Jeremiah 1:1-21:6
GOD’S WORD Translation
The Prophet Jeremiah
1 ⌞These are⌟ the words of Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah. He was one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. 2 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah when King Josiah, son of Amon, was in his thirteenth year as king of Judah. 3 The Lord also spoke when Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, was king of Judah and during the 11 years that Zedekiah, ⌞another⌟ son of Josiah, was king of Judah. The Lord continued to speak to Jeremiah until the people of Jerusalem were taken away into captivity in the fifth month of the year.
The Lord Gives Jeremiah a Message for His People
4 The Lord spoke his word to me,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb,
I knew you.
Before you were born,
I set you apart for my holy purpose.
I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”
6 I, Jeremiah, said, “Almighty Lord, I do not know how to speak. I am only a boy!”
7 But the Lord said to me, “Don’t say that you are only a boy. You will go wherever I send you. You will say whatever I command you to say. 8 Don’t be afraid of people. I am with you, and I will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
9 Then the Lord stretched out his hand and touched my mouth. The Lord said to me,
“Now I have put my words in your mouth.
10 Today I have put you in charge of nations and kingdoms.
You will uproot and tear down.
You will destroy and overthrow.
You will build and plant.”
11 Again the Lord spoke his word to me and asked, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”
I answered, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”
12 Then the Lord said to me, “Right. I am watching to make sure that my words come true.” [a]
13 Again the Lord spoke his word to me and asked, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a boiling pot, and its top is tilted away from the north.”
14 Then the Lord said to me,
“Disaster will be poured out from the north
on all those who live in the land.
15 I am going to call every family and kingdom from the north,”
declares the Lord.
“They will come, and they will set up their thrones
at the entrance of Jerusalem’s gates.
They will attack all the walls around the city
and all the cities of Judah.
16 I will pass sentence on my people because of all their wickedness.
They abandoned me,
burned incense to other gods,
and worshiped what their hands have made.
17 Brace yourself, Jeremiah!
Stand up, and say to them whatever I tell you to say.
Don’t be terrified in their presence,
or I will make you ⌞even more⌟ terrified in their presence.
18 Today I have made you like a fortified city,
an iron pillar, and a bronze wall.
You will be able to stand up to the whole land.
You will be able to stand up to Judah’s kings,
its officials, its priests, and ⌞all⌟ the common people.
19 They will fight you, but they will not defeat you.
I am with you, and I will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
The People Continue to Reject the Lord’s Love for Them
2 The Lord spoke his word to me,
2 “Go and announce to Jerusalem,
‘This is what the Lord says:
I remember the unfailing loyalty of your youth,
the love you had for me as a bride.
I remember how you followed me into the desert,
into a land that couldn’t be farmed.
3 Israel was set apart for the Lord.
It was the best part of the harvest.
All who devoured it became guilty,
and disaster struck them,’ ” declares the Lord.
4 Listen to the Lord’s word, descendants of Jacob,
all the families in the nation of Israel.
5 This is what the Lord says:
What did your ancestors find wrong with me
that they went so far away from me?
They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.
6 They didn’t ask, “Where is the Lord,
who brought us from Egypt?
He led us through the desert,
through a wasteland and its pits,
a land of drought and the shadow of death.
No one lives there or travels there.”
7 I brought them into a fertile land
to eat its fruit and its produce.
They came and made my land unclean.[b]
They made my property disgusting.
8 The priests didn’t ask, “Where is the Lord?”
Those who deal with my teachings didn’t know me.
The rulers rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied in the name of Baal
and followed statues that couldn’t help them.
9 “That is why I am bringing charges against you,” declares the Lord,
“and I am bringing charges against your grandchildren.
10 Go over to the coasts of Cyprus, and see.
Send ⌞someone⌟ to Kedar, and observe closely.
See if there has ever been anything like this.
11 Has any nation ever exchanged gods?
(Their gods aren’t really gods.)
Yet, my people have exchanged their Glory
for something that doesn’t help them.
12 Be horrified over this, heaven.
Be terribly afraid,” declares the Lord.
13 “My people have done two things wrong.
They have abandoned me,
the fountain of life-giving water.
They have also dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that can’t hold water.
14 “Are the people of Israel slaves?
Were they born into slavery?
Why, then, have they become someone’s property?
15 Young lions have roared very loudly at them.
Young lions have turned the land into a wasteland.
The cities have been burned down, and everyone has left.
16 People from Noph and Tahpanhes have cracked your skulls, Israel.
17 You have brought this on yourself
by abandoning the Lord your God
when he led you on his way.
18 You won’t gain anything by going to Egypt
to drink water from the Nile River.
You won’t gain anything by going to Assyria
to drink water from the Euphrates River.
19 Your own wickedness will correct you,
and your unfaithful ways will punish you.
You should know and see how evil and bitter it is for you
if you abandon the Lord your God and do not fear me,”
declares the Almighty Lord of Armies.
20 “Long ago you broke off your yoke,[c] tore off your chains,
and said that you wouldn’t be a slave.
You lay down and acted like a prostitute
on every high hill and under every large tree.
21 I planted you like a choice grapevine from the very best seed.
Now you have turned against me and have become a wild vine.
22 Even if you wash with detergent and use a lot of soap,
I would still see the stains from your wickedness,”
declares the Almighty Lord.
23 “How can you say that you haven’t dishonored yourselves
and haven’t followed other gods—the Baals?
Look how you’ve behaved in the valley.
Acknowledge what you’ve done.
You are like a young camel that swiftly runs here and there.
24 You are like a wild donkey that is used to the desert,
sniffing the wind while in heat.
All who look for you won’t get tired.
They will find you during your monthly period.
25 Don’t run until your feet are bare and your throats are dry.
But you say that it’s useless.
You love foreign gods and follow them.
26 “As a thief feels ashamed when he’s caught,
so the nation of Israel will feel ashamed.
Their kings, princes, priests,
and prophets will also feel ashamed.
27 You call wood your father.
You call stone your mother.
You’ve turned your backs, not your faces, to me.
But when you’re in trouble, you ask me to come and rescue you.
28 Where are the gods that you made for yourselves?
Let them come and rescue you when you’re in trouble.
You have as many gods as you have cities, Judah!
29 “Why do you complain about me?
All of you have rebelled against me,” declares the Lord.
30 “I have punished your children without results.
They didn’t respond to correction.
You killed my prophets like a raging lion.
31 “Consider the Lord’s word, people of this generation.
Haven’t I been a desert, a land of thick darkness, for Israel?
Why do my people say that they are free to wander around
and no longer come to me?
32 A young woman can’t forget her jewelry or a bride her veils.
Yet, my people have forgotten me for countless days.
33 You carefully planned ways to look for love.
You taught your ways to wicked women.
34 You have the blood from poor and innocent people
on your clothes.
You didn’t kill them for breaking into your home.
35 In spite of all this you say, ‘I’m innocent.
God will turn his anger from me,
because I haven’t sinned.’
36 You change your mind so easily.
You will be put to shame by Egypt
as you were put to shame by Assyria.
37 You will also leave this place with your hands over your head,
because the Lord has rejected those you trust.
You will not be helped by them.”
3 A saying:
If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him and marries another man,
her first husband shouldn’t go back to her again.
The land would become thoroughly polluted.
“You have acted like a prostitute who has many lovers.
And now you want to come back to me!” declares the Lord.
2 “Look at the bare hills, and see.
You have had sex with men in every place.
You sat by the roadside waiting for them like a nomad in the desert.
You have polluted the land with your prostitution and wickedness.
3 So the rain has been withheld, and there have been no spring showers.
Yet, you have the shameless look of a prostitute,
and you refuse to blush.
4 But now you are calling to me.
You say, ‘Father! You have been my companion
ever since I was young.
5 He won’t hold a grudge forever.
He won’t always be angry.’
You have said and done all the evil things that you could.”
The Lord Offers to Forgive the Ten Tribes of Israel despite Their Idolatry
6 When Josiah was king, the Lord asked me, “Did you see what unfaithful Israel did? She went up every high mountain and under every large tree, and she acted like a prostitute there. 7 I thought that after she had done all this that she would come back to me. But she didn’t come back, and her treacherous sister Judah saw her. 8 Judah saw that I sent unfaithful Israel away because of her adultery and that I gave Israel her divorce papers. But treacherous Judah, her sister, wasn’t afraid. She also acted like a prostitute. 9 Because she wasn’t concerned about acting like a prostitute, she polluted the land and committed adultery with standing stones and wood pillars. 10 Even after all this, Israel’s treacherous sister Judah didn’t wholeheartedly come back to me. She was deceitful,” declares the Lord.
11 Then the Lord said to me, “Unfaithful Israel was less guilty than treacherous Judah. 12 Go and proclaim these things to the north:
“ ‘Come back, unfaithful Israel.
It is the Lord speaking.
I will no longer frown on you
because I’m merciful,’ declares the Lord.
‘I will no longer be angry with you.
13 Admit that you’ve done wrong!
You have rebelled against the Lord your God.
You have given yourself to strangers under every large tree.
You have not obeyed me,’ declares the Lord.
14 “Come back, you rebellious people,” declares the Lord. “I’m your husband. I will take you, one from every city and two from every family, and bring you to Zion. 15 I will give you shepherds after my own heart. They will be shepherds who feed you with knowledge and insight. 16 In those days you will be fertile, and your population will increase in the land,” declares the Lord. “People will no longer talk about the ark of the Lord’s promise. It will no longer come to mind. They won’t remember it, miss it, or make another one. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord. All nations will gather in Jerusalem because the name of the Lord will be found there. They will no longer follow their own stubborn, evil ways. 18 In those days the nation of Judah will live with the nation of Israel. They will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave their ancestors as their own property.
19 “I wanted to treat you like children
and give you a pleasant land,
the most beautiful property among the nations.
I thought that you would call me Father and wouldn’t turn away from me.
20 But like a wife who betrays her husband,
so you, nation of Israel, betrayed me,” declares the Lord.
21 The sound of crying is heard on the hills.
It is the crying and the pleading of the people of Israel.
They have become crooked
and have forgotten the Lord their God.
22 “Come back, you rebellious people,
and I will forgive you for being unfaithful.”
Here we are!
We have come to you because you are the Lord our God.
23 Truly, the noise from the hills, from the mountains,
is the noise of false worship.
Truly, the Lord our God will rescue us.
24 Ever since we were young,
the shameful worship ⌞of Baal⌟
has taken everything our ancestors worked for,
their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.
25 We must lie down in our shame
and be covered by our disgrace.
Ever since we were young, we and our ancestors have sinned
against the Lord our God.
We haven’t obeyed the Lord our God.
4 The Lord declares,
“If you come back, Israel,
if you come back to me,
if you take your disgusting idols out of my sight
and you don’t wander away from me,
2 if you take the oath, ‘As the Lord lives …’
in an honest, fair, and right way,
then the nations will be blessed,
and they will be honored by me.”
The Lord Will Bring Destruction on Judah from the North
3 This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:
Plow your unplowed fields,
and don’t plant among thorns.
4 Be circumcised by the Lord,
and get rid of the foreskins of your hearts,
people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem.
If you don’t, my fury will flare up like a fire.
It will burn, and no one will be able to put it out,
because of the evil you do.
5 Report this message in Judah.
Make it heard in Jerusalem.
Say, “Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land.”
Shout loudly and say, “Gather together!
Let’s go into the fortified cities.”
6 Raise the flag to signal people to go to Zion.
Take cover!
Don’t just stand there!
I’m bringing disaster and widespread destruction from the north.
7 A lion has come out of its lair.
A destroyer of nations has set out.
He has left his place to destroy your land.
Your cities will be ruined, and no one will live in them.
8 So put on sackcloth, mourn, and cry
because the Lord’s burning anger hasn’t turned away from us.
9 “When that day comes,” declares the Lord,
“the king and the leaders will lose their courage.
The priests will be stunned.
The prophets will be amazed and astonished.”
10 I said, “Almighty Lord,
you certainly have deceived these people and Jerusalem.
You said that everything would go well for them,
but a sword is held at their throats.”
11 At that time it will be said to these people and to Jerusalem:
“A hot wind from the heights will blow in the desert
on the tracks of my people.
It will not be a wind that winnows [d] or cleanses.
12 It will be a stronger wind than that.
It will come from me.
Now, I will pass sentence on them.”
13 The enemy comes up like clouds.
His chariots are like a raging wind.
His horses are faster than eagles.
How horrible it will be for us! We will be destroyed!
14 Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart
so that you may be rescued.
Don’t continue making evil plans.
15 A message is heard from Dan,
and a report of disaster comes from the mountains of Ephraim.
16 Warn the nations about these things.
Bring them to the attention of Jerusalem.
“Hostile troops are coming from a distant country.
They are shouting battle cries against the cities of Judah.
17 They surround them like men guarding a field,
because Judah has rebelled against me,”
declares the Lord.
18 “You brought this on yourself.
This is your punishment.
It is bitter.
It breaks your heart.”
19 My anguish, my anguish!
I writhe in pain.
My heart is beating wildly!
My heart is pounding!
I can’t keep quiet
because I hear a ram’s horn sounding the alarm for war.
20 One disaster follows another.
The whole land is ruined.
My tents are suddenly destroyed.
Their curtains are torn in an instant.
21 How long must I see the battle flag and hear the sound of rams’ horns?
22 “My people are fools. They don’t know me.
They are stupid people. They don’t understand.
They are experts in doing wrong,
and they don’t know how to do good.”
23 I see the earth. It’s formless and empty.
I see the sky. Its lights are gone.
24 I see the mountains. They are shaking,
and the hills are swaying.
25 I see that there are no people,
and every bird has flown away.
26 I see that the fertile land has become a desert,
and all its cities are torn down
because of the Lord and his burning anger.
27 This is what the Lord says:
The whole earth will be ruined,
although I will not destroy it completely.
28 The earth will mourn, and the sky will grow black.
I have spoken, and I have planned it.
I won’t change my plans, and I won’t turn back.
29 All the people in the city will flee
at the sound of riders and archers.
They will go off into the thickets
and climb among the rocks.
The entire city will be abandoned, and no one will live in it.
30 You are going to be destroyed!
What are you going to do?
Why do you dress in red and put on gold jewelry?
Why do you wear eye shadow?
You are making yourself beautiful for nothing.
Your lovers reject you; they want to kill you.
31 I hear a woman in labor.
I hear the woman cry with anguish as she gives birth to her first child.
My people Zion are gasping for breath.
They are stretching out their hands, saying,
“How horrible it is for us!
We’re defenseless in the presence of murderers!”
Judah’s Complete Rejection of the Lord
5 Walk around the streets of Jerusalem.
Look around, and think about these things.
Search the city squares.
See if you can find anyone
who does what is right and seeks the truth.
Then I will forgive Jerusalem.
2 People say, “As the Lord lives …”
Yet, they lie when they take this oath.
3 Lord, your eyes look for the truth.
You strike these people, but they don’t feel it.
You crush them, but they refuse to be corrected.
They are more stubborn than rocks.
They refuse to turn back.
4 I thought, “These are poor, foolish people.
They don’t know the way of the Lord
and the justice that God demands.
5 Let me go to important people and speak to them.
They know the way of the Lord
and the justice that God demands.”
But they, too, had broken off their yokes [e]
and torn off their chains.
6 That is why a lion from the forest will attack them.
A wolf from the wilderness will destroy them.
A leopard will lie in ambush outside their cities.
All who leave the cities will be torn to pieces,
because they rebel so often
and they become more and more unfaithful.
7 “Why should I forgive you?
Your children abandoned me.
They took godless oaths.
They committed adultery, even though I satisfied their needs.
They traveled in crowds to the houses of prostitutes.
8 They are like well-fed stallions that are wild with desire.
They neigh for their neighbors’ wives.
9 I will punish them for these things,” declares the Lord.
“I will punish this nation.
10 “Go among Jerusalem’s rows of grapevines and destroy them,
but don’t destroy all of them.
Cut off the branches because they don’t belong to the Lord.
11 The nations of Israel and Judah are unfaithful to me,”
declares the Lord.
12 They lie about the Lord and say,
“He doesn’t exist!
Nothing bad will happen to us.
We won’t experience war or famine.
13 The prophets are nothing but windbags.
The Lord hasn’t spoken through them,
so let what they say happen to them.”
14 This is what the Lord God of Armies says:
Because you’ve talked like this,
I’m going to put my words in your mouth like a fire.
These people will be like wood.
My words will burn them up.
15 Nation of Israel, I’m going to bring a nation from far away
to attack you, declares the Lord.
It is a nation that has lasted a long time.
It is an ancient nation.
You don’t know the language of this nation.
You can’t understand what its people say.
16 Their arrow quivers are like open graves.
They are all mighty warriors.
17 They will devour your harvest and your food.
They will devour your sons and your daughters.
They will devour your flocks and your cattle.
They will devour your grapevines and your fig trees.
With their swords they will destroy
the fortified cities you trust.
18 Yet, even in those days, declares the Lord,
I won’t destroy all of you.
19 They will ask, “Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?” Answer them, “You have abandoned me and served foreign gods in your land. So you will serve foreigners in a land that isn’t yours.”
20 “Tell this to the descendants of Jacob, and make this heard in Judah:
21 Hear this, you stupid and senseless people!
You have eyes, but you cannot see.
You have ears, but you cannot hear.
22 Don’t you fear me?” asks the Lord.
“Don’t you tremble in my presence?
I made the sand a boundary for the sea,
a permanent barrier that it cannot cross.
Although the waves toss continuously, they can’t break through.
Although they roar, they can’t cross it.
23 But these people are stubborn and rebellious.
They have turned aside and wandered away from me.
24 They don’t say to themselves,
‘We should fear the Lord our God.
He sends rain at the right time,
the autumn rain and the spring rain.
He makes sure that we have harvest seasons.’
25 Your wickedness has turned these things away.
Your sins have kept good things away from you.
26 “Wicked people are found among my people.
They lie in ambush like bird catchers.
They set traps and catch people.
27 Like cages filled with birds, their houses are filled with deceit.
That is why they become powerful and rich.
28 They grow big and fat.
Their evil deeds have no limits.
They have no respect for the rights of others.
They have no respect for the rights of orphans.
But they still prosper.
They don’t defend the rights of the poor.
29 I will punish them for these things,” declares the Lord.
“I will punish this nation.
30 “Something horrible and disgusting is happening in the land:
31 Prophets prophesy lies.
Priests rule under the prophets’ directions,
and my people love this.
But what will you do in the end?”
The Lord’s Rejection of Judah
6 “Take cover, people of Benjamin!
Run away from Jerusalem!
Blow the ram’s horn in Tekoa.
Raise the flag over Beth Hakkerem,
because disaster and widespread destruction
are coming from the north.
2 “My people Zion are like lovely pastures.
3 With their flocks, shepherds will come to them,
pitch their tents all around them,
and each of them will tend his own flock.
4 ⌞The shepherds say,⌟ ‘Prepare yourselves for war against Zion.
Let’s attack at noon!
How horrible it will be for us. The day is passing,
and the shadows of evening are growing longer.
5 Let’s attack at night and destroy its palaces.’ ”
6 This is what the Lord of Armies says:
Cut down its trees.
Build up dirt mounds to attack Jerusalem.
This city must be punished.
There is nothing but oppression in it.
7 As a well keeps its water fresh,
so Jerusalem keeps its evil fresh.
Violence and destruction can be heard in it.
I see that it is sick and wounded.
8 Pay attention to my warning, Jerusalem,
or I will turn away from you.
I will make your land desolate,
a land where no one will live.
9 This is what the Lord of Armies says:
Thoroughly pick through the faithful few of Israel
like someone picks through a grapevine.
Like someone picking grapes, pass your hand over its branches again.
10 Whom can I speak to?
Whom can I give a warning to?
Who will listen?
Their ears are plugged,
and they aren’t able to pay attention.
When the Lord speaks his word to them,
they show contempt for it and object to it.
11 I am filled with the anger of the Lord.
I am tired of holding it in.
“Pour it out on the children in the street
and on the gangs of young men.
A man and his wife will be taken away
as well as very old people.
12 Their households, their fields, and their wives
will be turned over to others.
I will use my power against those who live in the land,”
declares the Lord.
13 “All of them, from the least important to the most important,
are eager to make money dishonestly.
All of them, from prophets to priests, act deceitfully.
14 They treat my people’s wounds as though they were not serious, saying,
‘Everything is alright! Everything is alright!’
But it’s not alright.
15 Are they ashamed when they do disgusting things?
No, they’re not ashamed.
They don’t even know how to blush.
So they will die with those who die.
They will be brought down when I punish them,” says the Lord.
16 This is what the Lord says:
Stand at the crossroads and look.
Ask which paths are the old, reliable paths.
Ask which way leads to blessings.
Live that way, and find a resting place for yourselves.
But you said that you wouldn’t live that way.
17 I posted watchmen over you.
Pay attention to the sound of the ram’s horn.
But you said that you wouldn’t pay attention.
18 Listen, you nations,
and learn, you witnesses, what will happen to them.
19 Listen, earth!
I’m going to bring disaster on these people.
It is the result of their own plots,
because they won’t pay attention to my words.
They reject my teachings.
20 Incense that comes from Sheba is no good to me.
Sugar cane that comes from a distant land is no good to me.
I won’t accept your burnt offerings.
I’m not pleased with your sacrifices.
21 This is what the Lord says:
I’m going to lay stumbling blocks in front of these people.
Parents and children will stumble over them.
Neighbors and their friends will die.
22 This is what the Lord says:
An army is going to come from the north.
A great nation is preparing itself in the distant parts of the earth.
23 Its people take hold of bows and spears.
They are cruel and have no compassion.
They sound like the roaring sea.
They ride on horses.
They march like soldiers ready for battle
against my people Zion.
24 We have heard the news about them.
Our hands hang limp.
We are gripped by anguish and pain
like a woman giving birth to a child.
25 Don’t go into the field or walk on the road.
The enemy has a sword.
Terror is all around.
26 Wear sackcloth, and roll around in ashes, my people.
Mourn as if you have lost your only child, and cry bitterly.
The destroyer will suddenly attack us.
27 “Jeremiah, I have put you in charge of testing and refining my people.
You will know how to test their ways.
28 They are all vicious rebels.
They go around slandering.
They are all like bronze and iron.
They corrupt themselves.
29 The bellows of the blast furnace blow fiercely
to make the fire melt away the lead.
It is useless to go on refining
because the impurities can’t be removed.
30 ⌞People⌟ will call them useless silver
because the Lord has rejected them.”
Judah Trusts the Wrong Things
7 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. He said, 2 “Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house, and announce from there this message: ‘Listen to the Lord’s word, all you people of Judah who go through these gates to worship the Lord. 3 This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Change the way you live and act, and I will let you live in this place. 4 Do not trust the words of this saying, “This is the Lord’s temple, the Lord’s temple, the Lord’s temple!” It’s a lie.
5 “ ‘Suppose you really change the way you live and act and you really treat each other fairly. 6 Suppose you do not oppress foreigners, orphans, and widows, or kill anyone in this place. And suppose you do not follow other gods that lead you to your own destruction. 7 Then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I gave permanently to your ancestors long ago.
8 “ ‘You are trusting the words of a saying. It’s a lie that cannot help you. 9 You steal, murder, commit adultery, lie when you take oaths, burn incense as an offering to Baal, and run after other gods that you do not know. 10 Then you stand in my presence in the house that is called by my name. You think that you’re safe to do all these disgusting things. 11 The house that is called by my name has become a gathering place for thieves. I have seen what you are doing,’ ” declares the Lord.
12 “ ‘But go to my place that was at Shiloh, where I first made a dwelling place for my name. See what I did to Shiloh because of the evil done by my people Israel. 13 You have done the same things the people did at Shiloh,’ ” declares the Lord. “ ‘Although I spoke to you again and again, you did not listen. When I called you, you did not answer. 14 So what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that is called by my name. This is the place I gave to you and to your ancestors, the place where you feel so safe. 15 I will force you out of my sight as I forced out all your relatives, all of Ephraim’s descendants.’
16 “Jeremiah, don’t pray for these people. Don’t cry or pray for them. Don’t plead with me, because I will not listen to you. 17 Don’t you see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 Children gather wood, fathers light fires, and women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven. They pour out wine offerings to other gods in order to make me furious. 19 They aren’t really provoking me,” declares the Lord. “But they are ⌞harming⌟ themselves to their own shame.
20 “This is what the Almighty Lord says: My anger and fury will be poured out on this place, on humans and animals, and on trees and crops. My anger and fury will burn and not be put out.
21 “This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the meat. 22 When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, I did not tell them anything about burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 But I did tell them this, ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Live the way I told you to live so that things will go well for you.’ 24 But they didn’t obey me or pay attention to me. They followed their own plans and their stubborn, evil ways. They went backward and not forward. 25 From the time that your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have sent all my servants the prophets to you again and again. 26 But you didn’t obey me or pay attention to me. You became impossible to deal with, and you were worse than your ancestors.
27 “Jeremiah, you will say all these things to them, but they will not obey you. You will call to them, but they will not respond to you. 28 You will say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the Lord their God. They did not accept discipline. Truth has disappeared and vanished from their lips.’
29 “Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a song of mourning on the bare hills, because in his anger the Lord has rejected and abandoned the people of this generation. 30 The people of Judah have done what I consider evil,” declares the Lord. “They set up their detestable idols in the house that is called by my name. They have made it unclean.[f] 31 They have built worship sites at Topheth in the valley of Ben Hinnom in order to burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices. I did not ask for this. It never entered my mind.
32 “That is why the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when that place will no longer be known as Topheth or the valley of Ben Hinnom. Instead, it will be known as Slaughter Valley. They will bury ⌞people⌟ at Topheth because no other place will be left. 33 The dead bodies of these people will become food for birds and animals, and no one will be there to frighten them away. 34 In the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, I will banish the sounds of joy and happiness and the sounds of brides and grooms, because the land will be a wasteland.”
8 The Lord declares, “At that time the bones of the kings and the leaders of Judah, the bones of the priests and the prophets, and the bones of the others who lived in Jerusalem will be taken out of their graves. 2 They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon, and all the stars in the sky. These are the things that they had loved, served, gone after, sought, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered or buried, but they will become manure on the ground.
3 “Then the few who remain from these wicked people will want to die rather than live where I will scatter them,” declares the Lord of Armies.
The Lord’s Judgment on Judah’s False Religion
4 “Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
When someone falls, he gets back up.
When someone turns away from me, he returns.
5 The people of Jerusalem turned away from me without ever returning.
They still cling to deceit.
They refuse to return.
6 I have paid attention and listened,
but they weren’t honest.
They don’t turn away from their wickedness and ask,
“What have we done?”
They go their own ways like horses charging into battle.
7 Even storks know when it’s time to return.
Mourning doves, swallows, and cranes know
when it’s time to migrate.
But my people don’t know
that I, the Lord, am urging them to return.
8 “ ‘How can you say that you are wise
and that you have the Lord’s teachings?
The scribes have used their pens to turn these teachings into lies.
9 Wise people are put to shame, confused, and trapped.
They have rejected the Lord’s word.
They don’t really have any wisdom.
10 That is why I will give their wives to other men
and their fields to new owners.
All of them, from the least important to the most important,
are eager to make money dishonestly.
All of them, from prophets to priests, act deceitfully.
11 They treat my dear people’s wounds
as though they were not serious, saying,
“Everything is alright! Everything is alright!”
But it’s not alright.
12 Are they ashamed that they do disgusting things?
No, they’re not ashamed.
They don’t even know how to blush.
So they will die with those who die.
They will be brought down when I punish them,’ ” says the Lord.
13 “ ‘I would have gathered their harvest,’ ” declares the Lord,
“ ‘but there are no grapes on the vine.
There are no figs on the tree,
and the leaves have dried up.
What I have given them will be taken away.’ ”
14 Why are we just sitting here? Let’s get up!
Let’s go into the fortified cities and die there.
The Lord our God has condemned us to die.
He has given us poison to drink
because we have sinned against the Lord.
15 We hoped for peace, but nothing good has happened.
We hoped for a time of healing, but there’s only terror.
16 The snorting of horses can be heard from Dan.
The neighing of stallions makes the whole land tremble.
They are coming to devour the land and everything in it,
the city and its people.
17 “I am going to send snakes among you,
vipers that can’t be charmed.
They will bite you,” declares the Lord.
Jeremiah’s Grief over His People’s Punishment
18 Sorrow has overwhelmed me.
I am sick at heart!
19 The cry from my dear people comes from a distant land:
“Isn’t the Lord in Zion?
Isn’t Zion’s king still there?”
They make me furious with their idols, with their foreign gods.
20 The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we haven’t been saved.
21 I am crushed because my dear people have been crushed.
I mourn; terror grips me.
22 Isn’t there medicine in Gilead?
Aren’t there doctors there?
Then why hasn’t the health of my dear people been restored?
9 [g]“I wish that my head were ⌞filled with⌟ water
and my eyes were a fountain of tears
so that I could cry day and night
for my dear people who have been killed.
2 I wish I had a place to stay in the desert.
I would abandon my people and go away from them.
They are all adulterers,
a mob of traitors.
3 They use their tongues like bows that shoot arrows.
Lies and dishonesty rule the land.[h]
They go from one evil thing to another,
and they don’t know me,” declares the Lord.
4 “Beware of your neighbors.
Don’t trust your relatives.
Every relative cheats.
Every neighbor goes around slandering.
5 Everyone cheats his neighbor.
No one speaks the truth.
My people train their tongues to speak lies.
They wear themselves out doing wrong.
6 Oppression follows oppression.[i]
Deceit follows deceit.
They refuse to acknowledge me,” declares the Lord.
7 This is what the Lord of Armies says:
I will now refine them with fire and test them.
What else can I do for my dear people?
8 Their tongues are like deadly arrows.
They speak deceitfully.
People speak politely to their neighbors,
but they think of ways to set traps for them.
9 I will punish them for these things, declares the Lord.
I will punish this nation.
I still won’t be satisfied.
10 I will cry and weep for the mountains.
I will sing a funeral song for the pastures in the wilderness.
They are destroyed so that no one can travel through them.
No one can hear the sound of cattle.
Birds and cattle have fled.
They are gone.
11 I will turn Jerusalem into a pile of rubble, a home for jackals.
I will destroy the cities of Judah so that no one can live there.
12 No one is wise enough to understand this.
To whom has the Lord revealed this
so that they can explain it?
The land dies; it has been ruined like the desert
so that no one can travel through it.
13 The Lord answered,
“They’ve abandoned my teachings that I placed in front of them.
They didn’t obey me, and they didn’t follow them.
14 They followed their own stubborn ways and other gods—the Baals,
as their ancestors taught them.”
15 This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says:
I am going to feed these people bitterness
and give them poison to drink.
16 I will scatter them among nations
that they and their ancestors haven’t heard of.
I will send armies after them until I’ve wiped them out.
17 This is what the Lord of Armies says:
Consider this:
Call for the women who cry at funerals.
Send for those who are the most skilled.
18 They should come quickly and cry for us.
Our eyes will run with tears.
Our eyelids will flow with water.
19 The sound of crying is heard from Zion.
“We’re ruined! We’re very ashamed.
We must leave our land because our homes have been torn down.”
20 Listen to the Lord’s word, you women,
and open your ears to hear his words.
Teach your daughters how to cry.
Teach your neighbors funeral songs.
21 Death has come through our windows and entered our palaces.
Death has cut down the children in the streets
and the young men in the marketplaces.
22 This is what the Lord says:
Dead bodies will fall like manure on the field.
They will be like grain that has been cut but not gathered.
The Lord Is the Only True God
23 This is what the Lord says:
Don’t let wise people brag about their wisdom.
Don’t let strong people brag about their strength.
Don’t let rich people brag about their riches.
24 If they want to brag, they should brag that they understand and know me.
They should brag that I, the Lord, act out of love, righteousness,
and justice on the earth.
This kind of bragging pleases me, declares the Lord.
25 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will punish all who are circumcised.
26 I will punish Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, and Moab.
I will punish all who shave the hair on their foreheads
or live in the desert.
Even though these nations are circumcised,
all Israel has uncircumcised hearts.”
10 Listen to the message that the Lord has spoken to you, nation of Israel. 2 This is what the Lord says:
Don’t learn the practices of the nations.
Don’t be frightened by the signs in the sky
because the nations are frightened by them.
3 The religion of the people is worthless.
Woodcutters cut down trees from the forest.
The hands of craftsmen prepare them with axes.
4 Craftsmen decorate them with silver and gold
and fasten them ⌞together⌟ with hammers and nails
so that they won’t fall over.
5 These trees are like scarecrows in cucumber gardens.
They aren’t able to speak.
They have to be carried, because they can’t walk.
Don’t be afraid of them.
They can’t harm you.
They can’t do you any good either.
6 No one is like you, O Lord.
You are great.
Your name is powerful.
7 Everyone fears you, O King of the Nations.
This is what you deserve.
No one is like you among all the wise people in the nations
or in all their kingdoms.
8 They are complete idiots.
They learn nonsense from wooden idols.
9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz.
Craftsmen and goldsmiths shape these metals.
The clothing for the idols is blue and purple,
all made by skilled workers.
10 But the Lord is the only God.
He is the living God and eternal king.
The earth trembles when he is angry.
The nations can’t endure his fury.
11 Tell them this: These gods will disappear from the earth
and from under heaven because they didn’t make heaven and earth.
12 The Lord made the earth by his power.
He set up the world by his skill.
He stretched out the world by his understanding.
13 He speaks, and the water in the sky produces a storm.
He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning flash with the rain.
He brings wind out of his storehouses.
14 Everyone is stupid and ignorant.
Metalsmiths are put to shame by their idols.
Their statues are false ⌞gods⌟.
They can’t breathe.
15 They are worthless jokes.
When they are punished, they disappear.
16 Jacob’s God isn’t like them.
He made everything,
and Israel is the tribe that belongs to him.
His name is the Lord of Armies.
17 Pick up your bags. You are being blockaded.
18 This is what the Lord says:
I am going to throw out those who live in the land at this time
and cause trouble for them so that they will feel it.
19 Oh, I’m wounded!
My wound is serious.
Then I thought that this is my punishment, and I will bear it.
20 My tent is destroyed, and all my ropes are broken.
My children have left me and have disappeared.
There’s no one to set up my tent again
or put up my tent curtains.
21 The shepherds are foolish.
They don’t look to the Lord for help.
That is why they won’t succeed,
and all their flocks will be scattered.
22 The report has arrived.
A tremendous uproar is coming from the land of the north.
Its army will destroy Judah’s cities
and make them homes for jackals.
23 O Lord, I know that the way humans act is not under their control.
Humans do not direct their steps as they walk.
24 Correct me, O Lord, but please be fair.
Don’t correct me when you’re angry.
Otherwise, you’ll reduce me to nothing.
25 Pour out your fury on the nations who don’t know you
and on people who don’t worship you.
They have devoured the descendants of Jacob.
They have devoured them completely.
They have destroyed their homes.
Judah Has Disobeyed the Terms of the Lord’s Promise
11 This is the message that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah. He said, 2 “Listen to the terms of this promise,[j] and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. 3 Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Cursed is anyone who doesn’t listen to the terms of this promise. 4 I made this promise to your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, which was an iron smelter. I said, “Obey me, and do everything that I have told you to do. Then you will be my people, and I will be your God. 5 I will keep the oath I made to your ancestors and give them a land flowing with milk and honey, the land you still have today.” ’ ”
I answered, “Yes, Lord.”
6 The Lord said to me, “Announce all these things in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Listen to the terms of this promise, and keep them. 7 I solemnly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, and the warning still applies to you today. I solemnly warned them to obey me. 8 But they didn’t obey me or pay attention to me. They followed their own stubborn, evil ways. So I punished them, because they did not keep all the terms of the promise, the terms that I commanded them to keep.”
9 The Lord said to me, “Conspiracy exists among the people of Judah and among those who live in Jerusalem. 10 They’ve gone back to the evil ways of their ancestors and refused to obey my words. They are following other gods and worshiping them. The nations of Israel and Judah have rejected the promise that I made to their ancestors. 11 This is what the Lord says: I’m going to bring a disaster on them that they can’t escape. Although they will cry out to me, I won’t listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem will cry to the gods to whom they’ve been sacrificing. But these gods will never rescue them when they’re in trouble. 13 Judah, you have as many gods as you have cities. You have set up many altars ⌞in Jerusalem⌟ to sacrifice to Baal. You have as many altars as there are streets in Jerusalem. 14 Jeremiah, don’t pray for these people. Don’t cry or pray for them. I won’t listen when they call to me for help in times of trouble.
15 “What right do these people I love have to be in my house
when they do so many devious things?
Can the meat from their sacrifices turn disaster away from them?
They rejoice when they do evil.”
16 The Lord called you a large olive tree
that has beautiful fruit to look at.
He will set fire to you with a mighty storm,
and your branches will be broken.
17 The Lord of Armies planted you.
He has pronounced disaster on you.
This is because of the evil things
that Israel and Judah have done.
They have made him furious by burning incense
as an offering to Baal.
Jeremiah’s Life Is Threatened
18 The Lord revealed their plot to me so that I would understand. He showed me what they were doing. 19 I was like a trusting lamb brought to the slaughter. I didn’t know that they were plotting against me. They were saying, “Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit. Let’s cut Jeremiah off from this world of the living so that we won’t be reminded of him anymore.”
20 O Lord of Armies, you judge fairly
and test motives and thoughts.
I want to see you take revenge on them,
because I’ve brought my case to you.
21 This is what the Lord says: The people of Anathoth want to kill you. They say, “Don’t prophesy in the name of the Lord, or we’ll kill you.”
22 This is what the Lord of Armies says: I’m going to punish them. The young men will die because of war. Their sons and daughters will die because of famine. 23 I will bring a disaster on the people of Anathoth. It will be a year of punishment. There will be no survivors.
Jeremiah’s Question
12 O Lord, even if I would argue my case with you,
you would always be right.
Yet, I want to talk to you about your justice.
Why do wicked people succeed?
Why do treacherous people have peace and quiet?
2 You plant them, and they take root.
They grow, and they produce fruit.
They speak well of you with their lips, but their hearts are far from you.
3 You know me, O Lord.
You see me and test my devotion to you.
Drag them away like sheep to be slaughtered.
Prepare them for the day of slaughter.
4 How long will the land mourn?
How long will the plants in every field remain dried up?
The animals and the birds are dying,
because people are wicked.
They think that God [k] doesn’t know what they are doing.
The Lord’s Reply
5 “If you have raced against others on foot, and they have tired you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in open country,
how can you live in the jungle along the Jordan River?
6 Even your relatives and members of your father’s household betray you.
They have also formed a mob to find you.
Don’t trust them when they say good things about you.
7 “I have abandoned my nation.
I have left my own people.
I have handed the people I love over to their enemies.
8 My people have turned on me like a lion in the forest.
They roar at me, so I hate them.
9 My people are like a colorful bird of prey.
Other birds of prey surround it.
Go, gather all the animals in the field,
and bring them to devour it.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard.
They’ve trampled my property.
They’ve turned my pleasant property into a wasteland.
11 They’ve left it a wasteland.
Devastated, it mourns in my presence.
The whole land is destroyed,
but no one takes this to heart.
12 Looters swarm all over the bare hills in the desert.
The Lord’s sword destroys them
from one end of the land to the other.
No one will be safe.
13 My people planted wheat, but they harvested thorns.
They worked until they became sick, but they gained nothing by it.
They were disappointed by their harvests
because of the burning anger of the Lord.
14 “This is what I, the Lord, say about all my evil neighbors who take the inheritance that I gave my people Israel: I am going to uproot those neighbors from their lands. I will also uproot the people of Judah from among them. 15 After I’ve uprooted them, I will have compassion on them again. I will return them to their inheritance and to their lands. 16 Suppose they learn carefully the ways of my people. Suppose they take an oath in my name, ‘As the Lord lives …’ as they taught my people to take an oath in ⌞the name of⌟ Baal. Then they will build homes among my people. 17 But suppose they don’t listen. Then I will uproot that nation and destroy it,” declares the Lord.
Jeremiah’s Linen Belt
13 This is what the Lord said to me: “Buy a linen belt. Put it around your waist. Don’t let it get wet.” 2 So I bought the belt, as the Lord had told me, and put it around my waist.
3 The Lord spoke his word to me again. He said, 4 “Take the belt that you bought, the one you’re wearing. Go to the Euphrates River, and bury it there in a crack in the rocks.” 5 So I went and buried it by the Euphrates, as the Lord had told me.
6 After many days the Lord said to me, “Go to the Euphrates, and get the belt from where I told you to bury it.” 7 So I went back to the Euphrates and dug it up. I got the belt from where I had buried it. Now the belt was ruined. It was good for nothing.
8 Then the Lord spoke his word to me. He said, 9 “This is what the Lord says: This is how I will destroy Judah’s arrogance and Jerusalem’s extreme arrogance. 10 These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They go their own stubborn ways and follow other gods in order to serve them and worship them. They are like this good-for-nothing belt. 11 As a belt clings to a person’s waist, so I have made the entire nation of Israel and the entire nation of Judah cling to me,” declares the Lord. “I did this so that they would be my people and bring fame, praise, and honor to me. However, they wouldn’t listen.
12 “Give this message to them, ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Every bottle will be filled with wine.’ Then they will say to you, ‘We know that every bottle will be filled with wine.’ 13 Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I’m going to make everyone who lives in this land drunk. The kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all those who live in Jerusalem will become drunk. 14 Then I will smash them like bottles against each other. I will smash parents and children together, declares the Lord. I will have no pity, mercy, or compassion when I destroy them.’ ”
15 Listen, and pay attention!
Don’t be arrogant. The Lord has spoken.
16 Honor the Lord your God before it gets dark,
before your feet stumble on the mountains in the twilight.
You will look for light,
but the Lord will turn it into the shadow of death
and change it into deep darkness.
17 If you won’t listen,
I will cry secretly over your arrogance.
I will cry bitterly, and my eyes will flow with tears
because the Lord’s flock will be taken captive.
18 Say to the king and his mother,
“Come down from your thrones,
because your crowns have fallen off your heads.”
19 The cities in the Negev will be locked up,
and there will be no one to reopen them.
All the people of Judah will be taken away into captivity.
20 Look up, and see those who are coming from the north.
Where is the flock that was given to you—your beautiful sheep?
21 What will you say
when God makes the people you thought were your friends
your new masters?
Won’t pain grip you like a woman in labor?
22 If you ask yourself,
“Why do these things happen to me?”
it’s because you have so many sins.
Your clothes have been torn off
and your limbs are bare.
23 Can Ethiopians change the color of their skin
or leopards change their spots?
Can you do good
when you’re taught to do wrong?
24 “I will scatter you like straw that is blown away by a desert wind.
25 This is your fate, the destiny I have planned for you,”
declares the Lord.
“You have forgotten me and trusted false gods.
26 I will also tear off your clothes,
and your shame will be seen.
27 I have seen you commit adultery and squeal with delight.
I have seen you act like a shameless prostitute
on the hills and in the fields.
How horrible it will be for you, Jerusalem!
Will you ever be clean?” [l]
The Lord Sends a Drought
14 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah about the drought.
2 Judah mourns; its gates fall apart.
The people of Judah sit in mourning on the ground.
Their cry goes up from Jerusalem.
3 Important people send their assistants out for water.
They go to the cisterns, but they don’t find any water.
They come back with their containers empty.
They cover their heads, because they are ashamed and disgraced.
4 The ground is cracked because there has been no rain in the land.
The farmers are disappointed. They cover their heads.
5 Even deer in the fields give birth and abandon their young
because there’s no grass.
6 Wild donkeys stand on the bare hills.
They sniff the air like jackals.
Their eyesight fails because they have no green plants.
7 Do something, Lord, for the sake of your name,
even though our sins testify against us.
We have been unfaithful and have sinned against you.
8 You are Israel’s hope,
the one who saves it in times of trouble.
Why should you be like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler who stays only one night?
9 Why should you be like someone taken by surprise,
like a strong man who cannot help?
You, O Lord, are among us.
We are called by your name.
Don’t leave us!
10 This is what the Lord says about these people: They love to wander. They don’t keep their feet where they belong. So the Lord isn’t happy with them. He will remember their crimes and punish their sins.
11 The Lord said to me, “Don’t pray for the good of these people. 12 Even if they go without food, I won’t listen to their cries for help. Even if they sacrifice burnt offerings and grain offerings, I won’t be pleased with them. But I will destroy these people with wars, famines, and plagues.”
13 Then I said, “Almighty Lord, prophets are saying to them, ‘You won’t see wars or famines, because I, the Lord, will give you lasting peace in this place.’ ”
14 Then the Lord told me, “These are the lies that the prophets are telling in my name: They claim that I sent them, commanded them, and spoke to them. They dreamed up the visions they tell you. Their predictions are worthless. They are the products of their own imagination.
15 “I didn’t send these prophets. Yet, they prophesy in my name that there will be no wars or famines in this land. So this is what I, the Lord, say about them: Wars and famines will bring an end to these prophets. 16 The people they prophesy to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem. They will be victims of famines and wars. No one will bury them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters. I will pour on them the destruction that they deserve.
17 “Say this to them:
‘My eyes flow with tears day and night without stopping
because my dear people will suffer massive destruction.
It will be a very serious blow.’ ”
18 If I go to the field, I see those killed because of war.
If I go to the city, I see those sick because of famine.
Prophets and priests wander through a land they haven’t heard of.
19 Have you completely rejected Judah?
Do you despise Zion?
Why have you struck us so hard that we cannot heal?
We hope for peace, but no good comes from it.
We hope for a time of healing, but there’s only terror.
20 O Lord, we realize our wickedness
and the wrongs done by our ancestors.
We have sinned against you.
21 For the sake of your name, don’t despise us.
Don’t dishonor your glorious throne.
Remember your promise [m] to us; don’t break it.
22 The worthless gods of the nations can’t make it rain.
By themselves, the skies can’t give showers.
But you can, O Lord our God.
We have hope in you because you do all these things.
15 Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel were standing in front of me, I would not feel sorry for these people. Send them away from me, and let them go. 2 When they ask you where they should go, say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
Those who are destined to die will die.
Those who are destined to die in wars will die in wars.
Those who are destined to die in famines will die in famines.
Those who are destined to die in captivity will die in captivity.’
3 “I will devise four ways to punish them,” declares the Lord. “I will send swords to kill, dogs to drag away, and birds and animals to devour and destroy. 4 I will make these people a horrifying sight to all the kingdoms on the earth. This will happen because of what Judah’s King Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, did in Jerusalem.
5 No one will take pity on you, Jerusalem.
No one will mourn for you.
No one will bother to ask how you are doing.
6 You have left me,” declares the Lord.
“You have turned your back on me.
So I will use my power against you and destroy you.
I’m tired of showing compassion to you.
7 “I will separate them with a winnowing [n] shovel at the city gates.
I will make them childless.
I will destroy my people because they will not change their ways.
8 Their widows will be more numerous
than the grains of sand on the seashore.
At noontime I will send a destroyer against the mothers of young men.
I will suddenly bring anguish and terror to them.
9 A mother who gives birth to seven sons will grow faint
and breathe her last.
She will die, ashamed and humiliated,
while it is still daylight.
I will put survivors from these people to death
in the presence of their enemies,” declares the Lord.
Jeremiah Complains Bitterly
10 I’m so miserable! Why did my mother give birth to me?
I am a man who argues and quarrels with the whole earth.
I have never lent or borrowed anything.
Yet, everyone curses me.
11 The Lord said,
“I will certainly rescue you for a good reason.
I will certainly make your enemies plead with you
in times of disaster and in times of distress.
12 (No one can break iron, iron from the north, or bronze.)
13 I will give away your wealth and treasures as loot
as the price for all the sins that you have committed
throughout your territory.
14 I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you haven’t heard of,
because my anger has started a fire.
It will burn you.”
15 O Lord, you understand.
Remember me, take care of me,
and take revenge on those who persecute me.
Be patient, and don’t take me away.
You should know that I’ve been insulted because of you.
16 Your words were found, and I devoured them.
Your words are my joy and my heart’s delight,
because I am called by your name, O Lord God of Armies.
17 I didn’t keep company with those who laugh and have fun.
I sat alone because your hand was on me.
You filled me with outrage.
18 Why is my pain unending
and my wound incurable, refusing to heal?
Will you disappoint me like a stream
that dries up in summertime?
19 This is what the Lord says:
If you will return, I will take you back.
If you will speak what is worthwhile and not what is worthless,
you will stand in my presence.
The people will return to you, but you will not return to them.
20 I will make you like a solid bronze wall in front of these people.
They will fight you, but they will not defeat you.
I am with you, and I will save you and rescue you,
declares the Lord.
21 I will rescue you from the power of wicked people
and free you from the power of tyrants.
The Lord Tells Jeremiah Not to Marry
16 The Lord spoke his word to me. He said, 2 “Don’t marry! Don’t have any sons or daughters in this place! 3 This is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters born in this place and about the mothers and fathers who have children in this land: 4 They will die horrible deaths. No one will mourn for them or bury them. They will be like manure on the ground. Wars and famines will bring them to an end. Their bodies will be food for birds and animals.
5 “This is what the Lord says: Don’t go into a house where people are grieving. Don’t go to mourn or to grieve for them. I’m taking my peace, love, and compassion away from these people,” declares the Lord. 6 “Old and young alike will die in this land. No one will mourn for them or bury them. No one will cut his own body or shave his own head for them. 7 No one will offer food to comfort those who mourn the dead. No one will give a consoling drink to those who have lost their fathers or mothers.
8 “Don’t even go into a home where there is a banquet. Don’t sit with them to eat and drink. 9 This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I’m going to put a stop to the sounds of joy and happiness and the sounds of brides and grooms in this place. This will happen in your lifetime, while you watch.
10 “When you tell the people all these things, they will ask you, ‘Why does the Lord threaten us with all these disasters? What have we done wrong? How have we sinned against the Lord our God?’ 11 Then say to them, ‘It’s because your ancestors abandoned me, declares the Lord. They followed other gods, served them, worshiped them, and abandoned me. They didn’t obey my teachings. 12 You have done worse than your ancestors. All of you are following your own stubborn, evil ways that keep you from obeying me. 13 So I will throw you out of this land into a land that you and your ancestors haven’t heard of. There you will serve other gods day and night because I will no longer have pity on you.’
14 “That is why the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when people will no longer begin an oath with, ‘The Lord brought the people of Israel out of Egypt. As the Lord lives….’ 15 But they will say, ‘The Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of the north and all the lands where he had scattered them. As the Lord lives….’ They will say this because I will bring them back to the land that I gave their ancestors.
16 “I’m going to send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch the people of Israel. After that, I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt for them on every mountain and hill and even in the cracks in the rocks. 17 I see everything that they do. They can’t hide anything from me. Their wickedness can’t be hidden; I can see it. 18 First, I will have them pay twice as much for their wickedness and their sin, because they have polluted my land. They have filled my property with the lifeless statues of their detestable and disgusting idols.”
19 The Lord is my strength and my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble.
Nations come to you from the most distant parts of the world
and say, “Our ancestors have inherited lies,
worthless and unprofitable gods.”
20 “People can’t make gods for themselves.
They aren’t really gods.
21 That is what I will teach them.
This time I will make my power and my strength known to them.
Then they will know that my name is the Lord.”
17 ⌞The Lord says,⌟ “Judah’s sin is written with an iron pen.
It is engraved with a diamond point
on the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.
2 Even their children remember their altars
and their poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah
beside large trees on high hills
3 and on mountains in the open country.[o]
I will turn your wealth and all your treasures into loot.
I will do this because of your worship sites and your sin
throughout all your territory.
4 You will lose the inheritance that I gave you.
I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you haven’t heard of.
I will do this because you have stirred up the fire of my anger.
It will burn forever.
5 “This is what the Lord says:
Cursed is the person who trusts humans,
who makes flesh and blood his strength
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 He will be like a bush in the wilderness.
He will not see when something good comes.
He will live in the dry places in the desert,
in a salty land where no one can live.
7 Blessed is the person who trusts the Lord.
The Lord will be his confidence.
8 He will be like a tree that is planted by water.
It will send its roots down to a stream.
It will not be afraid in the heat of summer.
Its leaves will turn green.
It will not be anxious during droughts.
It will not stop producing fruit.
9 “The human mind is the most deceitful of all things. It is incurable.
No one can understand how deceitful it is.
10 I, the Lord, search minds and test hearts.
I will reward each person for what he has done.
I will reward him for the results of his actions.
11 A person who gets rich dishonestly is like a partridge
that hatches eggs it did not lay.
During his lifetime, he will lose his wealth.
In the end, he will be a godless fool.”
12 Our holy place is a glorious throne,
highly honored from the beginning.
13 O Lord, the Hope of Israel, all who abandon you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in dust,
because they abandon the Lord,
the fountain of life-giving water.
14 Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed.
Rescue me, and I will be rescued.
You are the one I praise.
15 People keep asking me,
“Where is the Lord’s word?
Let it come.”
16 I have not run away from being your shepherd,
and I have not longed for the day of destruction.
You know what came out of my mouth.
17 Do not terrorize me.
You are my refuge on the day of disaster.
18 Put my persecutors to shame,
but do not let me be put to shame.
Terrify them,
but do not let me be terrified.
Bring the day of disaster on them,
and destroy them completely.
The Blessing That Comes from Observing the Day of Rest as a Holy Day
19 This is what the Lord said to me: Stand at People’s Gate, where the kings of Judah go in and out. Then stand at every gate in Jerusalem. 20 Tell everyone: “Listen to the Lord’s word, you kings of Judah, all the people of Judah, and all those who live in Jerusalem, and go through these gates. 21 This is what the Lord says: Watch out! If you value your lives, do not carry anything on the day of rest—a holy day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Do not bring anything out of your homes on the day of rest. Do not do any work, but observe the day of rest as a holy day, as I told your ancestors. 23 Your ancestors did not obey me or pay attention to me. They were impossible to deal with and would not listen or accept discipline.
24 “Now,” declares the Lord, “you must listen to me and not bring anything through the gates of this city on the day of rest. You must observe the day of rest as a holy day by not doing any work on it. 25 If you do this, then the kings and princes who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this city. They and their princes will ride in chariots and on horses along with the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. This city will always have people living in it.
26 “People will come from the cities of Judah, from all around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin, from the foothills, from the mountains, and from the Negev. They will bring burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, and incense. They will also bring thank offerings to the Lord’s temple. 27 But you must listen to me and observe the day of rest as a holy day by not carrying anything through the gates of Jerusalem on the day of rest. If you don’t do this, I will set its gates on fire. The fire will burn down the palaces in Jerusalem, and you won’t be able to put it out.”
The People of Israel Are Like Clay for a Potter
18 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. He said, 2 “Go to the potter’s house. There I will give you my message.”
3 I went to the potter’s house, and he was working there at his wheel. 4 Whenever a clay pot he was working on was ruined, he would rework it into a new clay pot the way he wanted to make it.
5 The Lord spoke his word to me. The Lord asked, 6 “Nation of Israel, can’t I do with you as this potter does with clay? Nation of Israel, you are like the clay in the potter’s hands.
7 “At one time I may threaten to tear up, break down, and destroy a nation or a kingdom. 8 But suppose the nation that I threatened turns away from doing wrong. Then I will change my plans about the disaster I planned to do to it.
9 “At another time I may promise to build and plant a nation or a kingdom. 10 But suppose that nation does what I consider evil and doesn’t obey me. Then I will change my plans about the good that I promised to do to it.
11 “Now say to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: I’m going to prepare a disaster and make plans against you. Turn from your evil ways, change your lives, and do good.’
12 “But they will answer, ‘It’s useless! We’ll live the way we want to. We’ll go our own stubborn, evil ways.’
13 “This is what the Lord says:
Ask among the nations if anyone has ever heard anything like this.
The people of Israel have done a very horrible thing.
14 The rocky slopes of Lebanon are never without snow.
The cool mountain streams never dry up.
15 But my people have forgotten me.
They burn incense as an offering to worthless idols,
and they stumble along the way, on the ancient path.
They go on side roads and not on major highways.
16 Their land will become desolate
and something to be hissed at forever.
Everyone who will pass by it will be stunned and shake his head.
17 Like the east wind I will scatter them in front of the enemy.
On the day of their disaster,
I will show them my back, not my face.”
18 Then they said, “Let’s plot against Jeremiah, because the teachings of the priests, the advice of wise people, and the word of the prophets won’t disappear. Accuse him! Pay no attention to anything he says.”
19 Pay attention to me, O Lord,
and listen to what my accusers say.
20 Good should not be paid back with evil.
They dig a pit to take my life.
Remember how I stood in your presence and pleaded for them
in order to turn your anger away from them.
21 Now, hand their children over to famine.
Pour out their ⌞blood⌟ by using your sword.
Then their wives will become childless widows.
Their husbands will be put to death.
Their young men will be struck down in battle.
22 Make them cry out from their homes
when you suddenly send troops against them,
because they dug a pit to catch me and hid snares for my feet.
23 But you, O Lord, know that they plan to kill me.
Don’t forgive their crimes.
Don’t wipe their sins out of your sight.
Make them stumble in your presence.
Deal with them when you get angry.
Israel Will Be Smashed Like a Clay Jar
19 This is what the Lord says: Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take along some of the leaders of the people and some of the leaders of the priests. 2 Go to the valley of Ben Hinnom at the entrance to Potsherd Gate. Announce there the things I plan to do. 3 Say, “Listen to the Lord’s word, you kings of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I’m going to bring such a disaster on this place that the ears of everyone who hears about it will ring.
4 “The people, their ancestors, and the kings of Judah have abandoned me. They have made this place unrecognizable by burning incense as an offering to other gods that they hadn’t heard of. They have filled this place with the blood of innocent people. 5 They have built worship sites to burn their children as sacrifices to Baal. I didn’t ask them or command them to do this. It never entered my mind.
6 “That is why the days are coming, declares the Lord, when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben Hinnom. Instead, it will be called Slaughter Valley. 7 I will smash the plans of Judah and Jerusalem in this place. I will cut them down with swords in front of their enemies and with the hands of those who want to kill them. I will give their bodies as food to birds and to animals. 8 I will devastate this city. It will become something to hiss at. Everyone who goes by it will be stunned and hiss with contempt at all the disasters that happen to it. 9 I will make the people eat the flesh of their sons and daughters. They will eat each other’s flesh during blockades and hardships that their enemies impose on them when they want to kill them.”
10 ⌞The Lord says,⌟ “Then smash the jar in front of the men who went with you. 11 Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says: I will smash these people and this city as this potter’s jar was smashed beyond repair. They will bury ⌞the dead⌟ in Topheth until there’s no other place to bury them. 12 That’s what I will do to this place and to those who live in it, declares the Lord. I will make this city like Topheth. 13 The houses in Jerusalem, the houses of the kings of Judah, and all the rooftops of the houses will be unclean [p] like this city Topheth. This is because people burned incense to the entire army of heaven and poured out wine offerings to other gods.’ ”
14 Then Jeremiah left Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy. He stood in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple and said to all the people, 15 “This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I’m going to bring on this city and on all its towns the disasters that I threatened. They’ve become impossible to deal with, and they refuse to obey me.”
Pashhur Imprisons Jeremiah
20 Now the priest, Immer’s son Pashhur, the chief officer of the Lord’s temple, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2 Pashhur struck the prophet Jeremiah and put him in prison at Upper Benjamin Gate that was in the Lord’s temple.
3 The next day when Pashhur took Jeremiah out of prison, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord doesn’t call you Pashhur, but he calls you Terror Everywhere. 4 This is what the Lord says: I’m going to make you terrify yourself and all your friends. Their enemies’ swords will kill them, and you will see it with your own eyes. I will hand all of Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will take the people away as captives to Babylon or kill them with swords. 5 I will hand all the riches of this city over to their enemies. This will include all its produce, all its valuables, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. Their enemies will loot them, take them away, and bring them to Babylon. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all those who live in your house will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon, and you will die there. You will be buried there together with all your friends to whom you prophesied these lies.”
Jeremiah Prays to the Lord
7 O Lord, you have deceived me, and I was deceived.
You overpowered me and won.
I’ve been made fun of all day long.
Everyone mocks me.
8 Each time I speak, I have to cry out and shout,
“Violence and destruction!”
The Lord’s word has made me the object of insults
and contempt all day long.
9 I think to myself, “I can forget the Lord
and no longer speak his name.”
But ⌞his word⌟ is inside me like a burning fire shut up in my bones.
I wear myself out holding it in, but I can’t do it any longer.
10 I have heard many ⌞people⌟ whispering,
“Terror is everywhere!
Report him! Let’s report him!”
All my closest friends are waiting to see me stumble.
They say, “Maybe he will be tricked.
Then we can overpower him and take revenge on him.”
11 But the Lord is on my side like a terrifying warrior.
That is why those who persecute me will stumble. They can’t win.
They will be very ashamed that they can’t succeed.
Their eternal shame will not be forgotten.
12 But the Lord of Armies examines the righteous.
He sees their motives and thoughts.
I want to see you take revenge on them,
because I’ve brought my case to you.
13 Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord!
He has rescued the lives of needy people
from the power of wicked people.
14 Cursed is the day that I was born,
the day that my mother gave birth to me.
May it not be blessed.
15 Cursed is the man who made my father very happy with the news
that he had just become the father of a baby boy.
16 May that man be like the cities
that the Lord destroyed without pity.
May he hear a cry of alarm in the morning
and a battle cry at noon.
17 If only he had killed me while I was in the womb.
Then my mother would have been my grave,
and she would have always been pregnant.
18 Why did I come out of the womb?
All I’ve seen is trouble and grief.
I will finish my days in shame.
Jerusalem Will Be Captured by the Babylonians
21 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur, son of Malchiah, and the priest Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah. They said, 2 “Consult the Lord for us, because King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is attacking us. Maybe the Lord will perform miracles for us so that Nebuchadnezzar will retreat.”
3 Jeremiah responded to them, “This is what you should say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: I’m going to take your weapons away from you. You are using these weapons to fight the king of Babylon as well as the Babylonians who are now blockading you outside the wall. I will bring the Babylonians inside this city. 5 I will fight you in anger, fury, and rage with my powerful hand and my mighty arm. 6 I will defeat those who live in this city, both people and animals. They will die from a terrible plague.
Footnotes
- 1:11–12 There is a play on words here between Hebrew shaked (almond tree ) and shoked (watching ).
- 2:7 “Unclean ” refers to anything that Moses’ Teachings say is not presentable to God.
- 2:20 A yoke is a wooden bar placed over the necks of work animals so that they can pull plows or carts.
- 4:11 Winnowing is the process of separating husks from grain.
- 5:5 A yoke is a wooden bar placed over the necks of work animals so that they can pull plows or carts.
- 7:30 “Unclean ” refers to anything that Moses’ Teachings say is not presentable to God.
- 9:1 Jeremiah 9:1–26 in English Bibles is Jeremiah 8:23–9:25 in the Hebrew Bible.
- 9:3 Greek; Masoretic Text “They bend their tongue. Their bow is falsehood. And not for truth are they strong in the land.”
- 9:6 Greek; Masoretic Text “Your sitting is in the midst of deceit.”
- 11:2 Or “covenant.”
- 12:4 Greek; Masoretic Text “he.”
- 13:27 “Clean ” refers to anything that Moses’ Teachings say is presentable to God.
- 14:21 Or “covenant.”
- 15:7 Winnowing is the process of separating husks from grain.
- 17:3 Greek; Masoretic Text “on my mountain.”
- 19:13 “Unclean ” refers to anything that Moses’ Teachings say is not presentable to God.
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