Bible, King James Version
Jeremiah
Jer.1
[1] The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the
priests that were in 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] It came also in the days of
Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of
Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem
captive in the fifth month.
[4] Then the word of the LORD came unto
me, saying,
[5] Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and
before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee
a prophet unto the nations.
[6] Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I
cannot speak: for I am a child.
[7] But the LORD said unto me, Say
not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and
whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
[8] Be not afraid of their
faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
[9] Then
the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me,
Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
[10] See, I have this day
set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down,
and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
[11]
Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou?
And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
[12] Then said the LORD
unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform
it.
[13] And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time,
saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof
is toward the north.
[14] Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north
an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
[15]
For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the
LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the
entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round
about, and against all the cities of Judah.
[16] And I will utter my
judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and
have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own
hands.
[17] Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak
unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I
confound thee before them.
[18] For, behold, I have made thee this day
a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land,
against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests
thereof, and against the people of the land.
[19] And they shall fight
against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith
the LORD, to deliver thee.
Jer.2
[1] Moreover the word of the LORD came to me,
saying,
[2] Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith
the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine
espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not
sown.
[3] Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of
his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith
the LORD.
[4] Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all
the families of the house of Israel:
[5] Thus saith the LORD, What
iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have
walked after vanity, and are become vain?
[6] Neither said they, Where
is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the
wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought,
and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where
no man dwelt?
[7] And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat
the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my
land, and made mine heritage an abomination.
[8] The priests said not,
Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also
transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after
things that do not profit.
[9] Wherefore I will yet plead with you,
saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead.
[10]
For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider
diligently, and see if there be such a thing.
[11] Hath a nation
changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their
glory for that which doth not profit.
[12] Be astonished, O ye
heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the
LORD.
[13] For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken
me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns,
that can hold no water.
[14] Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn
slave? why is he spoiled?
[15] The young lions roared upon him, and
yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without
inhabitant.
[16] Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken
the crown of thy head.
[17] Hast thou not procured this unto thyself,
in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the
way?
[18] And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink
the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the
waters of the river?
[19] Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and
thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil
thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is
not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
[20] For of old time I have
broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress;
when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the
harlot.
[21] Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed:
how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto
me?
[22] For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much
soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.
[23]
How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way
in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing
her ways;
[24] A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the
wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek
her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.
[25]
Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou
saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I
go.
[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 stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone,
Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not
their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save
us.
[28] But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them
arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the
number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.
[29] Wherefore will ye
plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the
LORD.
[30] In vain have I smitten your children; they received no
correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying
lion.
[31] O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a
wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are
lords; we will come no more unto thee?
[32] Can a maid forget her
ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without
number.
[33] Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast
thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.
[34] Also in thy skirts is
found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by
secret search, but upon all these.
[35] Yet thou sayest, Because I am
innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee,
because thou sayest, I have not sinned.
[36] Why gaddest thou about so
much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast
ashamed of Assyria.
[37] Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine
hands upon thine head: for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences, and thou
shalt not prosper in them.
Jer.3
[1] They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from
him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that
land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet
return again to me, saith the LORD.
[2] Lift up thine eyes unto the
high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou
sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land
with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.
[3] Therefore the showers
have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a
whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.
[4] Wilt thou not from
this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?
[5]
Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou
hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.
[6] The LORD said
also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which
backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under
every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
[7] And I said
after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not.
And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
[8] And I saw, when for all
the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and
given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but
went and played the harlot also.
[9] And it came to pass through the
lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery
with stones and with stocks.
[10] And yet for all this her treacherous
sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith
the LORD.
[11] And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath
justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
[12] Go and proclaim
these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith
the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful,
saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.
[13] Only
acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy
God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye
have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
[14] Turn, O backsliding
children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of
a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
[15] And I
will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with
knowledge and understanding.
[16] And it shall come to pass, when ye
be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they
shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to
mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall
that be done any more.
[17] At that time they shall call Jerusalem the
throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name
of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the
imagination of their evil heart.
[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 to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your
fathers.
[19] But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and
give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I
said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from
me.
[20] Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so
have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith 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, and
they have forgotten the LORD their God.
[22] Return, ye backsliding
children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou
art the LORD our God.
[23] Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from
the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the
salvation of Israel.
[24] For shame hath devoured the labour of our
fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their
daughters.
[25] We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth
us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our
youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.
Jer.4
[1] If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return
unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then
shalt thou not remove.
[2] And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in
truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves
in him, and in him shall they glory.
[3] For thus saith the LORD to
the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among
thorns.
[4] Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the
foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my
fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil
of your doings.
[5] Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and
say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble
yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.
[6] Set up the
standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north,
and a great destruction.
[7] The lion is come up from his thicket, and
the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to
make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an
inhabitant.
[8] For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for
the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.
[9] And it
shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart of the king shall
perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and
the prophets shall wonder.
[10] Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou
hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace;
whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.
[11] At that time shall it
be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the
wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to
cleanse,
[12] Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me:
now also will I give sentence against them.
[13] Behold, he shall come
up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter
than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.
[14] O Jerusalem, wash
thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain
thoughts lodge within thee?
[15] For a voice declareth from Dan, and
publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.
[16] Make ye mention to the
nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far
country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.
[17] As
keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been
rebellious against me, saith the LORD.
[18] Thy way and thy doings
have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is
bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.
[19] My bowels, my
bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot
hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the
alarm of war.
[20] Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the
whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, 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 is foolish, they have not known me;
they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do
evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
[23] I beheld the earth,
and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no
light.
[24] I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all
the hills moved lightly.
[25] I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and
all the birds of the heavens were fled.
[26] I beheld, and, lo, the
fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at
the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.
[27] For thus hath
the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full
end.
[28] For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be
black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent,
neither will I turn back from it.
[29] The whole city shall flee for
the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up
upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell
therein.
[30] And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though
thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of
gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make
thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy
life.
[31] For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the
anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter
of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me
now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.
Jer.5
[1] Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and
see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man,
if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will
pardon it.
[2] And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear
falsely.
[3] O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast
stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have
refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock;
they have refused to return.
[4] Therefore I said, Surely these are
poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment
of their God.
[5] I will get me unto the great men, and will speak
unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their
God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the
bonds.
[6] Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a
wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities:
every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their
transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.
[7] How
shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them
that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery,
and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.
[8] They
were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's
wife.
[9] Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and
shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
[10] Go ye up
upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements;
for they are not the LORD's.
[11] For the house of Israel and the
house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the
LORD.
[12] They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither
shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:
[13]
And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it
be done unto them.
[14] Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts,
Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and
this people wood, and it shall devour them.
[15] Lo, I will bring a
nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty
nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not,
neither understandest what they say.
[16] Their quiver is as an open
sepulchre, they are all mighty men.
[17] And they shall eat up thine
harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall
eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig
trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the
sword.
[18] Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not
make a full end with you.
[19] And it shall come to pass, when ye
shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt
thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your
land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not 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 have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear
not:
[22] Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my
presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual
decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves,
yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over
it?
[23] But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they
are revolted and gone.
[24] Neither say they in their heart, Let us
now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in
his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the
harvest.
[25] Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your
sins have withholden good things from you.
[26] For among my people
are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap,
they catch men.
[27] As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses
full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
[28]
They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they
judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the
right of the needy do they not judge.
[29] Shall I not visit for these
things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as
this?
[30] A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the
land;
[31] The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by
their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end
thereof?
Jer.6
[1] O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee
out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign
of fire in Beth-haccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great
destruction.
[2] I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and
delicate woman.
[3] The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto
her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every
one in his place.
[4] Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go
up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening
are stretched out.
[5] Arise, and let us go by night, and let us
destroy her palaces.
[6] For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye
down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited;
she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.
[7] As a fountain
casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is
heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds.
[8] Be thou
instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee
desolate, a land not inhabited.
[9] Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They
shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a
grapegatherer into the baskets.
[10] To whom shall I speak, and give
warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot
hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no
delight in it.
[11] Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am
weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the
assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be
taken, the aged with him that is full of days.
[12] And their houses
shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will
stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the
LORD.
[13] For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them
every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest
every one dealeth falsely.
[14] They have healed also the hurt of the
daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no
peace.
[15] Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they
shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be
cast down, saith the LORD.
[16] Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the
ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk
therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk
therein.
[17] Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the
sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
[18]
Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among
them.
[19] Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people,
even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words,
nor to my law, but rejected it.
[20] To what purpose cometh there to
me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt
offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.
[21]
Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this
people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the
neighbour and his friend shall perish.
[22] Thus saith the LORD,
Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be
raised from the sides of the earth.
[23] They shall lay hold on bow
and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea;
and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter
of Zion.
[24] We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble:
anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in
travail.
[25] Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for
the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.
[26] O daughter of
my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee
mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall
suddenly come upon us.
[27] I have set thee for a tower and a fortress
among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way.
[28] They
are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they
are all corrupters.
[29] The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed
of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked
away.
[30] Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath
rejected them.
Jer.7
[1] The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD,
saying,
[2] Stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim there
this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at
these gates to worship the LORD.
[3] Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the
God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in
this place.
[4] Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the
LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.
[5]
For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute
judgment between a man and his neighbour;
[6] If ye oppress not the
stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this
place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:
[7] Then will I
cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for
ever and ever.
[8] Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot
profit.
[9] Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear
falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know
not;
[10] And come and stand before me in this house, which is called
by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these
abominations?
[11] Is this house, which is called by my name, become a
den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the
LORD.
[12] But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I
set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my
people Israel.
[13] And now, because ye have done all these works,
saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard
not; and I called you, but ye answered not;
[14] Therefore will I do
unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the
place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to
Shiloh.
[15] And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out
all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
[16] Therefore pray
not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make
intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.
[17] Seest thou not 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
their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink
offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
[19] Do
they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the
confusion of their own faces?
[20] Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD;
Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man,
and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the
ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
[21] Thus saith
the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your
sacrifices, and eat flesh.
[22] For I spake not unto your fathers, nor
commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt,
concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
[23] But this thing
commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be
my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be
well unto you.
[24] But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear,
but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went
backward, and not forward.
[25] Since the day that your fathers came
forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my
servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:
[26]
Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck:
they did worse than their fathers.
[27] Therefore thou shalt speak all
these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call
unto them; but they will not answer thee.
[28] But thou shalt say unto
them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor
receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their
mouth.
[29] Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and
take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken
the generation of his wrath.
[30] For the children of Judah have done
evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house
which is called by my name, to pollute it.
[31] And they have built
the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn
their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither
came it into my heart.
[32] Therefore, behold, the days come, saith
the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of
Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there
be no place.
[33] And the carcases of this people shall be meat for
the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray
them away.
[34] Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah,
and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of
gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land
shall be desolate.
Jer.8
[1] At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the
bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the
priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, out of their graves:
[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 after whom they have walked, and whom they have
sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be
buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
[3] And
death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of
this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them,
saith the LORD of hosts.
[4] Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus
saith the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not
return?
[5] Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a
perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to
return.
[6] I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man
repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to
his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.
[7] Yea, the stork
in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the
swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of
the LORD.
[8] How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is
with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in
vain.
[9] The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo,
they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in
them?
[10] Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their
fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto
the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest
every one dealeth falsely.
[11] For they have healed the hurt of the
daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no
peace.
[12] Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall
they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be
cast down, saith the LORD.
[13] I will surely consume them, saith the
LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the
leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from
them.
[14] Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter
into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath
put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned
against the LORD.
[15] We looked for peace, but no good came; and for
a time of health, and behold trouble!
[16] The snorting of his horses
was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his
strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in
it; the city, and those that dwell therein.
[17] For, behold, I will
send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall
bite you, saith the LORD.
[18] When I would comfort myself against
sorrow, my heart is faint in me.
[19] Behold the voice of the cry of
the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not
the LORD in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger
with their graven images, and with strange vanities?
[20] The harvest
is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
[21] For the hurt
of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold
on me.
[22] Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?
why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
Jer.9
[1] Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain
of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my
people!
[2] Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of
wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all
adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
[3] And they bend their
tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the
earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the
LORD.
[4] Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in
any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will
walk with slanders.
[5] And they will deceive every one his neighbour,
and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and
weary themselves to commit iniquity.
[6] Thine habitation is in the
midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the
LORD.
[7] Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt
them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my
people?
[8] Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit:
one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth
his wait.
[9] Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD:
shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
[10] For the
mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the
wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass
through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the
heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.
[11] And I will make
Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah
desolate, without an inhabitant.
[12] Who is the wise man, that may
understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that
he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a
wilderness, that none passeth through?
[13] And the LORD saith,
Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed
my voice, neither walked therein;
[14] But have walked after the
imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught
them:
[15] Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water
of gall to drink.
[16] I will scatter them also among the heathen,
whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after
them, till I have consumed them.
[17] Thus saith the LORD of hosts,
Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for
cunning women, that they may come:
[18] And let them make haste, and
take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids
gush out with waters.
[19] For a voice of wailing is heard out of
Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken
the land, because our dwellings have cast us out.
[20] Yet hear the
word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth,
and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour
lamentation.
[21] For death is come up into our windows, and is
entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young
men from the streets.
[22] Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the
carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after
the harvestman, and none shall gather them.
[23] Thus saith the LORD,
Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in
his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:
[24] But let him
that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the
LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth:
for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.
[25] Behold, the days
come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the
uncircumcised;
[26] Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of
Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the
wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel
are uncircumcised in the heart.
Jer.10
[1] Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O
house of Israel:
[2] Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the
heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are
dismayed at them.
[3] For the customs of the people are vain: for one
cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the
axe.
[4] They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with
nails and with hammers, that it move not.
[5] They are upright as the
palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be
not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do
good.
[6] Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art
great, and thy name is great in might.
[7] Who would not fear thee, O
King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise
men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto
thee.
[8] But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a
doctrine of vanities.
[9] Silver spread into plates is brought from
Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the
founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning
men.
[10] But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an
everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall
not be able to abide his indignation.
[11] Thus shall ye say unto
them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall
perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.
[12] He hath made
the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath
stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
[13] When he uttereth his
voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours
to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and
bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
[14] Every man is
brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for
his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
[15]
They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they
shall perish.
[16] The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is
the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of
hosts is his name.
[17] Gather up thy wares out of the land, O
inhabitant of the fortress.
[18] For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I
will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them,
that they may find it so.
[19] Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is
grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.
[20]
My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone
forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more,
and to set up my curtains.
[21] For the pastors are become brutish,
and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their
flocks shall be scattered.
[22] Behold, the noise of the bruit is
come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of
Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.
[23] O LORD, I know that the way
of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his
steps.
[24] O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger,
lest thou bring me to nothing.
[25] Pour out thy fury upon the heathen
that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they
have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his
habitation desolate.
Jer.11
[1] The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD,
saying,
[2] Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men
of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
[3] And say thou unto
them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the
words of this covenant,
[4] Which I commanded your fathers in the day
that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace,
saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so
shall ye be my people, and I will be your God:
[5] That I may perform
the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with
milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I, and said, So be it, O
LORD.
[6] Then the LORD said unto me, Proclaim all these words in the
cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the words of
this covenant, and do them.
[7] For I earnestly protested unto your
fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto
this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice.
[8] Yet
they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination
of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this
covenant, which I commanded them to do; but they did them not.
[9] And
the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among
the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
[10] They are turned back to the
iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went
after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have
broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.
[11] Therefore
thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not
be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto
them.
[12] Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem
go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save
them at all in the time of their trouble.
[13] For according to the
number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the
streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars
to burn incense unto Baal.
[14] Therefore pray not thou for this
people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in
the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.
[15] What hath my
beloved to do in mine house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the
holy flesh is passed from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou
rejoicest.
[16] The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair,
and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon
it, and the branches of it are broken.
[17] For the LORD of hosts,
that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house
of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to
provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal.
[18] And the LORD
hath given me knowledge of it, and I know it: then thou shewedst me their
doings.
[19] But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the
slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me, saying, Let
us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land
of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.
[20] But, O
LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart,
let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my
cause.
[21] Therefore thus saith the LORD of the men of Anathoth, that
seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the LORD, that thou die not
by our hand:
[22] Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I
will punish them: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their
daughters shall die by famine:
[23] And there shall be no remnant of
them: for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even the year of their
visitation.
Jer.12
[1] Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee:
yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked
prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very
treacherously?
[2] Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root:
they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far
from their reins.
[3] But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me,
and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
[4] How long shall the land
mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that
dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He
shall not see our last end.
[5] If thou hast run with the footmen, and
they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the
land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do
in the swelling of Jordan?
[6] For even thy brethren, and the house of
thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called
a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto
thee.
[7] I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I
have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her
enemies.
[8] Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it
crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it.
[9] Mine heritage is
unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye,
assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour.
[10] Many
pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot,
they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
[11] They
have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is
made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.
[12] The spoilers
are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the LORD
shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no
flesh shall have peace.
[13] They have sown wheat, but shall reap
thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall
be ashamed of your revenues because of the fierce anger of the
LORD.
[14] Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that
touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I
will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among
them.
[15] And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them
out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every
man to his heritage, and every man to his land.
[16] And it shall come
to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my
name, The LORD liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall
they be built in the midst of my people.
[17] But if they will not
obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD.
Jer.13
[1] Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen
girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
[2] So I
got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my
loins.
[3] And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time,
saying,
[4] Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy
loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the
rock.
[5] So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded
me.
[6] And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto
me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded
thee to hide there.
[7] Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took
the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was
marred, it was profitable for nothing.
[8] Then the word of the LORD
came unto me, saying,
[9] Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will
I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
[10] This
evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of
their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them,
shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.
[11] For as
the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me
the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that
they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a
glory: but they would not hear.
[12] Therefore thou shalt speak unto
them this word; Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled
with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every
bottle shall be filled with wine?
[13] Then shalt thou say unto them,
Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even
the kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and
all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.
[14] And I will
dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the
LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy
them.
[15] Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath
spoken.
[16] Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause
darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye
look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross
darkness.
[17] But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in
secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with
tears, because the LORD's flock is carried away captive.
[18] Say unto
the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities
shall come down, even the crown of your glory.
[19] The cities of the
south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away
captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.
[20] Lift
up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that
was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
[21] What wilt thou say when he
shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over
thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?
[22] And if
thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness
of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made
bare.
[23] Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his
spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
[24]
Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of
the wilderness.
[25] This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from
me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in
falsehood.
[26] Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face,
that thy shame may appear.
[27] I have seen thine adulteries, and thy
neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in
the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall
it once be?
Jer.14
[1] The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning
the dearth.
[2] Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they
are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
[3]
And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the
pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were
ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.
[4] Because the
ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed,
they covered their heads.
[5] Yea, the hind also calved in the field,
and forsook it, because there was no grass.
[6] And the wild asses did
stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did
fail, because there was no grass.
[7] O LORD, though our iniquities
testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are
many; we have sinned against thee.
[8] O the hope of Israel, the
saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the
land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a
night?
[9] Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man
that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by
thy name; leave us not.
[10] Thus saith the LORD unto this people,
Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore
the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit
their sins.
[11] Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people
for their good.
[12] When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and
when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I
will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the
pestilence.
[13] Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say
unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will
give you assured peace in this place.
[14] Then the LORD said unto me,
The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded
them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and
divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
[15]
Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name,
and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land;
By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
[16] And the
people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem
because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them,
them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their
wickedness upon them.
[17] Therefore thou shalt say this word unto
them; Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease:
for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very
grievous blow.
[18] If I go forth into the field, then behold the
slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are
sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that
they know not.
[19] Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul
lothed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked
for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold
trouble!
[20] We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity
of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
[21] Do not abhor us,
for thy name's sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break
not thy covenant with us.
[22] Are there any among the vanities of the
Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he,
O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these
things.
Jer.15
[1] Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel
stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of
my sight, and let them go forth.
[2] And it shall come to pass, if
they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus
saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword,
to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for
the captivity, to the captivity.
[3] And I will appoint over them four
kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of
the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.
[4]
And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of
Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in
Jerusalem.
[5] For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who
shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest?
[6]
Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I
stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with
repenting.
[7] And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the
land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they
return not from their ways.
[8] Their widows are increased to me above
the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young
men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and
terrors upon the city.
[9] She that hath borne seven languisheth: she
hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath
been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword
before their enemies, saith the LORD.
[10] Woe is me, my mother, that
thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I
have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of
them doth curse me.
[11] The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with
thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of
evil and in the time of affliction.
[12] Shall iron break the northern
iron and the steel?
[13] Thy substance and thy treasures will I give
to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy
borders.
[14] And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a
land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall
burn upon you.
[15] O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me,
and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know
that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
[16] Thy words were found,
and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine
heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
[17] I sat
not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy
hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.
[18] Why is my pain
perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be
altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?
[19] Therefore
thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou
shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou
shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto
them.
[20] And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall:
and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for
I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
[21]
And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee
out of the hand of the terrible.
Jer.16
[1] The word of the LORD came also unto me,
saying,
[2] Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have
sons or daughters in this place.
[3] For thus saith the LORD
concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place,
and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that
begat them in this land;
[4] They shall die of grievous deaths; they
shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung
upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by
famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the
beasts of the earth.
[5] For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the
house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away
my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and
mercies.
[6] Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they
shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor
make themselves bald for them:
[7] Neither shall men tear themselves
for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them
the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their
mother.
[8] Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit
with them to eat and to drink.
[9] For thus saith the LORD of hosts,
the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes,
and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of
the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.
[10] And it shall come to
pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto
thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what
is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our
God?
[11] Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have
forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served
them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my
law;
[12] And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye
walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not
hearken unto me:
[13] Therefore will I cast you out of this land into
a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve
other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour.
[14]
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said,
The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of
Egypt;
[15] But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of
Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven
them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their
fathers.
[16] Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD,
and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall
hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the
rocks.
[17] For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid
from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.
[18] And
first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have
defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their
detestable and abominable things.
[19] O LORD, my strength, and my
fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto
thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have
inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.
[20]
Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?
[21]
Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to
know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD.
Jer.17
[1] The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and
with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and
upon the horns of your altars;
[2] Whilst their children remember
their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high
hills.
[3] O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and
all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy
borders.
[4] And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine
heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the
land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which
shall burn for ever.
[5] Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that
trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the
LORD.
[6] For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not
see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in
a salt land and not inhabited.
[7] Blessed is the man that trusteth in
the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
[8] For he shall be as a tree
planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall
not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful
in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
[9]
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know
it?
[10] I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give
every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his
doings.
[11] As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not;
so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of
his days, and at his end shall be a fool.
[12] A glorious high throne
from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.
[13] O LORD, the
hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart
from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the
fountain of living waters.
[14] Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be
healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
[15]
Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come
now.
[16] As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow
thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out
of my lips was right before thee.
[17] Be not a terror unto me: thou
art my hope in the day of evil.
[18] Let them be confounded that
persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me
be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double
destruction.
[19] Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate
of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the
which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;
[20] And say
unto them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and
all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:
[21]
Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath
day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;
[22] Neither carry
forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work,
but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.
[23] But
they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that
they might not hear, nor receive instruction.
[24] And it shall come
to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the LORD, to bring in no burden
through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day,
to do no work therein;
[25] Then shall there enter into the gates of
this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots
and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever.
[26] And they shall
come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the
land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the
south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and
incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the
LORD.
[27] But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath
day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the
sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour
the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.
Jer.18
[1] The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD,
saying,
[2] Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will
cause thee to hear my words.
[3] Then I went down to the potter's
house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
[4] And the
vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it
again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
[5]
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
[6] O house of Israel,
cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in
the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
[7] At
what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to
pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
[8] If that nation,
against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil
that I thought to do unto them.
[9] And at what instant I shall speak
concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant
it;
[10] If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I
will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
[11]
Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and
devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make
your ways and your doings good.
[12] And they said, There is no hope:
but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination
of his evil heart.
[13] Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now
among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a
very horrible thing.
[14] Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which
cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come
from another place be forsaken?
[15] Because my people hath forgotten
me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in
their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast
up;
[16] To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every
one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
[17] I
will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the
back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.
[18] Then said
they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not
perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the
prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to
any of his words.
[19] Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the
voice of them that contend with me.
[20] Shall evil be recompensed for
good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee
to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.
[21]
Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by
the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and
be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by
the sword in battle.
[22] Let a cry be heard from their houses, when
thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take
me, and hid snares for my feet.
[23] Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their
counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out
their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with
them in the time of thine anger.
Jer.19
[1] Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter's earthen
bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the
priests;
[2] And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which
is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell
thee,
[3] And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and
inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears
shall tingle.
[4] Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged
this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor
their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place
with the blood of innocents;
[5] They have built also the high places
of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I
commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
[6]
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more
be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of
slaughter.
[7] And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem
in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies,
and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give
to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the
earth.
[8] And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every
one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues
thereof.
[9] And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and
the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his
friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek
their lives, shall straiten them.
[10] Then shalt thou break the
bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,
[11] And shalt say
unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will I break this people and
this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again:
and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to
bury.
[12] Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the
inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet:
[13] And the
houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as
the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned
incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto
other gods.
[14] Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had
sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD's house; and said to
all the people,
[15] Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I
have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they
might not hear my words.
Jer.20
[1] Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also
chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these
things.
[2] Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the
stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the
LORD.
[3] And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth
Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not
called thy name Pashur, but Magor-missabib.
[4] For thus saith the
LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and
they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it:
and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall
carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the
sword.
[5] Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and
all the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the
treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies,
which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.
[6]
And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and
thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there,
thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.
[7] O
LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and
hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
[8] For
since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the
LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.
[9] Then I
said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his
word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary
with forbearing, and I could not stay.
[10] For I heard the defaming
of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my
familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and
we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on
him.
[11] But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore
my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly
ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be
forgotten.
[12] But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and
seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee
have I opened my cause.
[13] Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD:
for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of
evildoers.
[14] Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day
wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
[15] Cursed be the man who
brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him
very glad.
[16] And let that man be as the cities which the LORD
overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the
shouting at noontide;
[17] Because he slew me not from the womb; or
that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with
me.
[18] Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and
sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
Jer.21
[1] The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when
king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of
Maaseiah the priest, saying,
[2] Inquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for
us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the
LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up
from us.
[3] Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to
Zedekiah:
[4] Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn
back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the
king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls,
and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.
[5] And I myself
will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in
anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.
[6] And I will smite the
inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great
pestilence.
[7] And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah
king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this
city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the
hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the
sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.
[8]
And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before
you the way of life, and the way of death.
[9] He that abideth in this
city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he
that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live,
and his life shall be unto him for a prey.
[10] For I have set my face
against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD: it shall be given
into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with
fire.
[11] And touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye
the word of the LORD;
[12] O house of David, thus saith the LORD;
Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand
of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench
it, because of the evil of your doings.
[13] Behold, I am against
thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the LORD; which
say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our
habitations?
[14] But I will punish you according to the fruit of your
doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it
shall devour all things round about it.
Jer.22
[1] Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king
of Judah, and speak there this word,
[2] And say, Hear the word of the
LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy
servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:
[3] Thus saith
the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of
the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the
fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this
place.
[4] For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in
by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in
chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.
[5] But
if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this
house shall become a desolation.
[6] For thus saith the LORD unto the
king's house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet
surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not
inhabited.
[7] And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one
with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into
the fire.
[8] And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall
say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this
great city?
[9] Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the
covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served
them.
[10] Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore
for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native
country.
[11] For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of
Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went
forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more:
[12]
But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see
this land no more.
[13] Woe unto him that buildeth his house by
unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service
without wages, and giveth him not for his work;
[14] That saith, I
will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and
it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
[15] Shalt thou
reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink,
and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?
[16] He
judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this
to know me? saith the LORD.
[17] But thine eyes and thine heart are
not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for
oppression, and for violence, to do it.
[18] Therefore thus saith the
LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament
for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him,
saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!
[19] He shall be buried with the
burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of
Jerusalem.
[20] Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in
Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are
destroyed.
[21] I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst,
I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst
not my voice.
[22] The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy
lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded
for all thy wickedness.
[23] O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy
nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the
pain as of a woman in travail!
[24] As I live, saith the LORD, though
Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand,
yet would I pluck thee thence;
[25] And I will give thee into the hand
of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest,
even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the
Chaldeans.
[26] And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare
thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye
die.
[27] But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither
shall they not return.
[28] Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol?
is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his
seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
[29] O earth,
earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
[30] Thus saith the LORD,
Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no
man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any
more in Judah.
Jer.23
[1] Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the
sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
[2] Therefore thus saith the LORD
God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my
flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit
upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.
[3] And I will
gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them,
and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and
increase.
[4] And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed
them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be
lacking, saith the LORD.
[5] Behold, the days come, saith the LORD,
that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and
prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
[6] In
his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his
name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
[7]
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say,
The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of
Egypt;
[8] But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the
seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries
whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
[9]
Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am
like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD,
and because of the words of his holiness.
[10] For the land is full of
adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of
the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not
right.
[11] For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house
have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
[12] Wherefore their
way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven
on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their
visitation, saith the LORD.
[13] And I have seen folly in the prophets
of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to
err.
[14] I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible
thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of
evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto
me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
[15] Therefore
thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them
with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of
Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.
[16] Thus saith
the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto
you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of
the mouth of the LORD.
[17] They say still unto them that despise me,
The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that
walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon
you.
[18] For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath
perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard
it?
[19] Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a
grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the
wicked.
[20] The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have
executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter
days ye shall consider it perfectly.
[21] I have not sent these
prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they
prophesied.
[22] But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused
my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil
way, and from the evil of their doings.
[23] Am I a God at hand, saith
the LORD, and not a God afar off?
[24] Can any hide himself in secret
places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth?
saith the LORD.
[25] I have heard what the prophets said, that
prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
[26]
How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea,
they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;
[27] Which think
to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man
to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for
Baal.
[28] The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he
that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the
wheat? saith the LORD.
[29] Is not my word like as a fire? saith the
LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
[30]
Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my
words every one from his neighbour.
[31] Behold, I am against the
prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He
saith.
[32] Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams,
saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and
by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they
shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
[33] And when
this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the
burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even
forsake you, saith the LORD.
[34] And as for the prophet, and the
priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even
punish that man and his house.
[35] Thus shall ye say every one to his
neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What
hath the LORD spoken?
[36] And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention
no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the
words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.
[37] Thus shalt
thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the
LORD spoken?
[38] But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore
thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I
have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the
LORD;
[39] Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and
I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you
out of my presence:
[40] And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon
you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.
Jer.24
[1] The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs
were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah,
and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and
had brought them to Babylon.
[2] One basket had very good figs, even
like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs,
which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
[3] Then said the LORD
unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good;
and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
[4]
Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[5] Thus saith the
LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that
are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the
land of the Chaldeans for their good.
[6] For I will set mine eyes
upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build
them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them
up.
[7] And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD:
and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto
me with their whole heart.
[8] And as the evil figs, which cannot be
eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the
king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in
this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:
[9] And I will
deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to
be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall
drive them.
[10] And I will send the sword, the famine, and the
pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto
them and to their fathers.
Jer.25
[1] The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the
people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah,
that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;
[2] The
which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,
[3] From the thirteenth year of
Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and
twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto
you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.
[4] And the
LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending
them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.
[5]
They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of
your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your
fathers for ever and ever:
[6] And go not after other gods to serve
them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your
hands; and I will do you no hurt.
[7] Yet ye have not hearkened unto
me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your
hands to your own hurt.
[8] Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts;
Because ye have not heard my words,
[9] Behold, I will send and take
all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of
Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the
inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly
destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual
desolations.
[10] Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth,
and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the
bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.
[11]
And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these
nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
[12] And it
shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the
king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the
land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.
[13]
And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it,
even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against
all the nations.
[14] For many nations and great kings shall serve
themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds,
and according to the works of their own hands.
[15] For thus saith the
LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause
all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
[16] And they shall
drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among
them.
[17] Then took I the cup at the LORD's hand, and made all the
nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:
[18] To wit,
Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes
thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as
it is this day;
[19] Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his
princes, and all his people;
[20] And all the mingled people, and all
the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines,
and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod,
[21]
Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,
[22] And all the kings of
Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond
the sea,
[23] Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost
corners,
[24] And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the
mingled people that dwell in the desert,
[25] And all the kings of
Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,
[26]
And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the
kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of
Sheshach shall drink after them.
[27] Therefore thou shalt say unto
them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken,
and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send
among you.
[28] And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at
thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of
hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
[29] For, lo, I begin to bring evil
on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye
shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of
the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.
[30] Therefore prophesy thou
against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on
high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon
his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against
all the inhabitants of the earth.
[31] A noise shall come even to the
ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will
plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the
LORD.
[32] Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth
from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts
of the earth.
[33] And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from
one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be
lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the
ground.
[34] Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the
ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your
dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant
vessel.
[35] And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the
principal of the flock to escape.
[36] A voice of the cry of the
shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the
LORD hath spoiled their pasture.
[37] And the peaceable habitations
are cut down because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
[38] He hath
forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the
fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.
Jer.26
[1] In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of
Josiah king of Judah came this word from the LORD, saying,
[2] Thus
saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD's house, and speak unto all the
cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD's house, all the words that I
command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:
[3] If so be
they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of
the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their
doings.
[4] And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye
will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before
you,
[5] To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I
sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not
hearkened;
[6] Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make
this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.
[7] So the priests
and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the
house of the LORD.
[8] Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an
end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the
people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying,
Thou shalt surely die.
[9] Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the
LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate
without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the
house of the LORD.
[10] When the princes of Judah heard these things,
then they came up from the king's house unto the house of the LORD, and sat down
in the entry of the new gate of the LORD's house.
[11] Then spake the
priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying, This
man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard
with your ears.
[12] Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to
all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and
against this city all the words that ye have heard.
[13] Therefore now
amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and
the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against
you.
[14] As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth
good and meet unto you.
[15] But know ye for certain, that if ye put
me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this
city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me
unto you to speak all these words in your ears.
[16] Then said the
princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man is not
worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our
God.
[17] Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to
all the assembly of the people, saying,
[18] Micah the Morasthite
prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of
Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field,
and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountains of the house as the high
places of a forest.
[19] Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put
him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the
LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might
we procure great evil against our souls.
[20] And there was also a man
that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of
Kirjath-jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according
to all the words of Jeremiah:
[21] And when Jehoiakim the king, with
all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put
him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into
Egypt;
[22] And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely,
Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt.
[23]
And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the
king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the
common people.
[24] Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan
was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to
put him to death.
Jer.27
[1] In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of
Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD,
saying,
[2] Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and
put them upon thy neck,
[3] And send them to the king of Edom, and to
the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus,
and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem
unto Zedekiah king of Judah;
[4] And command them to say unto their
masters, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say unto
your masters;
[5] I have made the earth, the man and the beast that
are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have
given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.
[6] And now have I given
all these lands unto the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant;
and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
[7]
And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very
time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve
themselves of him.
[8] And it shall come to pass, that the nation and
kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and
that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation
will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the
pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
[9] Therefore
hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor
to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye
shall not serve the king of Babylon:
[10] For they prophesy a lie unto
you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye
should perish.
[11] But the nations that bring their neck under the
yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those will I let remain still in
their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till it, and dwell
therein.
[12] I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all
these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and
serve him and his people, and live.
[13] Why will ye die, thou and thy
people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the LORD hath
spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of
Babylon?
[14] Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets
that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they
prophesy a lie unto you.
[15] For I have not sent them, saith the
LORD, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I might drive you out, and that
ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you.
[16]
Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the LORD;
Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying,
Behold, the vessels of the LORD's house shall now shortly be brought again from
Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.
[17] Hearken not unto them;
serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city be laid
waste?
[18] But if they be prophets, and if the word of the LORD be
with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels
which are left in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah,
and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.
[19] For thus saith the LORD of
hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases,
and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this
city,
[20] Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he
carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem
to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;
[21] Yea, thus
saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain
in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah and of
Jerusalem;
[22] They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they
be until the day that I visit them, saith the LORD; then will I bring them up,
and restore them to this place.
Jer.28
[1] And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of
the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month,
that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in
the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people,
saying,
[2] Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,
saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
[3] Within two
full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the LORD's
house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and
carried them to Babylon:
[4] And I will bring again to this place
Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah,
that went into Babylon, saith the LORD: for I will break the yoke of the king of
Babylon.
[5] Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah
in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood
in the house of the LORD,
[6] Even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen:
the LORD do so: the LORD perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring
again the vessels of the LORD's house, and all that is carried away captive,
from Babylon into this place.
[7] Nevertheless hear thou now this word
that I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all the people;
[8] The
prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied both against
many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of
pestilence.
[9] The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word
of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the
LORD hath truly sent him.
[10] Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke
from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it.
[11] And Hananiah
spake in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Even so
will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all
nations within the space of two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his
way.
[12] Then the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the prophet,
after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the
prophet Jeremiah, saying,
[13] Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus
saith the LORD; Thou hast broken the yokes of wood; but thou shalt make for them
yokes of iron.
[14] For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they
may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him: and I have
given him the beasts of the field also.
[15] Then said the prophet
Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent
thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie.
[16] Therefore
thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth:
this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the
LORD.
[17] So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh
month.
Jer.29
[1] Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah
the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were
carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the
people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to
Babylon;
[2] (After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the
eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths,
were departed from Jerusalem;)
[3] By the hand of Elasah the son of
Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto
Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying,
[4] Thus saith the
LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom
I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;
[5]
Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of
them;
[6] Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives
for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and
daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
[7] And
seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away
captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have
peace.
[8] For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let
not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you,
neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
[9] For
they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the
LORD.
[10] For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be
accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you,
in causing you to return to this place.
[11] For I know the thoughts
that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to
give you an expected end.
[12] Then shall ye call upon me, and ye
shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
[13] And ye
shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your
heart.
[14] And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will
turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from
all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you
again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away
captive.
[15] Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised us up
prophets in Babylon;
[16] Know that thus saith the LORD of the king
that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in
this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into
captivity;
[17] Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon
them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile
figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
[18] And I will
persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and
will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse,
and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations
whither I have driven them:
[19] Because they have not hearkened to my
words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets,
rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the
LORD.
[20] Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all ye of the
captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:
[21] Thus saith
the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of
Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold,
I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he
shall slay them before your eyes;
[22] And of them shall be taken up a
curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The LORD make
thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the
fire;
[23] Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have
committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken lying words in
my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith
the LORD.
[24] Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite,
saying,
[25] Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,
saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are
at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the
priests, saying,
[26] The LORD hath made thee priest in the stead of
Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the LORD, for
every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him
in prison, and in the stocks.
[27] Now therefore why hast thou not
reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to
you?
[28] For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This
captivity is long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and
eat the fruit of them.
[29] And Zephaniah the priest read this letter
in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.
[30] Then came the word of the
LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
[31] Send to all them of the captivity,
saying, Thus saith the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that
Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to
trust in a lie:
[32] Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will
punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell
among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my
people, saith the LORD; because he hath taught rebellion against the LORD.
Jer.30
[1] The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD,
saying,
[2] Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee
all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.
[3] For, lo, the
days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people
Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land
that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.
[4] And these
are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning
Judah.
[5] For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of
trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
[6] Ask ye now, and see