Jeremiah 1:1-21:6
Tree of Life Version
The Call of Jeremiah
1 The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the kohanim who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. 2 The word of Adonai came to him during the days of King Josiah of Judah, son of Amon, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It continued during the days of King Jehoiakim of Judah, son of Josiah, until the end of the eleventh year of King Zedekiah of Judah, son of Josiah—until the exile from Jerusalem in the fifth month.
4 The word of Adonai came to me, saying:
5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you,
and before you were born, I set you apart—
I appointed you prophet to the nations.”
6 Then I said, “Alas, Adonai Elohim!
Look, I don’t know how to speak!
For I’m still a boy!”
7 But Adonai answered me,
“Do not say ‘I’m only a boy!’
For to everyone I send you, you will go,
and all I command you, you will speak.
8 Do not be afraid of them!
For I am with you to deliver you.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
9 Then Adonai stretched out His hand and touched my mouth and Adonai said to me,
“Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
10 See, today I have appointed you over nations and over kingdoms:
to uproot and to tear down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”
11 Moreover, the word of Adonai came to me, saying, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
I answered, “I see an almond branch.”
12 Then Adonai said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching over[a] My word to perform it.”
13 The word of Adonai came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?”
I replied, “I see a boiling pot that is tilting away from the north.”
14 Then Adonai said to me:
“From the north, disaster will be poured out
on all the inhabitants of the land.
15 Behold! I am calling all the families
of the kingdoms of the north.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
“So they will come and each will set up his throne
at the entry of the gates of Jerusalem,
against all her surrounding walls
and against all the cities of Judah.
16 I will pronounce My judgments on them for all their wickedness—
they have forsaken Me,
offering incense to other gods,
worshipping the works of their hands.
17 Now, you, gird up your loins!
Get up and tell them everything that I order you!
Do not be terrified by them,
or else I will terrify you before them.
18 Look, today I have set you up
as a fortified city—
an iron pillar and bronze walls—
against the whole land,
against the kings of Judah, its princes
against its kohanim,
and against the people of the land.
19 Though they will fight against you,
they will not win,
for I am with you, to deliver you.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
Judah Rebuked for Her Sins
2 Again the word of Adonai came to me, saying: 2 “Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, thus says Adonai:
I remember the devotion of your youth,
your love as a bride,
and the way you followed Me in the wilderness,
in a land not sown.
3 Israel was kadosh to Adonai,
the firstfruits of the harvest.[b]
All who devoured him were held guilty.
Catastrophe overtook them.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
4 Hear the word of Adonai, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says Adonai:
“What fault did your fathers find in Me
that they strayed so far from Me?
They walked after worthless things,
becoming worthless themselves?[c]
6 They did not ask ‘Where is Adonai,
who brought us up from the land of Egypt
and led us through the wilderness,
through a land of deserts and rifts,
through a land of drought and distress,
through a land where no one travels,
where no one lives?’
7 Yet I brought you into a fertile land,
to eat of its fruit and goodness.
When you came, you defiled My land.
You made My heritage an abomination.
8 The kohanim did not ask,
‘Where is Adonai?’
The Torah experts did not know Me.
The shepherds rebelled against Me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal
and went after unprofitable things.
9 Therefore I will plead with you again!”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
“I will contend with your children’s children.
10 Cross to the coasts of Kittim[d] and see!
Send to Kedar, and observe carefully.
See if there has been anything like this.
11 Has a nation changed its gods—
even though they are not gods?
Yet My people have exchanged their glory
for worthless things.
12 Be appalled at this, O heavens!
Be utterly horrified and dumbfounded.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
13 “My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me
—the spring of living water—
and they dug their own cisterns—
cracked cisterns that hold no water.
14 Is Israel a servant—a slave by birth?
Then why has he become plunder?
15 Young lions have roared at him
they have roared loudly.
They made his land a waste—
his cities are in ruins and uninhabited.
16 Even the sons of Noph and Tahpanhes
have grazed on the crown of your head.
17 Have you not brought this on yourself,
when He led you in the way?
18 But now, what is on the road to Egypt?
Drinking the waters of the Nile?
Or what is on the road to Assyria?
Drinking the waters of the Euphrates?
19 Your own wickedness will rebuke you
and your backslidings will chide you.
Know then and see
how bad and bitter it is for you
to forsake Adonai your God.
Nor is fear of Me in you.”
It is a declaration of the Lord Adonai-Tzva’ot.
20 “Indeed, long ago I broke your yoke
and tore off your bonds.
You said, ‘I will not serve!’
Instead, on every high hill
and under every green tree
you sprawled out as a prostitute.
21 Yet I had planted you as a choice vine
from completely faithful seed.
How then did you become to Me
a wandering wild vine?
22 Even though you wash with lye
and use an abundance of soap,
the stain of your iniquity is before Me.”
It is a declaration of the Lord Adonai.
23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled—
I have not gone after the Baalim[e]?
Look at your behavior in the Valley!
Recognize what you have done.
You are a swift young camel
galloping aimlessly,
24 a wild donkey used to the wilderness—
sniffing the wind in her passion—
in her heat, who can restrain her?
All males that pursue her will not tire themselves.
At mating time they will find her.
25 Do not run while your feet are bare
and your throat is thirsty.
But you said ‘There is no hope!
No! For I have loved foreign gods
and I will go after them.’
26 As a thief is shamed when caught,
so the house of Israel is shamed—
they, their kings, their princes,
their kohanim and their prophets.
27 They say to wood, ‘You are my father’
and to a stone, ‘You birthed me.’
They have turned their back to Me
and not their face.
Yet when they are in trouble
they say, ‘Rise up and save us!’
28 Where are your gods that you made for yourself?
Let them come—if they can save you
when you are in trouble!
For you have as many gods
as you have cities, O Judah.
29 Why do you strive with Me?
You have all rebelled against Me.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
30 “In vain I struck your children.
They took no correction.
Your sword devoured your prophets
like a ravaging lion.”
31 You, generation, heed Adonai’s word!
“Have I been a wilderness to Israel
or a land of thick darkness?
Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam.
We won’t come to You any more’?
32 Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
or a bride her attire?
Yet My people have forgotten Me,
days without number.
33 How clever are your ways of seeking love.
Therefore you even taught wicked women your ways.
34 Moreover on your skirts is found
the blood of the innocent poor
—you did not find them breaking in.
Yet in spite of all these things,
35 you say, ‘I am innocent—
surely His anger is turned away from me?’
See, I will pass judgment on you,
since you say: ‘I haven’t sinned!’
36 Why do you make light of
changing your way?
You will be put to shame by Egypt
as you were put to shame by Assyria.
37 You will also go out from there
with your hands on your head.
For Adonai has rejected those in whom you trust—
you will not prosper by them.”
Unfaithful Judah and Unfaithful Israel
3 “If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him to be with another man,
will he return to her again?
Would not such a land be totally polluted?
You are a prostitute with many lovers.
Now are you returning to Me?”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
2 “Lift your eyes to the barren hills and see!
Where have you not been violated?
By the wayside you sat waiting for them
like a nomad in the desert.
You have polluted the land
with your prostitution and wickedness.
3 Therefore showers have been withheld
and there has been no spring rain.
You have a harlot’s brazen look;
you refuse to be ashamed.
4 Did you not just now call to Me:
‘Avi! You are a friend of my youth.
5 Would He keep a grudge forever?
Would He keep it to the end?’
So you said—
yet you have done
all the evil things you could.”
6 Then Adonai said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what backsliding Israel did? She went up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there she committed adultery. 7 Yet I thought that after she had done all this she would return to Me. But she did not return. Even her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. 8 I noted that when backsliding Israel committed adultery I sent her away and gave her a certificate of divorce. Yet, unfaithful Judah, her sister, did not fear. Instead she also went and committed adultery. 9 It happened that through her frivolous prostitution, she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and with wood. 10 Yet after all this her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to Me with her whole heart, but only insincerely,”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
11 Then Adonai said to me, “Backsliding Israel has proved herself more righteous than unfaithful Judah. 12 Go! Proclaim these words toward the north, saying:
“Return backsliding Israel,” says Adonai.
“I will no longer frown on you,
for I am merciful,” says Adonai.
“I will not keep a grudge forever.
13 Only acknowledge your iniquity.
For you sinned against Adonai your God
and scattered your favors to foreign gods
under every green tree.
You have not obeyed My voice.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
Call to Backsliding Children
14 “Return, O backsliding children,” declares Adonai.
“For I am your Husband.
I will choose you—
one from a city and two from a clan—
and will bring you to Zion.
15 I will give you shepherds after My own heart
who will feed you knowledge and understanding.
16 It will be in those days when you multiply
and become fruitful in the land.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
“They will no longer talk about the ark of the covenant of Adonai, nor will it come to mind or be remembered. Neither will it be missed or another one made again. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of Adonai and all the nations will gather into it, to Jerusalem, in the Name of Adonai. No longer will they walk according to the stubbornness of their evil heart. 18 In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel. They will come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.”
19 “Then I Myself said:
‘How gladly would I make you sons
and give you a pleasant land—
the most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’
I thought you would call Me—Avi!—
and would not turn from following Me.
20 Yet as a woman betrays her lover,
so have you betrayed Me, O house of Israel.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
21 A voice is heard on the barren hills
—the weeping and supplication of the children of Israel—
because they perverted their way
and forgot Adonai their God.
22 “Return, backsliding children!
I will heal your backsliding.”
“Yes, we will come to You
for You are Adonai Eloheinu.
23 Surely help from the hills is a delusion—
the commotion of the mountains!
Surely in Adonai Eloheinu
is the salvation of Israel.
24 But the shame has consumed
the labor of our fathers since our youth—
their flocks and their herds,
their sons and their daughters.
25 Let’s lie down with our shame
and let our disgrace cover us!
For we have sinned against Adonai Eloheinu
—both we and our fathers—
from our youth even to this day.
We have not paid attention to
the voice of Adonai Eloheinu.”
4 “If you will return, O Israel,
return to Me,” declares Adonai.
“If you will put your detestable things out of My sight.
Then you will not waver.
2 You will swear, ‘As Adonai lives!’
in truth, in justice and in righteousness.
The nations will bless themselves in Him
and in Him they will glory.”
3 Thus says Adonai to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:
“Break up your unplowed ground
and do not sow among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to Adonai
and remove the foreskins of your heart,
men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Else My wrath will break out like fire and blaze,
with no one to quench it,
because of your evil deeds!”
Imminent Invasion from the North
5 Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, saying:
“Blow the shofar in the land!”
Cry aloud and say,
“Assemble yourselves!
Let us go into the fortified cities.”
6 “Raise a banner toward Zion!
Take refuge! Do not delay!
For I bring calamity from the north,
even terrible destruction.
7 A lion has come up from his thicket—
a destroyer of nations has set out.
He has left his place
to make your land a wasteland.
Your cities will lie in ruins,
without inhabitant.
8 Therefore, put on sackcloth—
lament and wail!
For the fierce anger of Adonai
has not turned away from us.”
9 “It will happen in that day”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“that the king’s heart will fail,
as will the heart of the princes.
The kohanim will be appalled,
and the prophets will be stunned.”
10 Then I said, “Alas, Adonai Elohim! How completely You have deceived this people and Jerusalem saying, ‘You will have shalom,’ until the sword touches the soul!”
11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A scorching wind from the barren hills in the wilderness blows toward My people, but not to winnow or to sift— 12 a wind too strong for these things will come from Me. Now even I will pronounce judgments against them.”
13 See, he comes up like clouds,
and his chariots like whirlwinds.
His horses are swifter than eagles—
“Oy! We are ruined!”
14 O Jerusalem, purify your heart from wickedness, so that you may be saved.
How long will your wicked thoughts lodge within you?
15 A voice announces from Dan
and proclaims calamity from the hills of Ephraim,
16 “Remind the nations,
proclaim over Jerusalem!
Besiegers are soon coming from a far country,
raising their voice against the cities of Judah.
17 Like keepers of a field they surround her,
because she has been rebellious against Me.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
18 Your conduct and your deeds
have brought these things on you.
This is your calamity!
How bitter it is!
How it smites your heart!
19 My stomach, my stomach!
I writhe in anguish!
The pain of my heart!
My heart is pounding within me!
I cannot keep silent
because I have heard, O my soul,
the sound of the shofar,
the battle-cry of war.
20 Disaster on disaster is reported.
So the whole land is ruined.
My tents are suddenly ravaged,
my curtains in an instant.
21 How long must I see the battle standard
and hear the sound of the shofar?
22 “For My people are foolish.
They do not know Me.
They are senseless children,
and they have no understanding.
They are wise to do evil,
but to do good they do not know.”
23 I looked at the earth and behold,
it was deserted and desolate,
and at the heavens
and they had no light.
24 I looked at the mountains—
behold, they were shaking
and all the hills swaying to and fro.
25 I looked and behold, no people!
All the birds of the sky had fled.
26 I looked and behold, the fruitful field was a wilderness
and all of its cities were in ruins
before Adonai, before His fierce anger.
27 For thus says Adonai,
“The whole land will be wasteland,
yet I will not totally destroy it.
28 Therefore, the earth will mourn
and the heavens above grow black.
For I have spoken, I have purposed,
nor will I relent, nor turn from it.
29 At the sound of horsemen and archers
the whole city flees.
They go into the thickets
and climb up on the rocks.
The whole city is deserted—
no one dwells in it.
30 And you, O desolate one, what will you do?
Though you dress in scarlet,
though you adorn yourself with gold ornaments
though you enlarge your eyes with paint—
in vain
you make yourself beautiful—
your lovers despise you,
they seek your life.
31 For I heard a cry like one in labor,
the anguish of one giving birth to her first child—
the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands saying,
“Oy, now to me!
For my soul faints
before murderers.”
God’s Just Judgment
5 Roam the streets of Jerusalem,
look around and consider,
search through her squares!
If you can find a person,
if there is one who does justice,
who seeks truth,
then I will pardon the city.
2 Though they say, “As Adonai lives!”
surely they swear falsely.
3 Adonai, do Your eyes not look for faithfulness?
You struck them, but they did not grieve.
You disciplined them, but they refused correction.
They made their faces harder than stone.
They refused to return.
4 Then I said:
These are only the poor.
They are foolish.
For they do not know the way of Adonai,
the ordinance of their God.
5 I will go to the distinguished
and speak to them.
Surely they know the way of Adonai,
the ordinance of their God.
But they too had broken the yoke
and torn off the bonds.
6 Therefore a lion from the forest will kill them.
A desert wolf will ravage them.
A leopard watches over their cities.
Everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces,
For their rebellion is great,
their backslidings frequent.
7 “Why therefore should I forgive you?
Your children have forsaken Me
and sworn by those who are not gods.
Even though I fed them well,
they committed adultery
and thronged to the prostitute houses.
8 They are well-fed, lustful stallions,
each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.
9 For such, should I not punish them?”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
“On such a nation as this
should I not avenge Myself?
10 Go up into her vines and ravage them,
but do not completely destroy them.
Strip away her branches
for they are not Adonai’s.
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have been utterly unfaithful to Me.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
12 They have lied about Adonai saying:
“Not He! No harm will come to us.
Nor will we see sword or famine.
13 The prophets are but wind
and the word is not in them.
Let what they say be done to them!”
14 Therefore thus says Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot:
“Because you speak this word, behold,
I will make My words in your mouth fire
and this people wood—
and it will devour them.
15 See, I am bringing a nation against you
from afar, O house of Israel.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
“It is an enduring nation,
an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you neither know
nor understand what they say.
16 Their quiver is an open grave.
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 herds.
They will devour your vines and your fig trees.
They will demolish your fortified cities
—the ones in which you trust—
with the sword.
18 “Yet even in those days,” declares Adonai, “I will not completely destroy you. 19 So it will come to pass that when you ask, ‘Why has Adonai Eloheinu done all these things to us?’ you will tell them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’
20 “Declare this in the house of Jacob
and proclaim it in Judah, saying:
21 ‘Hear this you foolish people
who have no understanding,
who have eyes but do not see,
who have ears but do not hear.
22 Do you not fear Me?’ says Adonai.
‘Do you not tremble in My presence?’
For I made the sand a boundary of the sea,
an everlasting decree that cannot be broken.
Though the waves roll, they cannot prevail.
Though they roar, they cannot cross it.
23 But this people have a stubborn and rebellious heart.
They have turned aside and gone away.
24 They do not say in their heart,
‘Let us now fear Adonai Eloheinu,
who gives rain in its season
—fall rain and spring rain—
who reserves for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’
25 Your iniquities have turned these away,
your sins have deprived you of bounty.
26 For among My people are wicked men,
watching like bait-layers lying in wait.
They set a trap—they catch men.
27 As a cage is full of birds,
so are their houses full of deceit.
That is why they grew great and rich.
28 They grew fat and sleek.
They also overlooked evil deeds.
They do not uphold a cause
—the cause of an orphan to prosper—
nor do they defend the right of the poor.
29 Should I not punish them?” says Adonai.
“On such a nation
should I not avenge Myself?
30 An appalling and horrible thing
has happened in the land.
31 The prophets prophesy falsely,
the kohanim rule by their own authority,
and My people love it this way!
But what will you do in the end?”
Jerusalem Under Siege
6 Flee for refuge, children of Benjamin,
from the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow the shofar in Tekoa
and raise a signal in Beth-cherem!
For disaster looms from the north,
even terrible destruction.
2 “The lovely, delicate Daughter of Zion
I will cut off.”
3 Shepherds with their flocks are coming against her.
All around her they pitch their tents,
each pasturing in his own place.
4 “Prepare for war against her.
Rise up! Let’s attack at noon.”
“Oy for us! For day is fading—
evening shadows are lengthening.”
5 “Rise up! Let’s attack at night
and destroy her palaces.”
6 For thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot:
“Chop down her trees!
Raise a siege ramp at Jerusalem.
This city must be punished—
in her midst is only oppression.
7 As a well gushes out its waters,
so she pours out her wickedness.
Violence and havoc are heard in her,
sickness and wounds ever before Me.
8 Be warned, O Jerusalem,
lest I abandon you,
lest I make you desolate—
an uninhabited land.”
9 Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot:
“Glean the remnant of Israel
thoroughly as a vine.
Pass your hand over the branches once more,
like a grape-gatherer.”
10 “To whom can I speak and warn
so they would hear?
See, their ears are uncircumcised,
unable to hear!
The word of Adonai has become scorn to them.
They have no delight in it.
11 So I am full of the wrath of Adonai.
I am weary of holding it in!
Pour it out on a child in the street,
on young men gathered together.
For husband will be taken with wife,
the aged with the very old.
12 Their homes will be turned over to others
—together with their fields and their wives.
For I will stretch out My hand
on the inhabitants of the land.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
13 “For from the least to the greatest,
all of them are greedy for gain,
and from prophet even to kohen,
everyone practices deceit.
14 They healed the wound of My people superficially,
saying ‘Shalom, shalom!’
when there is no shalom.”
15 “Were they ashamed when they
committed abomination? No, they were
not at all ashamed; they did not know
how to blush. Therefore they shall fall
among those who fall; at the time that
I punish them, they shall be
overthrown,” says Adonai.
16 Thus says Adonai:
“Stand in the roads and look.
Ask for the ancient paths—
where the good way is—and walk in it.
Then you will find rest for your souls.[f]
But they said, ‘We won’t walk in it.’
17 So I set watchmen over you, saying
‘Listen to the sound of the shofar!’
But they said, ‘We won’t listen.’
18 Therefore hear, O nations
and observe, O congregation,
what is against them.
19 Hear, O earth!
See, I will bring disaster on this people
—fruit of their schemes—
for they did not listen to My words
and rejected My Torah.
20 Of what use to Me is frankincense coming from Sheba
or sweet cane from a distant country?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
nor are your sacrifices pleasing to Me.”
21 Therefore thus says Adonai:
“Look, I am laying before this people stumbling blocks—
and against them they will stumble—
fathers and the sons together,
a neighbor and his friend,
and they will perish.”
Destruction from the North
22 Thus says Adonai:
“Look, a people coming from a northern land,
a great nation roused from the ends of the earth!
23 They are armed with bow and spear,
cruel and with no compassion.
They sound like the roaring sea—
as they ride on horses
as men in battle formation,
against you, Daughter of Zion!”
24 “We have heard of their fame.
Our hands hang limp;
anguish has gripped us,
pain like a woman in labor.
25 Don’t go out into the field
or walk on the road.
Since the enemy has a sword,
there’s terror on every side!”
26 “Daughter of My people,
put on sackcloth and roll in ashes.
Mourn as for an only son
with bitter lamentation.”
“For suddenly the destroyer
will come on us!”
27 “I have made you a metal-tester among My people—
so you may observe and test their way.
28 They are all stubborn rebels
spreading slander.
They are bronze and iron,
all of them are corrupt.
29 The bellows blow fiercely,
blasting away the lead with fire.
The refining is completely in vain,
for the wicked are not drawn off.
30 They are called ‘cast off silver’—
for Adonai has cast them off.”
Mend Your Ways!
7 The word that came to Jeremiah from Adonai, saying: 2 Stand in the gate of Adonai’s house and proclaim there this word and say: “Hear the word of Adonai, all you of Judah that come through these gates to worship Adonai. 3 Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel; mend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you live in this place. 4 Do not trust in deceptive words and say ‘The Temple of Adonai, the Temple of Adonai, the Temple of Adonai!’
5 “No, if you truly mend your ways and your deeds—if you are doing justice between a man and his neighbor, 6 not oppressing the sojourner, orphan and widow nor shedding innocent blood in this place, nor going after other gods to your own ruin— 7 then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. 8 Look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are empty. 9 Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and perjury, and offer incense to Baal and walk after other gods whom you have not known— 10 and then come and stand before Me in this house that bears My Name, saying, ‘We are saved!’—so that you may keep doing all these abominations? 11 Has this House, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?[g] Look, even I have seen it!” It is a declaration of Adonai.
12 “Indeed, go now to My place that was in Shiloh, where I first made My Name dwell. Now see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. 13 While you were doing all these things,” declares Adonai, “I spoke to you early and often, but you did not listen, and I called you but you did not answer. 14 Therefore I will do to the House that bears My Name—the one in which you trust, the one that I gave to you and to your fathers—as I have done to Shiloh. 15 And I will cast you out of My sight, just as I cast out all your brothers, all the offspring of Ephraim.
16 “As for you, do not pray for this people. Do not offer any supplication or petition for them, nor entreat Me, because I will not hear you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire and the women knead the dough to make sacrificial cakes to the queen of heaven. Moreover, they pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to provoke Me to anger. 19 But am I the One they are provoking?” declares Adonai. “Are they not vexing themselves to their own shame?”
20 Therefore thus says Adonai Elohim: “My anger and My wrath is about to be poured out on this place—on man and beast, and on the trees of the field and the fruit of the land—and it will burn and not be quenched.”
21 Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the meat! 22 For on the day that I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt I did not speak to them nor did I command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices, 23 but I explicitly commanded them: ‘Obey My voice and I will be your God to you and you will be My people. Walk in all the ways that I command you that it may go well with you.’ 24 But they did not listen or pay attention. Instead they followed their own counsel, in the stubbornness of their evil heart. They have gone backward and not forward, 25 from the day your fathers left the land of Egypt until today. Although I sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily and persistently, 26 they did not listen to Me or pay attention. Rather, they stiffened their neck, doing more evil than their fathers.
27 “When you tell them all these things, they will not listen to you. When you call to them, they will not answer you. 28 So you will say to them, ‘This nation has not obeyed the voice of Adonai their God or received correction. Truth has perished and is cut off from their mouth. 29 Cut off your hair and throw it away and take up a lamentation on the barren hills. For Adonai has spurned and cast off the generation of His wrath.”
Valley of Slaughter
30 “The children of Judah have done what is evil in My sight”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“They have set their detestable things in the House that bears My Name to defile it. 31 They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire—which I did not command, nor did it even enter My mind. 32 Therefore, the days are soon coming,” declares Adonai, “when it will no longer be called Topheth, nor the Valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. For they will bury in Topheth until there is no room. 33 The carcasses 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. 34 Then I will bring an end, from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem, to the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. For the land will be desolate.”
8 “At that time”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of his princes, the bones of the kohanim and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will be brought out of their graves. 2 They will spread them out to the sun, the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, and after which they have walked and sought, and which they have worshipped. They will not be gathered or buried, but will be like dung on the face of the ground. 3 So 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.” It is a declaration of Adonai-Tzva’ot.
Each Turns His Own Way
4 Moreover you will say to them, thus says Adonai:
“Do men fall and not get up again?
Does one turn away and not return?
5 Why then has this people—Jerusalem—
turned away in perpetual backsliding?
They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.
6 I listened attentively,
but they have not spoken what is right.
No one repents of his wickedness,
saying, ‘What have I done?’
Each one turns in his own direction,
like a horse charging into battle.
7 Even the stork in the sky
knows her appointed times,
and the turtledove, swallow and crane
observe the time of their migration,
but My people do not know
the judgments of Adonai.
8 How can you say, ‘We are wise!
The Torah of Adonai is with us’?
In fact, it is the lying pen of the scribes
that have made it a lie.
9 The wise men will be put to shame—
shattered, trapped.
Look! They have rejected Adonai’s word,
so what wisdom do they have?
10 Therefore I will give their wives to others
and their fields to new owners.
For from the least to the greatest
everyone is greedy for gain.
From the prophet even to the kohen
everyone practices deceit.
11 They heal the fracture of the daughter of My people
by treating it superficially—
saying, ‘Shalom, shalom,’
when there is no shalom.
12 Were they ashamed of the abomination they committed?
No, not ashamed, not at all—
they do not know how to blush!
So they will fall among the fallen.
At the time of their punishment
they will be brought down.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
13 “I will utterly consume them,” says Adonai.
“There will be no grapes on the vine,
and no figs on the fig tree,
and even the leaf will wither,
and what I gave them will pass away.”
14 “Why are we sitting here?
Assemble!
Let us flee to the fortified cities
and perish there!
For Adonai Eloheinu has silenced us
and given us poisoned water to drink.
For we have sinned against Adonai.
15 We hoped for shalom,
but it is no good,
for a time of healing
—and suddenly, terror!”
16 From Dan is heard
the snorting of his horses.
At the sound of his stallions neighing,
the whole land quakes.
For they come and devour
the land and everything in it—
the city and all who live there.
17 “For I am about to send serpents on you,
vipers for which there is no charm,
and they will bite you.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
Weeping for Jerusalem
18 My joy is overcome by grief,
my heart is faint within me.
19 Listen, the sound of the cry of the daughter of my people
—a voice from a distant land—
“Is Adonai no longer in Zion?
Is her King no longer in her?”
“Why have they provoked Me with their graven images,
with foreign idols?”
20 “Harvest is past,
summer is over,
yet we are not saved.”
21 “Because of the brokenness of the daughter of my people,
I am brokenhearted.
I mourn—desolation grips me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Then why has no healing gone up
for the daughter of my people?
23 If only my head were water
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
then I would weep day and night
for the slain of the daughter of my people!
9 If only I had a travelers’ lodging place
in the wilderness,
then I might leave my people
and get away from them!
For they are all adulterers,
a bunch of traitors.
2 They bend their tongue like a bow.
Lies, not faithfulness,
prevail in the land.
“For they go from evil to evil
and do not know Me,” says Adonai.
3 Beware, everyone, of your neighbor!
Don’t even trust a brother.
For every brother grabs like Jacob
and every neighbor spreads slander.
4 Everyone deceives his neighbor
and does not speak the truth.
They taught their tongue to speak lies.
They wear themselves out doing wrong.
5 “You dwell in the midst of deceit.
In deceit they refuse to know Me.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
6 Therefore thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot:
“I am about to refine them and test them.
For what else can I do
for the daughter of My people?
7 Their tongue is a deadly arrow,
speaking deceit.
With his mouth
each says shalom to his neighbor,
while inwardly setting a trap for him.
8 For such things shall I not punish them?”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
“Should I not avenge Myself
on such a nation as this?”
9 For the mountains I lift up weeping and wailing,
a lament for the desert pastures.
For they are so scorched
that no one passes through—
the lowing of cattle is not heard.
The birds of the air have fled
and the animals are gone.
10 “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
a lair for jackals.
I will make the cities of Judah
a wasteland without inhabitant.
11 Who is the one wise enough to understand this?
To whom has the mouth of Adonai spoken
that he may explain it?
Why is the land ruined,
laid waste like a wilderness,
so that no one passes through?”
12 Adonai said “It is because they have forsaken My Torah that I set before them. They have neither obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, 13 but have walked after the stubbornness of their heart, and after the Baalim that their fathers taught them. 14 Therefore, thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel, “look, I will make this people eat wormwood and drink poisoned water. 15 I will scatter them among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers have known. I will pursue them with the sword, until I have finished with them.”
16 Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot:
“Pay attention! Call the dirge-singers and let them come.
Send for the most skillful wailers and let them come!”
17 “Let them come quickly
and lift up a wailing over us
so our eyes may run down with tears
and our eyelids gush with water.”
18 For a wailing voice is heard from Zion:
“How we are ruined!
We are utterly ashamed—
we have forsaken the land,
for they tore down our dwellings.”
19 Now, hear the word of Adonai, O women,
let your ear receive the word of His mouth.
Teach your daughters wailing
and everyone her neighbor a dirge.
20 For death has climbed through our windows.
It has entered into our palaces
to cut off children from the street
and young men from the squares.”
21 “Say this,” declares Adonai.
“The carcasses of men will lie
like dung on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
with no one gathering them.”
Boast in Knowing Adonai
22 Thus says Adonai:
“Let not the wise boast in his wisdom
nor the mighty boast in his might
nor the rich glory in his riches.
23 But let one who boasts boast in this:
that he understands and knows Me.
For I am Adonai who exercises lovingkindness,
justice and righteousness on earth.
For in these things I delight.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
24 “Days are soon coming,” declares Adonai, “when I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised— 25 Egypt, Judah, Edom and Ammon’s children and Moab, and all that have cut the corners of their hair—that dwell in the wilderness. For all the nations are uncircumcised but all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.
Idols are Worthless Scarecrows
10 Hear the word that Adonai speaks to you, house of Israel, 2 Thus says Adonai:
“Do not learn the way of the nations
or be frightened by signs of the heavens—
though the nations are terrified by them.
3 The customs of the peoples are useless:
it is just a tree cut from the forest,
the work of the hands of a craftsman with a chisel.
4 They decorate it with silver and gold,
and fasten it with hammer and nails
so it won’t totter.
5 Like a scarecrow in a cucumber garden,
their idols cannot speak.
They must be carried
because they cannot walk![h]
Do not fear them
for they can do no harm
—nor do any good.”
6 There is none like You, Adonai!
You are great
and great is Your Name in power.
7 Who should not fear You,
Ruler of the nations?
For it is your due!
For among all the wise of the nations
and in all their kingdoms,
there is none like You.
8 They are totally stupid and foolish.
Discipline is useless—it’s wood!
9 Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish
and gold from Uphaz.
The work of the craftsman and of the goldsmith’s hands
is clothed in blue and purple—
all the work of skillful men.
10 But Adonai Elohim is truth.
He is the living God and eternal King.
At His wrath the earth quakes
and the nations cannot endure His indignation.
11 Thus you will say to them: “The gods—which did not make the heavens and the earth—will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”
12 He made the earth by His power,
established the world by His wisdom,
and stretched out heaven by His understanding.
13 When His voice thunders, waters in heaven roar.
He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
and brings forth wind from His storehouses.
14 Everyone is stupid, ignorant.
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idol!
His molten image is a fraud.
There is no breath in them.
15 They are futile, a work of mockery.
In the time of their punishment they will perish.
16 Jacob’s portion is not like these.
For He is the Maker of all things
and Israel, the tribe of His inheritance
—Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name.”
Coming Pain of Exile
17 Pick up your bundle from the ground,
you who live under siege.
18 For thus says Adonai:
“I am about to hurl
the inhabitants out of the land.
At this time I will press hard on them
so that they will be found out.”
19 Oy to me because of my brokenness!
My wound is incurable.
Yet I said, “This is simply a sickness
and I must bear it.”
20 “My tent is destroyed
and all my ropes are snapped.
My children are gone from me
and are no more.
No one is left to stretch out my tent
or set up my tent curtains.
21 For the shepherds are stupid!
They have not sought Adonai.
Therefore they have not acted wisely
and all their flocks are scattered.”
22 Listen! The sound of a report is coming—
a great commotion out of the land of the north—
to make the cities of Judah desolate,
a haunt of jackals.
23 I know, Adonai, that a man’s way is not his own,
nor does man, as he walks, direct his steps.
24 Chasten me, Adonai, but with justice,
not in Your anger,
lest You reduce me to nothing.
25 Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You
and on the families that do not call on Your Name.
For they have devoured Jacob,
devoured and consumed him,
and destroyed his homeland.
Curse of the Covenant
11 The word that came to Jeremiah from Adonai, saying: 2 Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 3 Now say to them, Thus says Adonai, the God of Israel: “Cursed is the one who does not obey the words of this covenant, 4 which I commanded your forefathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt—out of the iron furnace—saying: ‘Listen to My voice, and do all that I command you. Then you will be My people, and I will be your God. [i] 5 Then I will fulfill the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is today.’”
In response I said, “Amen, Adonai.”
6 Then Adonai 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.’ 7 For I earnestly forewarned your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt until this day, forewarning early and often, saying ‘Listen to My voice!’ 8 Yet they would not obey or incline their ear, but each one walked 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.”
9 Then Adonai said to me, “A conspiracy has been discovered among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers who refused to hear My words. 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.”
11 Therefore thus says Adonai. “I will soon bring a disaster on them that they will not be able to escape. They will cry out to Me, yet I will not listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense—but they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble. 13 For as numerous as your cities are your gods, O Judah, and as numerous as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing—altars to burn incense to Baal. 14 As for you, you are not to pray for this people or lift up supplication or prayer for them, for I will not hear them at the time they cry to out to Me because of their disaster.”[j]
Olive Tree with Broken Branches
15 “What is My beloved doing in My House
as she does evil schemes with many?
Can holy meat prevent your disaster?
So you may rejoice?
16 Adonai called your name—a leafy olive tree,[k]
beautiful with well-formed fruit.
With the noise of a great tumult
He has set it on fire,
and its branches are broken.
17 For Adonai-Tzva’ot, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to themselves, provoking Me by offering sacrifices to Baal. 18 Moreover, Adonai gave me knowledge of it, and I knew it, then You showed me their deeds.
19 But I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter. I did not know they had devised plots against me: “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit. Let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will be no more remembered.”
20 But Adonai-Tzva’ot, who judges righteously, who tests the mind and the heart, let me see your vengeance on them. For to You I have made my cause known.
21 Therefore thus says Adonai concerning the men of Anathoth who seek your life, saying, “You must not prophesy in the Name of Adonai, so you would not die by our hand.” 22 Therefore thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot: “I am about to punish them! The young men will die by the sword; their sons and their daughters will die by famine. 23 No remnant will be left to them, for I will bring calamity on the men of Anathoth—the year of their visitation.
Why do the Wicked Prosper?
12 Righteous are You, Adonai,
when I plead my case with You.
Yet I speak with You about justice.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the treacherous thrive?
2 You planted them, so they have taken root.
They are growing, bearing fruit.
You are near in their mouth,
yet far from their mind.
3 But You have known me, Adonai.
You see me, and examine my heart toward You.
Drag them off like sheep for slaughter.
Set them apart for the day of carnage.[l]
4 How long will the land mourn
and the grass of all the field wither?
Because those living in it are evil,
beasts and birds are swept away.
For they said, “He cannot see our end.”
5 “If you raced with those on foot
and they wore you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you are secure in a land of peace,
how will you do in Jordan’s thickets?
6 For even your brothers—your father’s house—
even they will betray you,
even they will shout out after you.
Have no confidence in them,
even if they say nice words to you.”
7 “I have abandoned My House.
I have forsaken My inheritance.
I have given the beloved of My soul
Into the hand of her enemies.
8 My inheritance became to Me
like a lion in the forest—
her voice roared against Me!
Therefore I despised her.
9 Is My inheritance a speckled vulture?
Are vultures circling all around her?
Go, gather all the wild beasts,
bring them for devouring!
Adonai’s Vineyard in Ruins
10 “Many shepherds ruined My vineyard.
They trampled My property.
They made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
11 They made it a wasteland.
It mourns before Me, desolate.
The whole land will be laid waste,
because no one takes it to heart.”
12 On all the bare hills in the wilderness
destroyers have come.
For the sword of Adonai is devouring
from the one end of the land to the other end of the land.
No flesh has shalom.
13 They sowed wheat but reaped thorns.
They wore themselves out, gaining nothing.
So be ashamed of your harvest,
because of Adonai’s fierce anger.
14 Thus says Adonai, “As for all My evil neighbors who strike at the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people Israel—I am about to uproot them from their land and pluck the house of Judah from them. 15 Yet it will come to pass, after I have uprooted them, that I will again have compassion on them and I will bring them back, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land.
16 “So it will come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of My people—to swear by My Name, ‘As Adonai lives,’ just as they taught My people to swear by Baal—then they will be built up in the midst of My people. 17 But if they will not obey, then I will uproot that nation, plucking it up and destroying it.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
Linen Waistband and Wine Jugs
13 Thus Adonai said to me: “Go, and buy yourself a linen waistband and put it around your waist, and do not put it in water.”
2 So I got a waistband in keeping with the word of Adonai, and put it on my waist. 3 Then the word of Adonai came to me a second time, saying: 4 “Take the waistband that you bought, which is on your waist, and get up, go to Perath[m] and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.”
5 So I went and hid it at Perath, as Adonai commanded me. 6 Now it came to pass after many days that Adonai said to me: “Get up, go to Perath, and take the waistband that I commanded you to hide there.” 7 So I went to Perath, dug it up and took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it. But to my surprise, the waistband was marred, worth nothing at all.
8 Then the word of Adonai came to me, saying, 9 thus says Adonai: “Just so I will mar the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This wicked people, who refuse to hear My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their own heart, and go after other gods to serve them and worship them, will be just like this waistband—worth nothing at all. 11 For just as the waistband clings to a man’s waist, so I will make the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to Me,” declares Adonai, “to be to Me a people, a name, a praise and a glory. But they would not obey.”
12 Moreover, speak this word to them, thus says Adonai, the God of Israel: “Every jug should be filled with wine.” When they say to you, ‘Don’t we know very well that every jug should be filled with wine?’ 13 Then you will say to them, thus says Adonai, ‘I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land—even the kings who sit on David’s throne, the kohanim, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness. 14 And I will smash them against each other, even fathers and sons,’ says Adonai. ‘I will show no pity, nor regret, nor compassion, to keep Me from destroying them.’”
Darkness and Downfall
15 Hear and give ear!
o not be haughty!
For Adonai has spoken.
16 Give glory to Adonai your God,
before it grows dark,
and before your feet stumble
on mountains at dusk.
When you look for light,
He turns it into the shadow of death,
and turns it into deep darkness.
17 But if you will not listen,
my soul will sob in secret
before such pride,
and my eyes will weep bitterly
and overflow with tears,
for Adonai’s flock will be taken captive.
18 Say to the king and the queen mother:
“Sit down low,
for your glorious crown
has fallen from your head.”
19 The towns of the South will be shut up,
with no one to open them.
All Judah is taken into exile—
utterly swept into exile.
20 Lift up your eyes and see
those coming from the north.
Where is the flock given to you,
Your beautiful sheep?
21 What will you say, when He sets up the allies
you cultivated for yourself, over you as head?
Will not labor pains seize you,
like a woman in travail?
22 Suppose you say in your heart,
“Why did these things happen to me?”
Because of your great iniquity,
your skirts are uncovered
and your heels suffer violence.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin?
Or the leopard his spots?
So, could you do good,
that are accustomed to doing evil?
24 “Therefore I will scatter them
like drifting straw in the desert wind.
25 This is your lot, the portion
measured for you from Me.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
“For you have forgotten Me
and trusted in falsehood.
26 Therefore I will also uncover your skirts over your face,
expose your shame.
27 Your adulteries, your lustful neighings,
the lewdness of your prostitution—
on the hills in the field
I have seen your loathsome acts.
Oy you, Jerusalem! You are unclean!
How much longer?”
Physical and Spiritual Drought
14 The word of Adonai that came to Jeremiah concerning the droughts:
2 Judah will mourn, and her gates languish.
They will bow in black to the ground
And Jerusalem’s wail will go up.
3 Their nobles will send their lads for water.
They come to the cisterns,
but find no water.
Their jars return empty.
They are ashamed and humiliated;
they cover their heads.
4 Because the ground is cracked,
since there has been no rain in the land,
the farmers are ashamed—
they cover their heads.
5 For even the doe in the field
abandons her newborn fawn,
because there is no grass.
6 Wild donkeys stand on the barren hills,
as they pant for air like jackals.
Their eyes fail,
since there is no foliage.
7 Though our iniquities testify against us,
Adonai, act for Your Name’s sake.
For our backslidings are many.
We have sinned against You.
8 O hope of Israel,
Savior in time of trouble,
why are You like a stranger in the land,
or like a traveler who stays for a night?
9 Why are You like a man overcome,
like a champion who cannot save?
Yet you, Adonai, are in our midst,
and we are called by Your Name.
Do not forsake us!
10 Thus says Adonai to this people:
How they loved to wander.
They did not restrain their feet.
So Adonai does not accept them.
Now will He remember their iniquity,
and punish their sins.
11 So Adonai said to me: “Do not pray for the good of this people. 12 If they fast, I will not hear their cry. If they offer burnt offering or grain offering, I will not accept them. Instead I will consume them with sword, with famine and with plague.”
13 Then I said: “Oh my Lord, Adonai! The prophets keep telling them: ‘You will not see the sword nor famine, but I will give you true peace in this place.’”
14 Then Adonai said to me: “The prophets prophesy lies in My Name! I did not send them, nor commanded them, nor did I speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, divination, futility, a delusion of their heart.”
15 Therefore thus says Adonai: “About the prophets who prophesy in My Name, though I did not send them, yet keep saying, ‘Sword and famine will never be in this land’—by sword and famine will those prophets be consumed. 16 Also the people to whom they prophesy will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, because of the famine and the sword. They will have no one to bury them, their wives, their sons or their daughters. For I will pour their disaster on them.”
17 You will say this word to them:
“Let my eyes overflow with tears.
Night and day, may they never stop.
For the virgin daughter of my people
is crushed with a great blow,
with a sorely infected wound.”
Intercessory Confession
18 If I go out into the field,
see, those slain by the sword!
And if I enter into the city,
see, the sick with famine!
For both prophet and kohen
will travel to a land they do not know.
19 Have You utterly rejected Judah?
Has Your soul loathed Zion?
Why have You smitten us,
and there is no healing for us?
We looked for shalom,
but nothing good came,
and for a time of healing,
but suddenly, terror![n]
20 We acknowledge our wickedness, Adonai,
the iniquity of our fathers,
for we have sinned against You.
21 Do not despise us, for Your Name’s sake.
Do not dishonor Your glorious throne.
Remember Your covenant with us—
do not break it!
22 Can any of the idols of the nations bring rain?
Or can the skies grant showers?
Is it not You, Adonai our God?
Do we not wait for You?
For You have done all these things.
Who Grieves for Jerusalem?
15 Then said Adonai to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My soul could not be toward this people. Cast them out of My presence, and let them go out!” 2 It will come to pass, when they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ Then You will tell them, thus says Adonai:
“Those for death—to death!
Those for the sword—to the sword!
Those for famine—to famine!
Those for exile—to exile![o]
3 I have appointed over them four kinds”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“the sword to slay, the dogs to drag, the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth to devour and to destroy.[p]
4 “So I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.
5 “Who will have pity on you, Jerusalem?
Or who will grieve for you?
Or who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?
6 You have cast Me off”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“You keep going backward!
So I stretch out My hand against you
and will destroy you.
I am weary with relenting.
7 I will scatter them with a winnowing fork
at the gates of the land.
I will bereave them of children and destroy My people,
since they do not repent of their ways.
8 Their widows will increase before Me
more than the sand of the seas,
I will bring a destroyer at noonday
against the mother of a young man.
Suddenly I will bring down on her
anguish and terrors.
9 She who bore seven languishes.
She breathes out her soul.
Her sun sets while it is yet day.
She is shamed and humiliated.
Their survivors I give to the sword
before their enemies.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
10 Oy to me, my mother,
that you gave birth to me—
a man of strife and conflict to all the land!
I did not lend or borrow,
yet everyone curses me.
11 Adonai said:
“Surely I will release you for good.
Surely I will make the enemy appeal to you
in a time of trouble, in a time of affliction.
12 Can anyone smash iron—
iron and bronze from the north?
13 Your wealth and your treasures
I will give as plunder without cost,
for all your sins, in all your borders.
14 I will take you away with your enemies
into a land you do not know,
for a fire is kindled in My nostril,
which will burn against you.”
15 Adonai, you know.
Remember me and think of me.
Avenge me against my persecutors.
Because of Your long-suffering,
do not take me away.
Know that for Your sake I endure scorn.
16 Your words were found, so I ate them.
Your words were a delight to me
and the joy of my heart.
For I am called by Your Name,
Adonai-Elohei-Tzva’ot.
17 I never sat in the company of revelers
nor made merry.
Because of Your hand I sat alone,
for You filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unending
and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
Will You be to me like a mirage
of water that is undependable?
19 Therefore thus says Adonai:
“If you return, I will restore you,
you will stand before Me.
If you extract the precious from the worthless,
you will be as My mouth.
Let them turn to you,
but you must not turn to them.
20 I will make you a fortified bronze wall to this people.
They will fight against you,
but will not prevail against you,
for I am with you to save you
and deliver you.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
21 “So I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
and I will redeem you out of the grasp of the ruthless.”
Jeremiah’s Way of Living
16 The word of Adonai came to me, saying: 2 “You will not take a wife for yourself or have sons or daughters in this place.” 3 For thus says Adonai about the sons and daughters born in this place, and about their mothers who give birth to them and about their fathers who father them in this land: 4 They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be lamented or buried, but will be like dung on the surface of the ground. They will be consumed by the sword and famine, and their carcasses will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.
5 For thus says Adonai: “Do not enter a house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them. For I have taken away My shalom from this people”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“as well as My mercy and compassion. 6 Both great and small will die in this land; they will not be buried; neither will anyone lament for them, or cut themselves or shave his head for them. 7 No one will break bread for them in mourning, to give comfort for the dead. Nor will anyone offer a cup of consolation to drink for anyone’s father or for his mother.
8 “You must not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and to drink” 9 For thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “I am about to eliminate from this place, before your eyes and in your days, the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.
10 “Now it will come to pass, when You will tell this people all these words, they will say to you: ‘Why has Adonai pronounced all this great evil against us? So what is our iniquity? So what is our sin that we have committed against Adonai our God?’ 11 Then will You say to them: ‘Because your fathers have forsaken Me,’ says Adonai, ‘and have walked after other gods, served them and worshipped them, and have forsaken Me and have not kept My Torah. 12 Yes, you have done worse than your fathers. For here you are, each of you walking after the stubbornness of his evil heart, not listening to Me. 13 So I will cast you out of this land into a land that you have not known—neither you nor your fathers—and there you will serve other gods day and night. For I will give you no grace.’
Returning From All Lands
14 “Therefore, the days are quickly coming,” declares Adonai, “when it will no longer be said. ‘As Adonai lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.’ 15 Rather, ‘As Adonai lives, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had banished them.’ So I will bring them back into their land that I gave to their fathers.
16 “Behold, I will send for many fishers,” says Adonai, “and they will fish for them. After that, I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down from every mountain and from every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. 17 For My eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes. 18 First I will repay them double for their iniquity and their sin, because they have profaned My land, and they have filled My possession with the carcasses of their vile things and their abominations.”
19 Adonai, my strength, my stronghold,
my refuge in the day of affliction,
to You will the nations come
from the ends of the earth and say:
“Our fathers have inherited nothing
but lies, futility and useless things.”
20 Will man make gods for himself?
Yet they are not gods.
21 “So I will surely make them know—
this time I make them know
My hand and My might—
they will know that My Name is Adonai.”
Hearts Engraved with Sin
17 Judah’s sin is written with an iron pen
and with a point of a diamond,
engraved on the tablet of their heart
and on the horns of your altars.
2 So their children remember their altars
and their Asherah poles by leafy trees on the high hills.
3 My mountain in the country,
your wealth and all your treasures
I will give away as plunder,
along with your high places
for sin within all your borders.
4 So you, on your own,
let go of your heritage that I gave you.
So I will make you serve your enemies
in a land that you do not know.
For you have kindled a fire in My nose
that will burn forever.”
Planted by the Water Without Fear
5 Thus says Adonai:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
and depends on flesh as his arm,
and whose heart turns from Adonai.
6 For he will be like a bush in the desert.
He cannot see goodness when it comes,
but will dwell in parched places in the wilderness—
a salt land where no one lives.
7 Blessed is the one who trusts in Adonai,
whose confidence is in Adonai.
8 For he will be like a tree planted by the waters,
spreading out its roots by a stream.
It has no fear when heat comes,
but its leaves will be green.
It does not worry in a year of drought,
nor depart from yielding fruit.
A Deceitful Heart is Incurable
9 “The heart is deceitful above all things,
and incurable—who can know it?
10 I Adonai search the heart,
I try the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.
11 As a partridge that broods over young that she did not lay,
so is one who gets wealth, unjustly.
In the middle of his days it will abandon him,
so at his end he will be a fool.[q]
12 Throne of glory on high from the beginning!
Place of our sanctuary,
13 Adonai, You are the hope of Israel!
All who forsake You will be ashamed.
Those who depart from You
will be written in the dirt,
for they have forsaken Adonai,
the fountain of living waters.
14 Heal me, Adonai, and I will be healed.
Save me, and I will be saved.
For You are my praise.
15 Look, they are saying to me,
“Where is the word of Adonai?
Let it come now!”[r]
16 As for me, I have not run away from being a shepherd after You,
nor have I desired the woeful day.
What came out of my lips You know—it was before You.
17 Be not a ruin to me—
You are my refuge in the evil day.
18 Let my persecutors be ashamed,
yet let me not be ashamed.
Let them be dismayed,
but let me not be dismayed.
Bring on them the evil day,
Destroy them with double destruction.
Carry No Burdens on Shabbat
19 Thus said Adonai to me: “Go, stand in the gate of the children of the people, through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, 20 and say to them: ‘Hear the word of Adonai, kings of Judah, and all Judah and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who enter through these gates! 21 Thus says Adonai, “Guard your souls! Carry no burden on the day of Shabbat or bring it in through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Nor should you carry a burden out of your houses on Yom Shabbat or do any work, but keep Yom Shabbat holy—as I commanded your fathers.” 23 Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, not hearing or accepting correction.
24 “However, if you listen attentively to Me,” says Adonai, “to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on Yom Shabbat, but sanctify Yom Shabbat and do no work on it, 25 then there will enter in through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses—with their princes, the people of Judah and those dwelling in Jerusalem—and this city will be inhabited forever. 26 They will come from the cities of Judah and from all around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country and from the South, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings, frankincense, and sacrifices of thanksgiving to the House of Adonai.
27 “But if you do not listen to Me to keep Yom Shabbat holy, by not bearing a burden or entering through the gates of Jerusalem on Yom Shabbat, then I will set its gates on fire, and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem, and not be quenched.’”
The Potter’s House
18 The word came to Jeremiah from Adonai, saying: 2 “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.”
3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was making a work on the wheels. 4 Whenever the pot that he was making from the clay became flawed in the hand of the potter, he remade it into another pot, as it pleased the potter to make.
5 Then the word of Adonai came to me, saying: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares Adonai. “Behold, as the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. 7 At one moment I may speak about a nation or about a kingdom, to uproot, to pull down or to destroy it. 8 But if that nation turns from their evil, because of what I have spoken against it, I will relent concerning the calamity that I planned to do to it. 9 Or at another time I may speak about a nation or about a kingdom, to build up or to plant it. 10 But if it does evil in My sight, not listening to My voice, then I will relent of the good that I had said I would do to it.”
11 So now, speak to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, thus says Adonai: “I am about to bring calamity against you, and devise disaster against you. Turn back now—everyone from his evil way—and amend your ways and your doings.
12 But they say: ‘It’s hopeless! So we will walk after our own plans, and each of us will act in the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”
13 Therefore thus says Adonai:
“Ask now among the nations,
whoever has heard such things?
The virgin of Israel has done
a most terrible thing.
14 Does the snow of Lebanon
abandon the rock of the field?
Or is the cold water flowing from afar
pulled back?
15 Yet My people have forgotten Me.
They burn incense to a delusion
and stumble in their ways
—off the ancient paths—
to walk on side-tracks,
rather than a built-up highway.
16 Their land will become a horror,
a perpetual hissing—
every one passing by will be stunned
and shake his head.
17 Like an east wind,
I will scatter them before the enemy.
I will see their back, not their face,
in the day of their calamity.”
Plots Against Jeremiah
18 Then they said: “Come, let us devise plans against Jeremiah. Surely Torah from the kohen will not be lost, nor will counsel from the wise, nor will the word from the prophet. Come, let’s strike at him with the tongue, and pay no attention to any of his words.”
19 Be attentive to me, Adonai!
Listen to the voice of my opponents.
20 Will good be repaid for evil?
For they dug a pit for my soul.
Remember how I stood before You
to speak good on their behalf,
to turn Your wrath from them.
21 Therefore give their children to famine
and pour out the power of the sword.
Let their wives be bereaved of children, and widows,
and let their men be slain to death,
and their young men struck down by the sword in battle.
22 Let a cry be heard from their houses
when suddenly You bring a troop on them.
For they dug a pit to capture me,
and hid snares for my feet.
23 Yet You know their whole plot,
Adonai, against me to slay me.
Do not forgive their iniquity
or blot out their sin before You.
But make them stumble before You.
Act against them in the time of Your anger.
Shattering a Clay Jar
19 Thus said Adonai: “Go, buy a potter’s clay jar, take some elders of the people, some elders of the kohanim, 2 and go out to the Valley of Ben-Hinnom, near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Proclaim there the words that I will tell you, 3 and say, “Hear the word of Adonai, kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: ‘I am about to bring such a catastrophe on this place that whoever hears about it, his ears will tingle. 4 For they have forsaken Me and have alienated this place, by burning sacrifices in it to other gods, which neither they nor their forefathers, nor the kings of Judah have known. They have also filled this place with the blood of innocents. 5 They have built high places for Baal, in order to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal—something I never commanded, nor mentioned, nor did it ever come into My mind.’”
6 “Therefore behold, the days are coming”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“when this place will no longer be called Topheth or The Valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7 So I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place. I will have them fall by the sword before their enemies, by the hand of them that seek their life. I will give their carcasses as food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth. 8 And I will make this city a horror and a hissing—every one passing by will be stunned and hiss because of all her wounds. 9 And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and everyone will eat his companion’s flesh during the siege and distress, which their enemies and those who seek their life will inflict on them.
10 “Then you will shatter the jar in the presence of the people who accompany you, 11 and say to them, thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot: ‘Even so I will shatter this people and this city, as one shatters a potter’s jar, which can never be made whole again. So they will be burying in Topheth, for there will be no other place to bury.’”
12 “Thus I will do to this place”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“and to its inhabitants, making this city as Topheth. 13 The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be as defiled as the place Topheth—all the houses on whose roofs they burned incense to the whole heavenly host and poured out drink offerings to other gods.”
14 Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where Adonai had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the court of Adonai’s House, and said to all the people, 15 thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “I am about to bring on this city and on all her towns the whole disaster that I pronounced against it, because they stiffened their neck, rather than hearing My words.”
Confronting a False Prophet
20 When Pashhur son of Immer the kohen, who was chief officer in the House of Adonai, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, 2 Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks[s] at the Upper Benjamin Gate by the House of Adonai. 3 The following morning, Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks.
Then Jeremiah said to him, “Adonai no longer calls your name Pashhur, but Magormissabib[t]. 4 For thus says Adonai: ‘Behold, I will make you a terror both to yourself and to everyone you love. They will fall by the sword of their enemies, while your eyes look on. So I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them captive to Babylon and will slay them with the sword.
5 “Moreover I will give away all the wealth of this city, and all its produce and its precious things, even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give over to the hand of their enemies, who will plunder them, take them away, and bring them to Babylon.
6 “As for you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house, you will go into captivity, and you will go to Babylon. So there you will die, and there you will be buried—you and all your friends—to whom you have prophesied falsely.”
Fire Burning in My Bones
7 Adonai, You enticed me, so I was enticed.
You overpowered me, and prevailed.
I am a laughingstock all day long.
Everyone mocks me.
8 For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I proclaim, “Violence and ruin!”
For the word of Adonai is scorn
and ridicule to me all day long.
9 But if I say: “I won’t mention Him,
or speak any more in His Name,”
then it is like fire burning in my heart
—shut up in my bones—
I weary myself holding it in,
but I cannot.
10 For I heard the whispering of many:
“‘Terror on every side?’
Denounce him! Let’s denounce him!”
Even all my close friends
are watching for my fall:
“Perhaps he may be deceived,
so we’ll get the better of him,
and we’ll get our revenge on him.”
11 But Adonai is with me like a dreadful warrior.
Therefore my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail.
Since they are not insightful and not wise,
they will be utterly shamed—
an everlasting disgrace, never to be forgotten.
12 Yet, Adonai–Tzva’ot—testing the righteous,
seeing the mind and the heart,
let me see Your vengeance on them!
For to You have I presented my case.
13 Sing to Adonai, praise Adonai!
For He has delivered the soul of the needy one
from the hand of evildoers.
14 Cursed be the day I was born!
The day that my mother bore me—
may it never be blessed!
15 Cursed be the one who brought the news to my father,
saying, “A baby boy is born to you!”
making him so glad.
16 Now let that one be like the cities
which Adonai overturned, with no relenting—
let him hear a cry in the morning
and a shout of alarm at noon,
17 since he did not kill me in the womb,
so my mother might have been my grave—
her womb filled forever.
18 Why did I ever come forth out of the womb
to see trouble and sorrow,
and my days end in shame?
Warning to King Zedekiah and Judah
21 The word which came to Jeremiah from Adonai, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malchiah and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the kohen, saying: 2 “Please inquire of Adonai for us, since Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps Adonai would deal with us according to all His wondrous miracles—so that he would withdraw from us?”
3 Then said Jeremiah to them, “Thus will you say to Zedekiah, 4 thus says Adonai, the God of Israel: ‘I will soon turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, which you use to fight against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans, who are besieging you outside the walls—I will assemble them in the center of this city. 5 I myself will fight against you, with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even with anger, fury and in great wrath. 6 I will also strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast—they will die of a great pestilence.’”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 1:12 The Heb. words for almond and watching over are similar.
- Jeremiah 2:3 cf. Jacob 1:18.
- Jeremiah 2:5 cf. Rom. 1:21.
- Jeremiah 2:10 Cyprus and nearby coasts.
- Jeremiah 2:23 Plural for Baal; gods.
- Jeremiah 6:16 cf. Matt. 11:29.
- Jeremiah 7:11 cf. Matt. 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46.
- Jeremiah 10:5 cf. 1 Cor. 12:2.
- Jeremiah 11:5 cf. Jer. 7:23; Heb. 8:10.
- Jeremiah 11:14 cf. Jer. 7:16; 1 John 5:16.
- Jeremiah 11:16 cf. Rom. 11:17.
- Jeremiah 12:3 cf. Jacob 5:5.
- Jeremiah 13:4 Possibly Euphrates, so through v. 7.
- Jeremiah 14:19 cf. 1 Thes. 5:3.
- Jeremiah 15:2 cf. Rev. 13:10.
- Jeremiah 15:3 cf. Rev. 6:4-8.
- Jeremiah 17:11 cf. Luke 12:20.
- Jeremiah 17:15 cf. 2 Pet. 3:4.
- Jeremiah 20:2 cf. Acts 16:23-24.
- Jeremiah 20:3 Meaning, Terror on Every Side.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.