow like a plant. And I will not pull them up. v7 I will cause them to want to know me, the *Lord. They will be my people and I will be their God. This will happen because they will completely return to me.

v8 But Zedekiah, his officers and the people who are still in Jerusalem are like the bad *figs. v9 I will cause all the kings on the earth to *hate them. They may stay in this country or go to Egypt. But the kings will think that they have no value. People will not want them. And they will laugh at them and say bad things about them. They will not be kind to them. They will do this in every place where I send them. v10 I will send soldiers and illness to kill them. They will not have enough food to eat. So I will destroy all the people still in the country that I gave to their fathers.” ’

Chapter 25

Israel will be *prisoners for 70 (seventy) years.

v1 The *Lord spoke to Jeremiah in the 4th (fourth) year of Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim was the son of Josiah king of Judah. The *Lord spoke about the people in Judah. It was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. v2 So Jeremiah the *prophet spoke to all the people in Judah and those who were living in Jerusalem. v3 ‘For 23 (twenty-three) years the *Lord has spoken to me. And I have told you what he has said. I have done this since the 13th (thirteenth) year of Josiah. He was the son of Amon, king of Judah. I have spoken to you again and again, but you have never listened.

v4 And you have not listened to the *prophets, the *Lord’s servants, at all. Even when the *Lord has sent them again and again, you would not listen to their words. v5 “Turn away from all the wrong things that you are doing. You know that they are bad”, they said. “If you stop doing *evil things, you can stay in the country. It is the country that the *Lord gave to you and your fathers for all time. v6 Do not work for other gods or *worship them. You must not do the things that their servants do. Do not make the *Lord angry by making *false gods with your hands. Then the *Lord will not hurt you.” ’

v7 ‘But you did not listen to me’, the *Lord says. ‘And you have made me angry because of the things that you have made. So I will give you trouble. This is only because you refused to obey me.’

v8 This is what the great and powerful *Lord says, ‘You have not listened to my words. v9 So I will call the *nations in the north. And I will call my servant Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon’, he says. ‘And I will bring them to fight against this country and the people who live here. They will also fight against all the countries round you. I will destroy all of them completely. They will be places of which people are afraid. They will say that you could not keep your country safe. The cities will remain broken and destroyed. v10 I will stop any sounds of happy parties. No one will get married here. Nobody will make flour here. No lights will shine here. v11 The whole country will be empty and no one will live here. The people from all these countries will work for 70 (seventy) years for the king of Babylon.’ v12 But when the 70 years are ended, I will *punish the king of Babylon and his country. I will *punish the people in Babylon for the bad things that they did’, says the *Lord. ‘I will make Babylon empty for all time. No one will live there. v13 I will cause everything to happen to it that I have spoken about. You can read all these things in this book. They are the *prophecies of Jeremiah against the countries. v14 Many countries and great kings will take the people from Babylon themselves as slaves. I will do to them all the bad things that they did to other *nations.’

Jeremiah takes a cup from the *Lord.

v15 This is what the *Lord, the God of Israel, said to me. ‘Here is a cup full of *wine. The *wine is a picture of my *anger. You must cause the people in the countries to whom I send you to drink this *wine. v16 I will send armies against them. Then when they drink the *wine of my *anger they will become crazy.’

v17 So I took the cup from the *Lord’s hand. As in a picture, I saw all the countries to which he had sent me. Their people were drinking from the cup. v18 The people in Jerusalem and all the towns in Judah drank from it. And its kings and officers also drank. Then God would break up all their country. He would make it a thing that people would turn away from. People would think that they had no value. And they would *curse them. That is what they do today. v19 Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his officers, his slaves and all his people would drink from the cup. v20 And all the foreign people in Egypt would drink from it too. These were the kings of Uz and all the kings of Philistia. (They were from Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and all the people left at Ashdod.) v21 Edom, Moab and Ammon, v22 all the *kings of Tyre and Sidon would drink, too. The kings of the countries across the sea, v23 Dedan, Tema, and Buz would drink from the cup. And all who are in far places would drink from the cup. v24 All the kings of Arabia and the kings of the foreign people who live in the *desert would drink. v25 And all the kings of Zimri, Elam and Media would drink. v26 All the kings of the north would drink, whether they live near or a long way away. The people in all the *kingdoms on the earth will drink, one after another. The last to drink will be the king of Sheshach (Babylon).

v27 ‘Then tell them what the great and powerful *Lord, the God of Israel, says. “Drink. Become ill with drink and be sick. Fall down and never get up again. I will send men with *swords (sharp long knives) to hurt you.” v28 But they may refuse to take the cup and drink from it. Then you must tell them that they have to drink my *wine. Say, “This is what the great powerful *Lord says. v29 ‘See what I am beginning to do. I am beginning to destroy the city that has my name. And I will *punish all of you. I will do this when I bring an army against everyone who lives on the earth.’ This is what the great and powerful *Lord says.”

v30 Now *prophesy all these words against them. Say to them,

“The *Lord will shout from his high place.

He will make a noise like a storm from his *holy place.

His great voice will shout against this country.

His shout will be like that of men who jump on the *grapes to make *wine.

He will shout against all people who live on the earth.

v31 The noise will be so great that all the earth will hear it.

This is because the *Lord will *punish all the countries.

He will *judge all the people on the earth.

Soldiers will kill those who have done any wrong thing.”

That is what the *Lord says.’

v32 This is what the great and powerful *Lord says,

‘Look! I am destroying one country after another.

A great storm is coming from the ends of the earth.’

v33 At that time dead bodies will lie everywhere. They will cover the earth. No one will cry because they are dead. No one will take them and bury them in the ground. They will lie there like things that people have thrown away.

v34 You *shepherds (rulers) of my people will cry aloud.

Roll on the ground, you who lead them.

The time for you to die has come.

You will fall and break in pieces, like a pot.

v35 The *shepherds will find nowhere to run and hide.

The leaders will not be able to run away.

v36 You will hear the leaders shout out.

They will shout loudly

because the *Lord is destroying their country.

v37 The *Lord will destroy the quiet fields

because he is very angry.

v38 He will come out of his home like a wild animal.

And he will make their country a *desert.

It will be empty because of the enemy’s army.

It will be empty because the *Lord is so angry.

Chapter 26

Men say that they will kill Jeremiah.

v1 The *Lord spoke to Jeremiah soon after Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, became king. v2 ‘This is what the *Lord says. “Stand in front of my house and speak to all the people there. People from all the towns in Judah come to *worship in the *Lord’s house. Tell them everything that I say. Do not leave out one word. v3 Perhaps they will listen and each turn away from the *evil things that they are doing. Then I will change the thing that I had decided to do to them. I will not destroy them.” v4 Say to them, “This is what the *Lord says. You must obey the *law that I have given to you. v5 You must obey me and listen to the words of my *prophets. If you do not obey me, I will *punish you. I have sent my *prophets to you again and again. But you have not listened to them. v6 Then I will destroy this house. I will make it like Shiloh (where an enemy had destroyed the *holy place.) And people in other countries will call this city a *curse.” ’

v7 The *priests, the *prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speak. He spoke the *Lord’s words in the *Lord’s house. v8 Jeremiah said everything that the *Lord had told him to say. When he had finished, the *priests, *prophets and people took him. They said, ‘You must die! v9 You should not *prophesy that this house will be like Shiloh. You must not say that enemies will destroy this city and leave it empty. And all the people made a crowd round Jeremiah in the *Lord’s house.

v10 The officers of Judah heard these words. So they left the king’s house and went up to the *Lord’s house. They sat in their places at the way into the New Gate. v11 Then the *priests and the *prophets spoke to the officers and to all the people. They said, ‘You must decide to kill this man. He has *prophesied against this city. Your ears heard him say it!’

v12 Then Jeremiah said to all the officers and all the people, ‘The *Lord sent me to *prophesy against this house and this city. He told me to say the things that you have heard. v13 Now you must turn away from the wrong things that you are doing. You must obey the *Lord your God. Then the *Lord will change his thoughts. He will not do all these bad things that he has told you about. v14 I am in your power. Do with me whatever you think is good and right. v15 But I am sure that I have not done any wrong things. If you kill me, God will *punish you. And he will punish your city and all the people who live in it. The *Lord really did send me to speak all these words for you to hear. They are true.’

v16 Then the officers and all the people spoke to the *priests and the *prophets. They said, ‘This man should not die. He has spoken to us on behalf of the *Lord.’

v17 Some of the leaders of the people came to speak to everyone who was there. v18 ‘Micah from Moresheth *prophesied when Hezekiah was king of Judah. He told all the people of Judah what the *Lord had said.

“Zion (Jerusalem) will be like a field.

Jerusalem will become a lot of stones.

The *temple’s hill will be covered with weeds.”

v19 Neither King Hezekiah nor anyone else in Judah caused Micah to die. Hezekiah was afraid of the *Lord and wanted to *honour him and to give him pleasure. And the *Lord changed what he had said that he would do. He did not send them what he had promised to do. We are going to cause ourselves much trouble!’

v20 (Uriah, son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim, was another *prophet. He *prophesied on behalf of the *Lord against this city and this country. He *prophesied with the *Lord’s authority against this city and against this country. v21 When King Jehoiakim and all his officers heard these words, the king wanted to kill Uriah. But Uriah was afraid when he heard this. So he ran away to Egypt. v22 But King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan, son of Achor, to Egypt. He went with some other men. v23 They brought Uriah back to King Jehoiakim. The king caused his soldiers to kill Uriah. And they threw his dead body down in the place where they buried poor people.)

v24 Ahikam, son of Shaphan, also said that Jeremiah spoke the true words of the *Lord. So the officers did not let the people kill Jeremiah.

Chapter 27

God tells Jeremiah that people from many countries will become Nebuchadnezzar’s servants.

v1 The *Lord spoke to Jeremiah soon after Zedekiah became king. He was the son of Josiah and he had become king of Judah. v2 This is what the *Lord said to me, ‘Make a *yoke from wood and leather, and put it on your neck. v3 Then send for the *messengers in Jerusalem. They have come from other countries to see Zedekiah, king of Judah. The kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon sent them here. v4 Give them a message for their masters. Say, “The great powerful *Lord, the God of Israel, says this, ‘Tell this to your masters. v5 I made this earth with my long arm and great power. I made the people and the animals on the earth. And I will give it to anyone that I choose. v6 Now I will give all your countries to my servant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He will have power over you and even over the wild animals. v7 People from all countries will *serve him and his son and his grandson. They will *serve him and his sons for as long as I let him and his sons rule. Then people from many countries will join together and take away his power.

v8 If the people from any country will not *serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, I will *punish those people. I will send soldiers or illness or destroy their food. I will cause Nebuchadnezzar to do this if that country will not put his *yoke on its neck (be his servants). v9 So do not listen to your *prophets, or your people. They think that they know about future things. But they do not. Do not listen to those who ask the *spirits for help. Do not listen to those who try to understand dreams. They might tell you that you will not become servants of the king of Babylon. v10 They would not be telling you what is true. That would make sure that an enemy would take you a long way from your own country. I would send you away and you would die there. v11 But the people from a country might become a servant of the king of Babylon. They might put his *yoke on their necks (be his servants). Then I would let those people remain in their own country. They could continue to live there’ ” ’, says the *Lord.

v12 I gave the same message to the king of Judah. I said, ‘Put on the *yoke of the king of Babylon. You and your people must become his servants. Then you will live. v13 You and your people do not want to die. Any people who do not *serve the king of Babylon will die. The *Lord has promised this. He will kill those people with soldiers or with illness. Or they will die because they have no food. v14 Do not listen to the words of the *prophets who say, “You will not *serve the king of Babylon.” They are *prophesying what is not true. v15 “I have not sent those *prophets”, says the *Lord. “They are using my name. But they are saying what is not true. So I will send you away and you will die. You and the *prophets who are *prophesying to you will die.” ’

v16 Then I spoke to the *priests and all these people. I said, ‘This is what the *Lord says. Do not listen to the *prophets. They tell you that people will soon bring back from Babylon the things from the *Lord’s house. But what they say is not true. v17 Do not listen to them. If you *serve the king of Babylon, you will live. You do not want him to destroy this city! v18 Proper *prophets who had heard the *Lord’s message would ask him for help. They would ask the great powerful God to let the things still in the *Lord’s house stay there. They would ask him to stop people from taking them to Babylon. They would ask that the things from the king’s house and in Jerusalem would remain there. v19 The *Lord says that there are beautiful things of stone and metal still in the city. v20 Nebuchadnezzar left them here when he took Jehoiakim, king of Judah, away. He took him then with all the great people in Judah and Jerusalem. He took them from Jerusalem to Babylon. v21 Yes, this is what the *Lord says. He says this about all the things that they had left in the *Lord’s house and the king’s *palace. v22 Nebuchadnezzar’s people will take them to Babylon. They will stay there until I come for them’, the *Lord says. ‘Then I will bring them and put them back in this place.’

Chapter 28

The *false *prophet Hananiah

v1 The *prophet Hananiah, son of Azzur, spoke to me. He spoke to me in the house of the *Lord that same year. It was the 5th (fifth) month of the 4th (fourth) year, soon after Zedekiah had become king of Judah. Hananiah came from Gibeon. He spoke to me in front of the *priests and all the people. v2 ‘This is what the great and powerful *Lord, the God of Israel says’, he said. ‘I will break the *yoke of the king of Babylon. v3 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took many things from the *Lord’s house. He took them to Babylon. In less than two years, I will bring them back to this place. v4 I will also bring back Jehoiachin, king of Judah, and many other people. I will bring back all the people that Nebuchadnezzar took to Babylon. I will break his *yoke’, says the *Lord.

v5 Jeremiah replied to the *prophet Hananiah in front of the *priests and all the people. They were all standing in the house of the *Lord. v6 ‘*Amen!’ he said. ‘I want the *Lord to do that! I want him to bring back all the things to the *Lord’s house. I want him to bring back all the people that Nebuchadnezzar took to Babylon. I want him to do as you have *prophesied. v7 But hear what I say to you and all the people here. v8 Many *prophets have *prophesied for many years before us. They said that war and illness would happen. They said that people would have no food. These things would happen in many countries and *kingdoms, they said. v9 Other *prophets say that *peace will happen. That *peace may happen. Only then can we know that their words are true. And we will know that the *Lord has sent them.’

v10 Then the *prophet Hananiah took the *yoke off the neck of the *prophet Jeremiah and broke it. v11 He said in front of all the people, ‘This is what the *Lord says, “I will break the *yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon just like that. In less than two years I will break his *yoke from the neck of all the countries.” ’ After this, the *prophet Jeremiah went away.

v12 A short time after Hananiah had broken the *yoke from Jeremiah’s neck, the *Lord spoke to Jeremiah. v13 ‘Go and tell Hananiah what I say’, he said. ‘You have broken a *yoke of wood, but I will give you a *yoke of iron in its place. v14 This is what the great and powerful *Lord says. The God of Israel says, “I will put an iron *yoke on the neck of all those countries to make them slaves. They will *serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I will even give him power over the wild animals.” ’

v15 Then the *prophet Jeremiah said to the *prophet Hananiah, ‘Listen! The *Lord has not sent you, Hananiah. But you have spoken things that are not true to the people in this country. And they believed that they were the *Lord’s words. v16 So this is what the *Lord says, “I am going to cause you to die this year because you have taught people not to obey the *Lord.” ’

v17 In that same year, in the 7th (seventh) month, Hananiah the *prophet died.

Chapter 29

Jeremiah’s letter

v1 Jeremiah sent a letter from Jerusalem to Babylon. He sent it to the *Jewish leaders and the *priests, *prophets and people who were still there. Nebuchadnezzar had taken them from Jerusalem to Babylon. v2 (This was after Nebuchadnezzar had taken Jehoiachin, and the queen mother. He had taken them to Babylon with Jehoiachin’s officers. The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem and all the men who worked with clever hands had gone with them.) v3 Zedekiah was the king of Judah. He sent some men to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. They were Elasah, son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, son of Hilkiah. Jeremiah gave them his letter. This is what it said.

v4 This is what the great and powerful *Lord, the God of Israel, says to all the people. They were the people that he sent away to Babylon. v5 ‘Build houses and get comfortable. Plant gardens and eat what grows in them. v6 You must marry each other and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons, and let your daughters marry. Then they too can have sons and daughters. I want the numbers of the people of Israel in Babylon to grow more. I do not want them to become fewer. v7 Try to make the city where you are living rich. Pray to the *Lord that it will do well. If it does become rich, so will you.’ v8 Yes, this is what the great and powerful *Lord, the God of Israel says. ‘The *prophets and people look for signs. They tell you *false stories. Do not listen to them. Do not listen to the dreams that you ask them to have. v9 They say that they are *prophesying with my authority. But what they are telling you is not true. I have not sent them’, says the *Lord.

v10 This is what the *Lord says. ‘I will come to you when you have been in Babylon for 70 (seventy) years. Then I will keep my kind promise to bring you back to this place. v11 I want to do many good things for you’, the *Lord says. ‘I want you to become rich and strong, and I do not want to hurt you. I want you to hope for a good future life. v12 Then you will ask for my help. And you will come and pray to me. And I will listen to you. v13 You will look for me. And you will find me when you really want to find me.’ v14 ‘You will find me’, says the *Lord. ‘And I will bring you back from the foreign countries where you were slaves. I will bring you back from all the countries and people that I sent you to’, he says. ‘I will bring you back from the places to which I sent you away.’

v15 You may say, ‘The *Lord has made *prophets for us here in Babylon.’ v16 But I must tell you what the *Lord says about all the people in this city (Jerusalem). He is speaking to the king who sits on David’s *throne. And he speaks to all his people who are still in this city. They are the people who did not go with you to Babylon. v17 Yes, this is what the great powerful *Lord says. ‘I will send men with *swords (sharp knives) to hurt them. They will not have enough to eat and I will make them ill. They will be like bad *figs that no one can eat. v18 I will send men to run after them with swords. They will have no food and I will make them ill. I will cause the people in all the other countries to *hate them. People will say many bad things about them. I will send them to many *nations. The people in other countries will all think that they are worth nothing. v19 I will cause this to happen because they have not listened to my words’, says the *Lord. ‘I sent them these words again and again by my servants the *prophets. And you, my people in Babylon, have not listened either’, says the *Lord.

v20 ‘So you people that I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon must hear me. v21 This what the great and powerful *Lord, the God of Israel, says. Ahab, son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah, son of Maaseiah, say that they are *prophesying with my authority. What they are telling you is not true. So I will give them to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and he will kill them in front of you. v22 Because of them, the people from Judah that I sent to Babylon will use this *curse. “We want the God of Israel to make you like Zedekiah and Ahab. He caused them to burn in the fire.” v23 This is because they have done very bad things in Israel. They have had sex with other men’s wives. They have used my name to speak words that are not true. I did not tell them to say those words. I know this and I have seen it’, says the *Lord.

A message to Shemaiah

v24 This is what you must say to Shemaiah from Nehelam. v25 ‘You sent letters on your own behalf to all the people in Jerusalem’, says the great and powerful *Lord, the God of Israel. ‘You wrote to Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah the *priest, and to all the other *priests. You said to Zephaniah, v26 “The *Lord has made you *priest instead of Jehoiada to *care for the house of the *Lord. You should have put the man who says that he is a *prophet into the stocks. His mind is sick. You should put his feet between two pieces of wood and his neck in an iron ring.” ’

v27 ‘ “So why have you not *punished Jeremiah from Anathoth? He is among you. And he says that he is a *prophet. v28 He has sent a message to us in Babylon. He says that we shall be here for a long time. He tells us to build houses. We should make ourselves comfortable. And we should grow food to eat.” ’

v29 But Zephaniah the *priest read the letter to Jeremiah the *prophet. v30 Then the *Lord spoke to Jeremiah. v31 ‘Send this message to all the *Jews in Babylon’, he said. ‘This is what the *Lord says about Shemaiah from Nehelam. “Shemaiah has *prophesied to you. But I did not send him. Because of this, he has caused you to believe what is not true.” v32 So this is what the *Lord says. “I will certainly *punish Shemaiah and his sons. I will not leave one son among my people. He will not see the good things that I will do for my people. I will *punish him”, says the *Lord, “because he has taught my people not to obey me.” ’

Chapter 30

The *Lord promises to bring Israel’s people back home.

v1 This is the word that the *Lord spoke to Jeremiah. v2 ‘This is what the *Lord, the God of Israel, says, “Write all the words that I have spoken in a book. v3 The time is coming”, says the *Lord, “when I will bring back my people. I will bring Israel’s people and Judah’s people back from the countries where they are *prisoners. I will take them back to the country that I gave to their fathers”, says the *Lord.’

v4 The *Lord spoke these words about Israel and Judah. v5 ‘This is what the *Lord says.

“People will shout because they are afraid. They will have no *peace.

v6 Men cannot have children.

But every strong man is holding his body

like a woman who is giving birth to a child.

Every face is as white as death.

v7 That will be a day when everyone is afraid.

No other day will be like it.

It will be a time of trouble for Jacob.

But I will save him out of all that trouble.

v8 On that day I will break the *yoke from their necks.

The *Lord will save his people from being slaves in Babylon.

I will destroy the things that make them *prisoners.

They will not be slaves to people from other countries any longer.

v9 Instead they will *serve the *Lord their God.

And they will *serve David their king.

I will raise him up for them.

v10 So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant.

Do not let yourself be afraid, Israel”, says the *Lord.

“I will certainly bring you from a place that is far away.

I will save your sons from the country to which I sent them.

Jacob (Israel) will again have *peace and be safe.

And no one will make him afraid.

v11 I am with you and I will save you”, says the *Lord.

“I may destroy completely all the countries to which I send you.

But I will not destroy you completely.

I will *punish you, but in a fair way.

I will not stop *punishing you.”

v12 This is what the *Lord says.

“They have hurt you so badly that no one can make you better.

No one can make you completely well.

v13 There is no one who will ask people to help you.

There is no medicine that can make you well.

v14 All those who were your friends have forgotten you.

They do not feel pain for your troubles.

I have hit you as an enemy would.

I have *punished you because you have not obeyed me.

And you have done so many wrong things.

v15 You shout because you are hurt.

And your pain will not go away.

Your *sin is great and you have done many wrong things.

So I have done these things to you.

v16 But I will hurt and destroy those who have hurt and destroyed you.

I will send all your enemies away from their own countries.

I will take away the good things

from those who took away your good things.

v17 I will give you back your health.

I will take away all that hurts you”, says the *Lord.

“I will do this because of what people say.

They threw you out.

They call you the people from Zion (Jerusalem) that nobody wants.”

v18 This is what the *Lord says.

“I will repair the places where Jacob (Israel) lives.

I will be kind to his family (Israel’s people).

You will build the city again over its broken stones.

The *palace will stand again in its proper place.

v19 You will hear people who are singing with thanks to God.

They will be making a happy noise.

The number of my people will grow larger.

It will not grow less.

I will cause the *nations to *honour my people.

They will not think that my people have no value.

v20 My children will be as they were before now.

I will make them into one strong people.

I will *punish all who try to make them their slaves.

v21 A *Jew will lead them.

A *Jew will become their ruler.

I will bring him near and he will come close to me.

No one can come to me if I do not call him”, says the *Lord.

v22 “So you will be my people and I will be your God.” ’

v23 Look! The *Lord will rush like a storm when he is angry.

He will be like a powerful wind that blows people away.

It blows away the people who do wrong things.

v24 The *Lord will not turn away his great *anger.

He will completely finish all the work that he decides to do.

Only then will he not be angry.

You will understand this at a future time.

Chapter 31

Israel’s return home

v1 ‘When that time comes’, says the *Lord, ‘I will be the God of every family in Israel. And they will be my people.’

v2 This is what the *Lord says.

‘I will be kind to the people who did not die.

I will give rest to Israel’s people in the *desert.’

v3 Before now, the *Lord showed himself to us. He said,

‘I have loved you with a love that has no end.

So I am continuing to show you my love.

v4 I will build you up again.

You will again make music together,

and you will dance a happy dance.

v5 You will again plant *vines on the hills in Samaria.

Farmers will plant *vines and they will enjoy their fruit.

v6 In a future day men who watch

will shout from the hills of Ephraim.

They will say, “Let us go up to Zion,

to the *Lord our God.” ’

v7 This is what the *Lord says.

‘Sing and be happy for Jacob (Israel).

Shout for your great country.

Let the *Lord hear you while you *praise him.

Say, “*Lord, save your people,

the people of Israel who are still alive.”

v8 Look, I will bring them from the country in the north.

I will bring them from the ends of the earth.

They will bring with them those who cannot see.

And I will bring also those who cannot walk.

Women who are going to have babies will come.

And those who will very soon give birth will come.

A very great number of my people will return.

v9 They will be crying as they come.

They will pray as I bring them back.

I will lead them along by streams of water.

They will walk along flat paths so that they will not fall.

I will do this because I am Israel’s father.

And Ephraim (Israel) is my oldest son.

v10 People in many countries, hear the *Lord’s message.

Shout it by the coasts of countries that are far away.

“He who pushed Israel’s people away will fetch them back.

And he will watch them as a *shepherd watches his sheep.”

v11 The *Lord will buy back Jacob (Israel).

He will take them away from the country whose people were stronger than they were.

v12 They will come and shout on the top of Mount Zion.

They will shout because they are so happy.

They will be happy with all the good things that the *Lord gives to them.

He will give them bread, new *wine and oil.

The sheep and cows will have young ones.

Israel will grow like a garden that has much water.

Its people will no longer be sad.

v13 Girls will dance and be happy.

The young men and the old men will dance too.

I will make them happy and they will not be sad.

Their faces will smile and not be sad.

v14 I will give the *priests plenty of good things.

And I will give my people more than enough’, says the *Lord.

v15 This is what the *Lord says.

‘You will hear a voice in Ramah,

a loud voice that cries sadly.

It is the voice of Rachel (Israel’s people). She is crying for her children.

No one can stop her crying,

because her children are dead.’

v16 This is what the *Lord says.

‘Stop the loud noise of your voice,

and stop your eyes from crying.

I will be pleased with the work that you do’, says the *Lord.

‘Your children will return from the country of your enemies.

v17 You are right to hope that your future days will be better’,

says the *Lord.

‘Your children will return to their own country.

v18 I have certainly heard my people when they were crying.

“You have *punished me.

I feel like an animal that does not obey”, they said.

“And you did *punish me.

Bring me back, and I will return.

I will come back because you are the *Lord, my God.

v19 After I had gone away from you, I became very sorry.

When I understood what I had done, I felt hurt inside.

I was ashamed and I felt very small.

I had done wrong things when I was young.

I became ashamed of those things.”

But Ephraim (Israel) is the son that I love.

v20 He is like a child that gives me pleasure.

I may often say that he is doing wrong things.

But I always remember him.

So I want very much to see him again.

I love him.

And I want what is best for him’, says the *Lord.

v21 ‘Put up signs along the roads,

to show people the way.

Return, Israel, the people that I love. Return to your towns.

v22 You have been away from me for a long time.

You are like a daughter who loved another man.

The *Lord will do a new thing.

A woman will keep a man safe.’

v23 This is what the great and powerful *Lord, the God of Israel, says. ‘I will bring my people back from the country where they are *prisoners. Then the people in Judah and in its towns will again say, “May the *Lord be good to the *holy mountain (the mountain with the *temple in Jerusalem). It is the special place where he lives!” v24 People will live together in the towns in Judah. Farmers and *shepherds will work in the fields. v25 I will make the tired people feel less tired. I will make the weak ones strong.’

v26 Then I woke from my dream. My sleep had been good.

v27 ‘The time is coming’, says the *Lord, ‘when I will be like a gardener to my people. Young men and animals will be like plants that I will plant in the countries called Judah and Israel. v28 Before now I pulled up the *roots of those ‘plants’ to bring them down and destroy them. Now I will plant them and watch over them. I want to cause them to grow’, says the *Lord. v29 ‘When that happens, people will not say, “The fathers have eaten sour fruit, and the children’s mouths will taste bad.”

v30 Instead, I will *punish everyone for his own *sin. The mouth of anyone who eats sour fruit will taste bad.’

v31 ‘A time is coming’, says the *Lord,

‘when I will make a new *covenant.

I will make it with Israel’s people and Judah’s people.

v32 It will not be like the *covenant that I made with their fathers.

When I took them to lead them out of Egypt,

I was like a husband to them.

But they broke my *covenant’, says the *Lord.

v33 ‘This is the *covenant that I will make with Israel.

I will make it when that time comes’, says the *Lord.

‘I will put my *law in their minds,

and they will always remember it.

I will be their God, and they will be my people.

v34 A man will not teach his friend any more.

And he will not teach his brother how to know the *Lord.

This will be because they will all know me.

From the greatest to the least of them, they will all know me.’

This is what the *Lord says.

‘I will *forgive all the wrong things that they have done.

I will no longer remember their *sins.’

v35 This is what the *Lord says.

He causes the sun to shine in the day.

He causes the moon and stars to shine at night.

He causes the sea to move and make a loud sound.

He is the great, powerful *Lord. That is his name.

v36 ‘I will never stop watching over Israel’s children’,

says the *Lord. ‘They will always be a *nation

unless I forget these *laws (about the sun, moon, stars and sea) completely.’

v37 This is what the *Lord says.

‘I will leave the children of Israel alone only if these things happen.

I will leave if men can measure the sky above.

I will leave if men can find the rock on which I built the earth.

Then I will leave the children of Israel alone

because of all that they have done’, says the *Lord.

v38 ‘At a future time’, says the *Lord,

‘you will build this city again. You will build it for me from the *tower of Hananel to the corner gate. v39 The wall will go straight from there to Gareb. Then you must turn and cause it to go to Goah. v40 The whole valley will be *holy to the *Lord. It will include the place where they throw dead bodies and burnt things. And it will include all the big steps to the east of the Kidron valley. It will end at the corner of the Horse Gate. I will never again destroy the city or take away its people.

Chapter 32

Jeremiah buys a field.

v1 The *Lord said this to Jeremiah when Zedekiah, king of Judah, had ruled for 10 (ten) years. Nebuchadnezzar had ruled for 18 (eighteen years). v2 The army of the king of Babylon was all round Jerusalem at that time. They had put Jeremiah in a prison in the soldier’s yard. It was in the king’s house.

v3 Zedekiah had put Jeremiah there. He did not like the message that the *Lord had given him by Jeremiah. ‘I am going to give the king of Babylon power over this city. And he will take the city. v4 Zedekiah, the king, will not be able to run away. They will take him to the king of Babylon and he will see his face. They will speak to each other. v5 Then he will take Zedekiah to Babylon. He will stay there until I come to see him. If you fight against the soldiers from Babylon, you will not win.’ That is what the *Lord had said to Zedekiah.

v6 Jeremiah said, ‘The *Lord has spoken to me. v7 He told me that my cousin, Hanamel, is coming to see me. He will ask me to buy his field in Anathoth. I should do this because I am the cousin closest to his family. It is the right thing for me to do.’

v8 Then my cousin Hanamel came to the prison in the soldier’s yard where they kept me. He said, “Buy my field at Anathoth. It is in the country of Benjamin. You must do this because it is right for you to buy it. You are the closest cousin. So buy it back and keep it for yourself.” ’

‘I knew that this was the *Lord’s message. v9 So I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed 17 (seventeen) amounts of *silver. v10 I wrote my name on a special piece of paper and closed it up. This paper showed that the field was mine. I did this in front of other men who put their names on it. Then I gave Hanamel the *silver that I had weighed. v11 I took the paper that I had closed up and a copy of that piece of paper. v12 I gave both pieces of paper to Baruch, the son of Neriah. Neriah was the son of Mahseiah. I did this in front of Hanamel and the other men who had written their names. And I did this in front of all the *Jews who were sitting in the soldier’s yard.

v13 The men watched me as I told Baruch what to do. v14 “This is what the great and powerful *Lord of Israel says. Take these two pieces of paper. Take the piece that is closed and the piece that is open. Put them in a jar made out of baked *clay to keep them safe. They will be safe there for a long time. v15 This is what the great and powerful *Lord, the *Lord of Israel, says. ‘Men will again buy houses, fields and fields of *vines in this country.’ ”

v16 After this, I prayed to the *Lord.

v17 “*Lord, king of all people, you have made the earth and the sky by your great power. Your hands have made them. Nothing is too difficult for you to do. v18 You teach thousands of people to understand that you love them. But you *punish children for the *sins that their fathers did in past times. Great and powerful *Lord, your name is ‘All-powerful *Lord’. v19 You do great things because you are so *wise. You see everything that men do. You give good things to those whose lives give you pleasure. Those who do good things give you pleasure. v20 You did *miracles in Egypt. And you continue to do *miracles in Israel and for all people. So your name is great and all people know it. v21 You brought your people out of Egypt with many great *miracles. You put out your strong hand and arm to save them. So you caused men to be afraid of you. v22 You gave this country to your people as you had promised to their fathers. Much good food grows in this country and cows give much milk. v23 Your people came in and took this country. But they did not obey you. They did not obey the *law that you had given to them. They did not do the things that you wanted them to do. So you caused them to have this great trouble. You sent it to them.”

v24 “You can see the great hills that enemies have built to attack the city. Because of their sharp knives, they will win the fight. And because we are hungry and ill, they will win the fight. The soldiers from Babylon who are attacking the city will take it. You said what would happen. You can see that it has all happened. v25 The soldiers from Babylon will take the city. But you still told me to buy this field. You told me to buy it with *silver. And men must see certainly that I had bought it.” ’

v26 Then the *Lord spoke to Jeremiah. v27 ‘I am the *Lord, the God of all people. Nothing is too difficult for me to do. v28 So this is what I say. I will give this city to the soldiers from Babylon. I will give it to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. They will take it from you. v29 The soldiers from Babylon who are attacking it will come in. And they will burn it with fire. They will burn down the houses where people made me angry. There they burned oils that smell nice on their roofs for Baal. They made me angry because they gave gifts to other gods.’

v30 ‘The people in Israel and Judah have done only *evil things from the time when they were young. Israel’s people have always done the things that made me angry. They did this with the things that they have made with their hands’, as the *Lord says. v31 ‘This city has made me angry from the time when they built it even to this day. So I must destroy it. v32 The people of Israel and Judah have made me very angry. I became angry because of all the *evil things that they and their kings and officers have done. And the men in Judah and Jerusalem and their *prophets and *priests did much that was *evil. v33 They turned away from me and they would not look at me. They would not listen to me or turn back to me when I *punished them. Again and again, I taught them to do what was right. v34 People have made my house (the *temple) *dirty. They have a put a ‘god’ that is not God in my house. v35 They have built high places to *worship Baal in Ben Hinnom Valley. There they kill their sons and daughters to offer them to Molech. I never told them to do such a bad thing. I never thought that they would do such a wrong thing. It caused Judah’s people to *sin.’

God promises his people that they can continue to hope.

v36 You are hungry and you have no food. So you say that *swords and illness will cause the king of Babylon to take this city. But the *Lord, the God of Israel says this. v37 ‘I am very angry with them. So I will send them to countries that are far away. But I will certainly bring them all back to this place. I will let them live here and they will be safe. v38 They will be my people and I will be their God. v39 I will give them all the same purpose so that their lives and their children’s lives can be good. They will always give me *honour. v40 I will make a *covenant with them that will last for all time. I will never stop doing good things for them. I will cause them to want to give me *honour so that they will never turn away from me. v41 I will be happy when I do good things for them. I really want to plant them in this country to grow, like trees.’

v42 This is what the *Lord says. ‘I have caused much trouble to this people. In the same way, I will give great riches to them as I promised. v43 Men will buy fields in this country again. You say, “It is an empty country, without people or animals, because the soldiers from Babylon have taken them.” v44 But people will buy fields in this country for *silver. And people will write on papers to show who owns the land. People will close the pieces of paper and keep them in a safe place. Men will watch to see that they do it in a fair way. They will sell fields again in the country of Benjamin and the villages round Jerusalem. They will sell land in the towns of Judah. And they will sell it in the hills in the west and in the Negev. I will give them back the good things that they lost, says the *Lord.’

Chapter 33

The promise that God will bring the people back

v1 Jeremiah was still in the prison in the yard where the king’s soldiers were. God spoke to Jeremiah a second time while he was there. v2 ‘I am the *Lord who made the earth. I gave it a shape and I put it in its place. The *Lord is my name. This is what I say. v3 Call to me and I will answer you. I will tell you great, strange things that you do not know. v4 This is what the *Lord, the God of Israel says. The enemy will destroy this city and the houses of the kings of Judah. v5 The soldiers from Babylon will destroy them while you fight against their *swords. They will do this from the hills that they are building to attack the city. Only broken houses are left. I say that they will fill them with dead bodies. I am very angry with the people and I will let the enemy kill them. I will turn away from the city because of all the bad things that its people have done.’

v6 ‘But I will make the people in this city well again. I will make my people well. They will enjoy *peace. v7 I will bring back Judah and Israel and make them safe and comfortable. I will build them up again. Then they will be as they were before. v8 I will make them *clean from all their *sin. They refused to obey me. But I will *forgive all the wrong things that they did. v9 Then this city will cause the people in all the countries on the earth to *praise me. They will hear about all the good things that I do for Jerusalem. So they will give me *honour. I will make the city rich and I will give it *peace. They will be afraid when they see that.’

v10 This is what the *Lord says. ‘You say that this place is empty, without men or animals. But people will return to the empty streets in Jerusalem. People will make a happy noise where now there are no men or animals. v11 You will hear the voices of men and women who are just married. People will bring gifts to the house of the *Lord to thank him. You will hear their voices as they say,

            “Give thanks to the great, powerful *Lord,

            because the *Lord is good.

            His love lasts for all time.”

I will make the country as rich as it was before’, says the *Lord.

v12 This is what the great powerful *Lord says. ‘This place is empty now, without people or animals. But I will put grass round its towns where sheep can rest with their *shepherds. v13 *Shepherds will count their sheep again in the towns on the hills. And they will do this in the hills west of the Negev. And they will count them in the country of Benjamin. They will do it again in the villages round Jerusalem. And they will count them in the towns in Judah’, says the *Lord.

v14 ‘At a future time’, says the *Lord, ‘I will keep the kind promises that I made. I made those promises to the people of both Judah and Israel.’

v15 ‘David’s family is like a tree. In that day, when the time is right, I will cause a *clean branch to grow from that tree. (A man will be born in David’s family.) He will do things that are good and fair in my country. v16 At that time, the people from Judah and Jerusalem will come back and be safe. People will give the city the name, “The *Lord who makes us right and good.” ’

v17 This is what the *Lord says. ‘A man of David’s family will always be a king of Israel. v18 And I will always give them a *priest from Levi’s family, to offer meat and food to me. They will burn their gifts on the *altar to show me *honour.’

v19 Jeremiah heard the *Lord who was speaking to him. v20 ‘This is what the *Lord says. You can never break my *covenant with the day and with the night. They will always come at their proper times. v21 My *covenant with David my servant, and with the *Levites is like that. They will always be *priests who will *serve me. And David will always have a son to sit on his *throne. v22 I will cause David my servant and the *Levites to have many children. There are many stars in the sky. And there are many pieces of sand by the sea. Their children will be that many.’

v23 The *Lord spoke to Jeremiah. v24 This is what he said. ‘The people are saying that the *Lord has left his chosen people. They say that he is no longer the God of Israel and Judah. They think that Israel and Judah are no longer a *nation. They do not think that they are important.’ v25 But this is what the *Lord says. ‘I have fixed my *covenant with the day and the night. And I have made the *laws about earth and sky. v26 I will never turn away from the children of Jacob and David my servant. I will always choose one from their sons to rule over the sons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I will bring them back to the place that is theirs. I will be kind to them.’

Chapter 34

A message to Zedekiah

v1 Nebuchadnezzar and his army and all the people from all the countries that he ruled were fighting. They were attacking Jerusalem and the towns that were near to it. At this time, Jeremiah heard the *Lord who was speaking to him. v2 ‘This is what the *Lord, the God of Israel says. Go to Zedekiah, king of Judah, and say this to him. “This is what the *Lord says. I am going to give this city to the king of Babylon and he will burn it down. v3 You will not be able to run away because his soldiers will certainly catch you. They will give you to him. You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes. And you will speak with him and see his face. Then you will go to Babylon.

v4 But listen to the promise of the *Lord, Zedekiah, king of Judah. This is what the *Lord says about you. They will not kill you with a *sword, v5 but you will die in *peace. People will make a big fire when you die to give you *honour. People were sad when the kings, your fathers, died. They will cry and be sad, when you die, too. They will say, ‘Our master has died!’ This is my promise, says the *Lord.” ’

v6 Then Jeremiah, the *prophet, told all this to Zedekiah, the king, in Jerusalem. v7 At this time, the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Judah. He was fighting against Jerusalem and Lachish and Azekah, the cities that he had not taken yet. They were the only *walled cities in Judah that he had not taken.

Zedekiah and the slaves

v8 King Zedekiah made a *covenant with the people in Jerusalem to let their slaves go. After this, the *Lord spoke to Jeremiah. v9 The king had said that no *Israelite, neither man nor woman, should be a slave. They must all be free people. v10 All the officers and people who made this *covenant agreed with the king. They would no longer have male or female slaves. They made them free men and women. v11 But after this, they did not keep their promise. They took the people back and made them slaves again.

v12 Then the *Lord spoke to Jeremiah. v13 ‘This is what the *Lord, the God of Israel, says. I made a *covenant with your fathers when I brought them out of Egypt. They were slaves when they were there. v14 I said that you must do something. Each 7th (seventh) year you must let any of your *Jewish brothers that you had bought become a free person. After he has worked for you for 6 (six) years, you must let him go. But your fathers did not listen to me. They did not obey me. v15 A little time ago, you were sorry that you had not obeyed me. I had said that you must do a good thing. And you did it. Each of you made his *Jewish slaves free men and women. You even made a *covenant with me in my house, the *temple. v16 But now you have turned back to your old ways. You have taken away my *honour. You have said that your slaves could go where they wanted. But now you have taken them back. You have caused free men and women again to become your slaves.

v17 So this is what the *Lord says. You have not obeyed me. You have not let your slaves become free men and women. So now I will make you free, he says. I will make you free to die. Men will kill you with *swords. You will not have enough to eat. And you will become ill and die. All the people in all the countries on the earth will *hate you. v18 I will do this to the men who did not keep their *covenant with me. They will be like an animal that people offer to me. They will be like the young cow that they cut in half. They cut it in half so that they could walk between the pieces (Genesis 15:10-18). v19 I will *punish the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. I will *punish the king’s officers, the *priests and all the people in the country. I will *punish all the people who made this *covenant with me. They walked between the pieces of the young cow. v20 I will give their enemies power over them. The enemies will kill them and I will give their bodies to the birds and wild animals for food.

v21 I will give Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his officers to the enemies who want to kill them. The army of the king of Babylon left you. But I will give them power over Zedekiah and his officers. v22 I will tell their army to return to this city. They will fight and take it. And they will burn it down. And I will destroy the towns in Judah so that no one can live there.’

Chapter 35

Recab’s family

v1 The *Lord spoke to Jeremiah in the time that Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, ruled Judah. This is what he said. v2 ‘Go to Recab’s family and ask them to come to the *temple. Take them into a little room at the side of the *temple and give them *wine to drink.’

v3 So I went to get the whole of Recab’s family. They were Jaazaniah, son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons. v4 I took them into a room in the *Lord’s house. It was the room of the sons of Hanan. He was the son of Igdaliah, the man of God. It was next to the officer’s room, and that was over the door *keeper’s room. The *keeper of the door was Maaseiah, son of Shallum. v5 Then I took some bowls of *wine and some cups. I put them in front of the men from Recab’s family and I said, ‘Drink some *wine.’

v6 They replied, ‘We do not drink *wine. Our father Jonadab, son of Recab, said this to us. “You and your sons must never drink *wine. v7 And you must not build houses, or plant seed or *vines. You must never have any of these things, but you must always live in *tents. Then you will live for a long time while you move through the country.” v8-9 We have obeyed everything that our father Jonadab, son of Recab, told us to do. We have never drunk *wine. And we have never built houses or planted seeds. And our wives and children have never done any of these things. v10 We have obeyed completely all our father Jonadab’s rules. v11 But, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came into this country, we came to Jerusalem. We said, “We must go to Jerusalem. We, must save ourselves from the armies of Babylon and Aramea.” So we stayed in Jerusalem.’

v12 Then the *Lord spoke to Jeremiah. v13 ‘This is what the great, powerful *Lord, the God of Israel, says. Go and speak to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Ask them to learn a lesson from the sons of Recab. v14 Jonadab, Recab’s son, said that his sons must not drink *wine and they have always obeyed him. They have not drunk *wine even to this day. They have always obeyed their father’s rule. But I have spoken to you again and again and you have not obeyed me. v15 I have sent my servants the *prophets to you again and again, but you have not obeyed me. The *prophets said, “Each of you must stop doing wrong things. You must change the things that you do. Start doing the things that are right. Do not be servants of other gods. Then you will live in the country that I have given to you and your fathers.” But you did not think that this was important. You did not listen to me. v16 The sons of Jonadab, Recab’s son, obeyed the rules that their father gave to them. But these people have not obeyed me.

v17 So this is what the great and powerful *Lord says, “Listen! I am going to send all the bad things that I told you about. I am sending them to all those who live in Judah and Jerusalem. I spoke to them, but they did not listen. I called to them but they did not answer.” ’

v18 Then Jeremiah spoke to the family of Recab. ‘This is what the great and powerful *Lord, the God of Israel, says, “You have obeyed the rules of your father Jonadab. You have done everything that he asked you.” v19 So this is what the great and powerful *Lord, the God of Israel, says to you. “Jonadab, son of Recab, will always have a son to be my servant. This promise is for all time.” ’

Chapter 36

Jehoiakim burns what Jeremiah had written.

v1 The *Lord spoke to Jeremiah in the 4th (fourth) year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah. This is what he said. v2 ‘Write down all the words that I have spoken to you about Israel, Judah and the other countries. I began to speak to you when Josiah was king. Write everything that I have said from that time until now. v3 Perhaps the people of Israel will listen to my words. Perhaps they will hear about all the bad things that I will do. Then they may each turn away from the wrong things that they are doing. Then I will *forgive those bad things and their *sin.’

v4 So Jeremiah asked Baruch, son of Neriah to come. While Jeremiah spoke all the *Lord’s words, Baruch wrote them down. He wrote them on a long dry piece of a sheep’s skin. v5 Then Jeremiah said to Baruch, ‘They will not let me go to the house of the *Lord (*temple). v6 So you must go to the *temple on a day when people choose not to eat (a day for *fasting). Read these words to the people. You wrote the *Lord’s words as I spoke them to you. Read them to all the people. Do this when they come from the towns in Judah. v7 Perhaps they will ask the *Lord for help and they will stop doing wrong things. They will stop because of what the *Lord has said. He said that he will *punish them. He will *punish them because he is very angry with them.’

v8 Baruch, son of Neriah, did everything that Jeremiah the *prophet had said. He read out the words of the *Lord in the *Lord’s *temple. v9 The king said that he wanted a day of *fasting in the *temple. This was in the 9th (ninth) month of the 5th (fifth) year since he became king. He caused all the people to come from Jerusalem and the towns in Judah. v10 Baruch stood in the room of Gemariah the *secretary. He was the son of Shaphan. The room was in the yard by the *temple’s New Gate. There Baruch read the *Lord’s words to all the people. He read them the words that Jeremiah had caused him to write.

v11 Micaiah, son of Gemariah, heard all the words of the *Lord that Baruch had read out. v12 Then he went to the *secretary’s room in the king’s house. All the king’s officers were sitting there. These included Elishama who was the *secretary and Delaiah, son of Shaphan. Elnathan, Acbor’s son, Gemariah, Shaphan’s son and Zedekiah, Hananiah’s son were also there. v13 Micaiah told them everything that he had heard. He heard it when Baruch read to the people. v14 The officers sent Jehudi to speak to Baruch. (Jehudi’s father was Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi.) They said, ‘Bring the piece of skin with the words that you read to the people. And come here.’ So Baruch, Neriah’s son, went to them and he took the skin with him. v15 ‘Please sit down and read it to us’, they said.

So Baruch read it to them. v16 They heard the words that Baruch had written. And they became afraid. They looked at each other and they said to Baruch, ‘We must tell the king what these words say.’ v17 They asked Baruch, ‘How did you write these words? Did you write them down as Jeremiah spoke them to you?’

v18 ‘Yes’, said Baruch, ‘he spoke the words and I wrote them in ink on this skin.’

v19 ‘You and Jeremiah go and hide yourselves’, the officers said to Baruch. ‘Do not tell anyone where you are.’

v20 The officers put the skin into Elishama’s room. Elishama was the *secretary. Then they went to the king, who was in the yard. They told him all that they had heard. v21 The king heard about the skin on which Baruch had written God’s words. So, he sent Jehudi to fetch it. Jehudi brought the skin from the room of Elishama the *secretary. Then he read the words to the king and to all the officers who there. v22 The king was in his winter rooms. A fire was burning in a pot because it was the 9th (ninth) month. v23 Jehudi read a small part of the words that Baruch had written on the skin. Then the king took a knife and cut off that part of the skin. He threw it into the fire. Soon he had burned all the skin in the fire. v24 Neither the king nor the officers who were with him were afraid. And they did not show that they were sorry. They did not tear their clothes (to show that they were sorry). v25 Elnathan, Deliah and Gemaria asked the king not to burn the skin on which Baruch had written. But he would not listen to them. v26 Instead, the king told his son Jerahmeel to take Baruch the *secretary and Jeremiah the *prophet. Then Jerahmeel should put them in prison. But the *Lord had hidden them.

v27 So the king burnt the piece of skin on which Baruch had written Jeremiah’s words. After this the *Lord spoke to Jeremiah. v28 ‘Take another piece of skin’, he said. ‘Write on it all the words that were on the other skin. That was the skin that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up. v29 Also say to the king, “You burned the skin. And you asked why I wrote such bad things about Judah. You did not believe that the king of Babylon would come to destroy this country. You did not think that he would take both men and animals away from it.” v30 So the *Lord says this about Jehoiakim, king of Judah. None of his sons will become king of Judah. People will throw out his dead body. And the sun will burn it in the day and it will be cold at night. v31 His children and his servants have done bad things. I will *punish them. I will do all the bad things that I promised to do. I will do them to your children and to the people in Jerusalem. I will *punish them and the people in Judah for all the wrong things that they have done. I will do this because they have not listened to me.’

v32 So Jeremiah took another piece of skin and gave it to the *secretary Baruch, Neriah’s son. Then Jeremiah spoke the words that had been on the first skin. King Jehoiakim had burnt the first skin in the fire. And Baruch wrote the words down with many other words that said the same things.

Chapter 37

Jeremiah in prison

v1 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon made Josiah’s son Zedekiah king of Judah. He took the place of Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim. v2 He did not listen to the words of the *Lord that Jeremiah had told him. And neither the king’s servants nor the people of the country listened to the *Lord’s words.

v3 But King Zedekiah sent a message to Jeremiah the *prophet. He sent Jehucal, son of Shelemiah, with the *priest Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah, to deliver this message. ‘Please pray to the *Lord our God for us.’

v4 Jeremiah was a free man at this time. They had not yet put him into the prison. He could walk among the people. v5 The army of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had marched out of Egypt. The soldiers from Babylon who were round Jerusalem heard about this. So they went away.

v6 Then the *Lord spoke to Jeremiah the *prophet. v7 ‘Speak to the king of Judah, who sent you to ask for my help’, he said. ‘Pharaoh’s army, which marched out to help you, will turn back. They will return to Egypt, their own country. v8 Then the soldiers from Babylon will return and attack this city. They will take it and burn it down.” ’

v9 ‘This is what the *Lord says, “Do not make a mistake. Do not think that the soldiers from Babylon will go away. They will not! v10 You might win the fight against the whole army that is attacking you. But they would still come and burn down this city.

They would burn it even if you left only sick men in their *tents.’

v11 The army from Babylon had left Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army. v12 So Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the country of Benjamin. He wanted to visit his part of the country that was among his people. v13 When he came to the Benjamin gate of the city, Irijah, Shelemiah’s son, stopped him. He was the captain of the soldiers at the gate. And he put Jeremiah into the prison. ‘You are going to join the soldiers from Babylon!’ he said. v14 ‘That is not true!’ said Jeremiah. ‘I am not going to join the soldiers from Babylon.’ But Irijah would not listen to him. So he took Jeremiah, his *prisoner, to the king’s officers. v15 The officers were angry with Jeremiah. They *beat him and put him in the house of Jonathan the *secretary. They had made his house into a prison.

v16 They put Jeremiah in a small room with a high ceiling. It was deep under the house. He stayed there for a long time. v17 Then King Zedekiah sent for him and brought him to his house. When they were alone, the king asked him, ‘Is there any message from the *Lord?’

‘Yes’, Jeremiah replied, ‘they will deliver you to the hands of the king of Babylon.’

v18 Then Jeremiah spoke to King Zedekiah. ‘What bad things have I done to you or your officers? Why have you put me into the prison? v19 Your *prophets told you things that were not true. They said that the king of Babylon would not attack you or your country. v20 I want you to help me. Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the *secretary. If you do, I will die there.’

v21 Then King Zedekiah told his officers to put Jeremiah into the yard of his house with his soldiers. He told them to give him bread from the bakers until there was no more bread in the city. So Jeremiah stayed in the yard with the soldiers.

Chapter 38

Men put Jeremiah into a large hole where they had stored water.

v1 Some men heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people. They were Pashhur’s son Shephatiah, Shelemiah’s son Jehucal and Malkijah’s son Pashhur. v2 Jeremiah had told the people what the *Lord had said. ‘Any people who stay in this city will die. Soldiers or illness will kill them, or they will have no food to eat. But those people who join the soldiers from Babylon will not die. They will live. v3 And this is what the *Lord says, “I will give this city to the soldiers from Babylon. Their king’s army will take it.” ’

v4 Then the officers spoke to the king. ‘You should kill this man’, they said. ‘He is making the soldiers who remain in the city afraid. And the people are becoming afraid because of the things that he is saying to them. This man does not want to help these people but to destroy them.’

v5 ‘You can do as you think’, King Zedekiah said. ‘I cannot stop you.’

v6 So they took Jeremiah and put him in a big hole in the yard where the soldiers were. Malkijah the king’s son had made the hole to store water. They tied a long piece of *rope round Jeremiah and held the end of it. Then they slowly dropped him into the deep hole. There was no water in the hole, but only wet ground. The ground pulled Jeremiah down.

v7 Ebed-Melech, who came from the country called Cush, was an officer in the king’s house. He heard that they had put Jeremiah into the hole in the yard. v8 He went out of the king’s house and spoke to the king. The king was sitting in the Benjamin gate of the city. v9 ‘My *Lord, the king’, he said. ‘these men have done very bad things to Jeremiah the *prophet. They have put him in a deep hole. He will die there when no food is left in the city.’

v10 Then the king told Ebed-Melech what to do. ‘Take 30 (thirty) men with you’, he said. ‘And lift Jeremiah the *prophet out of the hole before he dies.’

v11 So Ebed-Melech took the men with him. He went to a room under the king’s house and he found some old clothes and pieces of cloth. He tied them to *ropes. And he let them drop down into the hole where Jeremiah was. v12 ‘Put these clothes under your arms’, he said. ‘Then tie the *ropes over them so that they will not hurt you.’ Jeremiah did as Ebed-Melech had said. v13 Then they pulled Jeremiah out of the hole. And he stayed in the yard with the soldiers.

Zedekiah asks Jeremiah more questions.

v14 Then King Zedekiah sent *messengers to bring Jeremiah the *prophet to see him. They brought him to the 3rd (third) gate of the *Lord’s *temple. ‘I am going to ask you something’, the king said to Jeremiah. ‘Do not hide anything from me.’

v15 ‘If I give you an answer, you may kill me’, Jeremiah said to the king. ‘I might say what you should do. But you would not listen to me.’

v16 But King Zedekiah made a secret promise to Jeremiah. ‘I believe that the *Lord lives. So I will not kill you. And I will not give you to the men who are trying to kill you.’

v17 Then Jeremiah spoke to Zedekiah. ‘The great and powerful *Lord, the God of Israel says this. “If you let the officers of the king of Babylon take your *kingdom, you will not die. And they will not burn down this city. You and your family will live. v18 But you must let those officers take your *kingdom. If you do not do this, I will cause you much trouble. I will give this city to the soldiers from Babylon and they will burn it down. And they will make you their *prisoner.” ’

v19 ‘I am afraid of the *Jews who have left to join the king of Babylon’, King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah. ‘Perhaps the soldiers from Babylon will give me to them, and they may hurt me.’

v20 ‘They will not give you to those *Jews’, Jeremiah replied. ‘Do as I tell you. That is how you can obey the *Lord. Then your life will be good and you will not lose it. v21 But you may not give up your *kingdom. The *Lord has shown me what will happen then. v22 Your enemies will bring out all the women in the king of Judah’s house. They will give them to the officers of the king of Babylon. Those women will say this to you.

“You have believed the words of your friends. But they have told you what is not true.

Your feet are stuck in the ground and your friends have left you alone.”

v23 They will give all your wives and children to the soldiers from Babylon. You yourself will not get away. The king of Babylon will make you his *prisoner and his soldiers will burn down this city.’

v24 ‘Do not tell anyone what we have talked about’, Zedekiah said to Jeremiah. ‘If you do tell them, you might die. v25 My officers may come and ask you what we talked about. They may want to kill you if you do not tell them. v26 So say, “I was asking the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house where I might die.” ’

v27 All the officers did come to Jeremiah to ask about his meeting with the king. And he said everything that the king had told him to say. No one had heard what Jeremiah and the king had really said. So the officers did not ask him again.

v28 And Jeremiah stayed in the yard where the soldiers were. He stayed there until the day when the soldiers from Babylon took Jerusalem.

Chapter 39

The soldiers from Babylon take Jerusalem.

v1 This is how the soldiers of the king of Babylon took Jerusalem. After King Zedekiah had ruled Judah for eight (8) years, Nebuchadnezzar marched to Jerusalem. His whole army went round the city to attack it. v2 Ten (10) years, four (4) months and nine (9) days after they had made Zedekiah king, soldiers from Babylon attacked Jerusalem. And they broke through the walls of the city. v3 Then the officers of the king of Babylon came into the city. And they sat in the Middle Gate. They were Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebosarsekim an important officer and Nergal-Sharezer, another important officer. There were also all the other officers of the king of Babylon. v4 Zedekiah, king of Judah, and all his soldiers ran away when they saw them. They left the city at night, through the king’s garden. They left through the gate between the two walls and then they ran towards the Arabah.

v5 But the soldiers from Babylon ran after them. And they caught them on the flat country near Jericho. They took Zedekiah to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He was at Riblah in the country called Hamath. v6 In that place, Nebuchadnezzar decided what to do. He caused the soldiers to kill all the sons of Zedekiah. Zedekiah had to watch while they killed his sons. And Nebuchadnezzar killed all the important men of Judah. v7 Then the soldiers destroyed Zedekiah’s eyes. Then they put metal rings round his legs and tied them together. Then they took him to Babylon.

v8 The soldiers from Babylon burned the king’s house and the people’s houses. They broke down the walls of Jerusalem. v9 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the king’s own special soldiers, took away all the people who remained in Jerusalem. He took them as *prisoners to Babylon with all the other people. With them, he took those who had joined the soldiers from Babylon. v10 But captain Nebuzaradan left some of the very poor people, who had nothing, in Judah. At that time he gave them fields, some of which had *vines on them.

v11 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had told Nebuzaradan, captain of his own soldiers, about Jeremiah. v12 ‘Take him and be good to him. Do not hurt him. But do anything that he asks you to do’, he had said. v13 So Nebuzaradan, Nebushazban who was an important officer, Nergal-Sharezer and all the other officers of the king of Babylon obeyed Nebuchadnezzar. v14 They sent for Jeremiah and they took him out of the yard. It was where Zedekiah’s soldiers had put him. Gedaliah, who was Ahikam’s son and Shaphan’s grandson, then took him back to his own home. So Jeremiah stayed with his own people.

v15 The *Lord had spoken to Jeremiah while he was still a *prisoner in the king’s house. v16 ‘Go and tell Ebed-Melech from Cush, what I say’, the *Lord said to him. ‘This is what the great and powerful *Lord of Israel says. Now I am going to do as I promised. I will destroy this city. I will not make it rich. You will see it happen. v17 But I will save you on that day. They will not give you to the people that you are afraid of. v18 I will save you and soldiers will not kill you. You believed that I could keep you safe. So I will keep you safe, says the *Lord.’

Chapter 40

The soldiers from Babylon make Jeremiah a free man.

v1 Nebuzaradan, captain of the king’s special soldiers, found Jeremiah at Ramah. They had tied him up with all the *prisoners from Jerusalem and Judah. Nebuzaradan caused the soldiers to let Jeremiah go free. Then the *Lord spoke to Jeremiah. They were taking the *prisoners to Babylon. v2 Nebuzaradan said to Jeremiah, ‘The *Lord your God promised that he would help me to destroy this place. v3 And now, your God has done this. He has done all that he promised. He did this because your people did not obey the *Lord. This was their *sin. v4 But today I am taking off the *ropes that tie you up. You are a free man. You can come with me to Babylon if you want. If you do come, I will help you. But you do not have to come with me. You may go to any part of the country that you like.’ v5 But before Jeremiah left, Nebuzaradan said, ‘Go back to Gedaliah, who is Ahikam’s son and Shaphan’s grandson, and the people. The king of Babylon has made him the man to rule over the towns of Judah. Live with Gedaliah and all the people there. Or you may go to any other place that you want to.’

Then Nebuzaradan gave Jeremiah food and a gift and he let him go. v6 So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son, at Mizpah. He stayed there with him and the people who remained in Judah.

Some of the people kill Gedaliah.

v7 Some *Jewish army officers and soldiers were living in the fields in Judah. They heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son, ruler over the people. These people were the poorest men, women and children in the country. The soldiers from Babylon had not taken them to Babylon. v8 Some army officers came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They were Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, and Johanan and Jonathan, Kareah’s sons. They came with Tanhumeth, who was Seriah’s son, and their men. The sons of Ephai from Netophath came. And the son of Jaazaniah from Maacath and their men also came. v9 Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son, saw that they were afraid. So he said, ‘Do not be afraid to be servants to the soldiers from Babylon. Stay here and *serve the king of Babylon. If you do, you will be safe. v10 I myself will stay with you. I will speak for you when the men from Babylon come. But you can take in the summer fruits and the food seeds and make *wine and oil. Then you can store them in jars. And you can live in the towns that you have taken.’

v11 The *Jews in Moab, Ammon, Edom and all the other countries heard this news. They heard that the king of Babylon had left a few people in Judah. And they heard that he had made Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, their ruler. v12 So they all came back to Judah. They came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They came from all the countries where they had been hiding. And they took very much *wine and summer fruit from the fields and stored them.

v13 Johanan Kareah’s son and all the officers that were in the fields came to Gedaliah. v14 ‘Do you not know that Baalis, king of Ammon, has sent Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, to kill you?’ they asked him. But Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, did not believe them.

v15 Johanan, son of Kareah, went to speak to Gedaliah secretly. ‘Let me go and kill Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, and no one will know about it’, he said. ‘We should not let him kill you. If he kills you, all the *Jews that are with you would run away to different places. Then the few people of Israel that remain will die.’

v16 But Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, spoke to Johanan, son of Kareah. ‘Do not do anything like that’, he said. ‘What you are saying about Ishmael is not true.’

Chapter 41

v1 Ishmael, Nethaliah’s son, came to Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son, at Mizpah in the 7th (seventh) month. He belonged to the king’s family and he had 10 (ten) men with him. He had been an officer of the king. They were all eating a meal together. v2 During the meal, Ishmael and his 10 (ten) men got up and killed Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son. Ahikam was the son of Shaphan. They killed him with their *swords. They killed the man that the king of Babylon had chosen to rule the country. v3 Ishmael also killed the *Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah. And he killed the soldiers from Babylon who were there.

v4-5 The day after Gedaliah died, 80 (eighty) *Jews came to the *temple with seeds and nice oils. They came from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria to offer them to the *Lord. No one knew that Ishmael had killed Gedaliah. v6 Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, went out from Mizpah to meet them. He was crying while he went. ‘Come to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam’, he said, when he met them. v7 When they came into the city, Ishmael Nethaniah’s son and the men who were with him killed them. They threw their dead bodies into a hole in the ground. v8 But 10 (ten) men said, ‘Do not kill us! We have food seeds and oil and sugar hidden in a field.’ So he let them go and he did not kill them with the other men. v9 The hole where he had thrown Gedaliah’s body was a hole that King Asa had dug. He had dug many holes to save himself from Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, filled this hole with dead bodies.

v10 Ishmael caused all the other people who were in Mizpah to become his *prisoners. He took the king’s daughters and all the other people who remained there. Nebuzaradan, captain of the king’s special soldiers, had said that Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son, must rule over these people. Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, made them his *prisoners and started to take them to the country called Ammon.

v11 Johanan, Kareah’s son, and the army officers with him heard about the bad things that Ishmael had done. v12 So they took all their men and went to fight Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son. They found him near the great pool in Gideon. v13 All the people that were with Ishmael saw Johanan and the soldiers with him. They were happy when they saw them. v14 All the people that Ishmael had taken as *prisoners at Mizpah left Ishmael. They went to join Johanan, son of Kareah. v15 But Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, ran away from Johanan. He and 8 (eight) men went to Ammon.

Johanan takes the people to Egypt.

v16 Johanan, Kareah’s son, and the officers with him took away the people who had come from Mizpah. They were the people that he had saved from Ishmael, son of Nethaniah. Ishmael had killed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam. Then Ishmael took back the soldiers, women, children and officers. They were the *prisoners that Gedaliah had brought from Gideon. v17 Johanan took these people towards Egypt. They stopped at Geruth Kimham on the way to Egypt. This was near Bethlehem. v18 They wanted to run away from the soldiers from Babylon. They were afraid because Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, had killed Gedaliah. And the king of Babylon had said that Gedaliah should rule Israel.

Chapter 42

v1 Then all the army officers and the people went to speak to Jeremiah the *prophet. They included Johanan, son of Kareah, Jezaniah, son of Hoshaiah, and other people. The important people went. And those who were not important also went. v2 ‘Please listen to us and pray for us’, they said. ‘Pray to the *Lord your God for those of us who remain. You can see that we are now only a few. But before now, we were a great number of people. v3 Ask the *Lord to tell us where we should go. Ask him what we should do.’

v4 ‘I have heard you’, Jeremiah the *prophet replied. ‘I will certainly pray to the *Lord your God as you have asked me. I will tell you everything that the *Lord says. I will not hide anything from you.’

v5 ‘We will do everything that the *Lord has sent you to say to us. We want the *Lord to *punish us if we do not do this’, they said to Jeremiah. v6 ‘We will obey the *Lord our God, to whom we have asked you to pray. We will obey him whether he tells us good things or bad things. We will obey him because we want good things to happen to us.’

v7 The *Lord spoke to Jeremiah 10 (ten) days later. v8 So Jeremiah fetched Johanan, son of Kareah, and the soldiers and all the people together. He fetched together all those who were with him. He fetched the important people and those who were not so important. v9 ‘You sent me to the *Lord, the God of Israel. This is what he says’, he said to them. v10 ‘If you will stay in this country, I will build you up. I will plant you like a seed and you will grow. I will not pull you up or destroy you. I am sad about the way that I hurt you. That is why I will do this. v11 Do not *fear the king of Babylon. You *fear him now but do not be afraid of him’, says the *Lord. ‘I am with you and I will save you from him. v12 I will be kind to him. So then he will be kind to you and he will give your country back to you.’

v13 ‘But you may not obey the *Lord your God. Or you may say, “We will not stay in this country.” v14 You may say, “No, we will go to live in Egypt where we will not have to fight. And we will have enough food there.” v15 Then listen to me, you few people from Judah who remain. This is what the great and powerful *Lord, the God of Israel, says. I will cause this to happen if you decide to go and live in Egypt. If you make it your home, v16 you will die there. The soldiers that you *fear will kill you. Or you will not have enough to eat. v17 But all who decide to go to make their home in Egypt will die there. Soldiers will kill some of them. I will cause other people to die because they become ill. And other people will die because they have no food. Nobody will save any of them from the trouble that I will send. v18 This is what the great and powerful *Lord, the God of Israel, says. I was very angry with the people who lived in Jerusalem. In the same way, I will be very angry with you when you go to Egypt. People will hate you and shout bad things about you. They will say that you have done wrong things. You will never see this place again.’

v19 ‘You people of Judah that are still here, I am speaking to you. The *Lord has said what you must do. “Do not go to Egypt.” v20 You made a bad mistake when you asked me to pray to the *Lord for you. You said, “Tell us everything that he says. And then we will do it.” v21 I told you today, but you still have not obeyed the *Lord your God. You have not done all that he sent me to tell you. v22 I will tell you something. You will die in the place where you want to live. Soldiers may kill you. Or you may die because you are ill. Or you will die because you have no food.’

Chapter 43

v1 So Jeremiah finished telling the people all the words of the *Lord their God. He told them everything that the *Lord had sent him to tell them. v2 Then Azariah Hoshaiah’s son and Johanan Kareah’s son and some other men spoke to Jeremiah. All of them thought that they knew everything. They thought that they were better than other people. ‘You are not saying what is true!’ they said to Jeremiah. ‘The *Lord our God has not sent you to say that we must not go to Egypt to live there. v3 But you are doing what Baruch, son of Neriah, wants. He is against us. He wants the soldiers from Babylon to kill us or to take us as *prisoners to Babylon.’

v4 So Johanan, son of Kareah, and all the officers in the army did not obey the *Lord’s message. They did not stay in Judah. v5 Instead, Johanan and the officers led the people away from Judah. These were the few people who had returned to Judah. They had come from all the countries where their enemies had sent them. v6 They took with them the men, women and children and the king’s daughters. Nebuzaradan, captain of the king’s special soldiers, had left these people with Gedaliah who was Ahikam’s son and Shaphan’s grandson. And he had left Jeremiah the *prophet and Baruch, son of Neriah, with them. v7 So they did not obey the *Lord. They went into Egypt and they went as far as Tahpanhes.

v8 The *Lord spoke to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes. ‘The king of Egypt’s house is in Tahpanhes. v9 Choose some large stones while the *Jews are watching you’, he said. ‘Take them and put them under the path to the king’s house. v10 Then you must speak to the people. Say, “This is what the strong, powerful *Lord, the God of Israel, says. I will send my servant, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, here. He will put his *throne here, over these stones that I have hidden. They will build his king’s *tent over him. v11 He will come and attack Egypt. He will kill those that I have chosen to die. He will take as *prisoners those whom I choose to be *prisoners. His soldiers will kill those whom I choose to die in that way. v12 He will use fire when he attacks the *temples of the gods of Egypt. He will burn them and take away their gods. He will do what he wants with Egypt. No one will stop him. v13 He will break down the places where the people in Egypt *worship in the *temple of the sun. And he will burn down the *temples of the gods there.” ’

Chapter 44

God will *judge his people.

v1 The *Lord spoke to Jeremiah. He spoke about the *Jews who lived in Egypt. They lived in Migdol, Tahpanhes and Memphis and in other places. v2 ‘This is what the great and powerful *Lord, the God of Israel, says. “You saw the great trouble that I caused to Jerusalem and all the towns in Judah. They are broken down and no one lives there. v3 This is because of the *evil things that they did. They made me angry because they made nice smells to give other gods pleasure. And they *worshipped them. Neither they nor their fathers knew these gods. v4 Again and again I sent my servants the *prophets to them. They gave them my message. ‘Do not do this bad thing that I *hate!’ they said. v5 But the people did not listen to or obey my words. They did not stop doing wrong things or making nice smells to give other gods pleasure. v6 So I became very angry. I *punished the towns in Judah and the streets in Jerusalem. I destroyed them and I made them the broken places that they are today.

v7 Now this is what the great and powerful *Lord, the God of Israel, says. ‘You are causing more trouble for yourselves. You are taking all the men, women, children and babies out of Judah. You have left no one in Israel. v8 You are making me very angry by the things that you have made with your hands. You are making nice smells to give pleasure to the gods of Egypt where you have come to live. These things will destroy you. You will become a *nation that all other *nations *hate. They will think that you have no value. v9 You must remember the *evil things that your fathers did. The kings and queens of Judah and you and your wives also did many wrong things. You did *evil things in Jerusalem and in all Judah. v10 Even now your people have not become sorry. They have not agreed that they have done wrong things. They have given me no *honour. They have not obeyed the rules that I gave to them and their fathers.’ ”

v11 So the great and powerful *Lord, the God of Israel, says this. “I am certainly going to give you much trouble and I am going to destroy all Judah. v12 I will take away the few *Jews who decided to come to live in Egypt. They will all die there. Soldiers will kill them. Or they will die because they have no food to eat. Other people will *hate them and make them ashamed. They will say how bad the *Jews are. They will tell them that they have done wrong things. v13 I will *punish those people in Egypt. I will use soldiers with *swords. Or I might make them ill. Or I will give them no food so that they die. I will *punish them, as I *punished the people in Jerusalem. v14 None of the few people from Judah who went to live in Egypt will return. They want very much to return to Judah. But not one *Jew will be able to leave Egypt, except for a very few who run away.” ’

v15 A large crowd came together from all the places in Egypt where they lived. The men knew that their wives were burning nice smelling oils to other gods. And there were many women with them. They spoke to Jeremiah. v16 ‘The *Lord has given you a message. But we will not listen to you’, they said. v17 ‘We will certainly do all that we want to do. We will make nice smells for the Queen of *Heaven and we will offer drinks to her. We will do what our fathers did. We and our kings and our officers did this in Jerusalem and all the towns in Judah. We had plenty of food then. We were rich and we had no troubles. v18 But since we stopped offering these things to the Queen of *Heaven we have had nothing. Some of us have died because they had no food. And soldiers have killed other people.’

v19 The women spoke. ‘Our husbands knew that we were burning oils to make nice smells to the Queen of *Heaven. And we made cakes in her shape and we offered her *wine, too’, they said.

v20 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the men and the women who had answered him. v21 ‘The *Lord knew about what you and your fathers, your kings and officers and all the people did. He knew that you burned those oils with nice smells in the towns in Judah. He knew that you burned them in the streets in Jerusalem’, he said. v22 ‘He saw what you were doing. So he made your country empty and he let nothing grow there. The *Lord saw the bad things that you were doing. So he made the country a place where no one wanted to live. He caused it to become empty and now nobody lives there. v23 The *Lord did this because you did not obey him. You burned the nice oils. You did not obey his rules. And you did not do any of the things that he wanted you to do. So he has caused these bad things that you see.’

v24 ‘Hear the *Lord’s word, all you people from Judah who are in Egypt’, Jeremiah said. ‘I am speaking to the men and the women. v25 This is what the great and powerful *Lord, the God of Israel, says. You and your wives have certainly done as you promised. You said, “We will do what we have said. We will burn nice smelling oils and offer drink to the Queen of *Heaven.” ’

‘So go and do what you promised to do! v26 But listen to what the *Lord has to say to all you *Jews in Egypt. “I am making a promise. I will do this as certainly as I am alive”, says the *Lord. “No one from Judah who lives in Egypt will again be able to say, ‘As certainly as the *Lord, the ruler, lives.’ v27 I am not going to help the *Jews in Egypt but I will destroy them. They will die because they have no food. Or soldiers will kill them. v28 Only a few of those whom they do not kill will leave Egypt to return to Judah. Then all the *Jews who came to live in Egypt will know this. They will know that my word and not theirs is true.” ’

v29 ‘I will *punish you in this place’, says the *Lord. ‘I will tell you something that will happen soon. Then you will know that my promise to destroy you is a true promise.’ v30 This is what the *Lord says. ‘I will deliver Hophra king of Egypt to his enemies. They want to kill him. I will do this in the same way that I delivered Zedekiah king of Judah to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar wanted to destroy Zedekiah.

Chapter 45

God’s message to Baruch

v1 Baruch wrote down on a *scroll the words that I gave him. This was in the 4th (fourth) year that Jehoiakim, Josiah’s son, was king of Judah. Then I told him v2 what the *Lord the God of Israel had said to me. ‘Baruch, v3 I heard you say that you had become tired of doing my work. You say that you are not happy. You feel that I have given you trouble. And you feel that I have made you sad. You feel very sad all the time and you cannot rest.’

v4 Then the *Lord asked me to say this to Baruch. ‘But I, the *Lord am pushing down what I have built. And I am pulling up what I have planted. I will do this to all the country. v5 You should not think that I will be more kind to you than to other people. Do not think like that. I am going to *punish all men and women. But in any place that you go to, I will let you keep your life safe.

Chapter 46

God tells Jeremiah what he will do to Egypt.

v1 The *Lord tells Jeremiah the *prophet what he is going to do to the people in many countries.

v2 This is the message against the army of King Neco of Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon’s king, fought with them at Carshemish on the river Euphrates. Nebuchadnezzar won that fight in the 4th (fourth) year after they made Jehoiakim, Josiah’s son, king of Judah.

v3 ‘Get ready to march to the fight!

Prepare your *shields, whether you are important or not.

v4 Make the horses ready to obey you.

Stand ready with hard hats on your heads.

Make sharp the knives that you throw.

Put on strong clothes of leather and metal.

v5 I see that the army are afraid.

They are running away.

Their soldiers have not won the fight.

They are running away fast.

They do not look behind them.

Everything round them makes them afraid’,

says the *Lord.

v6 Those who run fast cannot run fast enough.

The strong men cannot run away.

They are falling by the river Euphrates.

In the north, they fall down.

v7 A country is rising up.

It rises like the great waters of the Nile river.

v8 Egypt is rising like the Nile,

like rivers of fast waters.

Egypt says, ‘I will rise up and cover the earth.

I will destroy cities and their people.’

v9 The horses run fast.

Men in their *chariots cause them to go faster.

The soldiers continue to march.

Men from Cush and Put are carrying their *shields.

Men from Lydia are bringing their arms (bows).

v10 But that day is a day when the *Lord, the great powerful *Lord will *punish his enemies.

He is angry with his enemies and he will *punish them.

His soldiers will kill with their *swords.

They will kill until they have killed enough.

The *Lord, the great and powerful *Lord, will offer up the dead.

He will offer them in the north country by the river Euphrates.

v11 Go to Gilead to get medicine to make you well.

Go, you young women in Egypt.

But many medicines will not make you better.

Nothing will make you well.

v12 All countries will see that you are ashamed.

All the people on earth will hear you when you cry.

Two soldiers will knock against each other.

They will fall down together.

v13 This is the message that the *Lord spoke to Jeremiah the *prophet about Nebuchadnezzar. He, the king of Babylon, would come to attack Egypt.

v14 ‘Tell this to the people in Egypt and shout it in Migdol.

And tell it to the people in Memphis and in Tahpanhes.

“Get ready to fight because they are killing all the people round you.”

v15 Enemies will knock down your soldiers.

They cannot stand because the *Lord will push them down.

v16 They will go on falling.

They will fall over each other.

They will say, “Get up. Let us return to our own people and our own country.

We want to run from these fights and from our enemies.”

v17 When they get back they will shout,

“The king of Egypt is weak. He is like a loud noise.

He is too late to win the fight.” ’

v18 The King, the great and powerful *Lord says,

‘I am making a promise. Someone will come who will be great.

He will be as great among men as Tabor and Carmel are great among the mountains.

v19 You people who live in Egypt, pack your things ready to go to a far country.

They will destroy Memphis. Its buildings will lie in pieces and no one will live there.

v20 Egypt is like a good cow that a fly from the north is coming to hurt.

v21 Egypt has bought soldiers. But they are like animals that men are ready to kill.

They will run away together. They will not stand and fight.

Now the day is coming when the *Lord will destroy them.

v22 Egypt will run from the enemy when many men come near to attack it.

They will attack it with axes.

They will be like men who cut down trees,

v23 to destroy thick forests’, says the *Lord.

‘There are too many enemies to count.

They are like many insects that seem like a great cloud.

v24 They will make the people in Egypt ashamed.

The people from the north will make them their *prisoners.’

v25 ‘I am now going to *punish Amon, god of Thebes. And I will *punish Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And I will *punish their other gods and kings, and the people that they rule. v26 I will give them to those who want to kill them. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers will take them’, says the great and powerful *Lord. ‘In later years, people will again live in Egypt as they did before’, he says.

v27 ‘Do not be afraid, my servant Jacob. Do not be afraid of trouble, Israel.

I will certainly bring you from a far country.

I will save your children from the places where they went as *prisoners.

Jacob will again have *peace and be safe.

Then no one will make him afraid.

v28 Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant,

because I am with you’, says the *Lord.

‘I may completely destroy all the countries where I send you.

But I will never completely destroy you.

I will be fair when I *punish you, but I certainly will *punish you.’

Chapter 47

The *Lord tells Jeremiah what he will do to the *Philistines.

v1 The *Lord told this to Jeremiah the *prophet before *Pharaoh, king of Egypt, attacked Gaza. He spoke about the *Philistines.

v2 This is what the great and powerful *Lord, the God of Israel says.

‘See how the armies in the north are rising like water.

I will make them as strong as a great fast river.

They will cover the country and everything in it.

They will cover the towns and the people who live in them.

The people will shout. All who live in the country will cry.

v3 They will cry when they hear the sound of horses

and the noise of their enemies’ war *chariots.

They will hear them when they are coming.

Fathers will not turn to help their children.

Their hands will not move.

v4 This is the day when God will destroy all the *Philistines.

He will let no one live to help Tyre and Sidon.

The *Lord will soon destroy the *Philistines.

He will remove those who remain by the sea from the country called Caphtor.

v5 The people in Gaza will be very sad.

No voice will speak in Ashkelon.

Stop cutting yourselves, you who live near the sea!’

v6 ‘You shout to the *Lord, “Your *sword is attacking.

We want it to stop!

Put it back in its bag and make it still.”

v7 But it cannot rest.

Because the *Lord has caused his *sword to do this.

He has caused it to attack Ashkelon and the country by the sea.’

Chapter 48

A message about Moab

v1 This is what the great and powerful *Lord, the God of Israel says.

‘I will cause the people in Nebo city to cry, because I will destroy it.

The people in Kiriathaim city will be ashamed and its enemies will take it.

They will break its strong buildings, and its people will be ashamed.

v2 No one will again say good things about Moab.

In Heshbon, men will think about how they can destroy Moab.

They will say, “Let us completely destroy that *nation.”

And the town called Madmen will become completely quiet.

v3 You will hear sad voices from Horonaim.

They will be afraid. And they will cry while enemies destroy it.

v4 The *Lord will break the country called Moab.

The children who live there will cry.

v5 They will go to Luhith. And they will cry while they walk.

They will go towards Horonaim. And they will cry while enemies destroy their cities.

v6 Go! Run away to save your lives!

Live like bushes in the empty country where no people live.

v7 You thought that your rich things would save you.

But your enemies will take you away too.

The people and the god Chemosh will go to a foreign country

together with their *priests and officers.

v8 The enemy armies will attack every town.

They will not save one town.

They will destroy the valley and the flat country.

This is what the *Lord has spoken.

v9 They will put salt on Moab’s country so that nothing will grow there.

No one will live in their towns. They will be empty.

v10 The *Lord will *punish any man who will not do God’s work!

He will *punish anyone who does not kill with his *sword!

v11 Moab has never done anything since the day that they built it.

They have been like *wine that rests in a cupboard.

No one has ever taken Moab away to a foreign country.

So it is the same as it always was.’

v12 ‘But the time is coming’, says the *Lord,

‘when I will send men to it.

They will pour Moab out like *wine. They will empty Moab like *wine jars.

They will break the jars completely.

v13 Then the people from Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh.

They will be like the people in Israel who*worshipped the god at Bethel.

Those people became ashamed when they did that.’

v14 ‘You say that you are soldiers who are strong in a fight.

v15 I will destroy Moab. Enemies will take its towns.

They will kill the best of its young men.’

This is what the King, the great and powerful *Lord says.

v16 ‘Moab will fall very soon.

Enemies will destroy it quickly.

v17 The people who live round it must be sorry for it.

They all knew how great it had been.

They will say, “Moab’s great *kingdom is broken.

Their king is not still ruling there!”

v18 You people who live round Diblon, sit on the ground.

Come from your beautiful houses and sit in the dirt.

The enemy who is destroying Moab will come to attack you.

He will break down your cities with walls.

v19 Stand and watch by the road, you who live in Aroer.

You will see men and women who are running away.

Ask them, “Why are you running away from the city?”

v20 Moab is ashamed because enemies have broken it.

Shout!

Tell the people by the River Arnon that enemies have destroyed Moab.

v21 The *Lord has *judged the cities on the flat country.

He has *judged Holon, Jahzah and Mephaah,

v22 and Dibon, Nebo and Beth Diblathaim.

v23 Tell Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,

v24 Kerioth and Bozrah that he has *judged them.

Tell the people in all the towns in Moab, near or far away.

v25 Moab has no power now.

Their enemies have destroyed the things that made them strong’,

says the *Lord.

v26 ‘Moab has not obeyed the *Lord, so make it like a woman who is *drunk.

She will be sick and sit in her own dirt.

People will point at Moab. They will give their people no *honour.

v27 You said things that were not kind about Israel.

You said that they had no value.

But Israel had not done anything bad to cause you to speak like this.

v28 You people in Moab,

leave your towns and go to live among the rocks.

Live like a bird that builds its house by a hole in the hill.

v29 We have heard about the people in Moab.

They think that they are better than anyone else.

They think that other people are like dirt.

They think that no one is good enough to speak to them.

v30 I know about Moab’s thoughts.

They think that Israel has no value.

But their thoughts have no value’, says the *Lord.

‘The loud words that they say will not help them.

v31 So I am sad for Moab. I am crying for all their people.

I am sorry for the men in Kir Hareseth.

v32 I am in tears for your *vines of Sibmah.

They reach as far as the sea.

Their branches reach to the sea called Jazer.

The enemy is destroying their fruit and *grapes.

v33 The fruit farms and the fields of Moab are empty.

They make people sad.

They are not happy

because I have stopped them from making *wine.

They are no longer singing or happy.’

v34 ‘They are crying with a loud voice.

The noise rises from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz.

It reaches from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah.

Even the River Nimrim has become dry.

v35 The people in Moab *worship other gods.

They offer food to them on the high places.

They burn nice smelling oils to their gods.

I will cause them to stop this’, says the *Lord.

v36 ‘So I am very, very sad for the people in Moab.

I will sing a sad song.

It is a song for the men of Kir Hareseth

because they have lost their valuable things.

v37 All the men have cut off the hair from their heads and faces.

They have made cuts on their hands.

And they are wearing hard material.

v38 On all the roofs and in the streets,

the people are sad and they are crying.

They are sad because I have broken Moab.

I have broken it like a jar that I do not want’,

says the *Lord.

v39 ‘I have really broken Moab. So its people cry with loud voices.

They are ashamed and turn away.

People look at Moab’s troubles. They give its people no *honour.

All who live near there are afraid to look at Moab.’

v40 This is what the *Lord says.

‘Look! A great bird is flying down.

Its *wings are open while it flies over Moab.’

v41 ‘An enemy will win the fight for Kerioth

and he will take its strong buildings.

Then Moab’s soldiers will be afraid.

They will be afraid like a woman who is having a baby.

v42 The *Lord will destroy the *nation of Moab

because they have not obeyed him.

v43 He will catch and *punish their people

and they will be very afraid.’ says the *Lord.

v44 ‘People who run from dangerous things will fall into holes.

They will fall into holes that their enemies have dug.

And the enemy will catch those who climb out of the holes.

This will happen because now I will *punish Moab’, says the *Lord.

v45 ‘Those who tried to run away will stand near to Heshbon.

No one will help them.

I have been like a fire that is coming from Heshbon.

It is like a fire from the centre of Sihon.

It burns the faces of Moab’s people

and the bones of those who said how great they were.

v46 Cry, you people in Moab!

I have destroyed the people of Chemosh.

The enemy has taken your sons to a far country.

They have taken your daughters to become slaves.

v47 But one day I will cause Moab to become a *nation again.’

This is what the *Lord says.

This is the end of the *judgement on Moab.

Chapter 49

A message about Ammon

v1 This is what the *Lord says.

‘You have let Molech rule the people from Gad.

Your sons have not sent him away.

His people live in the country that I gave to Gad.’

v2 ‘But at a future time, I will call my people to fight’, says the *Lord.

‘They will fight against Rabbah, city in Ammon.

They will pull it down to become a lot of stones.

And they will burn the villages round it with fire.

Then Israel’s people will push out the people who pushed them out’, says the *Lord.

v3 ‘Cry, Heshbon, because they have destroyed Ai.

Cry aloud, you who live in Rabbah.

You wear hard material when a friend has died.

Put on these clothes and be very sad.

You do not know what to do. So you will run about.

Enemies will take the people from Moab to a far country.

They will take them with their *priests and their officers.

v4 You say to everyone that your valleys are full of fruit.

You are like a daughter that does not obey me.

You think that your valuable things will save you from your enemies.

v5 But I will make you afraid of all who live round you’,

says the great and powerful *Lord.

‘Enemies will push everyone away from his home.

No one will save those who are running away.

v6 But, after this, I will bring back the people from Ammon’, says the *Lord.

A message about Edom

v7 This is what the great and powerful *Lord says about Edom.

‘The men from Temal have no more clever thoughts.

Their great ideas have left them.

v8 You people in Dedan, turn and run away. Hide in deep holes.

I am going to *punish Esau (another name for Edom) and give him great trouble.

v9 I will not be like men who pick fruits and leave a few behind.

And I will not be like a robber who takes only a few things.

v10 No, I will take everything and I will leave Esau’s country empty.

I will show enemies where Esau’s people hide, and they will find them.

They will kill all their children, family and friends.

And they will die.

v11 Leave those who have no fathers, and I will save them.

And women who have no husbands will be safe with me.’

v12 This is what the *Lord says. ‘Not all the people that I have destroyed were bad. So I must *punish you who are bad. v13 I will do this as certainly as I am *Lord. Enemies will destroy Bozrah. People will see that enemies have broken it down. And they will be afraid. They will point to it and say how bad it was. All its villages will be *heaps of stones for all time.’

v14 I have heard a message from the *Lord. He has sent his *messenger to the *nations. He says, ‘Get ready to attack Edom. Prepare to fight!’

v15 ‘The *Lord will make you (Edom) weak and no one will *honour you.

v16 You made people afraid. So you thought that you were great and strong.

But your thoughts were wrong.

You may hide in small holes in the rock or high up on the hill.

Even if you live as high as the homes of great birds, I will bring you down.’

That is what the *Lord says.

v17 ‘People will not want to look at Edom because it is so changed.

Those who walk past will say bad things about it.

They will turn away from it because its enemies have destroyed it completely.

v18 No one will live there, not one man.

It will be like Sodom and Gomorrah

when men destroyed them and the towns near them’,

says the *Lord.

v19 ‘I will be like a *lion that comes into green fields.

I will come like a *lion out of the trees by the river Jordan.

I will push Edom quickly out of its country.

The leader that I choose will rule the people.

No one is like me. Nobody can say that they are as great as me.’

v20 So listen to what the *Lord is going to do to Edom.

Listen to what he will do to those in Teman.

Your people will be like sheep. He will take away their young sheep.

He will completely destroy their country

because they do not obey him.

v21 The whole earth will move with the noise when they fall.

They will cry by seas that are far away.

People will hear them when they cry.

v22 He (God) will make the men who fight in Bozrah afraid.

They will feel like an animal that sees a great bird. The bird is flying to catch it.

They will be afraid like a woman who will soon have a child.

A message about Damascus

v23 This is what the *Lord says about Damascus.

‘Hamath and Arpath have heard bad news.

They are afraid. Their minds are full of trouble.

Their thoughts move like the waters of the sea.

v24 Damascus has become weak.

Its people want to run away.

They are so afraid that they feel pain.

Their pain is like the pain of a woman who is having a baby.

v25 They have not left their famous city,

a city that gives me pleasure.

v26 The young men in it will die in its streets.

Then enemies will kill all its soldiers’, says the great and powerful *Lord.

v27 ‘I will burn the walls of Damascus.

Fire will burn up the strong places of Ben Hadad.’

A message about Kedar and Hazor

v28 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had attacked Kedar and the *kingdoms of Hazor. This is what the *Lord said about them.

‘Get up and attack Kedar

and destroy the people in the East.

v29 Enemies will take their *tents and their animals.

They will take their homes and all their things and their *camels.

Men will shout at them, “Everything round you makes you afraid.

v30 Run away as fast as you can!

You people of Hazor, hide in deep holes in the ground” ’, says the *Lord.

‘Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has decided to take you.

He wants to take your country.

v31 They think that they are safe. But he will attack them’, says the *Lord.

‘The *nation is comfortable. It has no gates. Its people live alone.

v32 His soldiers will take their *camels.

And they will lead away their animals.

I will send people who live far away to places all over the earth.

v33 Only wild animals will live in Hazor.

It will always be a place where no man lives.’

A message about Elam

v34 The *Lord spoke to Jeremiah the *prophet soon after Zedekiah became king of Judah. He spoke about Elam. v35 This is what the great and powerful *Lord said.

‘I am going to destroy the arms of Elam that make them strong.

v36 I will bring against them the winds from every direction.

The wind will push them to the far places of the earth.

Some people from Elam will run to every *nation.

v37 Their enemies want to kill them.

They will run away from those who attack them.

I am very angry with them and I will cause them much trouble’,

says the *Lord.

‘I will send enemies to run after them with *swords

until they are all dead.

v38 I will become the ruler of Elam.

And I will destroy their king and his officers’, says the *Lord.

v39 ‘But at a time that is still future,

I will make Elam a *nation again’, says the *Lord.

Chapter 50

A message about Babylon

v1 This is what the *Lord said about the people in Babylon and their country. He spoke by the *prophet Jeremiah.

v2 ‘Tell this to the *nations. Shout it out to the countries.

Write it on a large skin and lift it up.

Do not hide anything but say,

“Enemies will take Babylon.

Bel will be ashamed and Marduk will be afraid.

The gods that they have made with their hands will all be ashamed.” ’

v3 ‘A *nation from the north will attack Babylon and they will destroy that country.

No one will live in it. Men and animals will run away.’

v4 ‘When that happens’, the *Lord says,

‘The people from Judah and from Israel will be sorry.

They will cry while they go to find the *Lord their God.

v5 They will ask for the way to Zion (Jerusalem). And they will go towards it.

They will come back and they will promise to be the *Lord’s servants.

They will make a *covenant that will be for all time.

No one will forget that *covenant.

v6 My people have been like sheep that are lost.

Those who should have led them to me have led them away.

They have been walking on the mountains and hills.

They have walked about and they have forgotten their place to rest.

v7 Anyone who found them destroyed them.

Their enemies said, “They have caused this trouble to themselves.

They did many wrong things.

They did not obey the *Lord who was really their leader.

He was the leader that their fathers followed. He gave them hope.”

v8 Run away from Babylon. Leave the country called Babylon.

Be the first people to leave Babylon.

v9 I am going to bring many great *nations together from the country in the north.

They will come against Babylon from the north and they will take it.

They will all hit hard. They will all hurt or destroy.

v10 Enemies will take all the things that they want from Babylon.

Every enemy will have enough’, says the *Lord.

v11 ‘Listen, you people who take away my things.

You are so happy that you dance like young cows.

You shout aloud like a horse that wants sex.

v12 Your mother (country) would be very ashamed.

You do not bring *honour to him who gave you birth.

Your people will be less important than other *nations.

Your country will be a *desert, dry and empty.

v13 No one will live there because the *Lord is angry with you.

Your country will be completely empty.

All who pass Babylon will be very afraid.

And they will say all kinds of bad things about it when they see its troubles.’

v14 ‘All you men who can shoot *arrows with a bow,

stand round Babylon.

Shoot at it! Use all your *arrows.

Shoot because its people have done bad things against the *Lord.

v15 Shoot at them from all sides.

They will let you take it. Its strong buildings will fall.

You will pull down its walls.

This is how the *Lord will *punish them. You will *punish them.

You must do to them what they have done to other people.

v16 The people who work on the land will die.

You must return to your own people.

You must go back to your own country.

Run away from the enemy who took you from your country.’

v17 ‘Israel is like a group of sheep that have all run to different places.

They ran away because big hungry animals ran after them.

The first to eat them was the king of Assyria.

The man who finished the meal was Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.’

v18 So this is what the great and powerful *Lord, the God of Israel says.

‘I will *punish the king of Babylon and his country

as I *punished the king of Assyria.

v19 But I will bring Israel back to their own country.

And their cows will feed on Carmel and Bashan.

They will eat and be full on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.

v20 At that time’, says the *Lord,

‘I will *forgive the people in Israel and Judah that remain.

No one will find any *sin in Israel.

There will be no *sin in Judah or in Israel.’

v21 ‘Attack the place called Merathaim and those who live in Pekod.

Run after them and completely destroy them’, says the *Lord.

‘Do everything that I have asked you to do.

v22 There is a noise of fights in the country.

It is the noise that you make when you destroy everything.

v23 Babylon was like a hammer to the whole earth.

But now it is broken into small pieces.

It is left alone among the *nations.

v24 I meant to catch you, Babylon, but you did not know.

And now I have caught you!

Your enemies found you and took you. They took you because you did not obey the *Lord.

v25 The *Lord is angry.

He has taken out the arms from where he has stored them.

The great and powerful *Lord has work that he must do

in the country called Babylon.

v26 He will send people against Babylon from far places.

They will break open the places where people had put their food.

They will break its buildings in pieces.

They will destroy it completely. Nothing will remain.

v27 They will kill all its young male cows. (This means all Babylon’s young men.)

They will be sorry. They will all die. It is time for me to *punish them.

v28 People have run away from Babylon to Zion (Jerusalem).

They will tell how the *Lord has *punished Babylon.

The *Lord has *punished Babylon because Babylon destroyed the *Lord’s *temple.

v29 Bring the men with bows and *arrows against Babylon.

They will stay all round it so that no one will be able to run away.

You must *punish it for all the bad things that it has done.

Do to them as they did to you.

Do this because they did not listen to the *Lord, the *holy God of Israel.

v30 So, on that day, their young men will die in their streets.

Then none of their soldiers will be able to fight’, says the *Lord.

v31 ‘You think that you are so important.

But you will see that I am against you’, says the great and powerful *Lord.

‘That is because the day for your *punishment has come.

v32 If you think that you are important you will *trip and fall.

And no one will help you to get up.

I will make a fire in your towns to burn up all who are near to it.’

v33 This is what the great and powerful *Lord says.

‘You have made the lives of the people from Israel and Judah difficult.

You have taken them as *prisoners,

and you will not let them go.

v34 But the powerful *Lord is great and strong.

He will come to *redeem them.

He will fight hard to save them.

Then their country will have rest.

But Babylon’s people will have no rest.’

v35 ‘I am sending an army against Babylon’, says the *Lord.

‘I am against those who live in Babylon.

And I am against its officers and clever men.

v36 I am against its *false *prophets.

I will cause them to become fools.

My *sword will make its soldiers afraid.

v37 My army will attack its horses and *chariots

and foreign men who fight for it.

They will be as weak as women.

I will cause them to give you their valuable things.

You will take them away.

v38 I will send no rain and its waters will dry up.

Their country is full of *idols.

Their *false gods will be afraid.

v39 Wild animals, some that eat dead bodies, will live there.

Birds that fly at night will live there, too.

Men will never live there again.

Nobody’s sons or grandsons will live there.

v40 Babylon will be like Sodom and Gomorrah

and the towns near to them’, says the *Lord.

‘So no one will live there, not one man.

v41 Look. You will see an army that is coming from the north.

A great *nation and kings from all over the earth

are coming towards Babylon.

v42 They have bows and throwing knives.

They are hard and are not kind.

They make a noise like the moving sea while they ride on their horses.

They are an army that is ready to attack you, people in Babylon.

v43 The king of Babylon has heard about them.

He is weak because he is afraid.

He feels pain like the pain of a woman who is having a baby.

v44 I will be like a hungry animal

that is coming out of the woods by the river Jordan.

I will come into your rich fields.

I will soon cause the people in Babylon to run from their country.

I will choose a man to do this, and no one can stand against me.

No one can stop me.’

v45 So now listen to what the *Lord is going to do to Babylon.

Hear what he will do to their country.

He will pull the young children away from their mothers.

And he will completely destroy their good country

because of the bad things that they have done.

v46 The whole earth will be afraid when they hear how your people took Babylon.

All the *nations will hear when its people shout with pain.

Chapter 51

v1 This is what the *Lord says.

‘I will wake up those who want to destroy Babylon and the people in Leb Kamai.

v2 I will send foreign armies to Babylon.

They will break it and destroy its country.

They will be all round it at that time.

v3 Its men will not have time to shoot

or to pick up their arms.

You will kill all its young men.

You will completely destroy its army.

v4 Babylon’s soldiers will lie dead in the streets.

v5 The great, powerful *Lord is with Israel and Judah.

They have done many wrong things.

And they have not obeyed him.

But he has not left them.

v6 Run away from Babylon!

Run to save your lives!

My armies are coming to *punish Babylon.

Do not let them hurt you.

The time has come to *punish Babylon.

The *Lord will *punish them for the bad things that they have done.

v7 Babylon was like a great cup of *wine.

The *Lord saw that the *wine made the whole earth *drunk.

The *nations drank the *wine and they became angry.

v8 Babylon will fall quickly. Cry for it!

If you get medicine, perhaps you may make it well.

v9 “We would have made Babylon well if we could.

But no one can make it well.

We will leave it and each person will go to his own country.

Its *punishment is very great.

It is as great as how far the sky is from the earth.”

v10 The *Lord has saved us.

We must tell the people in Zion (Jerusalem)

what our God has done.

v11 Get your *arrows ready and prepare your arms.

The *Lord has caused the kings of Media to prepare for war.

He wants them to destroy Babylon.

The *Lord will *punish its people because they destroyed his*temple.

v12 Get ready to attack the walls of Babylon.

Watch. And be ready to catch those who try to run away.

The *Lord will do as he has promised.

He will destroy Babylon’s people.

v13 The time has come for their life to end.

I speak to those rich people who live by the rivers of Babylon.

v14 The *Lord has made a promise that he will not change.

v15 The *Lord used his power to make the earth.

He was so *wise that he made it and the sky over it.

v16 When he shouts, the waters in the sky make a loud noise.

He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth.

He sends *arrows of light with the rain.

And he causes the wind to blow.

v17 No man is really clever. No one knows anything.

Men who work with gold should be ashamed.

They make *idols, but these are not gods. They are not alive.

v18 *Idols have no value. We give them no *honour.

The *Lord will *judge them and destroy them.

v19 The God of Jacob (of Israel) is the God who made all things.

So he is not like the *idols.

He chose the people of Israel to be his own people.

His is called the great and powerful *Lord.

v20 You people are my arms for war.

I use you to fight for me.

You will break the *nations for me.

I will use you to destroy *kingdoms.

v21 With you I will break horses and those who ride on them.

With you I will break *chariots and the men in them.

v22 With you I will break men and women.

With you, I will break old men and young men.

With you, I will break young men and girls.

v23 With you I will break sheep and the men with them.

With you, I will break farmers and their animals.

With you, I will break those in authority and their officers.

v24 I will *punish Babylon and all the people in it.

I will *punish them for all the *evil that they did to Jerusalem.

You will see it with your own eyes’, says the *Lord.

v25 ‘Babylon, you are like a mountain that destroys the whole earth’,

says the *Lord.

‘I will put out my hands towards you and push you down.

I will burn you up.

v26 No one will ever use any of your stones for a new building.

You will be left like a *desert for all time’, the *Lord says.

v27 ‘Show the people in the country that you are ready to fight.

You must blow the *trumpet so that all the *nations can hear.

Cause the *nations to prepare for war against Babylon.

Ask the armies of the *kingdoms called Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz to attack it.

They must choose their captain to lead them. They will have many horses.

Their horses will be like so many insects that they seem like a cloud.

v28 Send *messengers to the kings of Media

and to their officers and leaders.

Ask them to prepare for war against Babylon.

Cause them to bring armies from the places that they rule.

v29 The *Lord has decided to *punish Babylon. He will not change.

The country is *shaking because it is afraid.

The *Lord will destroy Babylon and make it a *desert.

No one will live there.

v30 The soldiers from Babylon have stopped fighting.

They are staying in their strong buildings.

They are very tired and they have become like women.

Soldiers are burning the city.

They have broken down its gates and burnt its houses.

v31 One *messenger follows another to the king of Babylon.

They all tell him that his enemies have taken his city.

v32 And they have taken the places where men cross the rivers.

Enemies have made the country a fire and the soldiers of Babylon are afraid.’

v33 This is what the great and powerful *Lord, the God of Israel says.

Babylon is like the place where men walk on the *grain to remove its coat.

It is time for men to walk over the city.

It will soon be time for men to take away the city’s valuable things.

v34 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has destroyed us.

He has confused us. He has made us like an empty jar.

Like a snake, he has eaten us and filled himself with our good things.

Then he threw us away.

v35 “We, the people from Zion (Jerusalem), are asking the *Lord to *punish Nebuchadnezzar.

We are asking him to do to Nebuchadnezzar all the bad things that he did to our people.

We ask him to *punish the Babylon’s people for what they did to us.” ’

v36 So this is what the *Lord says.

‘Watch. And see that I will fight for you. I will *punish them.

I will cause its sea and rivers to become dry.

v37 I will make Babylon a hill of stones.

Wild animals will live there.

Men will hate the place and no one will live there.

v38 Its people may make a loud noise

like angry *lions or their young ones.

v39 But even when they are shouting I will prepare a *feast for them.

I will cause them to get *drunk and laugh.

They will sleep and never wake again’, says the *Lord.

v40 ‘I will bring them down. They will be like sheep that people will soon kill.

They will be like sheep and goats and their young ones.

v41 Enemies will take Sheshach (Babylon), the city that was the greatest on the earth.

None of the *nations will want to look at Babylon.

v42 The sea will rise over it. Its water will cover it.

v43 Its towns will be empty. Its land will be a dry *desert.

No one will live there. No one will walk on its land.

v44 I will *punish Bel, (the god of Babylon).

I will cause him to bring up all that he has eaten (give back all that he has taken).

*Nations will never run to him again.

And the walls of Babylon will fall.

v45 Come out of it, my people! Run away and save your lives!

Run away because the *Lord is very angry with it.

v46 You must not be afraid

when people say things to make you afraid.

They will tell stories this year, and more stories next year.

They will tell stories about men who hurt and kill each other.

They will say that rulers will fight each other.

v47 Certainly the time will come

when I will *punish the *idols of Babylon.

Men will be ashamed of its whole country.

And its dead people will lie in its streets.

v48 Then the earth and the sky and all the people in them will shout.

They will shout and dance because they are so happy.

They will be happy because people will come to destroy Babylon.

They will come from the north to attack her’, says the *Lord.

v49 Babylon must fall because its people have killed many people in Israel.

People killed the people in Babylon as they caused many to die in all the earth.

v50 You *Jews who have not died must run away.

Do not wait for anything, but go quickly.

Remember the *Lord. Think about Jerusalem, you who are far away.

v51 ‘We are ashamed. They have taken away our *honour.

We cannot look at people’s faces.

We are ashamed because *foreigners have gone into the *holy places of the *Lord’s house.’

v52 ‘But the time is coming’, says the *Lord,

‘when I will *punish Babylon’s *idols.

And I will hurt many people all over that country.

They will cry with pain.

v53 Babylon’s people may build their city very high.

They may make its walls very strong.

But I will send men to destroy it, says the *Lord.

v54 ‘The sound of people who are shouting will come from Babylon.

It will be the noise of the country of Babylon as men destroy it.

v55 The *Lord will destroy Babylon. It will make no more noise.

Enemies will come against it like a hill of waters.

Their voices will sound like the sea when it is moving like an angry person.

v56 They will come against Babylon to destroy it.

They will take its soldiers and break their bows.

This is how the *Lord pays back those who hurt his people.

He will give them full *punishment.

v57 ‘I will make its officers and *wise men *drunk.

I will do it also to its rulers and soldiers.

They will sleep and they will never wake up’, says the King.

He is the great and powerful *Lord.

v58 This is what the great and powerful *Lord says.

‘They will knock down the thick walls of Babylon.

They will burn its high gates.

The *nations run about and are tired. But they can do nothing.

All that the *nations do only makes the fire worse.’

v59 This is the message that Jeremiah gave to the officer Seraiah. He was the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah. Seraiah gave it when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah, Judah’s king. It was in the 4th (fourth) year of his rule. v60 Jeremiah had written his message on a piece of clean dry skin. He had written down all the bad things that the *Lord would cause to happen to Babylon. v61 Jeremiah spoke to Seraiah. He said, ‘When you reach Babylon, certainly read all these words aloud. v62 Then say, “*Lord you have said that you will destroy this place. Then no man or animal will live in it. It will be empty for all time.” v63 When you have finished reading all the words, tie a big stone to the skin. And throw them into the river Euphrates. v64 Then say, “That is how Babylon will fall and it will never rise again. I will cause all these bad things. And its people will fall.” ’

This is the end of Jeremiah’s words.

Chapter 52

Nebuchadnezzar takes Jerusalem.

v1 Zedekiah was 21 (twenty-one) years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 (eleven) years. His mother’s name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah (not the *prophet). She came from Libnah. v2 Zedekiah did not obey the *Lord. He did all the bad things that Jehoiakim had done. v3 The *Lord was angry, so he caused these things to happen to Jerusalem and Judah. They became so bad that the *Lord sent his people away. He did not want them to be near to him. The king of Babylon had said what Zedekiah must do. But Zedekiah did not do it. v4 So Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and all his army marched against Jerusalem. This was when Zedekiah had been king for almost 9 (nine) years, on the 10th (tenth) day of the 10th month. The army stayed outside the city, They built hills round it from which to attack it. v5 The army stayed there until the 11th (eleventh) year of King Zedekiah.

v6 By the 9th (ninth) day of the 4th (fourth) month there was no food in the city. The people had nothing to eat. v7 The soldiers from Babylon broke down part of the city wall. The whole army of Judah ran away at night. They went out between the two walls near the king’s garden. The soldiers from Babylon were still round the city. The *Jews ran towards the Arabah. v8 But the soldiers from Babylon ran after King Zedekiah. They caught him near Jericho. His soldiers all ran different ways v9 and the enemy caught Zedekiah.

They took him to the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar the king was at Riblah in the country called Hamath. There Nebuchadnezzar decided what to do to him. v10 At Riblah, he killed all Zedekiah’s sons in front of their father’s eyes. He also killed all the officers of Judah. v11 Then he took out Zedekiah’s eyes and tied him with metal *ropes. He took him to Babylon. And he kept him in a prison until he died.

v12 Nebuzaradan, the leader of the king’s special soldiers, came to Jerusalem. It was the 19th (nineteenth) month of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule. He came on the 10th (tenth) day of the 5th (fifth) month. v13 He burned the *Lord’s *temple and the king’s house and all the houses in Jerusalem. He burned down every important building. v14 He told the whole army to break down the walls round Jerusalem. v15 Nebuzaradan took away some of the very poor people and those who remained in the city. And he also took those who had clever hands. v16 But he left the poorest people to stay and work with the *vines and in the fields.

v17 The soldiers from Babylon broke up all the big things made from *bronze metal that were in the *temple. And they took the *bronze metal to Babylon. v18 And they took away all the small *bronze tools that the *priests used in the *temple. v19 The leader of the king’s soldiers took all the bowls and other things made from gold or *silver.

v20 They had a lot of *bronze metal from the things that King Solomon had made for the *temple. It was so heavy that they could not weigh it. v21 The metal parts of the doors were over 6 (six) metres high and 4 (four) metres round. Each was as thick as 4 (four) fingers and they were empty inside. v22 Over each of these two parts there were two very beautiful metal tops nearly two metres high. v23 They had 96 (ninety-six) *bronze fruits round their sides and 100 (one hundred) *bronze fruits above these.

v24 The king’s captain took Seraiah the leader of the *priests and his most important helper as his *prisoners. And he took the 3 (three) men who were *keepers of the doors of the *temple. v25 He also took the most important officer of the soldiers who remained in the city. Seven (7) men helped the king to decide what he should do. The king’s captain took them also. He took away the most important man who chose men to become soldiers and 60 (sixty) of his helpers.

v26 Nebuzaradan, Nebuchadnezzar’s most important officer, took all these men to the king at Riblah. v27 There, at Riblah in the country called Hamath, the king’s soldiers killed them all.

So he took the people of Judah to live as *prisoners in a country far away. v28 This is the number of the people that Nebuchadnezzar took away.

He took 3023 *Jews in his 7th (seventh) year.

v29 He took 832 people from Jerusalem in his 18th (eighteenth) year.

v30 And he took 745 *Jews in his 23rd (twenty-third) year.

So Nebuzaradan, Nebuchadnezzar’s captain, took 4600 people away.

v31 Jehoiachin had been in prison for 37 (thirty-seven) years when they made Evil-Merodach king of Babylon. Evil-Merodach let Jehoiachin king of Judah go free. He let him go out from the prison on the 25th (twenty-fifth) day of the 12th (twelfth) month. v32 He spoke kind words to him. He gave him a more important place than the other kings who were with him in Babylon. v33 So Jehoiachin took off the clothes that he had worn in the prison. And he ate his food at the king’s table until the day that he died. v34 The king of Babylon gave something to Jehoiachin every day until he died.

Word List

almond ~ a very hard fruit.

altar ~ special table for people to burn animals or other gifts which they offer to God.

Amen ~ when you think it is right to say ‘Yes!’ to something that someone has said.

anger ~ what you feel when you are angry.

ark ~ a box with things important to the *Jews in it.

arrow ~ short stick with a point that you shoot from a bow.

Baal ~ a *false god.

battle ~ big fight between soldiers.

BC ~ years before Christ came to the earth.

beat ~ hit someone or something with a stick.

bless ~ say or do much good to a person.

blessing ~ a good thing that God does for us; to ask God to help us and to do good in us.

bronze ~ a kind of metal.

camel ~ a big animal that people ride on in a *desert.

care ~ to do everything that we can to help someone or something and to make them happy.

chariot ~ a box that soldiers ride in. Horses pull it.

circumcise ~ to cut off the skin from the end of the sex part of a boy or man; for *Israelites it was a mark; it showed that a man agreed to do the things that God wanted him to do.

clay ~ special kind of earth that people can use to make things like pots.

clean ~ when a person does good things and thinks good thoughts.

covenant ~ when two people agree what each should do (God and his people, for example).

crown ~ special hat that a king wears.

curse ~ to say bad words against another person.

desert ~ wild place where nobody lives because it is very dry.

dirty ~ not clean inside a person.

divorce ~ when a man sends his wife away because he wants to marry another person.

dog ~ an animal.

drunk ~ to drink too much alcohol makes you drunk.

evil ~ things or people that are very bad. There is no good in them.

faith ~ to believe in someone or something; to agree with God and to do the things that God teaches.

faithful ~ to believe in someone or something; to believe in God completely.

false ~ something that is not true. A false prophet is not really a prophet. But he says that he is.

fast ~ not to eat any food.

fear ~ what you feel when you are afraid.

feast ~ special time to eat and drink.

fig ~ a fruit.

foreigner ~ a person who came from another country.

forgive ~ when someone stops being angry with another person who has done bad things.

grain ~ a hard seed that you can eat; or you can make it into bread.

grape ~ a fruit. People make a drink with alcohol from grapes.

hate ~ not to like someone or something; not to love them.

heap ~ a lot of things on top of each other.

Heaven ~ the home of God.

holy ~ all good, with no bad in it. God is holy. He is too clean to touch.

honour ~ when you think that somebody is great and good.

hope ~ to look for something good to happen.

hunger ~ what you feel when you are hungry.

idol ~ anything that people *worship instead of God. It could be something that people made out of stone or wood.

Israelite ~ someone who lives in Israel, a son of Jacob.

Jew ~ someone from the same big family as Abraham and Jacob (Israel).

Jewish ~ a word that describes a *Jew or anything that a *Jew has.

judge ~ say who is right and who is wrong; or, the person that says who is right and who is wrong.

keeper ~ the keeper of a prison keeps the people in prison safe; they cannot get out of the prison; the keeper of a door stops the wrong people going in.

kingdom ~ where a king rules; a country where a king rules; the kingdom of God is where God rules.

law ~ the rules that God or rulers make.

Levite ~ a man from the big family of Levi, a son of Jacob. God chose Levites to work in his *temple.

lion ~ a big, wild animal (like a cat) that can kill a man. A big wild cat that kills other animals and eats them.

Lord ~ a name that we call God or Jesus; we call God or Jesus Lord when we obey them.

mercy ~ God’s love to all people; when he does not remember the bad things that we do.

messenger ~ person who has something to tell other people.

miracle ~ great thing that only God can do.

nation ~ people who live together in one country.

offering ~ something that people gave to God. It could be food or drink as well as an animal. Some sacrifices were to give thanks to God. People also gave sacrifices when they had *sinned.

olive ~ a tree with small fruits (or the fruits themselves) that people use to make oil. They use the oil to cook food.

palace ~ a building where the king lives.

peace ~ a time of rest with no war or fights. When people do not argue.

Pharaoh ~ the king of Egypt.

Philistine ~ a person from a country near Israel called Philistia.

potter ~ person who makes things from *clay.

praise ~ say how great somebody is; or, words that say how great someone is.

prayer ~ to talk with God; or the words that we use to talk with God.

priest ~ special servant of God. He works in the *temple. He burns gifts to please God.

prisoner ~ person that the enemy has caught and kept in a prison.

prophecy ~ messages that God wants to tell people, often about future events.

prophesy ~ tell people what God thinks and will do; to tell about things before they happen; to speak with God’s (or a *false god’s) help and on God’s (or a *false god’s) behalf.

prophet ~ person who hears God’s words and tells them to people.

punish ~ to hurt someone for the wrong things that they have done. It is to teach them not to do those things again.

punishment ~ the bad things that they do to a person who does wrong things.

redeem ~ when someone pays the price so that a *prisoner can become a free person.

roots ~ the part of a plant that is in the ground.

rope ~ long thin material that people use to tie things together.

Sabbath ~ day of rest when people should not work. This was the 7th (seventh) day of the week for the *Jews.

scroll ~ a very long piece of skin with words on it.

secretary ~ servant who wrote things for his master.

serve ~ what a servant does.

shake ~ to move up and down or from one side to another and back again very fast many times.

shepherd ~ someone who feeds sheep and keeps them safe.

shield ~ a soldier holds this over himself to stop things that would hit him.

silver ~ metal with value, like gold.

sin ~ when a person does bad things against God or other people.

sword ~ long sharp knife to fight enemies with.

temple ~ special building where people went to talk with God (or a god) and to *worship him.

tent ~ place to live that people have made from skins or cloth.

test ~ try to see if something is good or bad.

throne ~ special big chair that a king sits on.

tongue ~ large red part (of the body) in the mouth. It helps us to speak. It is the part of our mouth that we talk with.

tower ~ very big tall building.

trip ~ when your foot hits something and you fall down.

trumpet ~ men blow through this metal thing to make loud music. A metal pipe with a wide end. People hold it in their mouths to make music.

trust ~ believe that someone (usually God) will be good to you.

truth ~ something that is true; an idea that is true; usually words that are true.

vine ~ plant that climbs. People make *wine from its fruits (grapes).

walled ~ with a wall round it.

wheel ~ *chariots and cars all need these to move.

wine ~ drink that has alcohol in it; people make it from the fruit of the *vine.

wing ~ a bird uses its wings to fly.

wise ~ to decide things in the best way. To choose to do what is right.

worship ~ to give thanks to God (or a *false god) because he is great; to show that we love him.

yoke ~ they put this on an animal’s neck and the animal pulled things along.

Book List

R. K. Harrison ~ Jeremiah and Lamentations ~ OT Commentaries ~ IVP

J. Paterson ~ Jeremiah ~ Chapter in Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

 

 

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*The Good News Bible, Today's English Version, Second Edition, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville. 1992

**The Liberty Annotated Study Bible, 1988, Liberty University Publication and Thomas A Nelson, Inc. Publication.

***The Liberty Annotated Study Bible, 1988, Liberty University Publication and Thomas A Nelson, Inc. Publication.

****F.B. Meyer Bible Commentary; Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Wheaton, Illinois. ISBN 0-8423-4250-8, 1978.

Note: Chapter topic headings suggested from "The Holman Illustrated Study Bible"; Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A. ISBN: 978-1-58640-275-4. and Chapter topic headings suggested from "The Inspirational Study Bible" by Max Lucado, General Editor; Word Bibles, 1991; Thomas Nelson, Inc., ISBN 0-8499-5123-2 (Hardback edition); and "The Liberty Annotated Study Bible, 1988, Liberty University Publication and Thomas A Nelson, Inc. Publication. and from "The Abingdon Bible Commentary" Abingdon Press, 1929, The Good News Bible, Today's English Version, Second Edition, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville. 1992, and Wikepedia.com

Provided by Grace Baptist Church, Madisonville, KY 42431

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Book 24	Jeremiah

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001:001	The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
001:002	To 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.
001:003	It 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.
001:004	Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
001:005	Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
001:006	Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
001:007	But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
001:008	Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
001:009	Then 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.
001:010	See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
001:011	Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
001:012	Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.
001:013	And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.
001:014	Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
001:015	For, 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.
001:016	And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
001:017	Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.
001:018	For, 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.
001:019	And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.

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002:001	Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
002:002	Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
002:003	Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.
002:004	Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:
002:005	Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
002:006	Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?
002:007	And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.
002:008	The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
002:009	Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead.
002:010	For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.
002:011	Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
002:012	Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.
002:013	For 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.
002:014	Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled?
002:015	The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant.
002:016	Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head.
002:017	Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?
002:018	And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?
002:019	Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
002:020	For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.
002:021	Yet 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?
002:022	For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.
002:023	How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways;
002:024	A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.
002:025	Withhold 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.
002:026	As 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.
002:027	Saying 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.
002:028	But 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.
002:029	Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD.
002:030	In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
002:031	O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee?
002:032	Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
002:033	Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.
002:034	Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.
002:035	Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.
002:036	Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
002:037	Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head: for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.

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003:001	They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.
003:002	Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.
003:003	Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.
003:004	Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?
003:005	Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.
003:006	The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
003:007	And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
003:008	And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
003:009	And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
003:010	And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
003:011	And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
003:012	Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.
003:013	Only 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.
003:014	Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
003:015	And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
003:016	And 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.
003:017	At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.
003:018	In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.
003:019	But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.
003:020	Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.
003:021	A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.
003:022	Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.
003:023	Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
003:024	For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
003:025	We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.

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004:001	If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.
004:002	And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
004:003	For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
004:004	Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
004:005	Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.
004:006	Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
004:007	The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.
004:008	For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.
004:009	And 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.
004:010	Then 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.
004:011	At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,
004:012	Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.
004:013	Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.
004:014	O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
004:015	For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.
004:016	Make 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.
004:017	As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.
004:018	Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.
004:019	My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
004:020	Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.
004:021	How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?
004:022	For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
004:023	I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
004:024	I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
004:025	I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
004:026	I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.
004:027	For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
004:028	For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.
004:029	The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.
004:030	And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.
004:031	For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.

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005:001	Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
005:002	And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.
005:003	O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
005:004	Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.
005:005	I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
005:006	Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.
005:007	How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.
005:008	They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.
005:009	Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
005:010	Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD's.
005:011	For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.
005:012	They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:
005:013	And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.
005:014	Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
005:015	Lo, 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.
005:016	Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.
005:017	And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.
005:018	Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you.
005:019	And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not your's.
005:020	Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
005:021	Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
005:022	Fear 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?
005:023	But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.
005:024	Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
005:025	Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.
005:026	For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
005:027	As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
005:028	They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
005:029	Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
005:030	A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
005:031	The 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?

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006:001	O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.
006:002	I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.
006:003	The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place.
006:004	Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
006:005	Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.
006:006	For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.
006:007	As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds.
006:008	Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.
006:009	Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.
006:010	To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
006:011	Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days.
006:012	And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD.
006:013	For 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.
006:014	They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
006:015	Were 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.
006:016	Thus 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.
006:017	Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
006:018	Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.
006:019	Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.
006:020	To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.
006:021	Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.
006:022	Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth.
006:023	They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.
006:024	We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
006:025	Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.
006:026	O 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.
006:027	I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way.
006:028	They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.
006:029	The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.
006:030	Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.

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007:001	The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
007:002	Stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD.
007:003	Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
007:004	Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.
007:005	For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;
007:006	If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:
007:007	Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.
007:008	Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
007:009	Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
007:010	And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?
007:011	Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.
007:012	But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
007:013	And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;
007:014	Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.
007:015	And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
007:016	Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.
007:017	Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
007:018	The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
007:019	Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
007:020	Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
007:021	Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.
007:022	For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
007:023	But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
007:024	But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
007:025	Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:
007:026	Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
007:027	Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.
007:028	But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.
007:029	Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
007:030	For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.
007:031	And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.
007:032	Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.
007:033	And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away.
007:034	Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.

---

008:001	At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:
008:002	And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
008:003	And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the LORD of hosts.
008:004	Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?
008:005	Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
008:006	I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.
008:007	Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.
008:008	How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.
008:009	The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?
008:010	Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
008:011	For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
008:012	Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.
008:013	I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.
008:014	Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.
008:015	We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!
008:016	The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.
008:017	For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD.
008:018	When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.
008:019	Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the LORD in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?
008:020	The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
008:021	For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
008:022	Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

---

009:001	Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
009:002	Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
009:003	And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.
009:004	Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders.
009:005	And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.
009:006	Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD.
009:007	Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people?
009:008	Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait.
009:009	Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
009:010	For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.
009:011	And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.
009:012	Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?
009:013	And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;
009:014	But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
009:015	Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.
009:016	I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.
009:017	Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come:
009:018	And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.
009:019	For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out.
009:020	Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation.
009:021	For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.
009:022	Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.
009:023	Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:
009:024	But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.
009:025	Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;
009:026	Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.

---

010:001	Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
010:002	Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
010:003	For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
010:004	They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
010:005	They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
010:006	Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
010:007	Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.
010:008	But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
010:009	Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.
010:010	But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
010:011	Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.
010:012	He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
010:013	When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
010:014	Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
010:015	They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
010:016	The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name.
010:017	Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress.
010:018	For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so.
010:019	Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous; but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.
010:020	My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
010:021	For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.
010:022	Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.
010:023	O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
010:024	O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
010:025	Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.

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011:001	The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying,
011:002	Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
011:003	And say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant,
011:004	Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God:
011:005	That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I, and said, So be it, O LORD.
011:006	Then the LORD said unto me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the words of this covenant, and do them.
011:007	For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice.
011:008	Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do: but they did them not.
011:009	And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
011:010	They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.
011:011	Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.
011:012	Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble.
011:013	For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal.
011:014	Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.
011:015	What hath my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest.
011:016	The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.
011:017	For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal.
011:018	And the LORD hath given me knowledge of it, and I know it: then thou shewedst me their doings.
011:019	But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me, saying, Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.
011:020	But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause.
011:021	Therefore thus saith the LORD of the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the LORD, that thou die not by our hand:
011:022	Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will punish them: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine:
011:023	And there shall be no remnant of them: for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation.

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012:001	Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
012:002	Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.
012:003	But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
012:004	How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end.
012:005	If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
012:006	For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee.
012:007	I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.
012:008	Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it.
012:009	Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour.
012:010	Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
012:011	They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.
012:012	The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace.
012:013	They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
012:014	Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.
012:015	And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.
012:016	And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The LORD liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people.
012:017	But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD.

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013:001	Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
013:002	So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins.
013:003	And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,
013:004	Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.
013:005	So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.
013:006	And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.
013:007	Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.
013:008	Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
013:009	Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
013:010	This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.
013:011	For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.
013:012	Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?
013:013	Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.
013:014	And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.
013:015	Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.
013:016	Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
013:017	But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD's flock is carried away captive.
013:018	Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.
013:019	The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.
013:020	Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
013:021	What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?
013:022	And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare.
013:023	Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
013:024	Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.
013:025	This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
013:026	Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear.
013:027	I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?

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014:001	The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.
014:002	Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
014:003	And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.
014:004	Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.
014:005	Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass.
014:006	And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.
014:007	O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.
014:008	O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?
014:009	Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.
014:010	Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.
014:011	Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
014:012	When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.
014:013	Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.
014:014	Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
014:015	Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
014:016	And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them.
014:017	Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow.
014:018	If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not.
014:019	Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble!
014:020	We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
014:021	Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.
014:022	Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.

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015:001	Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.
015:002	And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.
015:003	And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.
015:004	And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
015:005	For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest?
015:006	Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.
015:007	And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people since they return not from their ways.
015:008	Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city.
015:009	She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.
015:010	Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.
015:011	The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.
015:012	Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?
015:013	Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
015:014	And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.
015:015	O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
015:016	Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
015:017	I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.
015:018	Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?
015:019	Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
015:020	And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
015:021	And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.

---

016:001	The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying,
016:002	Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
016:003	For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;
016:004	They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
016:005	For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.
016:006	Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:
016:007	Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.
016:008	Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.
016:009	For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.
016:010	And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?
016:011	Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;
016:012	And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:
016:013	Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour.
016:014	Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
016:015	But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
016:016	Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.
016:017	For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.
016:018	And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things.
016:019	O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.
016:020	Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?
016:021	Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD.

---

017:001	The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;
017:002	Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.
017:003	O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders.
017:004	And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.
017:005	Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
017:006	For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
017:007	Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
017:008	For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
017:009	The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
017:010	I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
017:011	As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.
017:012	A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.
017:013	O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
017:014	Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
017:015	Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now.
017:016	As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was right before thee.
017:017	Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.
017:018	Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
017:019	Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;
017:020	And say unto them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:
017:021	Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;
017:022	Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.
017:023	But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.
017:024	And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein;
017:025	Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever.
017:026	And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the LORD.
017:027	But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.

---

018:001	The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
018:002	Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
018:003	Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
018:004	And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
018:005	Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
018:006	O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
018:007	At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
018:008	If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
018:009	And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
018:010	If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
018:011	Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
018:012	And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.
018:013	Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.
018:014	Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?
018:015	Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;
018:016	To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
018:017	I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.
018:018	Then said they, Come and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
018:019	Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.
018:020	Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.
018:021	Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.
018:022	Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.
018:023	Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

---

019:001	Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests;
019:002	And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee,
019:003	And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.
019:004	Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;
019:005	They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
019:006	Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.
019:007	And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
019:008	And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.
019:009	And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.
019:010	Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,
019:011	And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury.
019:012	Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet:
019:013	And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.
019:014	Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD's house; and said to all the people,
019:015	Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.

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020:001	Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.
020:002	Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.
020:003	And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magormissabib.
020:004	For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.
020:005	Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.
020:006	And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.
020:007	O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived; thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
020:008	For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.
020:009	Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.
020:010	For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.
020:011	But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
020:012	But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.
020:013	Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.
020:014	Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
020:015	Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad.
020:016	And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;
020:017	Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me.
020:018	Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

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021:001	The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
021:002	Enquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us.
021:003	Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah:
021:004	Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.
021:005	And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.
021:006	And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence.
021:007	And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.
021:008	And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death.
021:009	He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey.
021:010	For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
021:011	And touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
021:012	O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
021:013	Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?
021:014	But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.

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022:001	Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
022:002	And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:
022:003	Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.
022:004	For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.
022:005	But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.
022:006	For thus saith the LORD unto the king's house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.
022:007	And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
022:008	And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?
022:009	Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.
022:010	Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.
022:011	For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more:
022:012	But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.
022:013	Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;
022:014	That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
022:015	Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?
022:016	He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.
022:017	But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
022:018	Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!
022:019	He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
022:020	Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed.
022:021	I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice.
022:022	The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.
022:023	O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!
022:024	As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;
022:025	And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
022:026	And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.
022:027	But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return.
022:028	Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
022:029	O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
022:030	Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

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023:001	Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
023:002	Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.
023:003	And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
023:004	And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.
023:005	Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
023:006	In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
023:007	Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
023:008	But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
023:009	Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.
023:010	For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.
023:011	For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
023:012	Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.
023:013	And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
023:014	I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness; they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
023:015	Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.
023:016	Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
023:017	They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
023:018	For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?
023:019	Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
023:020	The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.
023:021	I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
023:022	But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
023:023	Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?
023:024	Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
023:025	I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
023:026	How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;
023:027	Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.
023:028	The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
023:029	Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
023:030	Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.
023:031	Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.
023:032	Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
023:033	And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD.
023:034	And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house.
023:035	Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
023:036	And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.
023:037	Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
023:038	But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD;
023:039	Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:
023:040	And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.

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024:001	The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
024:002	One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
024:003	Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
024:004	Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
024:005	Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
024:006	For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
024:007	And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
024:008	And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:
024:009	And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.
024:010	And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.

---

025:001	The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;
025:002	The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,
025:003	From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.
025:004	And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.
025:005	They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
025:006	And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
025:007	Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.
025:008	Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words,
025:009	Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
025:010	Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.
025:011	And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
025:012	And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.
025:013	And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.
025:014	For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.
025:015	For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
025:016	And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
025:017	Then took I the cup at the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:
025:018	To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is this day;
025:019	Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;
025:020	And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,
025:021	Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,
025:022	And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,
025:023	Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners,
025:024	And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert,
025:025	And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,
025:026	And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
025:027	Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.
025:028	And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
025:029	For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.
025:030	Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
025:031	A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.
025:032	Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
025:033	And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.
025:034	Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.
025:035	And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.
025:036	A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture.
025:037	And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
025:038	He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.

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026:001	In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the LORD, saying,
026:002	Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:
026:003	If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.
026:004	And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,
026:005	To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;
026:006	Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.
026:007	So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD.
026:008	Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.
026:009	Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.
026:010	When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king's house unto the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD's house.
026:011	Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.
026:012	Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.
026:013	Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.
026:014	As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you.
026:015	But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.
026:016	Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.
026:017	Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying,
026:018	Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.
026:019	Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.
026:020	And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah.
026:021	And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt;
026:022	And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt.
026:023	And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.
026:024	Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

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027:001	In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
027:002	Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,
027:003	And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;
027:004	And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters;
027:005	I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.
027:006	And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
027:007	And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
027:008	And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
027:009	Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon:
027:010	For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.
027:011	But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell therein.
027:012	I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.
027:013	Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
027:014	Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.
027:015	For I have not sent them, saith the LORD, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.
027:016	Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the LORD's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.
027:017	Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city be laid waste?
027:018	But if they be prophets, and if the word of the LORD be with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.
027:019	For thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city.
027:020	Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;
027:021	Yea, thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem;
027:022	They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day that I visit them, saith the LORD; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.

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028:001	And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,
028:002	Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
028:003	Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the LORD's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon:
028:004	And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the LORD: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.
028:005	Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of the LORD,
028:006	Even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: the LORD do so: the LORD perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the LORD's house, and all that is carried away captive, from Babylon into this place.
028:007	Nevertheless hear thou now this word that I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people;
028:008	The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.
028:009	The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD hath truly sent him.
028:010	Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it.
028:011	And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.
028:012	Then the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the prophet, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
028:013	Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron.
028:014	For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have given him the beasts of the field also.
028:015	Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie.
028:016	Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the LORD.
028:017	So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.

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029:001	Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;
029:002	(After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;)
029:003	By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying,
029:004	Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;
029:005	Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
029:006	Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
029:007	And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
029:008	For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
029:009	For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.
029:010	For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
029:011	For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
029:012	Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
029:013	And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
029:014	And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
029:015	Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;
029:016	Know that thus saith the LORD of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity;
029:017	Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
029:018	And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them:
029:019	Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD.
029:020	Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:
029:021	Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes;
029:022	And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;
029:023	Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the LORD.
029:024	Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,
029:025	Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,
029:026	The LORD hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the LORD, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks.
029:027	Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you?
029:028	For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
029:029	And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.
029:030	Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
029:031	Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie:
029:032	Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the LORD; because he hath taught rebellion against the LORD.

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030:001	The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
030:002	Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.
030:003	For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.
030:004	And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.
030:005	For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
030:006	Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
030:007	Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.
030:008	For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:
030:009	But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.
030:010	Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.
030:011	For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
030:012	For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.
030:013	There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.
030:014	All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.
030:015	Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.
030:016	Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.
030:017	For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.
030:018	Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.
030:019	And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.
030:020	Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them.
030:021	And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the LORD.
030:022	And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
030:023	Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.
030:024	The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he hath done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.

---

031:001	At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
031:002	Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
031:003	The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
031:004	Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
031:005	Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.
031:006	For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God.
031:007	For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
031:008	Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.
031:009	They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
031:010	Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
031:011	For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
031:012	Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
031:013	Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
031:014	And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.
031:015	Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
031:016	Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
031:017	And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.
031:018	I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.
031:019	Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
031:020	Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.
031:021	Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.
031:022	How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
031:023	Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.
031:024	And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks.
031:025	For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.
031:026	Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.
031:027	Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.
031:028	And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD.
031:029	In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge.
031:030	But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
031:031	Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
031:032	Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
031:033	But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
031:034	And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
031:035	Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
031:036	If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
031:037	Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.
031:038	Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.
031:039	And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath.
031:040	And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.

---

032:001	The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar.
032:002	For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house.
032:003	For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;
032:004	And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;
032:005	And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith the LORD: though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper.
032:006	And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
032:007	Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it.
032:008	So Hanameel mine uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the LORD, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.
032:009	And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.
032:010	And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances.
032:011	So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open:
032:012	And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.
032:013	And I charged Baruch before them, saying,
032:014	Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.
032:015	For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.
032:016	Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the LORD, saying,
032:017	Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
032:018	Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name,
032:019	Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:
032:020	Which hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and hast made thee a name, as at this day;
032:021	And hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror;
032:022	And hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;
032:023	And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them:
032:024	Behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest it.
032:025	And thou hast said unto me, O Lord GOD, Buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
032:026	Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
032:027	Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
032:028	Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:
032:029	And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.
032:030	For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the LORD.
032:031	For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face,
032:032	Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
032:033	And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.
032:034	But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.
032:035	And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
032:036	And now therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence;
032:037	Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:
032:038	And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:
032:039	And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
032:040	And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
032:041	Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
032:042	For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.
032:043	And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
032:044	Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD.

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033:001	Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
033:002	Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;
033:003	Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
033:004	For thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword;
033:005	They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.
033:006	Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.
033:007	And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
033:008	And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.
033:009	And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.
033:010	Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,
033:011	The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.
033:012	Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
033:013	In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the LORD.
033:014	Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.
033:015	In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.
033:016	In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.
033:017	For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;
033:018	Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.
033:019	And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,
033:020	Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season;
033:021	Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.
033:022	As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
033:023	Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,
033:024	Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.
033:025	Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
033:026	Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.

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034:001	The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying,
034:002	Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:
034:003	And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.
034:004	Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword:
034:005	But thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD.
034:006	Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,
034:007	When the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah.
034:008	This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;
034:009	That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother.
034:010	Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go.
034:011	But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.
034:012	Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
034:013	Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,
034:014	At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
034:015	And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
034:016	But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
034:017	Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
034:018	And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,
034:019	The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;
034:020	I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.
034:021	And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you.
034:022	Behold, I will command, saith the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.

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035:001	The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,
035:002	Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.
035:003	Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;
035:004	And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:
035:005	And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.
035:006	But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:
035:007	Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers.
035:008	Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;
035:009	Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:
035:010	But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
035:011	But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem.
035:012	Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
035:013	Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD.
035:014	The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me.
035:015	I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.
035:016	Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me:
035:017	Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.
035:018	And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:
035:019	Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

---

036:001	And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
036:002	Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.
036:003	It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.
036:004	Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.
036:005	And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the LORD:
036:006	Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the LORD in the ears of the people in the LORD's house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities.
036:007	It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, and will return every one from his evil way: for great is the anger and the fury that the LORD hath pronounced against this people.
036:008	And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the LORD in the LORD's house.
036:009	And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the LORD to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem.
036:010	Then read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the entry of the new gate of the LORD's house, in the ears of all the people.
036:011	When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the LORD,
036:012	Then he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's chamber: and, lo, all the princes sat there, even Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes.
036:013	Then Michaiah declared unto them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people.
036:014	Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, Take in thine hand the roll wherein thou hast read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the roll in his hand, and came unto them.
036:015	And they said unto him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears.
036:016	Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were afraid both one and other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words.
036:017	And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words at his mouth?
036:018	Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.
036:019	Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye be.
036:020	And they went in to the king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king.
036:021	So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe's chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king.
036:022	Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him.
036:023	And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.
036:024	Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words.
036:025	Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them.
036:026	But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the LORD hid them.
036:027	Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
036:028	Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.
036:029	And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?
036:030	Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.
036:031	And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not.
036:032	Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.

---

037:001	And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.
037:002	But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the LORD, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah.
037:003	And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto the LORD our God for us.
037:004	Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people: for they had not put him into prison.
037:005	Then Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem.
037:006	Then came the word of the LORD unto the prophet Jeremiah saying,
037:007	Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to enquire of me; Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land.
037:008	And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.
037:009	Thus saith the LORD; Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart.
037:010	For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.
037:011	And it came to pass, that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army,
037:012	Then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the midst of the people.
037:013	And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans.
037:014	Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I fall not away to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Irijah took Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.
037:015	Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison.
037:016	When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon, and into the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;
037:017	Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.
037:018	Moreover Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, What have I offended against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison?
037:019	Where are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land?
037:020	Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.
037:021	Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city were spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

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038:001	Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying,
038:002	Thus saith the LORD, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live.
038:003	Thus saith the LORD, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which shall take it.
038:004	Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.
038:005	Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you.
038:006	Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.
038:007	Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin;
038:008	Ebedmelech went forth out of the king's house, and spake to the king saying,
038:009	My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city.
038:010	Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die.
038:011	So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence old cast clouts and old rotten rags, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah.
038:012	And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.
038:013	So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.
038:014	Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of the LORD: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me.
038:015	Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me?
038:016	So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the LORD liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life.
038:017	Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:
038:018	But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.
038:019	And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.
038:020	But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.
038:021	But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the LORD hath shewed me:
038:022	And, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah's house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes, and those women shall say, Thy friends have set thee on, and have prevailed against thee: thy feet are sunk in the mire, and they are turned away back.
038:023	So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans: and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire.
038:024	Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die.
038:025	But if the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also what the king said unto thee:
038:026	Then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die there.
038:027	Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him: and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.
038:028	So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.

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039:001	In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.
039:002	And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up.
039:003	And all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, even Nergalsharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, with all the residue of the princes of the king of Babylon.
039:004	And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king's garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls: and he went out the way of the plain.
039:005	But the Chaldeans' army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him.
039:006	Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah.
039:007	Moreover he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.
039:008	And the Chaldeans burned the king's house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem.
039:009	Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to him, with the rest of the people that remained.
039:010	But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.
039:011	Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying,
039:012	Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.
039:013	So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushasban, Rabsaris, and Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, and all the king of Babylon's princes;
039:014	Even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he dwelt among the people.
039:015	Now the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
039:016	Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee.
039:017	But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the LORD: and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid.
039:018	For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD.

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040:001	The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon.
040:002	And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.
040:003	Now the LORD hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you.
040:004	And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.
040:005	Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.
040:006	Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.
040:007	Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon;
040:008	Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.
040:009	And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan sware unto them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
040:010	As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah, to serve the Chaldeans, which will come unto us: but ye, gather ye wine, and summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that ye have taken.
040:011	Likewise when all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and that were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan;
040:012	Even all the Jews returned out of all places whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.
040:013	Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah,
040:014	And said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not.
040:015	Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?
040:016	But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.

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041:001	Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah.
041:002	Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.
041:003	Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with him, even with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there, and the men of war.
041:004	And it came to pass the second day after he had slain Gedaliah, and no man knew it,
041:005	That there came certain from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even fourscore men, having their beards shaven, and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of the LORD.
041:006	And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went: and it came to pass, as he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.
041:007	And it was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, he, and the men that were with him.
041:008	But ten men were found among them that said unto Ishmael, Slay us not: for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he forbare, and slew them not among their brethren.
041:009	Now the pit wherein Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men, whom he had slain because of Gedaliah, was it which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with them that were slain.
041:010	Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people that were in Mizpah, even the king's daughters, and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the Ammonites.
041:011	But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,
041:012	Then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.
041:013	Now it came to pass, that when all the people which were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, then they were glad.
041:014	So all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah cast about and returned, and went unto Johanan the son of Kareah.
041:015	But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites.
041:016	Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, even mighty men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought again from Gibeon:
041:017	And they departed, and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt,
041:018	Because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land.

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042:001	Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near,
042:002	And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:)
042:003	That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.
042:004	Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.
042:005	Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.
042:006	Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.
042:007	And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.
042:008	Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,
042:009	And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;
042:010	If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.
042:011	Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.
042:012	And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
042:013	But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God,
042:014	Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:
042:015	And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;
042:016	Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.
042:017	So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.
042:018	For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.
042:019	The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.
042:020	For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us unto the LORD our God; and according unto all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.
042:021	And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you.
042:022	Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.

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043:001	And it came to pass, that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of the LORD their God, for which the LORD their God had sent him to them, even all these words,
043:002	Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: the LORD our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there:
043:003	But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon.
043:004	So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of the LORD, to dwell in the land of Judah.
043:005	But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, that were returned from all nations, whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah;
043:006	Even men, and women, and children, and the king's daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.
043:007	So they came into the land of Egypt: for they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: thus came they even to Tahpanhes.
043:008	Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,
043:009	Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brickkiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah;
043:010	And say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.
043:011	And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver such as are for death to death; and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword.
043:012	And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captives: and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace.
043:013	He shall break also the images of Bethshemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire.

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044:001	The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,
044:002	Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein,
044:003	Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers.
044:004	Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.
044:005	But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.
044:006	Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day.
044:007	Therefore now thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain;
044:008	In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
044:009	Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?
044:010	They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.
044:011	Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.
044:012	And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed by the sword and by the famine: they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine: and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.
044:013	For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence:
044:014	So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return but such as shall escape.
044:015	Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
044:016	As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.
044:017	But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
044:018	But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
044:019	And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?
044:020	Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying,
044:021	The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind?
044:022	So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.
044:023	Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day.
044:024	Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt:
044:025	Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows.
044:026	Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the LORD, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord GOD liveth.
044:027	Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.
044:028	Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or their's.
044:029	And this shall be a sign unto you, saith the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:
044:030	Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give Pharaohhophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.

---

045:001	The word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,
045:002	Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto thee, O Baruch:
045:003	Thou didst say, Woe is me now! for the LORD hath added grief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest.
045:004	Thus shalt thou say unto him, The LORD saith thus; Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, even this whole land.
045:005	And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.

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046:001	The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles;
046:002	Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaohnecho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.
046:003	Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.
046:004	Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines.
046:005	Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: for fear was round about, saith the LORD.
046:006	Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates.
046:007	Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers?
046:008	Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.
046:009	Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.
046:010	For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
046:011	Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured.
046:012	The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the land: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, and they are fallen both together.
046:013	The word that the LORD spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt.
046:014	Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword shall devour round about thee.
046:015	Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them.
046:016	He made many to fall, yea, one fell upon another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword.
046:017	They did cry there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he hath passed the time appointed.
046:018	As I live, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall he come.
046:019	O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant.
046:020	Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.
046:021	Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back, and are fled away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of their visitation.
046:022	The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.
046:023	They shall cut down her forest, saith the LORD, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable.
046:024	The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
046:025	The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith; Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him:
046:026	And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the LORD.
046:027	But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
046:028	Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.

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047:001	The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
047:002	Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
047:003	At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;
047:004	Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.
047:005	Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
047:006	O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
047:007	How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he appointed it.

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048:001	Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed.
048:002	There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee.
048:003	A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction.
048:004	Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
048:005	For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.
048:006	Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.
048:007	For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together.
048:008	And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken.
048:009	Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.
048:010	Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.
048:011	Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.
048:012	Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.
048:013	And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.
048:014	How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war?
048:015	Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
048:016	The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast.
048:017	All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod!
048:018	Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds.
048:019	O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What is done?
048:020	Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled,
048:021	And judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath,
048:022	And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Bethdiblathaim,
048:023	And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Bethgamul, and upon Bethmeon,
048:024	And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.
048:025	The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the LORD.
048:026	Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.
048:027	For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy.
048:028	O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth.
048:029	We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart.
048:030	I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it.
048:031	Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kirheres.
048:032	O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage.
048:033	And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab, and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting.
048:034	From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as an heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate.
048:035	Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the LORD, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his gods.
048:036	Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kirheres: because the riches that he hath gotten are perished.
048:037	For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.
048:038	There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the LORD.
048:039	They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all them about him.
048:040	For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab.
048:041	Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men's hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
048:042	And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the LORD.
048:043	Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the LORD.
048:044	He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.
048:045	They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of the force: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.
048:046	Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives.
048:047	Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.

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049:001	Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the LORD; Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities?
049:002	Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the LORD.
049:003	Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together.
049:004	Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me?
049:005	Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that be about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wandereth.
049:006	And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD.
049:007	Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?
049:008	Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will visit him.
049:009	If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough.
049:010	But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not.
049:011	Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me.
049:012	For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it.
049:013	For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.
049:014	I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.
049:015	For, lo, I will make thee small among the heathen, and despised among men.
049:016	Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.
049:017	Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.
049:018	As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.
049:019	Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?
049:020	Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them.
049:021	The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea.
049:022	Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
049:023	Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.
049:024	Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
049:025	How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
049:026	Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
049:027	And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.
049:028	Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the LORD; Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east.
049:029	Their tents and their flocks shall they take away: they shall take to themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry unto them, Fear is on every side.
049:030	Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the LORD; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you.
049:031	Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwelleth without care, saith the LORD, which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone.
049:032	And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith the LORD.
049:033	And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it.
049:034	The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,
049:035	Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.
049:036	And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.
049:037	For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:
049:038	And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the LORD.
049:039	But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.

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050:001	The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.
050:002	Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.
050:003	For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
050:004	In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God.
050:005	They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.
050:006	My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.
050:007	All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.
050:008	Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.
050:009	For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.
050:010	And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD.
050:011	Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;
050:012	Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
050:013	Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
050:014	Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD.
050:015	Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.
050:016	Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.
050:017	Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
050:018	Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.
050:019	And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.
050:020	In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.
050:021	Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
050:022	A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
050:023	How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
050:024	I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD.
050:025	The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.
050:026	Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.
050:027	Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
050:028	The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.
050:029	Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.
050:030	Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD.
050:031	Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.
050:032	And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.
050:033	Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.
050:034	Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
050:035	A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.
050:036	A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.
050:037	A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.
050:038	A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.
050:039	Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
050:040	As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.
050:041	Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
050:042	They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.
050:043	The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.
050:044	Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?
050:045	Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them.
050:046	At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.

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051:001	Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;
051:002	And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.
051:003	Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.
051:004	Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.
051:005	For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.
051:006	Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.
051:007	Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
051:008	Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
051:009	We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
051:010	The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.
051:011	Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.
051:012	Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.
051:013	O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
051:014	The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.
051:015	He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.
051:016	When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
051:017	Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
051:018	They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
051:019	The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.
051:020	Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
051:021	And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;
051:022	With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;
051:023	I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.
051:024	And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.
051:025	Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
051:026	And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD.
051:027	Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.
051:028	Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.
051:029	And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.
051:030	The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
051:031	One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,
051:032	And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
051:033	For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
051:034	Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.
051:035	The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
051:036	Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.
051:037	And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
051:038	They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps.
051:039	In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.
051:040	I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.
051:041	How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
051:042	The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
051:043	Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.
051:044	And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
051:045	My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.
051:046	And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
051:047	Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
051:048	Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.
051:049	As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.
051:050	Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
051:051	We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD's house.
051:052	Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
051:053	Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.
051:054	A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:
051:055	Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:
051:056	Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite.
051:057	And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
051:058	Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.
051:059	The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.
051:060	So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.
051:061	And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;
051:062	Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.
051:063	And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:
051:064	And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

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052:001	Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
052:002	And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
052:003	For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
052:004	And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it round about.
052:005	So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
052:006	And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.
052:007	Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about:) and they went by the way of the plain.
052:008	But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.
052:009	Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment upon him.
052:010	And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.
052:011	Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.
052:012	Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,
052:013	And burned the house of the LORD, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire:
052:014	And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about.
052:015	Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive certain of the poor of the people, and the residue of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.
052:016	But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen.
052:017	Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon.
052:018	The caldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.
052:019	And the basons, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the caldrons, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups; that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, took the captain of the guard away.
052:020	The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brasen bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the LORD: the brass of all these vessels was without weight.
052:021	And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow.
052:022	And a chapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one chapiter was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these.
052:023	And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were an hundred round about.
052:024	And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:
052:025	He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war; and seven men of them that were near the king's person, which were found in the city; and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the land; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city.
052:026	So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.
052:027	And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land.
052:028	This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty:
052:029	In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons:
052:030	In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.
052:031	And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison.
052:032	And spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,
052:033	And changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life.
052:034	And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.

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