JER 1:1
The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, of the
priests who were in Anathoth in the land of
Benjamin,
JER 1:2 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.
JER 1:3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim,
the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of
the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah,
king of Judah, until the exile of Jerusalem in the
fifth month.
JER 1:4 Now the word of the Lord came to me
saying,
JER 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I
knew you, And before you were born I consecrated
you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations."
JER 1:6 Then I said, "Alas, Lord God! Behold,
I do not know how to speak, Because I am a youth."
JER 1:7 But the Lord said to me, "Do not say,
'I am a youth,' Because everywhere I send you, you
shall go, And all that I command you, you shall
speak.
JER 1:8 "Do not be afraid of them, For I am
with you to deliver you," declares the Lord.
JER 1:9 Then the Lord stretched out His hand
and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me,
"Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
JER 1:10 "See, I have appointed you this day
over the nations and over the kingdoms, To pluck up
and to break down, To destroy and to overthrow, To
build and to plant."
JER 1:11 And the word of the Lord came to me
saying, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" And I said, "I
see a rod of an almond tree."
JER 1:12 Then the Lord said to me, "You have
seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform
it."
JER 1:13 And the word of the Lord came to me
a second time saying, "What do you see?" And I said,
"I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north."
JER 1:14 Then the Lord said to me, "Out of
the north the evil will break forth on all the
inhabitants of the land.
JER 1:15 "For, behold, I am calling all the
families of the kingdoms of the north," declares the
Lord; "and they will come, and they will set each
one his throne at the entrance of the gates of
Jerusalem, and against all its walls round about,
and against all the cities of Judah.
JER 1:16 "And I will pronounce My judgments
on them concerning all their wickedness, whereby
they have forsaken Me and have offered sacrifices to
other gods, and worshiped the works of their own
hands.
JER 1:17 "Now, gird up your loins, and arise,
and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be
dismayed before them, lest I dismay you before them.
JER 1:18 "Now behold, I have made you today
as a fortified city, and as a pillar of iron and as
walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings
of Judah, to its princes, to its priests and to the
people of the land.
JER 1:19 "And they will fight against you,
but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to
deliver you," declares the Lord.
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JER 2:1
Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,
JER 2:2 "Go and proclaim in the ears of
Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus says the Lord," I remember
concerning you the devotion of your youth, The love
of your betrothals, Your following after Me in the
wilderness, Through a land not sown.
JER 2:3 "Israel was holy to the Lord, The
first of His harvest; All who ate of it became
guilty; Evil came upon them," declares the Lord.' "
JER 2:4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of
Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.
JER 2:5 Thus says the Lord, "What injustice
did your fathers find in Me, That they went far from
Me And walked after emptiness and became empty?
JER 2:6 "And they did not say, 'Where is the
Lord Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who
led us through the wilderness, Through a land of
deserts and of pits, Through a land of drought and
of deep darkness, Through a land that no one crossed
And where no man dwelt?'
JER 2:7 "And I brought you into the fruitful
land, To eat its fruit and its good things. But you
came and defiled My land, And My inheritance you
made an abomination.
JER 2:8 "The priests did not say, 'Where is
the Lord?' And those who handle the law did not know
Me; The rulers also transgressed against Me, And the
prophets prophesied by Baal And walked after things
that did not profit.
JER 2:9 "Therefore I will yet contend with
you," declares the Lord, "And with your sons' sons I
will contend.
JER 2:10 "For cross to the coastlands of
Kittim and see, And send to Kedar and observe
closely, And see if there has been such a thing as
this!
JER 2:11 "Has a nation changed gods, When
they were not gods? But My people have changed their
glory For that which does not profit.
JER 2:12 "Be appalled, O heavens, at this,
And shudder, be very desolate," declares the Lord.
JER 2:13 "For My people have committed two
evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living
waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken
cisterns, That can hold no water.
JER 2:14 "Is Israel a slave? Or is he a
homeborn servant? Why has he become a prey?
JER 2:15 "The young lions have roared at him,
They have roared loudly. And they have made his land
a waste; His cities have been destroyed, without
inhabitant.
JER 2:16 "Also the men of Memphis and
Tahpanhes Have shaved the crown of your head.
JER 2:17 "Have you not done this to yourself,
By your forsaking the Lord your God, When He led you
in the way?
JER 2:18 "But now what are you doing on the
road to Egypt, To drink the waters of the Nile? Or
what are you doing on the road to Assyria, To drink
the waters of the Euphrates?
JER 2:19 "Your own wickedness will correct
you, And your apostasies will reprove you; Know
therefore and see that it is evil and bitter For you
to forsake the Lord your God, And the dread of Me is
not in you," declares the Lord God of hosts.
JER 2:20 "For long ago I broke your yoke And
tore off your bonds; But you said, 'I will not
serve!' For on every high hill And under every green
tree You have lain down as a harlot.
JER 2:21 "Yet I planted you a choice vine, A
completely faithful seed. How then have you turned
yourself before Me Into the degenerate shoots of a
foreign vine?
JER 2:22 "Although you wash yourself with lye
And use much soap, The stain of your iniquity is
before Me," declares the Lord God.
JER 2:23 "How can you say, 'I am not defiled,
I have not gone after the Baals'? Look at your way
in the valley! Know what you have done! You are a
swift young camel entangling her ways,
JER 2:24 A wild donkey accustomed to the
wilderness, That sniffs the wind in her passion. In
the time of her heat who can turn her away? All who
seek her will not become weary; In her month they
will find her.
JER 2:25 "Keep your feet from being unshod
And your throat from thirst; But you said, 'It is
hopeless! No! For I have loved strangers, And after
them I will walk.'
JER 2:26 "As the thief is shamed when he is
discovered, So the house of Israel is shamed; They,
their kings, their princes, And their priests, and
their prophets,
JER 2:27 Who say to a tree,' You are my
father,' And to a stone,' You gave me birth.' For
they have turned their back to Me, And not their
face; But in the time of their trouble they will
say,' Arise and save us.'
JER 2:28 "But where are your gods Which you
made for yourself? Let them arise, if they can save
you In the time of your trouble; For according to
the number of your cities Are your gods, O Judah.
JER 2:29 "Why do you contend with Me? You
have all transgressed against Me," declares the
Lord.
JER 2:30 "In vain I have struck your sons;
They accepted no chastening. Your sword has devoured
your prophets Like a destroying lion.
JER 2:31 "O generation, heed the word of the
Lord. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, Or a land
of thick darkness? Why do My people say, 'We are
free to roam; We will come no more to Thee'?
JER 2:32 "Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
Or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten
Me Days without number.
JER 2:33 "How well you prepare your way To
seek love! Therefore even the wicked women You have
taught your ways.
JER 2:34 "Also on your skirts is found The
lifeblood of the innocent poor; You did not find
them breaking in. But in spite of all these things,
JER 2:35 Yet you said,' I am innocent; Surely
His anger is turned away from me.' Behold, I will
enter into judgment with you Because you say,' I
have not sinned.'
JER 2:36 "Why do you go around so much
Changing your way? Also, you shall be put to shame
by Egypt As you were put to shame by Assyria.
JER 2:37 "From this place also you shall go
out With your hands on your head; For the Lord has
rejected those in whom you trust, And you shall not
prosper with them."
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JER 3:1
God says, "If a husband divorces his wife, And she
goes from him, And belongs to another man, Will he
still return to her? Will not that land be
completely polluted? But you are a harlot with many
lovers; Yet you turn to Me," declares the Lord.
JER 3:2 "Lift up your eyes to the bare
heights and see; Where have you not been violated?
By the roads you have sat for them Like an Arab in
the desert, And you have polluted a land With your
harlotry and with your wickedness.
JER 3:3 "Therefore the showers have been
withheld, And there has been no spring rain. Yet you
had a harlot's forehead; You refused to be ashamed.
JER 3:4 "Have you not just now called to Me,
'My Father, Thou art the friend of my youth?
JER 3:5 'Will He be angry forever? Will He be
indignant to the end?' Behold, you have spoken And
have done evil things, And you have had your way."
JER 3:6 Then the Lord said to me in the days
of Josiah the king, "Have you seen what faithless
Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under
every green tree, and she was a harlot there.
JER 3:7 "And I thought, 'After she has done
all these things, she will return to Me'; but she
did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw
it.
JER 3:8 "And I saw that for all the
adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away
and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous
sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a
harlot also.
JER 3:9 "And it came about because of the
lightness of her harlotry, that she polluted the
land and committed adultery with stones and trees.
JER 3:10 "And yet in spite of all this her
treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with
all her heart, but rather in deception," declares
the Lord.
JER 3:11 And the Lord said to me, "Faithless
Israel has proved herself more righteous than
treacherous Judah.
JER 3:12 "Go, and proclaim these words toward
the north and say, 'Return, faithless Israel,'
declares the Lord; 'I will not look upon you in
anger. For I am gracious,' declares the Lord; 'I
will not be angry forever.
JER 3:13 'Only acknowledge your iniquity,
That you have transgressed against the Lord your God
And have scattered your favors to the strangers
under every green tree, And you have not obeyed My
voice,' declares the Lord.
JER 3:14 'Return, O faithless sons,' declares
the Lord;' For I am a master to you, And I will take
you one from a city and two from a family, And I
will bring you to Zion.'
JER 3:15 "Then I will give you shepherds
after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge
and understanding.
JER 3:16 "And it shall be in those days when
you are multiplied and increased in the land,"
declares the Lord, "they shall say no more, 'The ark
of the covenant of the Lord.' And it shall not come
to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they
miss it, nor shall it be made again.
JER 3:17 "At that time they shall call
Jerusalem 'The Throne of the Lord,' and all the
nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for
the name of the Lord; nor shall they walk anymore
after the stubbornness of their evil heart.
JER 3:18 "In those days the house of Judah
will walk with the house of Israel, and they will
come together from the land of the north to the land
that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.
JER 3:19 "Then I said, 'How I would set you
among My sons, And give you a pleasant land, The
most beautiful inheritance of the nations!' And I
said, 'You shall call Me, My Father, And not turn
away from following Me.'
JER 3:20 "Surely, as a woman treacherously
departs from her lover, So you have dealt
treacherously with Me, O house of Israel," declares
the Lord.
JER 3:21 A voice is heard on the bare
heights, The weeping and the supplications of the
sons of Israel; Because they have perverted their
way, They have forgotten the Lord their God.
JER 3:22 "Return, O faithless sons, I will
heal your faithlessness." "Behold, we come to Thee;
For Thou art the Lord our God.
JER 3:23 "Surely, the hills are a deception,
A tumult on the mountains. Surely, in the Lord our
God Is the salvation of Israel.
JER 3:24 "But the shameful thing has consumed
the labor of our fathers since our youth, their
flocks and their herds, their sons and their
daughters.
JER 3:25 "Let us lie down in our shame, and
let our humiliation cover us; for we have sinned
against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, since
our youth even to this day. And we have not obeyed
the voice of the Lord our God."
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JER 4:1
"If you will return, O Israel," declares the Lord,
"Then you should return to Me. And if you will put
away your detested things from My presence, And will
not waver,
JER 4:2 And you will swear,' As the Lord
lives,' In truth, in justice, and in righteousness;
Then the nations will bless themselves in Him, And
in Him they will glory."
JER 4:3 For thus says the Lord to the men of
Judah and to Jerusalem, "Break up your fallow
ground, And do not sow among thorns.
JER 4:4 "Circumcise yourselves to the Lord
And remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah
and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Lest My wrath go forth
like fire And burn with none to quench it, Because
of the evil of your deeds."
JER 4:5 Declare in Judah and proclaim in
Jerusalem, and say, "Blow the trumpet in the land;
Cry aloud and say, 'Assemble yourselves, and let us
go Into the fortified cities.'
JER 4:6 "Lift up a standard toward Zion! Seek
refuge, do not stand still, For I am bringing evil
from the north, And great destruction.
JER 4:7 "A lion has gone up from his thicket,
And a destroyer of nations has set out; He has gone
out from his place To make your land a waste. Your
cities will be ruins Without inhabitant.
JER 4:8 "For this, put on sackcloth, Lament
and wail; For the fierce anger of the Lord Has not
turned back from us."
JER 4:9 "And it shall come about in that
day," declares the Lord, "that the heart of the king
and the heart of the princes will fail; and the
priests will be appalled, and the prophets will be
astounded."
JER 4:10 Then I said, "Ah, Lord God! Surely
Thou hast utterly deceived this people and
Jerusalem, saying, 'You will have peace'; whereas a
sword touches the throat."
JER 4:11 In that time it will be said to this
people and to Jerusalem, "A scorching wind from the
bare heights in the wilderness in the direction of
the daughter of My people - - not to winnow, and not
to cleanse,
JER 4:12 a wind too strong for this - - will
come at My command; now I will also pronounce
judgments against them.
JER 4:13 "Behold, he goes up like clouds, And
his chariots like the whirlwind; His horses are
swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined!"
JER 4:14 Wash your heart from evil, O
Jerusalem, That you may be saved. How long will your
wicked thoughts Lodge within you?
JER 4:15 For a voice declares from Dan, And
proclaims wickedness from Mount Ephraim.
JER 4:16 "Report it to the nations, now!
Proclaim over Jerusalem, 'Besiegers come from a far
country, And lift their voices against the cities of
Judah.
JER 4:17 'Like watchmen of a field they are
against her round about, Because she has rebelled
against Me,' declares the Lord.
JER 4:18 "Your ways and your deeds Have
brought these things to you. This is your evil. How
bitter! How it has touched your heart!"
JER 4:19 My soul, my soul! I am in anguish!
Oh, my heart! My heart is pounding in me; I cannot
be silent, Because you have heard, O my soul, The
sound of the trumpet, The alarm of war.
JER 4:20 Disaster on disaster is proclaimed,
For the whole land is devastated; Suddenly my tents
are devastated, My curtains in an instant.
JER 4:21 How long must I see the standard,
And hear the sound of the trumpet?
JER 4:22 "For My people are foolish, They
know Me not; They are stupid children, And they have
no understanding. They are shrewd to do evil, But to
do good they do not know."
JER 4:23 I looked on the earth, and behold,
it was formless and void; And to the heavens, and
they had no light.
JER 4:24 I looked on the mountains, and
behold, they were quaking, And all the hills moved
to and fro.
JER 4:25 I looked, and behold, there was no
man, And all the birds of the heavens had fled.
JER 4:26 I looked, and behold, the fruitful
land was a wilderness, And all its cities were
pulled down Before the Lord, before His fierce
anger.
JER 4:27 For thus says the Lord, "The whole
land shall be a desolation, Yet I will not execute a
complete destruction.
JER 4:28 "For this the earth shall mourn, And
the heavens above be dark, Because I have spoken, I
have purposed, And I will not change My mind, nor
will I turn from it."
JER 4:29 At the sound of the horseman and
bowman every city flees; They go into the thickets
and climb among the rocks; Every city is forsaken,
And no man dwells in them.
JER 4:30 And you, O desolate one, what will
you do? Although you dress in scarlet, Although you
decorate yourself with ornaments of gold, Although
you enlarge your eyes with paint, In vain you make
yourself beautiful; Your lovers despise you; They
seek your life.
JER 4:31 For I heard a cry as of a woman in
labor, The anguish as of one giving birth to her
first child, The cry of the daughter of Zion gasping
for breath, Stretching out her hands, saying, "Ah,
woe is me, for I faint before murderers."
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JER 5:1
"Roam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
And look now, and take note. And seek in her open
squares, If you can find a man, If there is one who
does justice, who seeks truth, Then I will pardon
her.
JER 5:2 "And although they say, 'As the Lord
lives,' Surely they swear falsely."
JER 5:3 O Lord, do not Thine eyes look for
truth? Thou hast smitten them, But they did not
weaken; Thou hast consumed them, But they refused to
take correction. They have made their faces harder
than rock; They have refused to repent.
JER 5:4 Then I said, "They are only the poor,
They are foolish; For they do not know the way of
the Lord Or the ordinance of their God.
JER 5:5 "I will go to the great And will
speak to them, For they know the way of the Lord,
And the ordinance of their God." But they too, with
one accord, have broken the yoke And burst the
bonds.
JER 5:6 Therefore a lion from the forest
shall slay them, A wolf of the deserts shall destroy
them, A leopard is watching their cities. Everyone
who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,
Because their transgressions are many, Their
apostasies are numerous.
JER 5:7 "Why should I pardon you? Your sons
have forsaken Me And sworn by those who are not
gods. When I had fed them to the full, They
committed adultery And trooped to the harlot's
house.
JER 5:8 "They were well-fed lusty horses,
Each one neighing after his neighbor's wife.
JER 5:9 "Shall I not punish these people,"
declares the Lord, "And on a nation such as this
Shall I not avenge Myself?
JER 5:10 "Go up through her vine rows and
destroy, But do not execute a complete destruction;
Strip away her branches, For they are not the
Lord's.
JER 5:11 "For the house of Israel and the
house of Judah Have dealt very treacherously with
Me," declares the Lord.
JER 5:12 They have lied about the Lord And
said, "Not He; Misfortune will not come on us; And
we will not see sword or famine.
JER 5:13 "And the prophets are as wind, And
the word is not in them. Thus it will be done to
them!"
JER 5:14 Therefore, thus says the Lord, the
God of hosts, "Because you have spoken this word,
Behold, I am making My words in your mouth fire And
this people wood, and it will consume them.
JER 5:15 "Behold, I am bringing a nation
against you from afar, O house of Israel," declares
the Lord."It is an enduring nation, It is an ancient
nation, A nation whose language you do not know, Nor
can you understand what they say.
JER 5:16 "Their quiver is like an open grave,
All of them are mighty men.
JER 5:17 "And they will devour your harvest
and your food; They will devour your sons and your
daughters; They will devour your flocks and your
herds; They will devour your vines and your fig
trees; They will demolish with the sword your
fortified cities in which you trust.
JER 5:18 "Yet even in those days," declares
the Lord, "I will not make you a complete
destruction.
JER 5:19 "And it shall come about when they
say, 'Why has the Lord our God done all these things
to us?' then you shall say to them, 'As you have
forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so
you shall serve strangers in a land that is not
yours.'
JER 5:20 "Declare this in the house of Jacob
And proclaim it in Judah, saying,
JER 5:21 'Hear this, O foolish and senseless
people, Who have eyes, but see not; Who have ears,
but hear not.
JER 5:22 'Do you not fear Me?' declares the
Lord.' Do you not tremble in My presence? For I have
placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, An
eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it. Though
the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail; Though they
roar, yet they cannot cross over it.
JER 5:23 'But this people has a stubborn and
rebellious heart; They have turned aside and
departed.
JER 5:24 'They do not say in their heart,
"Let us now fear the Lord our God, Who gives rain in
its season, Both the autumn rain and the spring
rain, Who keeps for us The appointed weeks of the
harvest."
JER 5:25 'Your iniquities have turned these
away, And your sins have withheld good from you.
JER 5:26 'For wicked men are found among My
people, They watch like fowlers lying in wait; They
set a trap, They catch men.
JER 5:27 'Like a cage full of birds, So their
houses are full of deceit; Therefore they have
become great and rich.
JER 5:28 'They are fat, they are sleek, They
also excel in deeds of wickedness; They do not plead
the cause, The cause of the orphan, that they may
prosper; And they do not defend the rights of the
poor.
JER 5:29 'Shall I not punish these people?'
declares the Lord,' On a nation such as this Shall I
not avenge Myself?'
JER 5:30 "An appalling and horrible thing Has
happened in the land:
JER 5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely, And
the priests rule on their own authority; And My
people love it so! But what will you do at the end
of it?
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JER 6:1
"Flee for safety, O sons of Benjamin, From the midst
of Jerusalem! Now blow a trumpet in Tekoa, And raise
a signal over Beth-haccerem; For evil looks down
from the north, And a great destruction.
JER 6:2 "The comely and dainty one, the
daughter of Zion, I will cut off.
JER 6:3"Shepherds and their flocks will come
to her, They will pitch their tents around her, They
will pasture each in his place.
JER 6:4 "Prepare war against her; Arise, and
let us attack at noon. Woe to us, for the day
declines, For the shadows of the evening lengthen!
JER 6:5 "Arise, and let us attack by night
And destroy her palaces!"
JER 6:6 For thus says the Lord of hosts, "Cut
down her trees, And cast up a siege against
Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished, In whose
midst there is only oppression.
JER 6:7 "As a well keeps its waters fresh, So
she keeps fresh her wickedness. Violence and
destruction are heard in her; Sickness and wounds
are ever before Me.
JER 6:8 "Be warned, O Jerusalem, Lest I be
alienated from you; Lest I make you a desolation, A
land not inhabited."
JER 6:9 Thus says the Lord of hosts, "They
will thoroughly glean as the vine the remnant of
Israel; Pass your hand again like a grape gatherer
Over the branches."
JER 6:10 To whom shall I speak and give
warning, That they may hear? Behold, their ears are
closed, And they cannot listen. Behold, the word of
the Lord has become a reproach to them; They have no
delight in it.
JER 6:11 But I am full of the wrath of the
Lord: I am weary with holding it in."Pour it out on
the children in the street, And on the gathering of
young men together; For both husband and wife shall
be taken, The aged and the very old.
JER 6:12 "And their houses shall be turned
over to others, Their fields and their wives
together; For I will stretch out My hand Against the
inhabitants of the land," declares the Lord.
JER 6:13 "For from the least of them even to
the greatest of them, Everyone is greedy for gain,
And from the prophet even to the priest Everyone
deals falsely.
JER 6:14 "And they have healed the brokenness
of My people superficially, Saying, 'Peace, peace,'
But there is no peace.
JER 6:15 "Were they ashamed because of the
abomination they have done? They were not even
ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At
the time that I punish them, They shall be cast
down," says the Lord.
JER 6:16 Thus says the Lord, "Stand by the
ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where
the good way is, and walk in it; And you shall find
rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not
walk in it.'
JER 6:17 "And I set watchmen over you,
saying, 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!' But
they said, 'We will not listen.'
JER 6:18 "Therefore hear, O nations, And
know, O congregation, what is among them.
JER 6:19 "Hear, O earth: behold, I am
bringing disaster on this people, The fruit of their
plans, Because they have not listened to My words,
And as for My law, they have rejected it also.
JER 6:20 "For what purpose does frankincense
come to Me from Sheba, And the sweet cane from a
distant land? Your burnt offerings are not
acceptable, And your sacrifices are not pleasing to
Me."
JER 6:21 Therefore, thus says the Lord,
"Behold, I am laying stumbling blocks before this
people. And they will stumble against them, Fathers
and sons together; Neighbor and friend will perish."
JER 6:22 Thus says the Lord, "Behold, a
people is coming from the north land, And a great
nation will be aroused from the remote parts of the
earth.
JER 6:23 "They seize bow and spear; They are
cruel and have no mercy; Their voice roars like the
sea, And they ride on horses, Arrayed as a man for
the battle Against you, O daughter of Zion!"
JER 6:24 We have heard the report of it; Our
hands are limp. Anguish has seized us, Pain as of a
woman in childbirth.
JER 6:25 Do not go out into the field, And do
not walk on the road, For the enemy has a sword,
Terror is on every side.
JER 6:26 O daughter of my people, put on
sackcloth And roll in ashes; Mourn as for an only
son, A lamentation most bitter. For suddenly the
destroyer Will come upon us.
JER 6:27 "I have made you an assayer and a
tester among My people, That you may know and assay
their way."
JER 6:28 All of them are stubbornly
rebellious, Going about as a talebearer. They are
bronze and iron; They, all of them, are corrupt.
JER 6:29 The bellows blow fiercely, The lead
is consumed by the fire; In vain the refining goes
on, But the wicked are not separated.
JER 6:30 They call them rejected silver,
Because the Lord has rejected them.
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JER 7:1
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord,
saying,
JER 7:2 "Stand in the gate of the Lord's
house and proclaim there this word, and say, 'Hear
the word of the Lord, all you of Judah, who enter by
these gates to worship the Lord!'"
JER 7:3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God
of Israel, "Amend your ways and your deeds, and I
will let you dwell in this place.
JER 7:4 "Do not trust in deceptive words,
saying, 'This is the temple of the Lord, the temple
of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.'
JER 7:5 "For if you truly amend your ways and
your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a
man and his neighbor,
JER 7:6 if you do not oppress the alien, the
orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood
in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own
ruin,
JER 7:7 then I will let you dwell in this
place, in the land that I gave to your fathers
forever and ever.
JER 7:8 "Behold, you are trusting in
deceptive words to no avail.
JER 7:9 "Will you steal, murder, and commit
adultery, and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to
Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not
known,
JER 7:10 then come and stand before Me in
this house, which is called by My name, and say,' We
are delivered!' - - that you may do all these
abominations?
JER 7:11 "Has this house, which is called by
My name, become a den of robbers in your sight?
Behold, I, even I, have seen it," declares the Lord.
JER 7:12 "But go now to My place which was in
Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at the first, and
see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My
people Israel.
JER 7:13 "And now, because you have done all
these things," declares the Lord, "and I spoke to
you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not
hear, and I called you but you did not answer,
JER 7:14 therefore, I will do to the house
which is called by My name, in which you trust, and
to the place which I gave you and your fathers, as I
did to Shiloh.
JER 7:15 "And I will cast you out of My
sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, all the
offspring of Ephraim.
JER 7:16 "As for you, do not pray for this
people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them,
and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you.
JER 7:17 "Do you not see what they are doing
in the cities of Judah and in the streets of
Jerusalem?
JER 7:18 "The children gather wood, and the
fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough
to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour
out libations to other gods in order to spite Me.
JER 7:19 "Do they spite Me?" declares the
Lord."Is it not themselves they spite, to their own
shame?"
JER 7:20 Therefore thus says the Lord God,
"Behold, My anger and My wrath will be poured out on
this place, on man and on beast and on the trees of
the field and on the fruit of the ground; and it
will burn and not be quenched."
JER 7:21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God
of Israel, "Add your burnt offerings to your
sacrifices and eat flesh.
JER 7:22 "For I did not speak to your
fathers, or command them in the day that I brought
them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt
offerings and sacrifices.
JER 7:23 "But this is what I commanded them,
saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and
you will be My people; and you will walk in all the
way which I command you, that it may be well with
you.'
JER 7:24 "Yet they did not obey or incline
their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in
the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went
backward and not forward.
JER 7:25 "Since the day that your fathers
came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have
sent you all My servants the prophets, daily rising
early and sending them.
JER 7:26 "Yet they did not listen to Me or
incline their ear, but stiffened their neck; they
did evil more than their fathers.
JER 7:27 "And you shall speak all these words
to them, but they will not listen to you; and you
shall call to them, but they will not answer you.
JER 7:28 "And you shall say to them, 'This is
the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord
their God or accept correction; truth has perished
and has been cut off from their mouth.
JER 7:29 'Cut off your hair and cast it away,
And take up a lamentation on the bare heights; For
the Lord has rejected and forsaken The generation of
His wrath.'
JER 7:30 "For the sons of Judah have done
that which is evil in My sight," declares the Lord,
"they have set their detestable things in the house
which is called by My name, to defile it.
JER 7:31 "And they have built the high places
of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of
Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in
the fire, which I did not command, and it did not
come into My mind.
JER 7:32 "Therefore, behold, days are
coming," declares the Lord, "when it will no more be
called Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom,
but the valley of the Slaughter; for they will bury
in Topheth because there is no other place.
JER 7:33 "And the dead bodies of this people
will be food for the birds of the sky, and for the
beasts of the earth; and no one will frighten them
away.
JER 7:34 "Then I will make to cease from the
cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem
the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the
voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride;
for the land will become a ruin.
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JER 8:1
"At that time," declares the Lord, "they will bring
out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones
of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and
the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the
inhabitants of Jerusalem from their graves.
JER 8:2 "And they will spread them out to the
sun, the moon, and to all the host of heaven, which
they have loved, and which they have served, and
which they have gone after, and which they have
sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not
be gathered or buried; they will be as dung on the
face of the ground.
JER 8:3 "And death will be chosen rather than
life by all the remnant that remains of this evil
family, that remains in all the places to which I
have driven them," declares the Lord of hosts.
JER 8:4 "And you shall say to them, 'Thus
says the Lord," Do men fall and not get up again?
Does one turn away and not repent?
JER 8:5 "Why then has this people, Jerusalem,
Turned away in continual apostasy? They hold fast to
deceit, They refuse to return.
JER 8:6 "I have listened and heard, They have
spoken what is not right; No man repented of his
wickedness, Saying, 'What have I done?' Everyone
turned to his course, Like a horse charging into the
battle.
JER 8:7 "Even the stork in the sky Knows her
seasons; And the turtledove and the swift and the
thrush Observe the time of their migration; But My
people do not know The ordinance of the Lord.
JER 8:8 "How can you say, 'We are wise, And
the law of the Lord is with us'? But behold, the
lying pen of the scribes Has made it into a lie.
JER 8:9 "The wise men are put to shame, They
are dismayed and caught; Behold, they have rejected
the word of the Lord, And what kind of wisdom do
they have?
JER 8:10 "Therefore I will give their wives
to others, Their fields to new owners; Because from
the least even to the greatest Everyone is greedy
for gain; From the prophet even to the priest
Everyone practices deceit.
JER 8:11 "And they heal the brokenness of the
daughter of My people superficially, Saying, 'Peace,
peace,' But there is no peace.
JER 8:12 "Were they ashamed because of the
abomination they had done? They certainly were not
ashamed, And they did not know how to blush;
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At
the time of their punishment they shall be brought
down," Declares the Lord.
JER 8:13 "I will surely snatch them away,"
declares the Lord; "There will be no grapes on the
vine, And no figs on the fig tree, And the leaf
shall wither; And what I have given them shall pass
away."' "
JER 8:14 Why are we sitting still? Assemble
yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities,
And let us perish there, Because the Lord our God
has doomed us And given us poisoned water to drink,
For we have sinned against the Lord.
JER 8:15 We waited for peace, but no good
came; For a time of healing, but behold, terror!
JER 8:16 From Dan is heard the snorting of
his horses; At the sound of the neighing of his
stallions The whole land quakes; For they come and
devour the land and its fulness, The city and its
inhabitants.
JER 8:17 "For behold, I am sending serpents
against you, Adders, for which there is no charm,
And they will bite you," declares the Lord.
JER 8:18 My sorrow is beyond healing, My
heart is faint within me!
JER 8:19 Behold, listen! The cry of the
daughter of my people from a distant land: "Is the
Lord not in Zion? Is her King not within her?" "Why
have they provoked Me with their graven images, with
foreign idols?"
JER 8:20 "Harvest is past, summer is ended,
And we are not saved."
JER 8:21 For the brokenness of the daughter
of my people I am broken; I mourn, dismay has taken
hold of me.
JER 8:22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there
no physician there? Why then has not the health of
the daughter of my people been restored?
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JER 9:1
Oh, that my head were waters, And my eyes a fountain
of tears, That I might weep day and night For the
slain of the daughter of my people!
JER 9:2 O that I had in the desert A
wayfarers' lodging place; That I might leave my
people, And go from them! For all of them are
adulterers, An assembly of treacherous men.
JER 9:3 "And they bend their tongue like
their bow; Lies and not truth prevail in the land;
For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not
know Me," declares the Lord.
JER 9:4 "Let everyone be on guard against his
neighbor, And do not trust any brother; Because
every brother deals craftily, And every neighbor
goes about as a slanderer.
JER 9:5 "And everyone deceives his neighbor,
And does not speak the truth, They have taught their
tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves
committing iniquity.
JER 9:6 "Your dwelling is in the midst of
deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me,"
declares the Lord.
JER 9:7 Therefore thus says the Lord of
hosts, "Behold, I will refine them and assay them;
For what else can I do, because of the daughter of
My people?
JER 9:8 "Their tongue is a deadly arrow; It
speaks deceit; With his mouth one speaks peace to
his neighbor, But inwardly he sets an ambush for
him.
JER 9:9 "Shall I not punish them for these
things?" declares the Lord."On a nation such as this
Shall I not avenge Myself?
JER 9:10 "For the mountains I will take up a
weeping and wailing, And for the pastures of the
wilderness a dirge, Because they are laid waste, so
that no one passes through, And the lowing of the
cattle is not heard; Both the birds of the sky and
the beasts have fled; they are gone.
JER 9:11 "And I will make Jerusalem a heap of
ruins, A haunt of jackals; And I will make the
cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."
JER 9:12 Who is the wise man that may
understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of
the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is
the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that
no one passes through?
JER 9:13 And the Lord said, "Because they
have forsaken My law which I set before them, and
have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it,
JER 9:14 but have walked after the
stubbornness of their heart and after the Baals, as
their fathers taught them, "
JER 9:15 therefore thus says the Lord of
hosts, the God of Israel, "behold, I will feed them,
this people, with wormwood and give them poisoned
water to drink.
JER 9:16 "And I will scatter them among the
nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have
known; and I will send the sword after them until I
have annihilated them."
JER 9:17 Thus says the Lord of hosts,
"Consider and call for the mourning women, that they
may come; And send for the wailing women, that they
may come!
JER 9:18 "And let them make haste, and take
up a wailing for us, That our eyes may shed tears,
And our eyelids flow with water.
JER 9:19 "For a voice of wailing is heard
from Zion, 'How are we ruined! We are put to great
shame, For we have left the land, Because they have
cast down our dwellings.'"
JER 9:20 Now hear the word of the Lord, O you
women, And let your ear receive the word of His
mouth; Teach your daughters wailing, And everyone
her neighbor a dirge.
JER 9:21 For death has come up through our
windows; It has entered our palaces To cut off the
children from the streets, The young men from the
town squares.
JER 9:22 Speak, "Thus declares the Lord, 'The
corpses of men will fall like dung on the open
field, And like the sheaf after the reaper, But no
one will gather them.'"
JER 9:23 Thus says the Lord, "Let not a wise
man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man
boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his
riches;
JER 9:24 but let him who boasts boast of
this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am
the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and
righteousness on earth; for I delight in these
things, "declares the Lord.
JER 9:25 "Behold, the days are coming,"
declares the Lord, "that I will punish all who are
circumcised and yet uncircumcised - -
JER 9:26 Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the
sons of Ammon, and Moab, and all those inhabiting
the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for
all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house
of Israel are uncircumcised of heart."
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JER 10:1
Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house
of Israel.
JER 10:2 Thus says the Lord, "Do not learn
the way of the nations, And do not be terrified by
the signs of the heavens Although the nations are
terrified by them;
JER 10:3 For the customs of the peoples are
delusion; Because it is wood cut from the forest,
The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting
tool.
JER 10:4 "They decorate it with silver and
with gold; They fasten it with nails and with
hammers So that it will not totter.
JER 10:5 "Like a scarecrow in a cucumber
field are they, And they cannot speak; They must be
carried, Because they cannot walk! Do not fear them,
For they can do no harm, Nor can they do any good."
JER 10:6 There is none like Thee, O Lord;
Thou art great, and great is Thy name in might.
JER 10:7 Who would not fear Thee, O King of
the nations? Indeed it is Thy due! For among all the
wise men of the nations, And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like Thee.
JER 10:8 But they are altogether stupid and
foolish In their discipline of delusion - - their
idol is wood!
JER 10:9 Beaten silver is brought from
Tarshish, And gold from Uphaz, The work of a
craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith; Violet
and purple are their clothing; They are all the work
of skilled men.
JER 10:10 But the Lord is the true God; He is
the living God and the everlasting King. At His
wrath the earth quakes, And the nations cannot
endure His indignation.
JER 10:11 Thus you shall say to them, "The
gods that did not make the heavens and the earth
shall perish from the earth and from under the
heavens."
JER 10:12 It is He who made the earth by His
power, Who established the world by His wisdom; And
by His understanding He has stretched out the
heavens.
JER 10:13 When He utters His voice, there is
a tumult of waters in the heavens, And He causes the
clouds to ascend from the end of the earth; He makes
lightning for the rain, And brings out the wind from
His storehouses.
JER 10:14 Every man is stupid, devoid of
knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his
idols; For his molten images are deceitful, And
there is no breath in them.
JER 10:15 They are worthless, a work of
mockery; In the time of their punishment they will
perish.
JER 10:16 The portion of Jacob is not like
these; For the Maker of all is He, And Israel is the
tribe of His inheritance; The Lord of hosts is His
name.
JER 10:17 Pick up your bundle from the
ground, You who dwell under siege!
JER 10:18 For thus says the Lord, "Behold, I
am slinging out the inhabitants of the land At this
time, And will cause them distress, That they may be
found."
JER 10:19 Woe is me, because of my injury! My
wound is incurable. But I said, "Truly this is a
sickness, And I must bear it."
JER 10:20 My tent is destroyed, And all my
ropes are broken; My sons have gone from me and are
no more. There is no one to stretch out my tent
again Or to set up my curtains.
JER 10:21 For the shepherds have become
stupid And have not sought the Lord; Therefore they
have not prospered, And all their flock is
scattered.
JER 10:22 The sound of a report! Behold, it
comes - - A great commotion out of the land of the
north - - To make the cities of Judah A desolation,
a haunt of jackals.
JER 10:23 I know, O Lord, that a man's way is
not in himself; Nor is it in a man who walks to
direct his steps.
JER 10:24 Correct me, O Lord, but with
justice; Not with Thine anger, lest Thou bring me to
nothing.
JER 10:25 Pour out Thy wrath on the nations
that do not know Thee, And on the families that do
not call Thy name; For they have devoured Jacob;
They have devoured him and consumed him, And have
laid waste his habitation.
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JER 11:1
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord,
saying,
JER 11:2 "Hear the words of this covenant,
and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem;
JER 11:3 and say to them,' Thus says the
Lord, the God of Israel, "Cursed is the man who does
not heed the words of this covenant
JER 11:4 which I commanded your forefathers
in the day that I brought them out of the land of
Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying,' Listen to My
voice, and do according to all which I command you;
so you shall be My people, and I will be your God,'
JER 11:5 in order to confirm the oath which I
swore to your forefathers, to give them a land
flowing with milk and honey, as it is this
day."'"Then I answered and said, "Amen, O Lord."
JER 11:6 And the Lord said to me, "Proclaim
all these words in the cities of Judah and in the
streets of Jerusalem, saying, 'Hear the words of
this covenant and do them.
JER 11:7 'For I solemnly warned your fathers
in the day that I brought them up from the land of
Egypt, even to this day, warning persistently,
saying, "Listen to My voice."
JER 11:8 'Yet they did not obey or incline
their ear, but walked, each one, in the stubbornness
of his evil heart; therefore I brought on them all
the words of this covenant, which I commanded them
to do, but they did not.' "
JER 11:9 Then the Lord said to me, "A
conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and
among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
JER 11:10 "They have turned back to the
iniquities of their ancestors who refused to hear My
words, and they have gone after other gods to serve
them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have broken My covenant which I made with their
fathers."
JER 11:11 Therefore thus says the Lord,
"Behold I am bringing disaster on them which they
will not be able to escape; though they will cry to
Me, yet I will not listen to them.
JER 11:12 "Then the cities of Judah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods
to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not
save them in the time of their disaster.
JER 11:13 "For your gods are as many as your
cities, O Judah; and as many as the streets of
Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the
shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.
JER 11:14 "Therefore do not pray for this
people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I
will not listen when they call to Me because of
their disaster.
JER 11:15 "What right has My beloved in My
house When she has done many vile deeds? Can the
sacrificial flesh take away from you your disaster,
