Bible in 90 Days

¹⁹ “And I will set a sign among them, and will send those among them who escape to the nations of Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, to those who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, far off isles that have not heard of My fame, or seen My Glory. And they shall declare My Glory among the Gentiles.

²⁰ “And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the LORD out of all nations, upon horses and in chariots and in horse litters and upon mules and swift beasts, to Jerusalem, My Holy Mountain,” says the LORD, “as the children of Israel offer in a clean vessel in the House of the LORD.

²¹ “And I will take from them for priests, for Levites,” says the LORD.

²² “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me,” says the LORD, “so shall your seed and your name continue.

²³ “And from month to month, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, shall all flesh come to worship before Me,” says the LORD.

²⁴ “And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm shall not die, nor shall their fire be quenched. And they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

1 The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the Priests who were at Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin,

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

³ and also in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

⁴ Then the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you came out of the womb, I sanctified you and ordained you to be a Prophet to the nations.”

⁶ Then I said, “Oh, LORD God. Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child.”

⁷ But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a child’. For you shall go to all that I shall send you. And whatever I Command you, you shall speak.

⁸ “Do not be afraid of their faces. For I am with you, to deliver you,” said the LORD.

⁹ Then the LORD stretched out His Hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put My Words in your mouth.

¹⁰ “Behold, this day I have set you over the nations, and over the kingdoms, to pluck up, and to root out, and to destroy, and throw down, to build, and to plant.”

¹¹ After this, the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see a rod of almond tree.”

¹² Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen correctly. For I will hasten My Word, to perform it.”

¹³ Again the Word of the LORD came to me the second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a seething pot, looking out of the North.”

¹⁴ Then the LORD said to me, “A plague shall spread out of the North, upon all the inhabitants of the land.

¹⁵ “For lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the North,” says the LORD, “and they shall come. And everyone shall set his throne in the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and on all its walls, all around, and in all the cities of Judah.

¹⁶ “And I will declare to them My Judgments touching all the wickedness of those who have forsaken Me, and have burnt incense to other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.

¹⁷ “You, therefore, truss up your loins and arise and speak to them, all that I Command you. Do not be afraid of their faces, lest I destroy you before them.

¹⁸ “For I, behold, I, this day, have made you a defensed city, and an iron pillar, and walls of brass, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land.

¹⁹ “For they shall fight against you. But they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you, to deliver you,” says the LORD.

2 Moreover, the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

² “Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: “I remember you—the kindness of your youth, the love of your marriage, when you went after Me in the wilderness in a land that was not sown—

³ “Israel, a thing hallowed to the LORD, His firstfruits. All those who eat it shall be guilty. Evil shall come upon them,” says the LORD.’”

⁴ Hear the Word of the LORD, O House of Jacob, and all the families of the House of Israel.

⁵ Thus says the LORD: “What iniquity have your fathers found in Me, that they have gone far from Me, and have walked after vanity, and have become vain?

⁶ “For they did not say, ‘Where is the LORD Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness, through a desert and waste land, through a dry land, and by the shadow of death, by a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?’

⁷ “And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat its fruit, and the commodities of the same. But when you entered, you defiled My land, and made My heritage an abomination.

⁸ “The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’ And those who should minister the Law did not know Me. The pastors also sinned against Me, and the prophets prophesied in Baal, and went after things that did not profit.

⁹ “Therefore, I will still plead with you,” says the LORD, “and I will plead with your children’s children.

¹⁰ “For go to the isles of Chittim and behold, and send to Kedar and take diligent heed, and see whether there are such things.

¹¹ “Has any nation changed their gods, which yet are not gods? But My people have exchanged their glory for that which does not profit.

¹² “O, you heavens, be astonished at this! Be afraid and utterly confounded,” says the LORD.

¹³ “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the Fountain of Living Waters, to dig themselves pits, broken pits that can hold no water.

¹⁴ “Is Israel a servant, or is he born in the house? Why is he spoiled?

¹⁵ “The lions roared upon him, yelled, and they have made his land waste. His cities are burnt, without an inhabitant.

¹⁶ “Also, the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken your head.

¹⁷ “Have you not brought this on yourself, because you have forsaken the LORD your God, when He led you by the way?

¹⁸ “And what are you now doing on the way of Egypt, to drink the water of Nilus? Or why do you take the way of Assyria, to drink the water of the River?

¹⁹ “Your own wickedness shall correct you, and your backslidings shall reprove you. Know, therefore, and behold that it is an evil thing, and bitter, that you have forsaken the LORD your God, and that My fear is not in you,” says the LORD God of Hosts.

²⁰ “For since ancient times I have broken your yoke, burst your bonds, and you said, ‘I will transgress no more.’ But, like a harlot, you run around upon all high hills, and under all green trees.

²¹ “Yet, I had planted you as a noble vine, whose plants were whole. How, then, have you turned before Me into the plants of a strange vine?

²² “Though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, your iniquity is marked before Me,” says the LORD God.

²³ “How can you say, ‘I am not polluted, nor have I followed Baal?’ Behold your ways in the valley and know what you have done. You are like a swift dromedary traversing her ways,

²⁴ “a wild donkey used to the wilderness that sniffs at the wind in her passion. Who can turn her back when in heat? All those who seek her will not weary themselves but will find her in her month.

²⁵ “Keep your feet from bareness, and your throat from thirst. But you said desperately, ‘No, for I have loved strangers, and them will I follow.’

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

²⁷ “saying to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You have begotten me.’ For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble, they will say, ‘Arise, and help us!’

²⁸ “But where are your gods that you have made yourself? Let them arise, if they can help you in the time of your trouble. For according to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah.

²⁹ “Why will you plead with Me? You all have rebelled against Me,” says the LORD.

³⁰ “I have struck your children in vain. They received no correction. Your own sword has devoured your Prophets like a destroying lion.

³¹ “O generation, take heed to the Word of the LORD! Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of darkness? Why, then, do My people say, ‘We are lords. We will come no more to You?’

³² “Can a maid forget her ornament, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me, days without number.

³³ “Why do you beautify your ways, to seek love? Therefore, you will also teach the wicked your ways.

³⁴ “Also in your wings is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents. I have not found it in holes, but upon all these.

³⁵ “Yet you say, ‘Because I am guiltless, surely His wrath shall turn from me.’ Behold, I will enter into judgment with you because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’

³⁶ “Why do you run around so much to change your ways? For you shall be confounded by Egypt as you are confounded by Assyria.

³⁷ “For you shall go forth from there, and your hands upon your head, because the LORD has rejected your confidence, and you shall not prosper thereby.”

3 “They say, ‘If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him, and becomes another man’s, shall he return again to her? Shall not this land be polluted?’ But you have played the harlot, with many lovers, yet turn again to me,” says the LORD.

² “Lift up your eyes to the high places, and behold where you have not played the harlot. You have sat, waiting for them on the way, as the Arabian in the wilderness. And you have polluted the land with your whoredoms, and with your malice.

³ “Therefore the showers have been restrained, and the latter rain came not, and you had a whore’s forehead. You would not be ashamed.

⁴ “Did you not still cry to Me, ‘You are My Father, the guide of my youth?

⁵ ‘Will He keep His anger forever? Will He reserve it to the end?’ Thus have you spoken, but you still do evil, more and more.”

⁶ The LORD also said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what this rebel Israel has done? She has gone up upon every high mountain, and under every green tree, and there played the harlot.

⁷ “And I said, when she had done all this, ‘Turn to Me.’ But she did not return, as her rebellious sister Judah saw.

⁸ “Then I saw how that for all the occasions rebellious Israel had played the harlot, and I had cast her away and given her a bill of divorcement, yet her rebellious sister, Judah, was not afraid. And she also went and played the harlot.

⁹ “So that because of the lightness of her whoredom, she has even defiled the land. For she has committed fornication with stones and trees.

¹⁰ “Nevertheless, for all this, her rebellious sister Judah has not returned to Me with her whole heart, but deceptively,” says the LORD.

¹¹ And the LORD said to me, “The rebellious Israel has justified herself more than the rebellious Judah.

¹² “Go and cry these Words toward the North, and say, ‘You disobedient Israel, return,’ says the LORD, ‘and I will not let My wrath fall upon you.’ For I am merciful,” says the LORD, “and I will not always keep My anger.

¹³ “But know your iniquity. For you have rebelled against the LORD your God, and have scattered your ways to the strange gods under every green tree. But you would not obey My Voice,” says the LORD.

¹⁴ “O you disobedient children, turn again,” says the LORD, “for I am your LORD. And I will take you, one from a city, and two from a tribe, and will bring you to Zion.

¹⁵ “And I will give you pastors according to My Heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

¹⁶ “Moreover, when you are increased and multiplied in the land, in those days,” says the LORD, “they shall say no more: ‘The Ark of the Covenant of the LORD.’ For it shall not come to mind anymore, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it. For that shall not be done anymore.

¹⁷ “At that time, they shall call Jerusalem, ‘The Throne of the LORD.’ And all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the Name of the LORD in Jerusalem. And henceforth they shall not follow the hardness of their wicked heart anymore.

¹⁸ “In those days, the House of Judah shall walk with the House of Israel. And they shall come together out of the land of the North, into the land that I have given for an inheritance to your fathers.

¹⁹ “But I said, ‘How did I take you for children, and give you a pleasant land, the glorious heritage of the armies of the heathen?’ And I said, ‘You shall call Me, “My Father”, and shall not turn from Me.’

²⁰ “But as a woman rebels against her husband, so have you rebelled against Me, O House of Israel,” says the LORD.

²¹ A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel. For they have perverted their way, forgotten the LORD their God.

²² “O you disobedient children! Return and I will heal your rebellions.” “Behold, we come to You! For You are the LORD our God.

²³ “Truly the hope of the hills is but vain, and the multitude of mountains. But in the LORD our God is the health of Israel.

²⁴ “For confusion has devoured our father’s labor from our youth, their sheep and their bullocks, their sons and their daughters.

²⁵ “We lie down in our confusion, and our shame covers us. For we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers from our youth, even to this day. And we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.”

4 “O Israel, if you return, return to Me,” says the LORD, “and if you put away your abominations out of My sight, then you shall not waver.

² “And you shall swear, ‘The LORD lives in truth, in judgment and in righteousness. And the nations shall be blessed in Him and shall glory in Him.’”

³ For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah, and to Jerusalem:

⁴ “Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among the thorns. Be circumcised to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, you men of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest My wrath come forth like fire, and burn, so that no one can quench it, because of the wickedness of your inventions.

⁵ “Declare in Judah, and show forth in Jerusalem, and say, ‘Blow the trumpet in the land!’ Cry and gather together, and say, ‘Assemble yourselves, and let us go into strong cities!’

⁶ “Set up the standard in Zion. Prepare to flee. Do not stay. For I will bring a plague from the North, and a great destruction.”

⁷ The lion has come up from his den, and the destroyer of the Gentiles has departed, gone forth from his place to lay your land waste. Your cities shall be destroyed, without an inhabitant.

⁸ Therefore, gird yourself with sackcloth. Lament and howl. For the fierce wrath of the LORD has not turned back from us.

⁹ “And on that day,” says the LORD, “the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes and the priests shall be astonished, and the Prophets shall wonder.”

¹⁰ Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Surely You have deceived this people, and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You shall have peace,’ and the sword pierces to the heart.”

¹¹ At that time, it shall be said to this people, and to Jerusalem, “A dry wind in the high places of the wilderness comes toward the daughter of My people, neither to fan nor to cleanse.

¹² “A mighty wind shall come to Me from those places. And now I will also give sentence upon them.”

¹³ “Behold, he shall come up as the clouds, and his chariots as a tempest. His horses are lighter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are destroyed!”

¹⁴ O, Jerusalem! Wash your heart from wickedness, so that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts remain within you?

¹⁵ For a voice declares from Dan and publishes affliction from Mount Ephraim.

¹⁶ “Make mention of the heathen. Publish in Jerusalem. Behold, the scouts come from a far country and cry out against the cities of Judah.

¹⁷ “They have surrounded her as the watchmen of the field, because she has provoked Me to wrath,” says the LORD.

¹⁸ “Your ways and your inventions have procured these things for yourself. Such is your wickedness. Therefore, it shall be bitter. Therefore, it shall pierce to your heart.”

¹⁹ My belly! My belly! I am pained, even at the very heart! My heart is troubled within me. I cannot be still! For my soul has heard the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of the battle.

²⁰ Destruction upon destruction is cried, for the whole land is wasted. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, and my curtains, in a moment.

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

²² “For my people are foolish. They have not known Me. They are foolish children and have no understanding. They are wise in doing evil, but in doing well they have no knowledge.”

²³ I have looked upon the Earth. And lo, it was without form and void. And the heavens had no light.

²⁴ I beheld the mountains. And lo, they trembled. And all the hills shook.

²⁵ I beheld, and lo, there was no man. And all the birds of the heaven had departed.

²⁶ I beheld, and lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness. And all its cities were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by His fierce wrath.

²⁷ For thus has the LORD said: “The whole land shall be desolate. Yet I will not make a full end.

²⁸ “Therefore, the Earth shall mourn. And the heavens above shall be darkened because I have pronounced it. I have thought it, and will not relent, nor will I turn back from it.

²⁹ “The whole city shall flee because of the noise of the horsemen and bowmen. They shall go into thickets and climb up upon the rocks. Every city shall be forsaken, no one dwelling in them.

³⁰ “And when you shall be destroyed, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with scarlet, though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, though you paint your face with colors, yet shall you trim yourself in vain. Your lovers will abhor you and seek your life.

³¹ “For I have heard a noise as of a woman in labor, or as one bringing forth her first child, the voice of the daughter Zion that sighs and stretches out her hands, saying, ‘Woe is me now! For my soul faints because of the murderers!’”

5 “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem. And behold now, and know, and inquire in its open places, if you can find a man, if there are any who execute judgment, and seek the truth. And I will spare it.

² “For though they say, ‘The LORD lives,’ they still swear falsely.”

³ O LORD, are not Your eyes upon the truth? You have stricken them, but they have not anguished. You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a stone and have refused to return.

⁴ Therefore I said, “Surely they are poor, they are foolish. For they do not know the way of the LORD, the judgment of their God.

⁵ “I will go to the great men, and will speak to them. For they have known the way of the LORD, the judgment of their God.” But these have altogether broken the yoke and burst the bonds.

⁶ Therefore, a lion out of the forest shall slay them. And a wolf of the wilderness shall destroy them. A leopard shall watch over their cities. Everyone who goes out there shall be torn in pieces, because their trespasses are many and their rebellions are increased.

⁷ “How shall I pardon you for this? Your children have forsaken Me, and sworn by those who are not gods. Though I fed them to the full, they still committed adultery, and assembled themselves by companies in the harlot’s houses.

⁸ “They rose up in the morning like fed horses, every man neighing after his neighbor’s wife.

⁹ “Shall I not reckon for these things,” says the LORD? Shall not My Soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

¹⁰ “Climb up upon their walls and destroy them. But do not make a full end. Take away their battlements, for they are not the LORD’s.

¹¹ “For the House of Israel, and the House of Judah have grievously trespassed against Me,” says the LORD.

¹² They have denied the LORD, and said, “It is not Him, nor shall the plague come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine.

¹³ “And the Prophets shall be as wind. And the Word is not in them. Thus shall it come to them.”

¹⁴ Therefore, thus says the LORD God of Hosts: “Because you speak such words, behold, I will put My Words into your mouth, like a fire. And this people shall be as wood. And it shall devour them.

¹⁵ “Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from afar, O House of Israel,” says the LORD, “which is a mighty nation, and an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know. Nor do you understand what they say.

¹⁶ “Their quiver is as an open sepulcher. They are all very strong.

¹⁷ “And they shall eat your harvest and your bread. They shall devour your sons and your daughters. They shall eat up your sheep and your bullocks. They shall eat your vines and your fig trees. They shall destroy your fenced cities with the sword, in which you trusted.

¹⁸ “Nevertheless, in those days,” says the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you.

¹⁹ “And when they shall say, ‘Why does the LORD our God do these things to us?’ Then You shall answer them, “Just as you have forsaken Me and served strange gods in your land, so shall you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

²⁰ “Declare this in the House of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,

²¹ ‘Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding, which has eyes and does not see, which has ears and does not hear.

²² ‘Do you not fear Me,’ says the LORD? ‘Or will you not be afraid in My presence? Who has placed the sand for the bounds of the sea by the perpetual decree, so that it cannot pass it? And though its waves rage, they still cannot prevail? Though they roar, they cannot pass over it?

²³ “But this people has an unfaithful and rebellious heart. They have departed and gone.

²⁴ “For they do not say in their heart, ‘Let us now fear the LORD our God, Who gives rain both early and late in due season, Who reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.’

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

²⁶ “For among My people are found wicked persons, who lay in wait, as he who sets snares. They have made a pit to catch men.

²⁷ “As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit, by which they have become great and grown rich.

²⁸ “They have grown fat and smooth. They surpass the deeds of the wicked. They execute no judgment, no not the judgment of the fatherless. Yet they prosper, though they execute no judgment for the poor.

²⁹ “Shall I not reckon for these things,” says the LORD? “Or shall not My Soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

³⁰ “A horrible and filthy thing has been committed in the land.

³¹ “The prophets prophesy lies, and the priests receive gifts in their hands, and My people delight in them. But what will you do when it ends?

6 “O you children of Benjamin, prepare to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa! Set up a standard upon Beth-Haccerem! For a plague appears out of the North, and great destruction!

² “I have compared the Daughter of Zion to a beautiful and delicate woman.

³ “The shepherds, with their flocks, shall come to her. They shall pitch tents all around her, and everyone shall feed in his place.”

⁴ “Prepare for war against her! Arise, and let us go up toward the South. Woe to us! For the day declines, and the shadows of the evening are stretched out.

⁵ “Arise, and let us go up by night and destroy her palaces!”

⁶ For thus has the LORD of Hosts said: “Cut down wood and lay down a mound against Jerusalem! This city must be visited! All oppression is in the midst of it!

⁷ “As the fountain throws forth her waters, so she throws forth her malice! Cruelty and spoil are continually heard in her before Me, with sorrow and strokes.

⁸ “Be instructed, O [h]Jerusalem, lest My Soul departs from you, lest I make you desolate, a land that no one inhabits!”

⁹ Thus says the LORD of Hosts: “They shall gather, the residue of Israel, as a vine. Return your hand into the baskets, as does the grape gatherer.”

¹⁰ To whom shall I speak, and admonish, so that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot listen. Behold, the Word of the LORD is as a reproach to them. They have no delight in it.

¹¹ Therefore, I am full of the wrath of the LORD. I am weary with holding it. “I will pour it out upon the children in the street, and likewise upon the assembly of the young men. For the husband shall be taken with the wife, the aged with him who is full of days,

¹² “and their houses with their lands. And wives, also, shall be turned to strangers. For I will stretch out My Hand upon the inhabitants of the land,” says the LORD.

¹³ “For from the least of them to the greatest of them, everyone is given to covetousness, and from the Prophet to the Priest, they all deal falsely.

¹⁴ “They have also slightly healed the hurt of My people, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.

¹⁵ “Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not ashamed. Nor could they have any shame. Therefore, they shall fall among the slain when I shall visit them. They shall be cast down,” says the LORD.

¹⁶ Thus says the LORD: “Stand in the ways and behold. And ask for the old way, which is the good way. And walk in it. And you shall find rest for your souls.’ But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

¹⁷ “Also, I set watchmen over you, who said, ‘Listen for the sound of the trumpet.’ But they said, ‘We will not listen for it.’

¹⁸ “Hear, therefore, you Gentiles. And know, you Congregation, what is among them.

¹⁹ “Hear, O Earth! Behold, I will cause a plague to come upon this people, the fruit of their own imaginations. Because they have not listened to My Words, nor to My Law, but cast it off.

²⁰ “For what purpose do you bring Me incense from Sheba, and sweet calamus from a far country? Your Burnt Offerings are not pleasant, nor your sacrifices sweet, to Me.”

²¹ Therefore, thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them. The neighbor and his friend shall perish.”

²² Thus says the LORD: “Behold, a people comes from the north country, and a great nation shall arise from the sides of the Earth.

²³ “They shall be weaponed with bow and shield. They are cruel and will have no compassion. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride upon horses, well-appointed, like men of war against you, O daughter Zion.”

²⁴ We have heard of their fame. Our hands grow feeble. Sorrow has come upon us, as the sorrow of a woman in labor.

²⁵ Do not go forth into the field or walk by the way, for the sword of the enemy and fear are on every side.

²⁶ O daughter of my people, gird yourselves with sackcloth and wallow in the ashes! Make lamentation, and bitter mourning, as for your only son. For the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.

²⁷ “I have set you as a defense and fortress among My people, so that you may know and try their ways.

²⁸ “They are all rebellious traitors, walking craftily, bronze and iron. They all are destroyers.

²⁹ “The bellows are burnt. The lead is consumed in the fire. The founder refines in vain. For the wicked are not taken away.

³⁰ “They shall call them rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them.”

7 The Words that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

² “Stand in the gate of the LORD’s House, and cry this Word there, and say, ‘Hear the Word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates, to worship the LORD!”

³ Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: “Amend your ways and your works, and I will let you dwell in this place.

⁴ “Do not trust in lying words, saying, ‘The Temple of the LORD, the Temple of the LORD, this is the Temple of the LORD.’

⁵ “For if you amend and redress your ways and your works, if you execute judgment between a man and neighbor,

⁶ “and do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place or walk after other gods, to your destruction,

⁷ “then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever.

⁸ “Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit.

⁹ “Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know,

¹⁰ “and come and stand before Me in this House, whereupon My Name is called, and say, ‘We are delivered, even though we have done all these abominations’?

¹¹ “Has this House become a den of thieves, whereupon My Name is called before your eyes? Behold, even I see it,” says the LORD.

¹² “But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My Name at the beginning. And behold what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.

¹³ “Therefore, now, because you have done all these works,” says the LORD, “I rose up early and spoke to you. But when I spoke, you would not hear Me, nor would you answer when I called.

¹⁴ “Therefore I will do to this House upon which My Name is called — in which you also trust, the place 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, as I have cast out all your brethren, the whole seed of Ephraim.

¹⁶ “Therefore, you shall neither pray for this people nor lift up cry or prayer for them nor entreat Me. For I will not hear you.

¹⁷ “Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

¹⁸ “The children gather wood and the fathers kindle the fire and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, so that they may provoke Me to anger.

¹⁹ “Do they provoke Me to anger,” says the LORD, “and not themselves to the shame of their own faces?”

²⁰ Therefore, thus says the LORD God: “Behold, MY anger and My wrath shall be poured upon this place, upon man and upon beast, and upon the tree of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground. And it shall burn and not be quenched.”

²¹ Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: “Put your Burnt Offerings with your Sacrifices and eat the flesh.

²² “For I did not speak to your fathers, or Command them, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning Burnt Offerings and Sacrifices.

²³ “But this thing I Commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My Voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways which I have Commanded you, so that it may be well with you.’

²⁴ “But they would not obey, nor incline their ear, but went after the counsels and the stubbornness of their wicked heart and went backward and not forward.

²⁵ “Since the day that your fathers came up out of the land of Egypt, to this day, I have even sent to you all My servants, the Prophets, rising up early every day and sending them.

²⁶ “Yet they would not hear Me, nor incline their ear, but hardened their neck and did worse than their fathers.

²⁷ “Therefore, you shall speak all these Words to them. But they will not hear you. You shall also cry to them, but they will not answer you.

²⁸ “But you shall say to them, ‘This is a nation that does not hear the Voice of the LORD their God or receive discipline. Truth has perished and has been cut out of their mouth.

²⁹ ‘Cut off your hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away. And take up a complaint on the high places. For the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.’

³⁰ “For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight,” says the LORD. “They have set their abominations in the House upon which My Name is called, to pollute it.

³¹ “And they have built the high place of Tophet, which is in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not Command them. Nor did it come into My Heart.

³² “Therefore, behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that it shall not be called Tophet anymore, nor the valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. For they shall bury in Tophet until there is no place.

³³ “And the carcasses of this people shall be food for the birds of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. And no one shall frighten them away.

³⁴ “Then I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride. For the land shall be desolate.”

8 “At that time,” says the LORD, “they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of their princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the Prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves.

² “And they shall spread them before the Sun, and the Moon, and all the host of Heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and whom they have followed, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped. They shall not be gathered or be buried, but shall be as dung upon the Earth.

³ “And death shall be desired rather than life by all the residue that remains of this wicked family, who remain in all the places where I have scattered them,” says the LORD of Hosts.’

⁴ “You shall also say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Shall they fall, and not arise? Shall he turn away and not turn again?

⁵ “Why has this people of Jerusalem backslid in a perpetual apostasy? They gave themselves to deceit and would not return.

⁶ “I listened and heard. No one spoke aright. No man repented of his wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone turned to their running, as the horse rushes into the battle.

⁷ “Even the stork in the air knows her appointed times, and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow, observe the time of their coming. But My people do not know the judgment of the LORD.

⁸ “How do you say, ‘We are wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us?’ Lo, certainly in vain it is made, the pen of the scribes.

⁹ “The wise men are ashamed. They are afraid and taken. Lo, they have rejected the Word of the LORD. And what wisdom is in them?

¹⁰ “Therefore, I will give their wives to others, their fields to those who shall possess them. For everyone, from the least to the greatest, is given to covetousness. From the Prophet to the Priest, everyone deals falsely.

¹¹ “For they have healed the hurt of the Daughter of My people with sweet words, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.

¹² “Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not ashamed. Nor could they have any shame. Therefore, they shall fall among the slain when I shall visit them. They shall be cast down,” says the LORD.’

¹³ “I will surely consume them,” says the LORD.’ “There shall be no grapes on the vine or figs on the fig tree. And the leaf shall fade. And the things that I have given them shall depart from them.”’”

¹⁴ Why do we stay? Assemble yourselves! And let us enter into the strong cities! And let us be quiet there. For the LORD our God has put us to silence, and given us water with gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.

¹⁵ We looked for peace, but no good; for a time of health, and behold troubles.

¹⁶ The neighing of His horses was heard from Dan. The whole land trembled at the noise of the neighing of His strong horses. For they have come, and have devoured the land with all that is in it: the city and those who dwell in it.

¹⁷ “For behold, I will send serpents and vipers among you, which will not be charmed. And they shall sting you,” says the LORD.

¹⁸ I would have comforted myself against sorrow, but my heart is heavy in me.

¹⁹ Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a far country, “Is not the LORD in Zion? Is not her King in her?” “Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images, and with strange vanities?”

²⁰ “The harvest is past! The summer has ended! And we are not saved!”

²¹ Because of the brokenness of the daughter of my people, I am broken. I mourn. Astonishment has taken me.

²² Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no Physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

9 Oh, that my head were full of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

² Oh, that I had in the wilderness a cottage of wayfaring men, that I might leave my people, and go from them! For they are all adulterers, and an assembly of rebels!

³ “And they bend their tongues like their bows, for lies. But they have no courage for the truth upon the Earth. For they proceed from evil to worse, and they have not known Me,” says the LORD.

⁴ “Let everyone observe his neighbor. And do not trust in any brother. For every brother will use deceit, and every friend will deal deceitfully.

⁵ “And everyone will deceive his friend, and will not speak the truth. They have taught their tongue to speak lies, and take great pains to do wickedly.

⁶ “Your habitation is in the midst of deceivers. Because of deceit, they refuse to know Me,” says the LORD.

⁷ Therefore, thus says the LORD of Hosts: “Behold, I will refine them and test them. For what else should I do for the Daughter of My people?

⁸ “Their tongue is as an arrow shot out and speaks deceit. One speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth. But in his heart, he lays in wait for him.

⁹ “Shall I not reckon with them for these things?” says the LORD. “Or shall My Soul not be avenged on such a nation as this?

¹⁰ “Upon the mountains will I take up a weeping and a lamentation, and upon the fair places of the wilderness a mourning, because they are burnt up, so that no one can pass through them, nor can men hear the voice of the flock. Both the bird of the air and the beast have fled away, gone.

¹¹ “And I will make Jerusalem a heap, a den of dragons, and I will make the cities of Judah waste, without an inhabitant.”

¹² Who is wise to understand this? And to whom the Mouth of the LORD has spoken, He shall declare it. Why does the land perish, burnt up like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?

¹³ And the LORD says, “Because they have forsaken My Law, which I set before them, and have not obeyed My Voice, or walked thereafter,

¹⁴ “but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after Baal, which their fathers taught them,”

¹⁵ Therefore, thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: “behold, I will feed this people with wormwood, and give them waters of gall to drink.

¹⁶ “I will also scatter them among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. And I will send a sword after them, until I have consumed them.”

¹⁷ Thus says the LORD of Hosts: “Consider, and call for the mourning women, so that they may come. And send for skillful women, so that they may come.”

¹⁸ And let them hurry. And let them take up a lamentation for us, so that our eyes may cast out tears, and our eyelids gush out of water.

¹⁹ For a lamentable noise is heard out of Zion, “How we are destroyed and utterly confounded! For we have forsaken the land, and our dwellings have cast us out!”

²⁰ Therefore hear the Word of the LORD, O you women, and let your ears regard the words of His Mouth. And teach your daughters to mourn, and everyone her neighbor to lament.

²¹ For death has come up into our windows and has entered into our palaces, to destroy the children outside, and the young men in the streets:

²² “Speak, ‘Thus says the LORD: “The carcasses of men shall lie as the dung upon the field, and as the handful after the mower. And no one shall gather.”

²³ ‘Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, or the strong man glory in his strength, or the rich man glory in his riches.

²⁴ “But let him who glories glory in this: that he understands and knows Me. For I am the LORD, Who shows mercy, judgment, and righteousness on the Earth. For in these things I delight,” says the LORD.’

²⁵ “Behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that I will visit all those who are circumcised, with the uncircumcised.

²⁶ “Egypt and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all the utmost corners of those who dwell in the wilderness. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the House of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.”’”

10 Hear the Word of the LORD that He speaks to you, O House of Israel!

² Thus says the LORD: “Do not learn the way of the heathen, and do not be afraid of the signs of Heaven, though the heathen are afraid of such.

³ “For the customs of the people are frivolous. For one cuts a tree out of the forest (which is the work of the hands of the carpenter) with the axe,

⁴ “and another decorates it with silver and with gold. They fasten it with nails and hammers, so that it does not fall.

⁵ “They stand up, as the palm tree, but do not speak. They are carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them! For they cannot do evil, nor can they do good.”

⁶ There is no one like You, O LORD! You are great, and Your Name great in power!

⁷ Who would not fear You, O King of Nations? It befits You. For among all the wise men of the Gentiles, and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like You.

⁸ But altogether they dote and are foolish. Their wood is a doctrine of vanity.

⁹ Silver plates are brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman and the hands of the metalsmith, the blue silk and the purple their clothing. All these things are made by cunning men.

¹⁰ But the LORD, the God of Truth, He is the living God, and an everlasting King. At His anger the Earth shall tremble. And the nations cannot abide His wrath.

¹¹ “Thus shall you say to them: ‘The gods that have not made the heavens and the Earth shall perish from the Earth, and from under these heavens.

¹² ‘He has made the Earth by His power, and established the world by His wisdom, and has stretched out the heaven by His discretion.

¹³ ‘He gives, by voice, the multitude of waters in the heaven, and He causes the clouds to ascend from the ends of the Earth. He turns lightnings to rain and brings forth the wind out of His treasures.’”