Key terms · the divine name (YHWH)
Jeremiah
יהוה Hebrew · Strong’s H3068
Every sentence 712 uses
Each sentence in Balanced English, with the word marked. The verse link opens it in the reader.
to whom the word of the LORD came during the reign of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of Josiah’s reign,
The word of the LORD came to me:
But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a mere youth.’ To all the people I send you to, you will go; every word I command you, you will speak.
Have no fear of them, for I am with you to rescue you, declares the LORD.”
The LORD then stretched out his hand and laid it on my mouth, and the LORD said to me, “There: I have placed my words in your mouth.
The word of the LORD came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “I see a rod cut from an almond tree.”
The LORD said to me, “You have seen rightly, for I am keeping watch over my word until I carry it out.”
The word of the LORD came to me a second time: “What do you see?” I said, “I see a pot fanned to a boil, its mouth tilted from the north toward the south.”
Then the LORD said to me, “From the north, disaster will burst out upon everyone who lives in the land.
For I am about to summon all the clans of the northern kingdoms, declares the LORD. They will come, and each of them will set up his throne at the entrance of Jerusalem’s gates, against all its surrounding walls, and against all the towns of Judah.
They will make war on you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to rescue you.”
The word of the LORD came to me:
Go and call out so that Jerusalem hears: The LORD says this: I remember the loyal love of your youth, how you loved me as a bride, how you went after me through the wilderness, through a land where nothing was sown.
Israel was set apart as holy to the LORD, the first share of his harvest. Whoever ate of it was held guilty, and disaster came on them, declares the LORD.
Hear the word of the LORD, house of Jacob, all you clans of the house of Israel.
The LORD says this: What did your ancestors find wrong in me, that they went so far from me, and went after worthless idols and became worthless themselves?
They did not ask, “Where is the LORD, the one who brought us up from Egypt’s land, who guided us in the wilderness, through a land of desert plains and pits, a land of drought and deep darkness, a land no one crosses and no one lives in?”
The priests did not ask, “Where is the LORD?” Those who handle the instruction did not know me; the shepherds rebelled against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and followed things that are of no profit.
So I will go on bringing charges against you, declares the LORD, and I will bring charges against your children’s children.
Be horrified at this, you heavens; shudder and be utterly stunned, declares the LORD.
Is this not what you have done to yourself in forsaking the LORD your God while he was leading you on the way?
Your own wickedness will punish you, and your turning away will convict you. Know, then, and see what an evil and bitter thing it is for you to forsake the LORD your God, with no dread of me in you, declares the Lord GOD of Armies.
Why do you bring charges against me? You have all rebelled against me, declares the LORD.
And you, this generation, pay heed to the word of the LORD: Have I been a desert to Israel, or a land of deep gloom? Why then do my people say, “We wander where we please; we will not come back to you”?
You will come away from Egypt too with your hands on your head, because the LORD has rejected the ones you rely on, and you will not succeed with their help.
This is the message: If a man divorces his wife, and she leaves him and marries another man, will he go back to her again? Would that land not be thoroughly defiled? Yet you have prostituted yourself with many lovers, and would you now come back to me? declares the LORD.
The LORD spoke to me during the reign of King Josiah: “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up onto every high hill and under every green tree, and there she prostituted herself.
Even after all this, her treacherous sister Judah did not come back to me wholeheartedly; it was only a pretense, declares the LORD.”
The LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel has shown herself less guilty than treacherous Judah.
Go and proclaim this message toward the north: ‘Return, faithless Israel, declares the LORD. I will not look on you in anger, for I am loyal in love, declares the LORD. I will not stay angry forever.
Only admit your guilt: you have rebelled against the LORD your God, you have run here and there to foreign gods under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice, declares the LORD.
Return, faithless children, declares the LORD, for I am your husband. I will take you, one from a town and two from a clan, and bring you to Zion.
In those days, when you have multiplied and been fruitful in the land, declares the LORD, people will no longer speak of “the ark of the covenant of the LORD.” It will not come to mind; they will not remember it or miss it, and another will not be made.
At that time Jerusalem will be named the LORD’s throne, and all the nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the LORD’s name. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.
But as an unfaithful wife leaves her husband, so you have been unfaithful to me, house of Israel, declares the LORD.
A cry is heard on the bare hilltops, the Israelites weeping and pleading, because they have twisted their path and forgotten the LORD their God.
Return, faithless children, and I will heal your faithlessness. “We are here; we have come to you, because you are the LORD our God.
Surely the hills are a delusion, and the uproar on the mountains; surely in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
Let us lie down in our shame and let our disgrace cover us. For both we and our ancestors have sinned against the LORD our God, from our youth until this very day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.”
If you return, Israel, declares the LORD, return to me. If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer stray,
and swear, “As surely as the LORD lives,” in truth, with justice and with righteousness, then the nations will bless themselves by him and take pride in him.
For the LORD says this to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem: Plow up your unplowed ground, and do not sow among thorns.
Circumcise yourselves for the LORD; circumcise your hearts, people of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my wrath will flare up like fire and burn, and no one will put it out, because of the evil you have done.
So dress in sackcloth, lament and wail, for the LORD’s fierce anger has still not turned away from us.
On that day, declares the LORD, the king and the officials will lose heart; the priests will be horrified, and the prophets will be stunned.
Like watchmen guarding a field they surround her, because she has rebelled against me, declares the LORD.
I looked, and the orchard land had become a desert; all its towns had been torn down before the LORD, before his fierce anger.
For the LORD says this: The whole land will be laid waste, but I will not destroy it completely.
Even when they say, “As surely as the LORD lives,” they are swearing to a lie.
LORD, do not your eyes look for faithfulness? You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they would not accept correction. They set their faces harder than rock; they would not turn back.
I said, “These are only the poor; they act foolishly because they do not know the way of the LORD, what their God requires.
I will go to the great and speak with them; surely they know the way of the LORD, what their God requires.” But they too, one and all, had broken the yoke and snapped the straps.
Should I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD. On a nation such as this should I not take vengeance?
Go up through her vineyard rows and ruin them, but do not destroy her completely. Cut away her branches; they do not belong to the LORD.
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken faith with me completely, declares the LORD.
They have told lies about the LORD; they have said, “He will do nothing! No harm will come to us; we will not see sword or famine.
Therefore the LORD, the God of Armies, says this: Because you people have spoken these words, I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people the wood, and the fire will burn them up.
House of Israel, I am bringing a nation from far away against you, declares the LORD. It is a nation that endures, a nation from ancient times, a nation whose language you do not know; you will not understand what they say.
Yet even in those days, declares the LORD, I will not destroy you completely.
And when the people ask, “Why has the LORD our God done all this to us?” you must answer them, “As you abandoned me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve strangers in a land not your own.”
Do you not fear me? declares the LORD. Will you not tremble in my presence? I set the sand as the boundary of the sea, a lasting decree it cannot cross. Its waters may heave, but they cannot win; its waves may roar, but they cannot pass beyond it.
They do not say to themselves, “Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks set for the harvest.”
Should I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD. On a nation such as this should I not take vengeance?
For the LORD of Armies says this: Cut down her trees and heap up a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This is the city marked for punishment; inside her is oppression and nothing else.
The LORD of Armies says this: They will glean the remnant of Israel as bare as a vine. Reach out your hand again like one picking grapes, over the branches.
Who is there for me to speak to and warn, so that they will listen? Their ears are uncircumcised; they cannot pay attention. The word of the LORD has become something they mock; they take no pleasure in it.
But I am filled with the fury of the LORD; I am worn out from holding it back. Pour it out on the little ones in the street and on the young men where they gather; for husband and wife alike will be captured, the elderly and those who have lived out their years.
Their houses will pass to others, their fields and their wives too; for I will stretch out my hand against the people of the land, declares the LORD.
Were they ashamed when they did such detestable things? Not in the least; they have forgotten how to blush. So they will fall with the fallen; when I call them to account they will be brought down, says the LORD.
The LORD says this: Stand where the roads meet and look around; ask about the age-old paths, which one is the good way, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls. But they answered, “We will not go that way.”
So the LORD says this: I am about to set obstacles in front of this people, and they will trip over them, parents and children alike; neighbors and friends will die.
The LORD says this: See, an army is coming from the land of the north; a mighty nation is being roused from the ends of the earth.
They are called worthless silver, because the LORD has thrown them away.
This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
“Take your stand at the gate of the house of the LORD and announce this word there. Say: ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah, everyone who comes in through these gates to worship the LORD.
The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Change your ways and your actions for the better, and I will let you live in this place.
Do not trust in deceptive words when people say, “This is the LORD’s temple, the LORD’s temple, the LORD’s temple!”
Has this house that bears my name become a hideout for robbers in your eyes? I myself have seen it, declares the LORD.
And now, declares the LORD, because you have done all these things, and I spoke to you again and again and you would not listen, and I called you and you did not answer,
Is it really me they are provoking? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves they hurt, to their own disgrace?
The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves!
Then say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God and would not accept correction. Faithfulness has died; it is gone from their lips.’
Cut off your consecrated hair and throw it away; raise a lament on the bare hills, for the LORD has rejected and abandoned the generation that is under his wrath.
The people of Judah have done what is evil in my sight, declares the LORD. They have placed their detestable idols in the house that bears my name and so defiled it.
So look, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. They will bury the dead in Topheth because there will be no room anywhere else.
At that time, declares the LORD, the bones of Judah’s kings and officials, of the priests and prophets, and of all who lived in Jerusalem will be taken from their graves.
All who are left of this evil family, in every place where I have driven them, will choose death rather than life, declares the LORD of Armies.”
Say to them, The LORD says this: When people fall, do they not get up again? When someone turns away, do they not turn back?
Even the stork in the sky knows her seasons, and the turtledove, the swift and the crane keep the time of their return; but my people do not know the order the LORD has set.
How can you say, “We are wise; we have the instruction of the LORD”? In fact, the lying pen of the scribes has turned it into a lie.
The wise will be put to shame; they will be shattered and trapped. They have rejected the word of the LORD, so what kind of wisdom do they have?
Were they ashamed when they did such detestable things? Not in the least; they have forgotten how to blush. So they will fall with the fallen; when the time comes to call them to account they will be brought down, says the LORD.
I will gather them in and put an end to them, declares the LORD. There are no grapes on the vine, no figs on the fig tree; even the leaves have withered. What I gave them will pass away from them.
“Why are we sitting here? Come together, let us go into the fortified cities and meet our end there; for the LORD our God has doomed us to die and made us drink poisoned water, because we have sinned against the LORD.
For I am about to send snakes among you, vipers that no charmer can control, and they will bite you, declares the LORD.
Listen! The cry of my dear people for help comes from a land far away: “Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King no longer there?” Why have they made me angry with their idols, with worthless foreign gods?
They bend their tongues like bows to shoot lies; they have grown strong in the land, but not by truth. For they go on from one evil to the next, and they do not know me, declares the LORD.
You live surrounded by deceit; in their deceit they refuse to know me, declares the LORD.
Therefore the LORD of Armies says this: I am going to refine them and put them to the test, for how else can I deal with my dear people?
Should I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD. On a nation such as this should I not take vengeance?
Who is wise enough to understand this? To whom has the LORD spoken, so that they can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a wilderness that no one crosses?
And the LORD answered: It is because they have abandoned my instruction, which I set before them; they have not obeyed my voice or followed it,
Therefore the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: I am going to feed this people bitter wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink.
The LORD of Armies says this: Think about what is happening, and call for the mourning women; let them come. Send for the women who are skilled in lament; let them come,
Now, you women, listen to the word of the LORD; let your ears take in the word from his mouth. Teach your daughters a song of mourning, and teach one another a lament.
Say this, declares the LORD: Human corpses will fall like dung on the open field, like cut grain left behind the reaper, with no one to gather them.
The LORD says this: The wise must not boast about their wisdom, the strong must not boast about their strength, and the rich must not boast about their wealth.
Instead, whoever boasts should boast of this: that they understand and know me, that I am the LORD, who acts with loyal love, justice and righteousness on the earth. For these are what I delight in, declares the LORD.
The time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will bring punishment on all who are circumcised yet uncircumcised,
Hear the word that the LORD has spoken to you, house of Israel.
The LORD says this: Do not take up the ways of the nations, and do not be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them.
No one is like you, LORD; you are great, and your name is great in power.
But the LORD is God in truth; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth quakes, and the nations cannot withstand his fury.
The God who is Jacob’s portion is not like these, for he is the one who formed all things, and Israel is the tribe he holds as his own; the LORD of Armies is his name.
For the LORD says this: This time I am about to sling out the people of the land; I will hem them in so that they feel it.
For the shepherds have turned senseless and have not sought the LORD; so they have had no success, and all their flock is scattered.
I know, LORD, that a person’s way is not in their own hands; no one who walks can set the course of their own steps.
Correct me, LORD, but in just measure, not in your anger, or you will bring me to nothing.
This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
Say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of Israel, says this: Cursed is anyone who does not obey the words of this covenant,
so that I might keep the oath I swore to your ancestors, that I would give them a land flowing with milk and honey; and so it is today.’” I answered, “Amen, LORD.”
Then the LORD said to me, “Announce all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the words of this covenant and carry them out.
Then the LORD said to me, “A conspiracy has come to light among the people of Judah and among those who live in Jerusalem.
So the LORD says this: I am about to bring a disaster on them that they will not be able to escape. When they cry out to me, I will not listen to them.
‘A green olive tree, beautiful with fine fruit’: that is what the LORD named you. But with the noise of a great storm he will set it on fire, and its branches will be broken.
The LORD of Armies, who planted you, has decreed disaster against you because of the evil the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done to their own harm, provoking me to anger by burning offerings to Baal.”
The LORD let me know, and so I knew; then you showed me what they were doing.
But LORD of Armies, you who judge with justice, who test the inner feelings and the mind, let me see you take vengeance on them, for I have laid my case before you.
So the LORD says this about the men of Anathoth, who are seeking your life and saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, if you do not want to die at our hands,”
the LORD of Armies says this: I am about to punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, and their sons and daughters will die by famine,
You are in the right, LORD, whenever I bring a case against you; still, I must set my charges before you: Why does the way of the wicked succeed? Why do all the faithless live untroubled?
But you, LORD, know me; you see me and test how my heart stands toward you. Drag them away like sheep to be slaughtered; set them apart for the day of killing.
Destroyers have swept over all the bare hills in the wilderness, for the sword of the LORD is eating its way from one end of the land to the other; no living thing has peace.
They sowed wheat but reaped thorns; they wore themselves out for nothing. Be ashamed of your harvests, because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
The LORD says this concerning all my wicked neighbors who lay hands on the inheritance I gave my people Israel to possess: Look, I am going to uproot them from their own soil, and the house of Judah I will uproot from their midst.
And if they will truly learn the ways of my people, swearing by my name, “As surely as the LORD lives,” as they themselves once taught my people to swear by Baal, they will be built up in the midst of my people.
But if they will not listen, I will uproot that nation, uprooting it and destroying it completely, declares the LORD.
The LORD said this to me: “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it on around your waist, but do not put it in water.”
So I bought the loincloth as the LORD had told me and put it on around my waist.
The word of the LORD came to me a second time:
So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD had commanded me.
After many days the LORD said to me, “Set out for the Euphrates and take from there the loincloth I commanded you to hide there.”
Then the word of the LORD came to me:
“The LORD says this: This is how I will ruin Judah’s pride, the great pride of Jerusalem.
For as a loincloth clings to a man’s waist, so I made all the house of Israel and all the house of Judah cling to me, declares the LORD, to be my people and to bring me renown, praise and honor. But they would not listen.
So say this word to them: ‘The LORD, the God of Israel, says this: Every jar will be filled with wine.’ And they will answer you, ‘Do we not know very well that every jar will be filled with wine?’
Then say to them, ‘The LORD says this: I am going to fill everyone who lives in this land with drunkenness: the kings who sit on David’s throne, and the priests, the prophets and all who live in Jerusalem.
I will smash them against one another, parents and children alike, declares the LORD. I will not pity them or spare them or show them compassion; nothing will keep me from destroying them.’”
Listen and pay attention; do not be proud, for the LORD has spoken.
Give glory to the LORD your God before he makes it dark, before your feet stumble on the mountains at dusk. You will look for light, but he will turn it into deep darkness and make it black gloom.
But if you will not listen, I will weep in hiding over your pride. My eyes will weep bitterly and overflow with tears, because the flock of the LORD has been carried off into captivity.
This is your lot, the share I have measured out to you, declares the LORD, because you have forgotten me and put your trust in lies.
The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah about the droughts:
Even though our sins bear witness against us, LORD, act for the sake of your name; for we have turned away many times; we have sinned against you.
Why are you like someone stunned, like a soldier who cannot save anyone? Yet you are among us, LORD, and your name is spoken over us; do not abandon us.
The LORD says this about this people: They love to wander; they do not keep their feet in check. So the LORD takes no pleasure in them; now he will remember their guilt and punish their sins.
Then the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the good of this people.
Then the LORD said to me, “Lies are what the prophets prophesy in my name. I did not send them, I gave them no command, and I did not speak to them. What they prophesy to you is a false vision, divination, worthless things and the deceit of their own hearts.
Therefore the LORD says this about the prophets who prophesy in my name although I did not send them, and who say, ‘Sword and famine will not come on this land’: Those prophets will come to their end by sword and famine.
LORD, we know our wickedness and the guilt of our ancestors; we have sinned against you.
Is there any among the empty idols of the nations that can make it rain? Can the heavens give showers on their own? Is it not you, LORD our God? We wait in hope for you, for it is you who made all these things.
Then the LORD said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me to plead for them, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence; let them leave!
And when they ask you, ‘Where are we to go?’ tell them, ‘The LORD says this: Whoever is marked out for death, to death; whoever is marked out for the sword, to the sword; whoever is marked out for famine, to famine; and whoever is marked out for captivity, to captivity.’
Over them I will set four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, dogs to drag them off, and the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.
You have rejected me, declares the LORD; you keep turning your back. So I have reached out my hand against you and destroyed you; I am tired of relenting.
The mother of seven grows faint and gasps out her life; her sun has set while it is still day; she is shamed and humiliated. And those of them who remain I will give to the sword before their enemies, declares the LORD.
The LORD said: I will surely set you free for your good; I will surely make your enemy come to you pleading in the time of disaster, in the time of distress.
You know, LORD; remember me and come to my aid, and avenge me on those who hunt me down. Do not be so patient with them that I am swept away. Know that it is for your sake that I suffer insults.
Your words were found, and I fed on them; your word became a joy to me and gladness to my heart, because your name has been called over me, LORD God of Armies.
So the LORD says this: If you turn back, I will take you back, and you will stand before me. If you bring out what is precious and not what is worthless, you will be as my mouth. They may turn to you, but you are not to turn to them.
I will make you a fortified wall of bronze facing this people; they will make war on you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to save you and to rescue you, declares the LORD.
The word of the LORD came to me:
For the LORD says this about the sons and daughters who are born in this place, about the mothers who give birth to them, and about the fathers who bring them into the world in this land:
For the LORD says this: Do not go into a house where a funeral meal is being held. Do not go there to mourn or to show them sympathy, for I have withdrawn my peace from this people, declares the LORD, my loyal love and my compassion.
For the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Before your eyes and in your own lifetime, I am going to silence in this place the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bridegroom and bride.
When you report all these words to this people, they will ask you, ‘Why has the LORD announced this whole great disaster against us? What is our guilt, and what sin have we committed against the LORD our God?’
Then you are to say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors abandoned me, declares the LORD. They followed other gods, served them and bowed down to them. They abandoned me and did not keep my instruction.
Therefore, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought up the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’
but, ‘As surely as the LORD lives, who brought up the Israelites from the land of the north and from all the lands where he had driven them.’ I will bring them back to their own land, which I gave to their ancestors.
Look, I am about to summon many fishermen, declares the LORD, and they will catch them. Then afterward I will summon many hunters, and they will hunt them down from every mountain, every hill and the cracks in the rocks.
LORD, my strength, my fortress, my refuge on the day of trouble, to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth and say, “Our ancestors inherited nothing but lies, worthless idols that did them no good at all.”
Therefore I am going to teach them; this time I will make my power and my might known to them, and they will know that my name is the LORD.
The LORD says this: Cursed is the one who puts trust in human beings and leans on mere flesh for strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD.
Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence rests in the LORD.
I, the LORD, search the heart and test the inner feelings, to give each person what their ways deserve, what the fruit of their deeds has earned.
LORD, Hope of Israel, all who desert you will be put to shame. Those who turn from me will have their names written in the dust, because they have deserted the LORD, the spring of living water.
Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; rescue me, and I will be safe; for you are the one I praise.
See how they taunt me: “Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come true, then!”
The LORD said this to me: “Go and take your stand in the People’s Gate, the gate the kings of Judah use when they enter and leave, and then in all the gates of Jerusalem.
Say to them: ‘Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, all Judah, and everyone living in Jerusalem who comes in through these gates.
The LORD says this: Be on your guard, for your lives depend on it. Do not carry any load on the Sabbath day or bring it in through the gates of Jerusalem.
But if you truly listen to me, declares the LORD, and bring no load in through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it,
People will come in from the towns of Judah and the places surrounding Jerusalem, from Benjamin’s territory and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev. They will bring burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and they will bring offerings of thanks to the house of the LORD.
This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
Then the word of the LORD came to me:
“House of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does? declares the LORD. As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so you are in my hand, house of Israel.
So now, say to the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem, ‘The LORD says this: I am shaping disaster for you and making plans against you. Turn back, every one of you, from your evil way, and change your ways and your actions for the better.’
Therefore the LORD says this: Ask among the nations, who has ever heard of such things? The virgin Israel has done a most horrible thing.
Pay attention to me, LORD, and hear what my accusers are saying.
But you, LORD, know all their plans to kill me. Do not forgive their guilt or wipe out their sin from your sight. Let them be brought down before you; act against them in the time of your anger.
The LORD said this: “Go and buy a clay flask from a potter. Take with you some of the elders of the people and some of the senior priests,
Say: ‘Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Look, I am about to bring such disaster on this place that it will make the ears of all who hear of it tingle,
So look, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when people will no longer call this place Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom; they will call it the Valley of Slaughter.
and say to them: ‘The LORD of Armies says this: In the same way I will break this people and this city, as a potter’s jar is broken that can never be mended. They will bury the dead in Topheth because there will be no other place left to bury them.
This is what I will do to this place and to the people who live here, declares the LORD: I will make this city like Topheth.
Then Jeremiah came back from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy. He took his stand in the court of the LORD’s house and spoke to all the people:
“The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Look, I am about to bring on this city and all its towns all the disaster I have announced against it, because they have stiffened their necks and refused to listen to my words.”
Now Pashhur son of Immer, the priest, who was the chief officer in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.
Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks at the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the LORD.
The next day, when Pashhur let Jeremiah out of the stocks, Jeremiah told him, “Pashhur is not the name the LORD gives you. His name for you is Terror on Every Side.
For the LORD says this: ‘I am about to turn you into a terror to yourself and to everyone who loves you. Before your own eyes they will fall by the swords of their enemies. I will hand all Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will carry them away to Babylon as exiles and put them to the sword.
You enticed me, LORD, and I was taken in; you were too strong for me, and you won. All day long people laugh at me; every one of them makes fun of me.
Whenever I speak, I cry out; I shout, “Violence and ruin!” So the word of the LORD has brought me insult and scorn all day long.
But the LORD is with me like a terrifying warrior; so those who hunt me will stumble and will not win. They will be thoroughly shamed when they fail, with a lasting disgrace that will never be forgotten.
LORD of Armies, you who test the righteous, who see the inner feelings and the mind, let me see you take vengeance on them, for I have laid my case before you.
Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD! For he has rescued the poor from the power of those who do evil.
May that man be like the cities that the LORD overthrew, never relenting; may he hear a cry of distress in the morning and the alarm of battle at noon,
This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD at the time King Zedekiah sent Pashhur son of Malchiah and Zephaniah the priest, son of Maaseiah, to him with this request:
“Please seek the LORD on our behalf, because Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon is at war with us. Perhaps the LORD will do for us one of his wonders, as in all the wonders of the past, so that the king will lift the siege and leave us.”
‘The LORD, the God of Israel, says this: I am about to turn back the weapons of war in your hands, the weapons you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you from outside the wall. I will gather them into the heart of this city.
Afterward, declares the LORD, I will hand over King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials and the people, all in this city who survive the plague, the sword and the famine, to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, to their enemies, to those who want them dead. He will put them to the sword; he will show them no pity, no mercy and no compassion.’”
“And say to this people, ‘The LORD says this: Look, I am putting in front of you the way that leads to life and the way that leads to death.
For I have set my face against this city for disaster and not for good, declares the LORD. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down.’”
To the royal house of Judah: Hear the word of the LORD.
House of David, the LORD says this: Give fair judgment every morning, and rescue the one who has been robbed from the power of the oppressor. Otherwise my fury will break out like fire and burn with no one to put it out, because of your evil deeds.
Look, I am against you, you who sit above the valley, rock on the plain, declares the LORD, you who say, “Who can come down on us? Who can break into our homes?”
I will punish you as your actions have earned, declares the LORD. I will set fire to her forest, and it will consume everything around her.
The LORD says this: “Go down to the palace of Judah’s king and speak this message there.
Say: ‘Hear the word of the LORD, king of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne, you and your officials and your people who come in through these gates.
The LORD says this: Practice justice and righteousness. Rescue anyone who has been robbed from the power of the oppressor. Do not mistreat the outsider, the orphan or the widow, do not use violence against them, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.
But if you will not listen to these words, I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that this palace will become a ruin.’”
For the LORD says this about the palace of the king of Judah: To me you are like Gilead, like the heights of Lebanon, but I will surely make you a wilderness, like towns where no one lives.
People of many nations will pass by this city and say to one another, “Why has the LORD treated this great city like this?”
And the answer will be, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”
For the LORD says this about Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in place of his father Josiah and has gone away from this place: He will never come back here.
He defended the cause of the poor and the needy, and then all was well. Is that not what it means to know me? declares the LORD.
Therefore the LORD says this about Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah: No one will mourn for him, crying, “Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!” No one will mourn for him, crying, “Alas, my master! Alas, his majesty!”
As surely as I live, declares the LORD: Coniah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, even if you were the signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off.
Land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!
The LORD says this: Record this man as childless, a man who will not succeed in his lifetime, for none of his descendants will succeed in sitting on the throne of David or ruling again in Judah.
Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture, declares the LORD.
So the LORD, the God of Israel, says this about the shepherds who shepherd my people: You have scattered my flock and chased them off, and you have not looked after them. So now I will look after you, and punish the evil you have done, declares the LORD.
I will set shepherds over them who will truly tend them. They will no longer be afraid or terrified, and not one of them will be lost, declares the LORD.
The days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise a righteous Branch for David. He will reign as king and rule with wisdom, and he will do justice and righteousness in the land.
In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name people will give him: “The LORD Is Our Righteousness.”
Therefore, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it will no longer be said, “As surely as the LORD lives, who brought up the Israelites from the land of Egypt,”
but, “As surely as the LORD lives, who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where I had driven them.” Then they will live in their own land.
Concerning the prophets: My heart is crushed inside me, and all my bones are shaking. I am like a drunk man, like someone overpowered by wine, because of the LORD and because of his holy words.
For both prophet and priest are godless; even in my own house I have found their wickedness, declares the LORD.
So their path will become like slippery ground in the dark; they will be pushed down, and there they will fall. For I will bring disaster on them in the year I punish them, declares the LORD.
So the LORD of Armies says this about the prophets: I am going to feed them bitter wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink, because from the prophets of Jerusalem godlessness has spread through the whole land.
The LORD of Armies says this: Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they are filling you with empty hopes. They speak visions that come from their own minds, and not from the mouth of the LORD.
They keep telling those who despise me, “The LORD says you will have peace.” And to all who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts they say, “No disaster will come on you.”
For who has stood in the council of the LORD to see and to hear his word? Who has listened closely to his word and heard it?
Look, the storm of the LORD! Fury has burst out, a whirlwind spinning around; it will crash down on the heads of the wicked.
The anger of the LORD will not turn away until he has fully carried out what he has purposed in his heart. In the days ahead you will understand it fully.
Am I a God who is only near, declares the LORD, and not a God who is far away?
Can anyone hide in secret places where I cannot see them? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.
Let the prophet who has a dream tell it as a dream, but let the one who has my word speak my word faithfully. What does straw have in common with grain? declares the LORD.
Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, like a hammer that smashes rock to pieces?
So I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another.
I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who speak with their own tongues and then announce, “The LORD declares.”
I am against those who prophesy false dreams, declares the LORD. They tell them and lead my people astray with their lies and their reckless boasting, though I did not send them or give them any command. They do this people no good at all, declares the LORD.
When this people, or a prophet or a priest, asks you, “What is the LORD’s burden?” you are to say to them, “What burden? I will throw you off, declares the LORD.”
If a prophet or a priest or anyone else says, “The LORD’s burden,” I will punish that person and their household.
This is what each of you is to say to your friends and relatives: “What has the LORD answered?” or “What has the LORD said?”
But you must never again speak of “the LORD’s burden,” because each person’s own word will become their burden, and you twist the words of the living God, the LORD of Armies, our God.
This is how you are to speak to a prophet: “What answer has the LORD given you?” or “What has the LORD said?”
But if you do say, “The LORD’s burden,” then the LORD says this: Because you have used these words, “The LORD’s burden,” even though I sent word to you and said, “Do not say, ‘The LORD’s burden,’”
The LORD showed me two baskets of figs set in front of the temple of the LORD. This was after Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had taken Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah into exile from Jerusalem, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen and the smiths, and had brought them to Babylon.
Then the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I answered, “Figs. The good figs are very good, and the bad ones are very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”
Then the word of the LORD came to me:
“The LORD, the God of Israel, says this: Like these good figs, so I will regard with favor the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.
I will give them a heart to know me, to know that I am the LORD; and they will be my people, and I will be their God, because they will turn back to me with their whole heart.
But as for the bad figs, so bad that they cannot be eaten, the LORD says this: In the same way I will treat Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, the rest of Jerusalem who are left in this land, and those who are living in the land of Egypt.
“For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, up to this very day, the word of the LORD has come to me. Again and again I have spoken to you, but you have not listened.
And the LORD has sent you all his servants the prophets again and again, but you have not listened or even paid attention.
They said, ‘Turn back, every one of you, from your evil ways and your evil deeds, and you will live in the land that the LORD gave to you and your ancestors to keep for all time.
But you have not listened to me, declares the LORD. You have made me angry with the idols your hands have made, and brought harm on yourselves.
So the LORD of Armies says this: Because you have not listened to my words,
I am going to send for all the peoples of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, my servant. I will bring them against this land and its people and against all the nations around it. I will devote them to destruction and make them a horror, an object of scorn, and ruins forever.
But when the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation for their guilt, declares the LORD. I will punish the land of the Chaldeans and make it a desolation forever.
For the LORD, the God of Israel, said this to me: “Take this cup filled with the wine of my wrath from my hand, and make all the nations I am sending you to drink it.
So I took the cup from the hand of the LORD and made all the nations drink it to whom the LORD had sent me:
“Then say to them, ‘The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Drink and get drunk and vomit; fall down and do not get up again, because of the sword I am sending among you.’
If they will not take the cup from your hand and drink, say to them, ‘The LORD of Armies says this: You must drink it!
For see, I am starting to bring disaster on the city that bears my name. Do you really think you will go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am calling for a sword against everyone who lives on the earth, declares the LORD of Armies.’
As for you, prophesy all these words against them. Tell them: ‘The LORD roars from on high; from his holy dwelling he raises his voice. He roars and roars against his own pasture; he shouts like those who tread the grapes, a shout against all who live on the earth.
The uproar reaches to the end of the earth, for the LORD has a case against the nations. He is bringing all humankind to judgment, and he hands the wicked over to the sword, declares the LORD.
The LORD of Armies says this: Look! Disaster is spreading from nation to nation, and a great storm is rising from the far ends of the earth.
On that day those slain by the LORD will lie from one end of the earth to the other. No one will mourn them or gather them or bury them; they will be like dung lying on the ground.
Listen to the shepherds crying out, the leaders of the flock wailing, for the LORD is laying waste their pasture.
The peaceful meadows lie in ruins because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
Early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this message came from the LORD:
“The LORD says this: Take your stand in the courtyard of the LORD’s house and speak to the people of all the towns of Judah who come to worship at the house of the LORD. Tell them all the words I have commanded you to speak to them; do not hold back a single word.
Say to them, ‘The LORD says this: If you will not listen to me and walk in my instruction, which I have set before you,
The priests, the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the LORD.
As soon as Jeremiah finished saying everything the LORD had commanded him to say to all the people, the priests, the prophets and all the people seized him and said, “You must die!
Why have you prophesied in the name of the LORD that this house will be like Shiloh and this city will lie in ruins with no one living in it?” And all the people crowded around Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.
The officials of Judah heard about these things, and they came up from the royal palace to the house of the LORD and took their seats at the entrance of the New Gate of the LORD’s house.
Then Jeremiah addressed all the officials and all the people: “It was the LORD who sent me to prophesy against this house and this city, to speak all the words you have heard.
So now, change your ways and your actions for the better, and obey the voice of the LORD your God. Then the LORD will relent concerning the disaster he has pronounced against you.
But know this for certain: if you put me to death, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves, on this city and on the people who live in it, for it is true that the LORD sent me to you to speak all these words for you to hear.”
Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man ought not to be condemned to death, for it is in the name of the LORD our God that he has spoken to us.”
“Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. He said to all the people of Judah, ‘The LORD of Armies says this: Zion will be plowed as a field, Jerusalem will be a mound of ruins, and the mountain of the temple a wooded height.’
Did Hezekiah king of Judah, or all Judah with him, put him to death? Did Hezekiah not fear the LORD and plead for the LORD’s favor, so that the LORD relented concerning the disaster he had pronounced against them? We are about to bring a great disaster on ourselves!”
Another man, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim, was also prophesying in the name of the LORD. Against this city and this land he prophesied words just like Jeremiah’s.
Early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this message came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
The LORD said this to me: “Make yourself straps and yoke bars, and put them on your neck.
Give them this charge for their masters: ‘The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: This is what you are to say to your masters:
Any nation or kingdom that will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish with sword, famine and plague, declares the LORD, until I have finished it off by his hand.
But any nation that bows its neck to the king of Babylon’s yoke and serves him, I will leave on its own land, declares the LORD. They will farm it and live there.’”
Why should you and your people die by sword, famine and plague, as the LORD has said will happen to any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?
I did not send them, declares the LORD. They are prophesying lies in my name, and the result will be that I drive you out and you perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”
Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people: “The LORD says this: Do not listen to what your prophets are prophesying to you: ‘The vessels of the house of the LORD will very soon be brought back from Babylon.’ They are prophesying a lie to you.
If they really are prophets and have the word of the LORD with them, they should plead with the LORD of Armies that the vessels still left in the house of the LORD, in the palace of Judah’s king and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon.
For the LORD of Armies says this concerning the pillars, the Sea, the stands and the rest of the vessels still left in this city,
yes, the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this about the vessels still left in the house of the LORD, in the palace of Judah’s king and in Jerusalem:
They will be carried to Babylon, and they will stay there until the day I come for them, declares the LORD. Then I will bring them back up and return them to this place.”
In that same year, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, from Gibeon, spoke to me. It was in the house of the LORD, with the priests and all the people looking on:
“The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Within two full years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the house of the LORD that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took from here and carried to Babylon.
I will also bring Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah back to this place, with every exile of Judah who went off to Babylon, declares the LORD; for I will break the king of Babylon’s yoke.”
Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and of all the people standing there in the house of the LORD.
The prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the LORD do just that! May the LORD make the words you have prophesied come true, and bring the vessels of the house of the LORD and all the exiles back from Babylon to this place.
But the prophet who prophesies peace will be known as one whom the LORD has truly sent when his word comes to pass.”
And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people: “The LORD says this: In just this way, within two full years, I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and take it off the neck of every nation.” Then the prophet Jeremiah went away.
After the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke bar off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
“Go and tell Hananiah, ‘The LORD says this: You have broken bars of wood, but in their place you have made bars of iron.
For the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: It is a yoke of iron that I have put on the neck of all these nations, so that they serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and serve him they will. I have given him even the wild animals.’”
Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Hear this, Hananiah! The LORD has not sent you, and yet you have made this people trust in a lie.
Therefore the LORD says this: I am about to send you off the face of the earth. This year you will die, because you have urged rebellion against the LORD.”
“The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this to all the exiles whom I sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:
Seek the peace of the city where I have sent you as exiles, and pray to the LORD for it, since your own peace depends on its peace.
For the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Do not let the prophets and the diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that you urge them to dream.
For they are prophesying lies to you in my name. I did not send them, declares the LORD.
For the LORD says this: When Babylon’s seventy years have been completed, I will come to your aid. I will keep my good promise to you and bring you back to this place.
For I know well what I have planned for you, declares the LORD. I have planned peace for you, not disaster, so as to give you a future and a hope.
I will let you find me, declares the LORD. I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
You have been saying, ‘The LORD has raised up prophets for us here in Babylon.’
But the LORD says this about the king who sits on David’s throne and about all the people who live in this city, your brothers and sisters who did not go with you into exile:
The LORD of Armies says this: I am about to send the sword, famine and plague against them, and I will make them like rotten figs, so bad that they cannot be eaten.
because they have not listened to my words, declares the LORD, the words I sent them through my servants the prophets, again and again. And you did not listen either, declares the LORD.
But you, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon, hear the word of the LORD.
The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this about Ahab son of Kolaiah and about Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you in my name: I am about to hand them over to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your eyes.
Their fate will become a curse that all the exiles of Judah in Babylon will use: ‘May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, the men the king of Babylon roasted alive in the fire,’
because they have done a disgraceful thing in Israel. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have spoken lies in my name, words I did not command them to speak. I am the one who knows it, and I am witness to it, declares the LORD.”
‘The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: You sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem, to Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest and to all the priests. You wrote:
“The LORD has made you priest in place of Jehoiada the priest, so that there would be officers in the house of the LORD to deal with any madman who sets himself up as a prophet. You should put such a man in the stocks and the neck irons.
Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
“Send this message to all the exiles: ‘The LORD says this about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, although I did not send him, and has led you to trust in a lie,
therefore the LORD says this: I am about to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. No one of his line will be left living among this people, and he will not see the good that I am going to do for my people, declares the LORD, because he has preached rebellion against the LORD.’”
This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
The LORD, the God of Israel, says this: “Write down in a book all the words I have spoken to you.
For the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel and Judah, says the LORD. I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors, and they will possess it.”
These are the words the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah:
For the LORD says this: “We have heard a cry of panic, of terror, and there is no peace.”
On that day, declares the LORD of Armies, I will break his yoke from your neck and tear off your bonds, and foreigners will no longer make him serve them.
They will serve the LORD their God instead and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
So you, Jacob my servant, do not be afraid, declares the LORD; do not be dismayed, Israel. For I will save you from a far country, and your descendants from the land where they are captives. Jacob will come home and have quiet and rest, and no one will make him afraid.
For I am with you to save you, declares the LORD. I will bring to an end all the nations among whom I scattered you, but you I will not bring to an end. I will discipline you, but justly, and I will not let you go unpunished.
For the LORD says this: Your injury cannot be cured; your wound is severe.
But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because they have called you an outcast: “This is Zion; no one cares about her.”
The LORD says this: I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and show compassion to his homes. The city will be rebuilt on its ruin mound, and the palace will stand where it should.
One of their own will be their leader; their ruler will come from among them. I will bring him near, and he will come close to me, for who would dare to risk his life by coming close to me? declares the LORD.
Look, the storm of the LORD! Fury has burst out, a whirlwind sweeping on; it will crash down on the heads of the wicked.
The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn away until he has fully carried out what he has purposed in his heart. In the days ahead you will understand this.
At that time, declares the LORD, I will be God to every clan of Israel, and they will be my people.
The LORD says this: The people who escaped the sword found favor in the wilderness as Israel went in search of rest.
From far away the LORD appeared to me: I have loved you with an everlasting love, so I have kept on showing you loyal love.
For a day is coming when watchmen will call out on the hills of Ephraim, “Come, let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God!”
For the LORD says this: Sing for joy over Jacob, shout for the foremost of the nations. Make it heard, give praise, and say, “LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel!”
Hear the word of the LORD, you nations; announce it in the coastlands far away. Say, “The one who scattered Israel will gather him and watch over him as a shepherd watches his flock.”
For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the power of one too strong for him.
They will come and sing out with joy on Zion’s heights; their faces will shine over the good gifts of the LORD, over grain, new wine and oil, and over the young of the flocks and herds. Their whole life will be like a watered garden, and they will never grow faint again.
I will fill the priests with rich food in abundance, and my people will have their fill of my good gifts, declares the LORD.
The LORD says this: In Ramah a voice is heard, mourning and bitter weeping: Rachel weeping for her children. She will not let anyone comfort her for her children, because they are gone.
The LORD says this: Hold back your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your labor will have its reward, declares the LORD; they will come back from the land of the enemy.
There is hope for your future, declares the LORD; your children will come back to their own land.
I have certainly heard Ephraim grieving: “You disciplined me, and I took the discipline, like a calf never trained to the yoke. Bring me back, and I will come back, for you are the LORD my God.
Is Ephraim my dear son, a child who delights me? For whenever I speak against him, I still remember him and cannot forget. That is why my heart aches for him; I will surely show him compassion, declares the LORD.
How long will you waver this way and that, you faithless daughter? For the LORD has created something new in the land: a woman will encircle a man.
The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: When I restore their fortunes, people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: “May the LORD bless you, home of righteousness, holy mountain!”
The days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sow seed in the house of Israel and the house of Judah, the seed of people and the seed of animals.
Just as I watched over them to uproot and to tear down, to overthrow, to destroy and to bring harm, so I will keep watch over them to build and to plant, declares the LORD.
The days are coming, declares the LORD, and then I will make a covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah: a new covenant.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took their hand to lead them out from the land of Egypt. They broke my covenant, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.
Rather, this will be the covenant that I make with the house of Israel when those days are past, declares the LORD: I will set my instruction deep inside them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
No longer will each one teach their neighbor, or each one their brother or sister, saying, “Know the LORD,” because all of them will know me, from the least to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their guilt, and I will remember their sin no more.
The LORD says this, the LORD who gives the sun to light the day and the moon and stars in their fixed order to light the night, who stirs up the sea until its waves roar; the LORD of Armies is his name:
Only if this fixed order ever failed before me, declares the LORD, would the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me.
The LORD says this: Only if someone could measure the heavens above and search out the foundations of the earth below would I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done, declares the LORD.
The days are coming, declares the LORD, when the city will be rebuilt for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.
The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields out to the Kidron Valley, as far as the corner of the Horse Gate on the east, will be holy to the LORD. Never again will it be uprooted or overthrown.
This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah’s reign over Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar’s reign.
for Zedekiah king of Judah had confined him there. He had said, “Why do you prophesy as you do? You say, ‘The LORD says this: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.
He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and Zedekiah will stay there until I deal with him, declares the LORD. Even if you fight the Chaldeans, you will have no success.’”
Jeremiah said: The word of the LORD came to me:
Then my cousin Hanamel visited me in the courtyard of the guard, just as the LORD had said. He told me, “Please buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. The right of inheritance is yours, and so is the right of redemption; buy it for yourself.” I knew then that this was the word of the LORD.
“The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Take these documents, this deed of purchase, both the sealed copy and the open one, and put them in a clay jar so that they will last for a long time.
For the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: People will once more buy houses, fields and vineyards in this land.”
Once I had given Baruch son of Neriah the deed of purchase, I prayed to the LORD:
You show loyal love to thousands, yet you pay back the guilt of parents into the laps of their children after them. You are the great and mighty God, whose name is the LORD of Armies,
Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
“Look, I am the LORD, the God of all humanity. Is there anything too hard for me?
Therefore the LORD says this: I am about to hand this city over to the Chaldeans and to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he will capture it.
From their youth the Israelites and the people of Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight. The Israelites have done nothing but provoke me with what their hands have made, declares the LORD.
But now the LORD, the God of Israel, says this about this city, of which you are saying, ‘It is being handed over to the king of Babylon by sword, famine and plague’:
For the LORD says this: As I have brought on this people all this great disaster, so I will bring on them all the good I promise them.
People will buy fields with silver, sign deeds, seal them and have them witnessed, in Benjamin’s territory and the places around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and the towns of the hill country, and in the towns of the western foothills and of the Negev, for I will restore their fortunes, declares the LORD.”
The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still held in the courtyard of the guard:
“The LORD says this, the LORD who made it, the LORD who formed it and set it firm; the LORD is his name:
For the LORD, the God of Israel, says this about the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah, which have been torn down to hold back the siege ramps and the sword:
The LORD says this: Once more there will be heard in this place, which you call a ruin with neither people nor animals, in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that lie deserted, without people, without anyone living there, without animals,
the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bridegroom and bride, and the voices of those who say, ‘Give the LORD of Armies thanks, for the LORD is good; his loyal love lasts forever,’ as they bring offerings of thanks to the house of the LORD. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were at the beginning, says the LORD.
The LORD of Armies says this: In this place that lies in ruins, without people or animals, and in all its towns, there will once again be pastures where shepherds rest their flocks.
In the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev, in Benjamin’s territory, in the places surrounding Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah, flocks will again pass under the hand of the one who counts them, says the LORD.
The days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will carry out the good promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name people will give her: ‘The LORD Is Our Righteousness.’
For the LORD says this: David will always have a man of his line to sit on the throne of the house of Israel.
The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
“The LORD says this: If you could break my covenant with day and my covenant with night, and stop day and night from coming at their set times,
The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
“Have you not seen what these people are saying: ‘The LORD chose two families, and now he has rejected them’? So they look down on my people, as if they were no longer a nation in their eyes.
The LORD says this: If I had not made my covenant with day and night, if I had not set in place the fixed laws of heaven and earth,
This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD while Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon was making war on Jerusalem and all its towns, with his whole army and all the kingdoms and peoples of the earth that were under his rule:
“The LORD, the God of Israel, says this: Go to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, ‘The LORD says this: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down.
But hear the word of the LORD, Zedekiah king of Judah. The LORD says this about you: You will not die by the sword.
You will die in peace. As spices were burned in honor of your ancestors, the kings who ruled before you, so people will burn spices in your honor and mourn for you, crying, ‘Alas, my lord!’ I have given my word, declares the LORD.’”
This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah and all the people in Jerusalem had made a covenant to announce freedom,
Then the word of the LORD came from the LORD to Jeremiah:
“The LORD, the God of Israel, says this: I made a covenant with your ancestors when I led them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house where they were slaves. I said:
Therefore the LORD says this: You have not obeyed me by announcing freedom, each of you for your fellow Hebrew and your neighbor. So now I am announcing freedom for you, declares the LORD: freedom to fall by the sword, the plague and the famine. I will make you a horror to every kingdom on earth.
I am about to give the order, declares the LORD. I will bring them back to this city, and they will attack it, take it and burn it down. I will turn the towns of Judah into a desolate waste where no one lives.”
This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD during the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:
“Go to the family of the Rechabites and speak with them. Bring them to the house of the LORD, into one of the side rooms, and give them wine to drink.”
I brought them into the house of the LORD, to the room of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, the man of God. It was next to the officials’ room, above the room of Maaseiah son of Shallum, the doorkeeper.
Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:
“The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Go and say to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem, ‘Will you not accept correction and listen to my words? declares the LORD.
Therefore the LORD, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: I am about to bring on Judah and on all who live in Jerusalem all the disaster I have announced against them, because I spoke to them and they did not listen, and I called to them and they did not answer.’”
Then Jeremiah said to the family of the Rechabites, “The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Because you have obeyed the command of your ancestor Jehonadab, kept all his commands and done all that he commanded you,
therefore the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Jonadab son of Rechab will never be without a descendant to stand before me for all time.”
This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:
So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote down on a scroll everything the LORD had spoken to him.
Then Jeremiah gave Baruch these instructions: “I am barred; I cannot go into the house of the LORD.
So you must go, and on a fast day read the words of the LORD from the scroll you wrote at my dictation, in the hearing of the people in the house of the LORD. Read them also in the hearing of all the people of Judah who come in from their towns.
It may be that their plea for mercy will come before the LORD, and every one of them will turn back from their evil way. For the anger and fury that the LORD has declared against this people are great.”
Baruch son of Neriah did everything the prophet Jeremiah had commanded him: he read the words of the LORD from the scroll in the house of the LORD.
In the ninth month of the fifth year of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, a fast was proclaimed before the LORD for all the people in Jerusalem and for all the people who came into Jerusalem from the towns of Judah.
Then Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll in the house of the LORD, in the hearing of all the people. He read from the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the secretary, in the upper courtyard, at the entrance of the New Gate of the house of the LORD.
When Micaiah son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD read from the scroll,
Instead, the king ordered Jerahmeel, the king’s son, Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and the prophet Jeremiah. But the LORD hid them.
The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll, and with it the words Baruch had written as Jeremiah dictated:
And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you are to say, ‘The LORD says this: You burned this scroll and said, “Why did you write on it that the king of Babylon is sure to come and destroy this land and wipe out both people and animals from it?”’
Therefore the LORD says this about Jehoiakim king of Judah: No one of his line will sit on the throne of David, and his dead body will be thrown out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night.
But neither he nor his officials nor the people of the land paid attention to the words the LORD spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.
King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to the prophet Jeremiah with this request: “Please pray to the LORD our God for us.”
Then the word of the LORD came to the prophet Jeremiah:
“The LORD, the God of Israel, says this: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to seek my answer: ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has set out to help you, is going back to its own land, to Egypt.
The LORD says this: Do not fool yourselves by thinking, “The Chaldeans are sure to leave us for good.” They will not leave.
Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace, where he questioned him in private. “Is there any word from the LORD?” the king asked. “There is,” Jeremiah replied. “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”
“The LORD says this: ‘Those who stay in this city will die by sword, famine and plague. But those who go out to the Chaldeans will live; they will come away with their lives as their only plunder, and they will live.’
The LORD says this: ‘This city will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon’s army, and he will capture it.’”
King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to him at the third entrance of the house of the LORD. The king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something. Do not hide anything from me.”
But King Zedekiah swore an oath to Jeremiah in secret: “As surely as the LORD lives, who gave us this life, I will not put you to death, and I will not hand you over to these men who want to kill you.”
Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “The LORD, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: ‘If you will surrender to the commanders of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared, and this city will not be burned down. You and your family will live.
Jeremiah said, “They will not hand you over. Please obey the LORD’s voice in what I am telling you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared.
But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the LORD has shown me:
The word of the LORD had come to Jeremiah while he was confined in the court of the guard:
“Go and tell Ebed-melech the Cushite, ‘The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Look, I am about to carry out my words against this city, for disaster and not for good. On that day you will see them come true.
But I will rescue you on that day, declares the LORD; you will not be handed over to the men you are afraid of.
I will certainly rescue you; you will not fall by the sword. You will come away with your life as your plunder, because you have trusted in me, declares the LORD.’”
This message came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had set him free at Ramah. Nebuzaradan had found him there bound in chains, among all the captives from Jerusalem and Judah who were being taken into exile in Babylon.
The captain of the guard took Jeremiah aside and said to him, “The LORD your God announced this disaster against this place.
Now the LORD has brought it about and has done just what he said, because you sinned against the LORD and did not obey his voice. That is why this has happened to you.
eighty men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria. Their beards were shaved, their clothes torn and their bodies gashed, and they were carrying grain offerings and frankincense to bring to the house of the LORD.
They said to the prophet Jeremiah, “Please hear our request, and pray to the LORD your God for us, for all this remnant. There were many of us, but only a few are left, as you can see for yourself.
Let the LORD your God tell us where we should go and what we should do.”
The prophet Jeremiah said to them, “I have heard you. I will pray to the LORD your God as you ask. Whatever the LORD answers, I will tell you; I will not keep back a single word from you.”
They said to Jeremiah, “If we fail to do all that the LORD your God sends you to tell us, may the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us.
Whether we find it good or bad, we will obey the LORD our God, to whom we are sending you. When we obey the voice of the LORD our God, it will go well with us.”
Ten days later the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah.
He said to them, “You sent me to the LORD, the God of Israel, to lay your plea before him, and he says this:
Do not fear the king of Babylon, though you are afraid of him now. Do not fear him, declares the LORD. I am with you, and I will save you and rescue you from his power.
But suppose you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and so disobey the voice of the LORD your God,
then hear the word of the LORD, remnant of Judah. The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: If you are set on going to Egypt, and you go to settle there,
For the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Just as my anger and my fury were poured out on the people of Jerusalem, so my fury will be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You will become a name used in curses, a horror, a curse and a disgrace, and you will never see this place again.
The LORD has told you, remnant of Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Know for certain that I have warned you today.
You have deceived yourselves, and it will cost you your lives. You yourselves sent me to the LORD your God and said, ‘Pray for us to the LORD our God. Tell us everything the LORD our God says, and we will do it.’
Today I have told you, yet you have not obeyed the LORD your God in anything he sent me to tell you.
When Jeremiah finished speaking to all the people every word of the LORD their God, all the words the LORD their God had sent him to give them,
then Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah, with all the arrogant men, answered Jeremiah, “What you say is a lie! The LORD our God did not send you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to settle there.’
So Johanan son of Kareah, all the commanders of the forces and all the people refused to obey the command the LORD gave them to remain in the land of Judah.
So they went into the land of Egypt, since they did not obey the LORD, and came as far as Tahpanhes.
The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes:
Then tell them, ‘The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: I am about to send for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, my servant, and bring him here. I will set his throne over these stones that I have buried, and he will spread his royal canopy over them.
“The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: You have seen for yourselves all the disaster I brought on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah. Today they lie in ruins, and no one lives in them,
So now the LORD God of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Why are you bringing such great harm on yourselves? You are cutting off man and woman, child and infant, from among Judah, and leaving yourselves no remnant,
Therefore the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: I am setting my face against you to bring harm, to cut off all Judah.
“That message you spoke to us in the name of the LORD: we are not going to listen to you.
“The incense you burned in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, you and your ancestors, your kings and your officials, and the people of the land: has the LORD not remembered it, and has it not come into his mind?
The LORD could no longer bear your evil deeds and the detestable things you did, so your land became a ruin, a horror and a curse, with no one living in it, as it is today.
It is because you burned incense and sinned against the LORD, and would not listen to the voice of the LORD or live by his instruction, his statutes and his decrees, that this disaster has come upon you, as it has today.”
Then Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt.
The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: You and your wives have said it with your mouths and carried it out with your hands: ‘We will certainly keep the vows we made, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.’ Go ahead, then: keep your vows! Carry out your vows!
Therefore hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who live in the land of Egypt: I swear by my great name, says the LORD, that in all the land of Egypt my name will never again be invoked by anyone from Judah who says, ‘As surely as the Lord GOD lives.’
This will be the sign to you, declares the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, so that you may know that my words of harm against you will certainly come true:
The LORD says this: I am going to hand Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt over to his enemies, to those who want to kill him, just as I handed Zedekiah king of Judah over to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, who wanted to kill him.”
“The LORD, the God of Israel, says this to you, Baruch:
You have said, ‘Woe is me! The LORD has heaped sorrow on top of my pain. I am weary from my groaning, and I can find no rest.’
Say this to him: ‘The LORD says this: What I have built I am about to tear down, and what I have planted I am about to uproot, the whole land.
As for you, are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them. For I am about to bring disaster on all humankind, declares the LORD, but I will let you come away with your life as your plunder wherever you go.’”
This message from the LORD came to the prophet Jeremiah about the nations:
Why do I see them panic-stricken, falling back? Their warriors are battered down; they run headlong and do not look back. Terror on every side! declares the LORD.
The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon coming to attack the land of Egypt:
Why is your mighty one swept away? He could not stand, for the LORD drove him down.
As I live, declares the King, the LORD of Armies is his name, one is coming who is like Tabor among the mountains, like Carmel by the sea.
They will cut down her forest, declares the LORD, dense as it is, for they are more than locusts; they cannot be counted.
The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am about to punish Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt with her gods and her kings, Pharaoh and all who trust in him.
I will hand them over to those who want to kill them, to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and his officials. But afterward Egypt will be lived in again as in former days, declares the LORD.
You, Jacob my servant, do not be afraid, declares the LORD, because I am with you. I will bring to an end all the nations among whom I drove you, but you I will not bring to an end. I will discipline you, but justly, and I will not let you go unpunished.
This message from the LORD came to the prophet Jeremiah about the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck Gaza:
The LORD says this: See, waters are rising in the north; they will become a torrent in flood and sweep over the land and everything in it, the city and all who live there. People will cry out, and everyone who lives in the land will wail.
because the day is coming to destroy all the Philistines and to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every ally they have left. For the LORD is destroying the Philistines, what is left of the coastland of Caphtor.
Ah, sword of the LORD, how long before you are quiet? Go back into your sheath; rest and be still.
But how can you be quiet when the LORD has given you orders? Against Ashkelon and the seacoast, there he has sent you.
Concerning Moab. The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Woe to Nebo, for it lies in ruins! Kiriathaim is disgraced and captured; the stronghold is disgraced and shattered.
The destroyer will come upon every town; not one town will escape. The valley will be ruined and the plateau laid waste, just as the LORD has said.
Cursed is anyone who does the work of the LORD carelessly, and cursed is anyone who keeps his sword from shedding blood.
So the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will send him men who tip out jars, and they will tip him out; they will empty his vessels and smash their jars to pieces.
Moab is ruined, and the enemy has gone up into her towns; the finest of her young men have gone down to be slaughtered, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Armies.
Moab’s horn is hacked off, and its arm is broken, declares the LORD.
Make him drunk, for he has exalted himself against the LORD. Moab will wallow in his own vomit, and he too will become something to laugh at.
I know its overbearing fury, declares the LORD; it is hollow. Its big talk comes to nothing, and nothing they do turns out right.
I will put an end in Moab, declares the LORD, to anyone who goes up to offer sacrifice at the high place and burns incense to their gods.
On all the roofs of Moab and in its open squares there is nothing but mourning, for I have smashed Moab like a jar that no one wants, declares the LORD.
For the LORD says this: Look! Like an eagle he swoops down and spreads his wings over Moab.
Moab will be destroyed and no longer be a people, because he exalted himself against the LORD.
Fear and the pit and the trap are upon you who live in Moab, declares the LORD.
Anyone who runs from the fear will drop into the pit, and anyone who climbs up out of the pit will be caught in the trap. For I will bring on her, on Moab, the year of their punishment, declares the LORD.
Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come, declares the LORD. Here ends the judgment on Moab.
Concerning the Ammonites. The LORD says this: Has Israel no children? Has it no heir? Then why has Milcom taken over Gad, and why do his people live in its towns?
So the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make the battle cry ring out against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a mound of ruins, and its villages will go up in flames. Then Israel will drive out those who drove it out, says the LORD.
Yet afterward I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, declares the LORD.
Concerning Edom. The LORD of Armies says this: Is there no wisdom left in Teman? Have the wise run out of counsel? Has their wisdom turned sour?
For the LORD says this: If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, do you really think you will go unpunished? You will not go unpunished; you must drink it.
For I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that Bozrah will become a horror, a disgrace, a wasteland and a curse, and all its towns will be ruins forever.
I have heard news from the LORD; a messenger has been sent among the nations: “Gather together and attack her! Rise up for battle!”
The terror you strike into others and the pride of your heart have deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, who hold the heights of the hill. Though you build your nest as high as the eagle’s, I will bring you down from there, declares the LORD.
As when Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns near them were overthrown, says the LORD, no one will live there; no human being will settle in it.
So hear the plan the LORD has made against Edom, the purposes he has formed against the people of Teman: even the little ones of the flock will be dragged away; he will make their pasture a desolate place because of them.
So her young men will fall in her streets, and all her soldiers will be silenced on that day, declares the LORD of Armies.
Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon defeated. The LORD says this: Rise up, march against Kedar, and destroy the people of the east!
Run! Get far away! Hide deep in the ground, you who live in Hazor, declares the LORD. For Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon has made a plan against you; he has worked out a scheme against you.
Rise up and attack a nation at ease, living without a care, declares the LORD, a nation with no gates and no bars, whose people live by themselves.
Their camels will become plunder and their great herds spoil; I will scatter to every wind those who clip the hair at their temples, and I will bring disaster on them from every side, declares the LORD.
This message from the LORD came to the prophet Jeremiah about Elam, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah:
The LORD of Armies says this: I am going to break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their strength.
I will fill Elam with terror before their enemies, before those who want them dead. I will bring disaster on them, my fierce anger, declares the LORD. I will send the sword after them until I have finished them off.
I will set up my throne in Elam and destroy the king and officials there, declares the LORD.
Yet in days to come I will restore the fortunes of Elam, declares the LORD.
This is the word that the LORD spoke about Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet:
In those days, at that time, declares the LORD, the Israelites and the people of Judah will come together. They will walk on, weeping as they go, and they will seek the LORD their God.
They will ask the way to Zion and set their faces toward it. “Come!” they will say, and they will bind themselves to the LORD in a covenant that lasts forever and will never be forgotten.
All who came upon them devoured them, and their enemies said, “We are not to blame, for they sinned against the LORD, the pasture where they rightly belonged, the LORD, in whom their ancestors hoped.”
Chaldea will be looted; all who loot her will have their fill, declares the LORD.
Because of the anger of the LORD no one will live in her; she will be wholly desolate. Everyone who passes by Babylon will be appalled and will hiss in scorn at all her wounds.
Take up your positions around Babylon, all you archers. Shoot at her; do not hold back a single arrow, for she has sinned against the LORD.
Shout the battle cry against her on every side! She has surrendered; her towers have fallen, her walls are torn down. This is the vengeance of the LORD. Take vengeance on her; do to her as she has done.
Therefore the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: I will bring punishment on the king of Babylon and on his land, as I did to the king of Assyria.
In those days, at that time, declares the LORD, the guilt of Israel will be searched for, but there will be none; the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will forgive those I leave alive.
Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against those who live in Pekod. Kill them and devote them to destruction to the very last, declares the LORD; do everything I have commanded you.
I laid a trap for you, Babylon, and it caught you before you were aware of it. You were found out and seized, because you fought against the LORD.
The LORD has opened his armory and brought out the weapons of his wrath, for the Lord GOD of Armies has work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.
Listen! Fugitives and refugees are coming from the land of Babylon to tell in Zion of the vengeance of the LORD our God, vengeance for his temple.
Call up archers against Babylon, all who draw the bow. Camp all around her; let no one escape. Pay her back for what she has done; do to her just as she has done, for she has defied the LORD in her pride, the Holy One of Israel.
So her young men will fall in her streets, and all her soldiers will be silenced on that day, declares the LORD.
The LORD of Armies says this: The Israelites are oppressed, and the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them tight and refuse to let them go.
Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of Armies is his name. He will take up their case and win it, so that he may bring rest to the earth and turmoil to those who live in Babylon.
A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the LORD, against the people of Babylon, against her officials and her wise men!
As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns near them, declares the LORD, no one will live there; no human being will settle in it.
So hear the plan the LORD has made against Babylon, the purposes he has formed against the land of the Chaldeans: even the little ones of the flock will be dragged away; their pasture will be appalled at their fate.
The LORD says this: I am stirring up against Babylon and against the people who live in Leb-qamai a wind that destroys.
For Israel and Judah have not been left widowed by their God, by the LORD of Armies, though their land is filled with guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
Flee from Babylon! Every one of you, run for your life! Do not be destroyed when she is punished for her guilt, for this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; he is paying her back what she deserves.
Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, making the whole earth drunk; the nations drank her wine, and so the nations have gone mad.
“The LORD has brought our vindication to light. Come, let us make known in Zion the work of the LORD our God.”
Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers! The LORD has roused the spirit of the Median kings, because his plan is to destroy Babylon. This is the LORD’s vengeance, vengeance for his temple.
Raise a signal flag against the walls of Babylon! Strengthen the guard, post the watchmen, set the ambushes! For the LORD has planned it, and he has done it: what he said against the people of Babylon.
The LORD of Armies has sworn by himself: I will fill you with men, as many as locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you.
The God who is Jacob’s portion is not like these, for he is the one who formed all things, including the tribe he holds as his own; the LORD of Armies is his name.
But I will repay Babylon and all who live in Chaldea for all the evil they have done in Zion before your eyes, declares the LORD.
I am against you, destroying mountain, declares the LORD, you who destroy the whole earth. I will stretch out my hand against you and roll you down from the cliffs, and make you a burned-out mountain.
No one will take a cornerstone from you, or any stone for a foundation, for you will be a desolation forever, declares the LORD.
The land trembles and writhes in pain, for the LORD’s plans against Babylon stand firm: to make the land of Babylon a wasteland where no one lives.
For the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is stamped down; in a little while the time of her harvest will come.
Therefore the LORD says this: I will plead your case and avenge you. I will dry up her sea and leave her spring dry.
While they are heated with greed, I will set out a feast for them and make them drunk, so that they shout and laugh, and they will sleep a sleep that lasts forever and never wake, declares the LORD.
Come out of her, my people! Every one of you, run for your life from the fierce anger of the LORD!
Then heaven and earth and everything in them will sing for joy over Babylon, for destroyers will come against her from the north, declares the LORD.
You who have escaped the sword, go! Do not linger! Remember the LORD in that distant land, and let Jerusalem come to your mind.
“We are ashamed, for we have heard insults; disgrace covers our faces, because foreigners have gone into the holy places of the LORD’s house.”
Therefore the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will bring punishment on her idols, and the dying will groan in every part of her land.
Even if Babylon should climb to the heavens and make her lofty stronghold secure, I will send destroyers against her, declares the LORD.
For the LORD is destroying Babylon and silencing her loud noise. Their waves roar like mighty waters; the din of their voices rises.
For a destroyer has come against her, against Babylon. Her warriors are captured, their bows are broken, for the LORD is a God who repays; he will repay in full.
I will make her officials and wise men drunk, her governors, deputies and warriors, and they will sleep a sleep that lasts forever and never wake, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of Armies.
The LORD of Armies says this: The broad wall of Babylon will be leveled to the ground, and her high gates will be set on fire. The peoples toil for nothing; the nations wear themselves out only for the fire.
and say, ‘LORD, you have said that you will destroy this place, so that nothing will live in it, neither people nor animals, and it will be a desolation forever.’
He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as Jehoiakim had done.
It was because of the anger of the LORD that all this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until he cast them out of his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
He burned the house of the LORD, the king’s palace and all the houses of Jerusalem; every important house he burned down.
The Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars that belonged to the house of the LORD, the stands, and the bronze Sea that was in the house of the LORD, and they hauled all the metal off to Babylon.
As for the two pillars, the one Sea and the twelve bronze bulls under the stands, which King Solomon made for the house of the LORD, the bronze of all these things was more than could be weighed.