1The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. 2The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, 3and through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.

The Call of Jeremiah

4The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew1:5 Or chose you,

before you were born I set you apart;

I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

6“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

7But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

9Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. 10See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

11The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?”

“I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied.

12The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching1:12 The Hebrew for watching sounds like the Hebrew for almond tree. to see that my word is fulfilled.”

13The word of the Lord came to me again: “What do you see?”

“I see a pot that is boiling,” I answered. “It is tilting toward us from the north.”

14The Lord said to me, “From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land. 15I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms,” declares the Lord.

“Their kings will come and set up their thrones

in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem;

they will come against all her surrounding walls

and against all the towns of Judah.

16I will pronounce my judgments on my people

because of their wickedness in forsaking me,

in burning incense to other gods

and in worshiping what their hands have made.

17“Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. 18Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. 19They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

Israel Forsakes God

1The word of the Lord came to me: 2“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem:

“This is what the Lord says:

“ ‘I remember the devotion of your youth,

how as a bride you loved me

and followed me through the wilderness,

through a land not sown.

3Israel was holy to the Lord,

the firstfruits of his harvest;

all who devoured her were held guilty,

and disaster overtook them,’ ”

declares the Lord.

4Hear the word of the Lord, you descendants of Jacob,

all you clans of Israel.

5This is what the Lord says:

“What fault did your ancestors find in me,

that they strayed so far from me?

They followed worthless idols

and became worthless themselves.

6They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord,

who brought us up out of Egypt

and led us through the barren wilderness,

through a land of deserts and ravines,

a land of drought and utter darkness,

a land where no one travels and no one lives?’

7I brought you into a fertile land

to eat its fruit and rich produce.

But you came and defiled my land

and made my inheritance detestable.

8The priests did not ask,

‘Where is the Lord?’

Those who deal with the law did not know me;

the leaders rebelled against me.

The prophets prophesied by Baal,

following worthless idols.

9“Therefore I bring charges against you again,”

declares the Lord.

“And I will bring charges against your children’s children.

10Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and look,

send to Kedar and observe closely;

see if there has ever been anything like this:

11Has a nation ever changed its gods?

(Yet they are not gods at all.)

But my people have exchanged their glorious God

for worthless idols.

12Be appalled at this, you heavens,

and shudder with great horror,”

declares the Lord.

13“My people have committed two sins:

They have forsaken me,

the spring of living water,

and have dug their own cisterns,

broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

14Is Israel a servant, a slave by birth?

Why then has he become plunder?

15Lions have roared;

they have growled at him.

They have laid waste his land;

his towns are burned and deserted.

16Also, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes

have cracked your skull.

17Have you not brought this on yourselves

by forsaking the Lord your God

when he led you in the way?

18Now why go to Egypt

to drink water from the Nile?

And why go to Assyria

to drink water from the Euphrates?

19Your wickedness will punish you;

your backsliding will rebuke you.

Consider then and realize

how evil and bitter it is for you

when you forsake the Lord your God

and have no awe of me,”

declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

20“Long ago you broke off your yoke

and tore off your bonds;

you said, ‘I will not serve you!’

Indeed, on every high hill

and under every spreading tree

you lay down as a prostitute.

21I had planted you like a choice vine

of sound and reliable stock.

How then did you turn against me

into a corrupt, wild vine?

22Although you wash yourself with soap

and use an abundance of cleansing powder,

the stain of your guilt is still before me,”

declares the Sovereign Lord.

23“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled;

I have not run after the Baals’?

See how you behaved in the valley;

consider what you have done.

You are a swift she-camel

running here and there,

24a wild donkey accustomed to the desert,

sniffing the wind in her craving—

in her heat who can restrain her?

Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves;

at mating time they will find her.

25Do not run until your feet are bare

and your throat is dry.

But you said, ‘It’s no use!

I love foreign gods,

and I must go after them.’

26“As a thief is disgraced when he is caught,

so the people of Israel are disgraced—

they, their kings and their officials,

their priests and their prophets.

27They say to wood, ‘You are my father,’

and to stone, ‘You gave me birth.’

They have turned their backs to me

and not their faces;

yet when they are in trouble, they say,

‘Come and save us!’

28Where then are the gods you made for yourselves?

Let them come if they can save you

when you are in trouble!

For you, Judah, have as many gods

as you have towns.

29“Why do you bring charges against me?

You have all rebelled against me,”

declares the Lord.

30“In vain I punished your people;

they did not respond to correction.

Your sword has devoured your prophets

like a ravenous lion.

31“You of this generation, consider the word of the Lord:

“Have I been a desert to Israel

or a land of great darkness?

Why do my people say, ‘We are free to roam;

we will come to you no more’?

32Does a young woman forget her jewelry,

a bride her wedding ornaments?

Yet my people have forgotten me,

days without number.

33How skilled you are at pursuing love!

Even the worst of women can learn from your ways.

34On your clothes is found

the lifeblood of the innocent poor,

though you did not catch them breaking in.

Yet in spite of all this

35you say, ‘I am innocent;

he is not angry with me.’

But I will pass judgment on you

because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’

36Why do you go about so much,

changing your ways?

You will be disappointed by Egypt

as you were by Assyria.

37You will also leave that place

with your hands on your head,

for the Lord has rejected those you trust;

you will not be helped by them.

1“If a man divorces his wife

and she leaves him and marries another man,

should he return to her again?

Would not the land be completely defiled?

But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers—

would you now return to me?”

declares the Lord.

2“Look up to the barren heights and see.

Is there any place where you have not been ravished?

By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers,

sat like a nomad in the desert.

You have defiled the land

with your prostitution and wickedness.

3Therefore the showers have been withheld,

and no spring rains have fallen.

Yet you have the brazen look of a prostitute;

you refuse to blush with shame.

4Have you not just called to me:

‘My Father, my friend from my youth,

5will you always be angry?

Will your wrath continue forever?’

This is how you talk,

but you do all the evil you can.”

Unfaithful Israel

6During the reign of King Josiah, the Lord said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there. 7I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. 8I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. 9Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. 10In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares the Lord.

11The Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah. 12Go, proclaim this message toward the north:

“ ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord,

‘I will frown on you no longer,

for I am faithful,’ declares the Lord,

‘I will not be angry forever.

13Only acknowledge your guilt—

you have rebelled against the Lord your God,

you have scattered your favors to foreign gods

under every spreading tree,

and have not obeyed me,’ ”

declares the Lord.

14“Return, faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. 15Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. 16In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the Lord, “people will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. 17At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all nations will gather in Jerusalem to honor the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts. 18In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel, and together they will come from a northern land to the land I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.

19“I myself said,

“ ‘How gladly would I treat you like my children

and give you a pleasant land,

the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.’

I thought you would call me ‘Father’

and not turn away from following me.

20But like a woman unfaithful to her husband,

so you, Israel, have been unfaithful to me,”

declares the Lord.

21A cry is heard on the barren heights,

the weeping and pleading of the people of Israel,

because they have perverted their ways

and have forgotten the Lord their God.

22“Return, faithless people;

I will cure you of backsliding.”

“Yes, we will come to you,

for you are the Lord our God.

23Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills

and mountains is a deception;

surely in the Lord our God

is the salvation of Israel.

24From our youth shameful gods have consumed

the fruits of our ancestors’ labor—

their flocks and herds,

their sons and daughters.

25Let us lie down in our shame,

and let our disgrace cover us.

We have sinned against the Lord our God,

both we and our ancestors;

from our youth till this day

we have not obeyed the Lord our God.”

1“If you, Israel, will return,

then return to me,”

declares the Lord.

“If you put your detestable idols out of my sight

and no longer go astray,

2and if in a truthful, just and righteous way

you swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’

then the nations will invoke blessings by him

and in him they will boast.”

3This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:

“Break up your unplowed ground

and do not sow among thorns.

4Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,

circumcise your hearts,

you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,

or my wrath will flare up and burn like fire

because of the evil you have done—

burn with no one to quench it.

Disaster From the North

5“Announce in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem and say:

‘Sound the trumpet throughout the land!’

Cry aloud and say:

‘Gather together!

Let us flee to the fortified cities!’

6Raise the signal to go to Zion!

Flee for safety without delay!

For I am bringing disaster from the north,

even terrible destruction.”

7A lion has come out of his lair;

a destroyer of nations has set out.

He has left his place

to lay waste your land.

Your towns will lie in ruins

without inhabitant.

8So put on sackcloth,

lament and wail,

for the fierce anger of the Lord

has not turned away from us.

9“In that day,” declares the Lord,

“the king and the officials will lose heart,

the priests will be horrified,

and the prophets will be appalled.”

10Then I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! How completely you have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’ when the sword is at our throats!”

11At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, “A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse; 12a wind too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments against them.”

13Look! He advances like the clouds,

his chariots come like a whirlwind,

his horses are swifter than eagles.

Woe to us! We are ruined!

14Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved.

How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?

15A voice is announcing from Dan,

proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.

16“Tell this to the nations,

proclaim concerning Jerusalem:

‘A besieging army is coming from a distant land,

raising a war cry against the cities of Judah.

17They surround her like men guarding a field,

because she has rebelled against me,’ ”

declares the Lord.

18“Your own conduct and actions

have brought this on you.

This is your punishment.

How bitter it is!

How it pierces to the heart!”

19Oh, my anguish, my anguish!

I writhe in pain.

Oh, the agony of my heart!

My heart pounds within me,

I cannot keep silent.

For I have heard the sound of the trumpet;

I have heard the battle cry.

20Disaster follows disaster;

the whole land lies in ruins.

In an instant my tents are destroyed,

my shelter in a moment.

21How long must I see the battle standard

and hear the sound of the trumpet?

22“My people are fools;

they do not know me.

They are senseless children;

they have no understanding.

They are skilled in doing evil;

they know not how to do good.”

23I looked at the earth,

and it was formless and empty;

and at the heavens,

and their light was gone.

24I looked at the mountains,

and they were quaking;

all the hills were swaying.

25I looked, and there were no people;

every bird in the sky had flown away.

26I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert;

all its towns lay in ruins

before the Lord, before his fierce anger.

27This is what the Lord says:

“The whole land will be ruined,

though I will not destroy it completely.

28Therefore the earth will mourn

and the heavens above grow dark,

because I have spoken and will not relent,

I have decided and will not turn back.”

29At the sound of horsemen and archers

every town takes to flight.

Some go into the thickets;

some climb up among the rocks.

All the towns are deserted;

no one lives in them.

30What are you doing, you devastated one?

Why dress yourself in scarlet

and put on jewels of gold?

Why highlight your eyes with makeup?

You adorn yourself in vain.

Your lovers despise you;

they want to kill you.

31I hear a cry as of a woman in labor,

a groan as of one bearing her first child—

the cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath,

stretching out her hands and saying,

“Alas! I am fainting;

my life is given over to murderers.”

Not One Is Upright

1“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem,

look around and consider,

search through her squares.

If you can find but one person

who deals honestly and seeks the truth,

I will forgive this city.

2Although they say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’

still they are swearing falsely.”

3Lord, do not your eyes look for truth?

You struck them, but they felt no pain;

you crushed them, but they refused correction.

They made their faces harder than stone

and refused to repent.

4I thought, “These are only the poor;

they are foolish,

for they do not know the way of the Lord,

the requirements of their God.

5So I will go to the leaders

and speak to them;

surely they know the way of the Lord,

the requirements of their God.”

But with one accord they too had broken off the yoke

and torn off the bonds.

6Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them,

a wolf from the desert will ravage them,

a leopard will lie in wait near their towns

to tear to pieces any who venture out,

for their rebellion is great

and their backslidings many.

7“Why should I forgive you?

Your children have forsaken me

and sworn by gods that are not gods.

I supplied all their needs,

yet they committed adultery

and thronged to the houses of prostitutes.

8They are well-fed, lusty stallions,

each neighing for another man’s wife.

9Should I not punish them for this?”

declares the Lord.

“Should I not avenge myself

on such a nation as this?

10“Go through her vineyards and ravage them,

but do not destroy them completely.

Strip off her branches,

for these people do not belong to the Lord.

11The people of Israel and the people of Judah

have been utterly unfaithful to me,”

declares the Lord.

12They have lied about the Lord;

they said, “He will do nothing!

No harm will come to us;

we will never see sword or famine.

13The prophets are but wind

and the word is not in them;

so let what they say be done to them.”

14Therefore this is what the Lord God Almighty says:

“Because the people have spoken these words,

I will make my words in your mouth a fire

and these people the wood it consumes.

15People of Israel,” declares the Lord,

“I am bringing a distant nation against you—

an ancient and enduring nation,

a people whose language you do not know,

whose speech you do not understand.

16Their quivers are like an open grave;

all of them are mighty warriors.

17They will devour your harvests and food,

devour your sons and daughters;

they will devour your flocks and herds,

devour your vines and fig trees.

With the sword they will destroy

the fortified cities in which you trust.

18“Yet even in those days,” declares the Lord, “I will not destroy you completely. 19And when the people ask, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?’ you will tell them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own.’

20“Announce this to the descendants of Jacob

and proclaim it in Judah:

21Hear this, you foolish and senseless people,

who have eyes but do not see,

who have ears but do not hear:

22Should you not fear me?” declares the Lord.

“Should you not tremble in my presence?

I made the sand a boundary for the sea,

an everlasting barrier it cannot cross.

The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail;

they may roar, but they cannot cross it.

23But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts;

they have turned aside and gone away.

24They do not say to themselves,

‘Let us fear the Lord our God,

who gives autumn and spring rains in season,

who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.’

25Your wrongdoings have kept these away;

your sins have deprived you of good.

26“Among my people are the wicked

who lie in wait like men who snare birds

and like those who set traps to catch people.

27Like cages full of birds,

their houses are full of deceit;

they have become rich and powerful

28and have grown fat and sleek.

Their evil deeds have no limit;

they do not seek justice.

They do not promote the case of the fatherless;

they do not defend the just cause of the poor.

29Should I not punish them for this?”

declares the Lord.

“Should I not avenge myself

on such a nation as this?

30“A horrible and shocking thing

has happened in the land:

31The prophets prophesy lies,

the priests rule by their own authority,

and my people love it this way.

But what will you do in the end?

Jerusalem Under Siege

1“Flee for safety, people of Benjamin!

Flee from Jerusalem!

Sound the trumpet in Tekoa!

Raise the signal over Beth Hakkerem!

For disaster looms out of the north,

even terrible destruction.

2I will destroy Daughter Zion,

so beautiful and delicate.

3Shepherds with their flocks will come against her;

they will pitch their tents around her,

each tending his own portion.”

4“Prepare for battle against her!

Arise, let us attack at noon!

But, alas, the daylight is fading,

and the shadows of evening grow long.

5So arise, let us attack at night

and destroy her fortresses!”

6This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Cut down the trees

and build siege ramps against Jerusalem.

This city must be punished;

it is filled with oppression.

7As a well pours out its water,

so she pours out her wickedness.

Violence and destruction resound in her;

her sickness and wounds are ever before me.

8Take warning, Jerusalem,

or I will turn away from you

and make your land desolate

so no one can live in it.”

9This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Let them glean the remnant of Israel

as thoroughly as a vine;

pass your hand over the branches again,

like one gathering grapes.”

10To whom can I speak and give warning?

Who will listen to me?

Their ears are closed

so they cannot hear.

The word of the Lord is offensive to them;

they find no pleasure in it.

11But I am full of the wrath of the Lord,

and I cannot hold it in.

“Pour it out on the children in the street

and on the young men gathered together;

both husband and wife will be caught in it,

and the old, those weighed down with years.

12Their houses will be turned over to others,

together with their fields and their wives,

when I stretch out my hand

against those who live in the land,”

declares the Lord.

13“From the least to the greatest,

all are greedy for gain;

prophets and priests alike,

all practice deceit.

14They dress the wound of my people

as though it were not serious.

‘Peace, peace,’ they say,

when there is no peace.

15Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?

No, they have no shame at all;

they do not even know how to blush.

So they will fall among the fallen;

they will be brought down when I punish them,”

says the Lord.

16This is what the Lord says:

“Stand at the crossroads and look;

ask for the ancient paths,

ask where the good way is, and walk in it,

and you will find rest for your souls.

But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

17I appointed watchmen over you and said,

‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’

But you said, ‘We will not listen.’

18Therefore hear, you nations;

you who are witnesses,

observe what will happen to them.

19Hear, you earth:

I am bringing disaster on this people,

the fruit of their schemes,

because they have not listened to my words

and have rejected my law.

20What do I care about incense from Sheba

or sweet calamus from a distant land?

Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;

your sacrifices do not please me.”

21Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“I will put obstacles before this people.

Parents and children alike will stumble over them;

neighbors and friends will perish.”

22This is what the Lord says:

“Look, an army is coming

from the land of the north;

a great nation is being stirred up

from the ends of the earth.

23They are armed with bow and spear;

they are cruel and show no mercy.

They sound like the roaring sea

as they ride on their horses;

they come like men in battle formation

to attack you, Daughter Zion.”

24We have heard reports about them,

and our hands hang limp.

Anguish has gripped us,

pain like that of a woman in labor.

25Do not go out to the fields

or walk on the roads,

for the enemy has a sword,

and there is terror on every side.

26Put on sackcloth, my people,

and roll in ashes;

mourn with bitter wailing

as for an only son,

for suddenly the destroyer

will come upon us.

27“I have made you a tester of metals

and my people the ore,

that you may observe

and test their ways.

28They are all hardened rebels,

going about to slander.

They are bronze and iron;

they all act corruptly.

29The bellows blow fiercely

to burn away the lead with fire,

but the refining goes on in vain;

the wicked are not purged out.

30They are called rejected silver,

because the Lord has rejected them.”

False Religion Worthless

1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2“Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and there proclaim this message:

“ ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord. 3This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. 4Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” 5If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. 8But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.

9“ ‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, 10and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things? 11Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord.

12“ ‘Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. 13While you were doing all these things, declares the Lord, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer. 14Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your ancestors. 15I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your fellow Israelites, the people of Ephraim.’

16“So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. 17Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to arouse my anger. 19But am I the one they are provoking? declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?

20“ ‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place—on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the crops of your land—and it will burn and not be quenched.

21“ ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! 22For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, 23but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you. 24But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. 25From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. 26But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their ancestors.’

27“When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer. 28Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips.

29“ ‘Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.

The Valley of Slaughter

30“ ‘The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it. 31They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind. 32So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. 33Then the carcasses of this people will become food for the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 34I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the land will become desolate.

1“ ‘At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. 2They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like dung lying on the ground. 3Wherever I banish them, all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life, declares the Lord Almighty.’

Sin and Punishment

4“Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says:

“ ‘When people fall down, do they not get up?

When someone turns away, do they not return?

5Why then have these people turned away?

Why does Jerusalem always turn away?

They cling to deceit;

they refuse to return.

6I have listened attentively,

but they do not say what is right.

None of them repent of their wickedness,

saying, “What have I done?”

Each pursues their own course

like a horse charging into battle.

7Even the stork in the sky

knows her appointed seasons,

and the dove, the swift and the thrush

observe the time of their migration.

But my people do not know

the requirements of the Lord.

8“ ‘How can you say, “We are wise,

for we have the law of the Lord,”

when actually the lying pen of the scribes

has handled it falsely?

9The wise will be put to shame;

they will be dismayed and trapped.

Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,

what kind of wisdom do they have?

10Therefore I will give their wives to other men

and their fields to new owners.

From the least to the greatest,

all are greedy for gain;

prophets and priests alike,

all practice deceit.

11They dress the wound of my people

as though it were not serious.

“Peace, peace,” they say,

when there is no peace.

12Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?

No, they have no shame at all;

they do not even know how to blush.

So they will fall among the fallen;

they will be brought down when they are punished,

says the Lord.

13“ ‘I will take away their harvest,

declares the Lord.

There will be no grapes on the vine.

There will be no figs on the tree,

and their leaves will wither.

What I have given them

will be taken from them.’ ”

14Why are we sitting here?

Gather together!

Let us flee to the fortified cities

and perish there!

For the Lord our God has doomed us to perish

and given us poisoned water to drink,

because we have sinned against him.

15We hoped for peace

but no good has come,

for a time of healing

but there is only terror.

16The snorting of the enemy’s horses

is heard from Dan;

at the neighing of their stallions

the whole land trembles.

They have come to devour

the land and everything in it,

the city and all who live there.

17“See, I will send venomous snakes among you,

vipers that cannot be charmed,

and they will bite you,”

declares the Lord.

18You who are my Comforter in sorrow,

my heart is faint within me.

19Listen to the cry of my people

from a land far away:

“Is the Lord not in Zion?

Is her King no longer there?”

“Why have they aroused my anger with their images,

with their worthless foreign idols?”

20“The harvest is past,

the summer has ended,

and we are not saved.”

21Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;

I mourn, and horror grips me.

22Is there no balm in Gilead?

Is there no physician there?

Why then is there no healing

for the wound of my people?

In Hebrew texts 9:1 is numbered 8:23, and 9:2-26 is numbered 9:1-25. 1Oh, that my head were a spring of water

and my eyes a fountain of tears!

I would weep day and night

for the slain of my people.

2Oh, that I had in the desert

a lodging place for travelers,

so that I might leave my people

and go away from them;

for they are all adulterers,

a crowd of unfaithful people.

3“They make ready their tongue

like a bow, to shoot lies;

it is not by truth

that they triumph9:3 Or lies; / they are not valiant for truth in the land.

They go from one sin to another;

they do not acknowledge me,”

declares the Lord.

4“Beware of your friends;

do not trust anyone in your clan.

For every one of them is a deceiver,9:4 Or a deceiving Jacob

and every friend a slanderer.

5Friend deceives friend,

and no one speaks the truth.

They have taught their tongues to lie;

they weary themselves with sinning.

6You9:6 That is, Jeremiah (the Hebrew is singular) live in the midst of deception;

in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”

declares the Lord.

7Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says:

“See, I will refine and test them,

for what else can I do

because of the sin of my people?

8Their tongue is a deadly arrow;

it speaks deceitfully.

With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,

but in their hearts they set traps for them.

9Should I not punish them for this?”

declares the Lord.

“Should I not avenge myself

on such a nation as this?”

10I will weep and wail for the mountains

and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands.

They are desolate and untraveled,

and the lowing of cattle is not heard.

The birds have all fled

and the animals are gone.

11“I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,

a haunt of jackals;

and I will lay waste the towns of Judah

so no one can live there.”

12Who is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross?

13The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law. 14Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” 15Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water. 16I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them.”

17This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come;

send for the most skillful of them.

18Let them come quickly

and wail over us

till our eyes overflow with tears

and water streams from our eyelids.

19The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:

‘How ruined we are!

How great is our shame!

We must leave our land

because our houses are in ruins.’ ”

20Now, you women, hear the word of the Lord;

open your ears to the words of his mouth.

Teach your daughters how to wail;

teach one another a lament.

21Death has climbed in through our windows

and has entered our fortresses;

it has removed the children from the streets

and the young men from the public squares.

22Say, “This is what the Lord declares:

“ ‘Dead bodies will lie

like dung on the open field,

like cut grain behind the reaper,

with no one to gather them.’ ”

23This is what the Lord says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom

or the strong boast of their strength

or the rich boast of their riches,

24but let the one who boasts boast about this:

that they have the understanding to know me,

that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,

justice and righteousness on earth,

for in these I delight,”

declares the Lord.

25“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh— 26Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places.9:26 Or wilderness and who clip the hair by their foreheads For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”

God and Idols

1Hear what the Lord says to you, people of Israel. 2This is what the Lord says:

“Do not learn the ways of the nations

or be terrified by signs in the heavens,

though the nations are terrified by them.

3For the practices of the peoples are worthless;

they cut a tree out of the forest,

and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.

4They adorn it with silver and gold;

they fasten it with hammer and nails

so it will not totter.

5Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,

their idols cannot speak;

they must be carried

because they cannot walk.

Do not fear them;

they can do no harm

nor can they do any good.”

6No one is like you, Lord;

you are great,

and your name is mighty in power.

7Who should not fear you,

King of the nations?

This is your due.

Among all the wise leaders of the nations

and in all their kingdoms,

there is no one like you.

8They are all senseless and foolish;

they are taught by worthless wooden idols.

9Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish

and gold from Uphaz.

What the craftsman and goldsmith have made

is then dressed in blue and purple—

all made by skilled workers.

10But the Lord is the true God;

he is the living God, the eternal King.

When he is angry, the earth trembles;

the nations cannot endure his wrath.

11“Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’ ”

12But God made the earth by his power;

he founded the world by his wisdom

and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

13When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;

he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.

He sends lightning with the rain

and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

14Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;

every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.

The images he makes are a fraud;

they have no breath in them.

15They are worthless, the objects of mockery;

when their judgment comes, they will perish.

16He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these,

for he is the Maker of all things,

including Israel, the people of his inheritance—

the Lord Almighty is his name.

Coming Destruction

17Gather up your belongings to leave the land,

you who live under siege.

18For this is what the Lord says:

“At this time I will hurl out

those who live in this land;

I will bring distress on them

so that they may be captured.”

19Woe to me because of my injury!

My wound is incurable!

Yet I said to myself,

“This is my sickness, and I must endure it.”

20My tent is destroyed;

all its ropes are snapped.

My children are gone from me and are no more;

no one is left now to pitch my tent

or to set up my shelter.

21The shepherds are senseless

and do not inquire of the Lord;

so they do not prosper

and all their flock is scattered.

22Listen! The report is coming—

a great commotion from the land of the north!

It will make the towns of Judah desolate,

a haunt of jackals.

Jeremiah’s Prayer

23Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own;

it is not for them to direct their steps.

24Discipline me, Lord, but only in due measure—

not in your anger,

or you will reduce me to nothing.

25Pour out your wrath on the nations

that do not acknowledge you,

on the peoples who do not call on your name.

For they have devoured Jacob;

they have devoured him completely

and destroyed his homeland.

The Covenant Is Broken

1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2“Listen to the terms of this covenant and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. 3Tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Cursed is the one who does not obey the terms of this covenant— 4the terms I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace.’ I said, ‘Obey me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God. 5Then I will fulfill the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’—the land you possess today.”

I answered, “Amen, Lord.”

6The Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of this covenant and follow them. 7From the time I brought your ancestors up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again, saying, “Obey me.” 8But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts. So I brought on them all the curses of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that they did not keep.’ ”

9Then the Lord said to me, “There is a conspiracy among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. 10They have returned to the sins of their ancestors, who refused to listen to my words. They have followed other gods to serve them. Both Israel and Judah have broken the covenant I made with their ancestors. 11Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them. 12The towns of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they will not help them at all when disaster strikes. 13You, Judah, have as many gods as you have towns; and the altars you have set up to burn incense to that shameful god Baal are as many as the streets of Jerusalem.’

14“Do not pray for this people or offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress.

15“What is my beloved doing in my temple

as she, with many others, works out her evil schemes?

Can consecrated meat avert your punishment?

When you engage in your wickedness,

then you rejoice.”

16The Lord called you a thriving olive tree

with fruit beautiful in form.

But with the roar of a mighty storm

he will set it on fire,

and its branches will be broken.

17The Lord Almighty, who planted you, has decreed disaster for you, because the people of both Israel and Judah have done evil and aroused my anger by burning incense to Baal.

Plot Against Jeremiah

18Because the Lord revealed their plot to me, I knew it, for at that time he showed me what they were doing. 19I had been like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; I did not realize that they had plotted against me, saying,

“Let us destroy the tree and its fruit;

let us cut him off from the land of the living,

that his name be remembered no more.”

20But you, Lord Almighty, who judge righteously

and test the heart and mind,

let me see your vengeance on them,

for to you I have committed my cause.

21Therefore this is what the Lord says about the people of Anathoth who are threatening to kill you, saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord or you will die by our hands”— 22therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine. 23Not even a remnant will be left to them, because I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.”

Jeremiah’s Complaint

1You are always righteous, Lord,

when I bring a case before you.

Yet I would speak with you about your justice:

Why does the way of the wicked prosper?

Why do all the faithless live at ease?

2You have planted them, and they have taken root;

they grow and bear fruit.

You are always on their lips

but far from their hearts.

3Yet you know me, Lord;

you see me and test my thoughts about you.

Drag them off like sheep to be butchered!

Set them apart for the day of slaughter!

4How long will the land lie parched

and the grass in every field be withered?

Because those who live in it are wicked,

the animals and birds have perished.

Moreover, the people are saying,

“He will not see what happens to us.”

God’s Answer

5“If you have raced with men on foot

and they have worn you out,

how can you compete with horses?

If you stumble in safe country,

how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?

6Your relatives, members of your own family—

even they have betrayed you;

they have raised a loud cry against you.

Do not trust them,

though they speak well of you.

7“I will forsake my house,

abandon my inheritance;

I will give the one I love

into the hands of her enemies.

8My inheritance has become to me

like a lion in the forest.

She roars at me;

therefore I hate her.

9Has not my inheritance become to me

like a speckled bird of prey

that other birds of prey surround and attack?

Go and gather all the wild beasts;

bring them to devour.

10Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard

and trample down my field;

they will turn my pleasant field

into a desolate wasteland.

11It will be made a wasteland,

parched and desolate before me;

the whole land will be laid waste

because there is no one who cares.

12Over all the barren heights in the desert

destroyers will swarm,

for the sword of the Lord will devour

from one end of the land to the other;

no one will be safe.

13They will sow wheat but reap thorns;

they will wear themselves out but gain nothing.

They will bear the shame of their harvest

because of the Lord’s fierce anger.”

14This is what the Lord says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the people of Judah from among them. 15But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country. 16And if they learn well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’—even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal—then they will be established among my people. 17But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it,” declares the Lord.

A Linen Belt

1This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.” 2So I bought a belt, as the Lord directed, and put it around my waist.

3Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time: 4“Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to Perath13:4 Or possibly to the Euphrates; similarly in verses 5-7 and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks.” 5So I went and hid it at Perath, as the Lord told me.

6Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there.” 7So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless.

8Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9“This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt—completely useless! 11For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.’

Wineskins

12“Say to them: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Every wineskin should be filled with wine.’ And if they say to you, ‘Don’t we know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’ 13then tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land, including the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets and all those living in Jerusalem. 14I will smash them one against the other, parents and children alike, declares the Lord. I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying them.’ ”

Threat of Captivity

15Hear and pay attention,

do not be arrogant,

for the Lord has spoken.

16Give glory to the Lord your God

before he brings the darkness,

before your feet stumble

on the darkening hills.

You hope for light,

but he will turn it to utter darkness

and change it to deep gloom.

17If you do not listen,

I will weep in secret

because of your pride;

my eyes will weep bitterly,

overflowing with tears,

because the Lord’s flock will be taken captive.

18Say to the king and to the queen mother,

“Come down from your thrones,

for your glorious crowns

will fall from your heads.”

19The cities in the Negev will be shut up,

and there will be no one to open them.

All Judah will be carried into exile,

carried completely away.

20Look up and see

those who are coming from the north.

Where is the flock that was entrusted to you,

the sheep of which you boasted?

21What will you say when the Lord sets over you

those you cultivated as your special allies?

Will not pain grip you

like that of a woman in labor?

22And if you ask yourself,

“Why has this happened to me?”—

it is because of your many sins

that your skirts have been torn off

and your body mistreated.

23Can an Ethiopian13:23 Hebrew Cushite (probably a person from the upper Nile region) change his skin

or a leopard its spots?

Neither can you do good

who are accustomed to doing evil.

24“I will scatter you like chaff

driven by the desert wind.

25This is your lot,

the portion I have decreed for you,”

declares the Lord,

“because you have forgotten me

and trusted in false gods.

26I will pull up your skirts over your face

that your shame may be seen—

27your adulteries and lustful neighings,

your shameless prostitution!

I have seen your detestable acts

on the hills and in the fields.

Woe to you, Jerusalem!

How long will you be unclean?”

Drought, Famine, Sword

1This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

2“Judah mourns,

her cities languish;

they wail for the land,

and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.

3The nobles send their servants for water;

they go to the cisterns

but find no water.

They return with their jars unfilled;

dismayed and despairing,

they cover their heads.

4The ground is cracked

because there is no rain in the land;

the farmers are dismayed

and cover their heads.

5Even the doe in the field

deserts her newborn fawn

because there is no grass.

6Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights

and pant like jackals;

their eyes fail

for lack of food.”

7Although our sins testify against us,

do something, Lord, for the sake of your name.

For we have often rebelled;

we have sinned against you.

8You who are the hope of Israel,

its Savior in times of distress,

why are you like a stranger in the land,

like a traveler who stays only a night?

9Why are you like a man taken by surprise,

like a warrior powerless to save?

You are among us, Lord,

and we bear your name;

do not forsake us!

10This is what the Lord says about this people:

“They greatly love to wander;

they do not restrain their feet.

So the Lord does not accept them;

he will now remember their wickedness

and punish them for their sins.”

11Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of this people. 12Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague.”

13But I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! The prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place.’ ”

14Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds. 15Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine. 16And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons and their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.

17“Speak this word to them:

“ ‘Let my eyes overflow with tears

night and day without ceasing;

for the Virgin Daughter, my people,

has suffered a grievous wound,

a crushing blow.

18If I go into the country,

I see those slain by the sword;

if I go into the city,

I see the ravages of famine.

Both prophet and priest

have gone to a land they know not.’ ”

19Have you rejected Judah completely?

Do you despise Zion?

Why have you afflicted us

so that we cannot be healed?

We hoped for peace

but no good has come,

for a time of healing

but there is only terror.

20We acknowledge our wickedness, Lord,

and the guilt of our ancestors;

we have indeed sinned against you.

21For the sake of your name do not despise us;

do not dishonor your glorious throne.

Remember your covenant with us

and do not break it.

22Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain?

Do the skies themselves send down showers?

No, it is you, Lord our God.

Therefore our hope is in you,

for you are the one who does all this.

1Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go! 2And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says:

“ ‘Those destined for death, to death;

those for the sword, to the sword;

those for starvation, to starvation;

those for captivity, to captivity.’

3“I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,” declares the Lord, “the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds and the wild animals to devour and destroy. 4I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.

5“Who will have pity on you, Jerusalem?

Who will mourn for you?

Who will stop to ask how you are?

6You have rejected me,” declares the Lord.

“You keep on backsliding.

So I will reach out and destroy you;

I am tired of holding back.

7I will winnow them with a winnowing fork

at the city gates of the land.

I will bring bereavement and destruction on my people,

for they have not changed their ways.

8I will make their widows more numerous

than the sand of the sea.

At midday I will bring a destroyer

against the mothers of their young men;

suddenly I will bring down on them

anguish and terror.

9The mother of seven will grow faint

and breathe her last.

Her sun will set while it is still day;

she will be disgraced and humiliated.

I will put the survivors to the sword

before their enemies,”

declares the Lord.

10Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth,

a man with whom the whole land strives and contends!

I have neither lent nor borrowed,

yet everyone curses me.

11The Lord said,

“Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose;

surely I will make your enemies plead with you

in times of disaster and times of distress.

12“Can a man break iron—

iron from the north—or bronze?

13“Your wealth and your treasures

I will give as plunder, without charge,

because of all your sins

throughout your country.

14I will enslave you to your enemies

in a land you do not know,

for my anger will kindle a fire

that will burn against you.”

15Lord, you understand;

remember me and care for me.

Avenge me on my persecutors.

You are long-suffering—do not take me away;

think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.

16When your words came, I ate them;

they were my joy and my heart’s delight,

for I bear your name,

Lord God Almighty.

17I never sat in the company of revelers,

never made merry with them;

I sat alone because your hand was on me

and you had filled me with indignation.

18Why is my pain unending

and my wound grievous and incurable?

You are to me like a deceptive brook,

like a spring that fails.

19Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“If you repent, I will restore you

that you may serve me;

if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,

you will be my spokesman.

Let this people turn to you,

but you must not turn to them.

20I will make you a wall to this people,

a fortified wall of bronze;

they will fight against you

but will not overcome you,

for I am with you

to rescue and save you,”

declares the Lord.

21“I will save you from the hands of the wicked

and deliver you from the grasp of the cruel.”

Day of Disaster

1Then the word of the Lord came to me: 2“You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place.” 3For this is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers: 4“They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like dung lying on the ground. They will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.”

5For this is what the Lord says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pity from this people,” declares the Lord. 6“Both high and low will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned, and no one will cut themselves or shave their head for the dead. 7No one will offer food to comfort those who mourn for the dead—not even for a father or a mother—nor will anyone give them a drink to console them.

8“And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink. 9For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in this place.

10“When you tell these people all this and they ask you, ‘Why has the Lord decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?’ 11then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped them. They forsook me and did not keep my law. 12But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors. See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts instead of obeying me. 13So I will throw you out of this land into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’

14“However, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ 15but it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ For I will restore them to the land I gave their ancestors.

16“But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them. After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks. 17My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes. 18I will repay them double for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land with the lifeless forms of their vile images and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.”

19Lord, my strength and my fortress,

my refuge in time of distress,

to you the nations will come

from the ends of the earth and say,

“Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods,

worthless idols that did them no good.

20Do people make their own gods?

Yes, but they are not gods!”

21“Therefore I will teach them—

this time I will teach them

my power and might.

Then they will know

that my name is the Lord.

1“Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool,

inscribed with a flint point,

on the tablets of their hearts

and on the horns of their altars.

2Even their children remember

their altars and Asherah poles17:2 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah

beside the spreading trees

and on the high hills.

3My mountain in the land

and your17:2,3 Or hills / 3 and the mountains of the land. / Your wealth and all your treasures

I will give away as plunder,

together with your high places,

because of sin throughout your country.

4Through your own fault you will lose

the inheritance I gave you.

I will enslave you to your enemies

in a land you do not know,

for you have kindled my anger,

and it will burn forever.”

5This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,

who draws strength from mere flesh

and whose heart turns away from the Lord.

6That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;

they will not see prosperity when it comes.

They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,

in a salt land where no one lives.

7“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,

whose confidence is in him.

8They will be like a tree planted by the water

that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes;

its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought

and never fails to bear fruit.”

9The heart is deceitful above all things

and beyond cure.

Who can understand it?

10“I the Lord search the heart

and examine the mind,

to reward each person according to their conduct,

according to what their deeds deserve.”

11Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay

are those who gain riches by unjust means.

When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them,

and in the end they will prove to be fools.

12A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning,

is the place of our sanctuary.

13Lord, you are the hope of Israel;

all who forsake you will be put to shame.

Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust

because they have forsaken the Lord,

the spring of living water.

14Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;

save me and I will be saved,

for you are the one I praise.

15They keep saying to me,

“Where is the word of the Lord?

Let it now be fulfilled!”

16I have not run away from being your shepherd;

you know I have not desired the day of despair.

What passes my lips is open before you.

17Do not be a terror to me;

you are my refuge in the day of disaster.

18Let my persecutors be put to shame,

but keep me from shame;

let them be terrified,

but keep me from terror.

Bring on them the day of disaster;

destroy them with double destruction.

Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

19This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People,17:19 Or Army through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem. 20Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem who come through these gates. 21This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors. 23Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline. 24But if you are careful to obey me, declares the Lord, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it, 25then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. 26People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27But if you do not obey me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’ ”

At the Potter’s House

1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2“Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

5Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. 7If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.

11“Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’ 12But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’ ”

13Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“Inquire among the nations:

Who has ever heard anything like this?

A most horrible thing has been done

by Virgin Israel.

14Does the snow of Lebanon

ever vanish from its rocky slopes?

Do its cool waters from distant sources

ever stop flowing?

15Yet my people have forgotten me;

they burn incense to worthless idols,

which made them stumble in their ways,

in the ancient paths.

They made them walk in byways,

on roads not built up.

16Their land will be an object of horror

and of lasting scorn;

all who pass by will be appalled

and will shake their heads.

17Like a wind from the east,

I will scatter them before their enemies;

I will show them my back and not my face

in the day of their disaster.”

18They said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophets. So come, let’s attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says.”

19Listen to me, Lord;

hear what my accusers are saying!

20Should good be repaid with evil?

Yet they have dug a pit for me.

Remember that I stood before you

and spoke in their behalf

to turn your wrath away from them.

21So give their children over to famine;

hand them over to the power of the sword.

Let their wives be made childless and widows;

let their men be put to death,

their young men slain by the sword in battle.

22Let a cry be heard from their houses

when you suddenly bring invaders against them,

for they have dug a pit to capture me

and have hidden snares for my feet.

23But you, Lord, know

all their plots to kill me.

Do not forgive their crimes

or blot out their sins from your sight.

Let them be overthrown before you;

deal with them in the time of your anger.

1This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take along some of the elders of the people and of the priests 2and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. There proclaim the words I tell you, 3and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. 4For they have forsaken me and made this a place of foreign gods; they have burned incense in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent. 5They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind. 6So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call this place Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.

7“ ‘In this place I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, at the hands of those who want to kill them, and I will give their carcasses as food to the birds and the wild animals. 8I will devastate this city and make it an object of horror and scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff because of all its wounds. 9I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh because their enemies will press the siege so hard against them to destroy them.’

10“Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching, 11and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. 12This is what I will do to this place and to those who live here, declares the Lord. I will make this city like Topheth. 13The houses in Jerusalem and those of the kings of Judah will be defiled like this place, Topheth—all the houses where they burned incense on the roofs to all the starry hosts and poured out drink offerings to other gods.’ ”

14Jeremiah then returned from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and stood in the court of the Lord’s temple and said to all the people, 15“This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on this city and all the villages around it every disaster I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked and would not listen to my words.’ ”

God Rejects Zedekiah’s Request

1The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. They said: 2“Inquire now of the Lord for us because Nebuchadnezzar21:2 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, of which Nebuchadnezzar is a variant; here and often in Jeremiah and Ezekiel king of Babylon is attacking us. Perhaps the Lord will perform wonders for us as in times past so that he will withdraw from us.”

3But Jeremiah answered them, “Tell Zedekiah, 4‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am about to turn against you the weapons of war that are in your hands, which you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Babylonians21:4 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 9 who are outside the wall besieging you. And I will gather them inside this city. 5I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm in furious anger and in great wrath. 6I will strike down those who live in this city—both man and beast—and they will die of a terrible plague. 7After that, declares the Lord, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the people in this city who survive the plague, sword and famine, into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to their enemies who want to kill them. He will put them to the sword; he will show them no mercy or pity or compassion.’

8“Furthermore, tell the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: See, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death. 9Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; they will escape with their lives. 10I have determined to do this city harm and not good, declares the Lord. It will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.’

11“Moreover, say to the royal house of Judah, ‘Hear the word of the Lord. 12This is what the Lord says to you, house of David:

“ ‘Administer justice every morning;

rescue from the hand of the oppressor

the one who has been robbed,

or my wrath will break out and burn like fire

because of the evil you have done—

burn with no one to quench it.

13I am against you, Jerusalem,

you who live above this valley

on the rocky plateau, declares the Lord—

you who say, “Who can come against us?

Who can enter our refuge?”

14I will punish you as your deeds deserve,

declares the Lord.

I will kindle a fire in your forests

that will consume everything around you.’ ”

Judgment Against Wicked Kings

1This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there: 2‘Hear the word of the Lord to you, king of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne—you, your officials and your people who come through these gates. 3This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. 4For if you are careful to carry out these commands, then kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people. 5But if you do not obey these commands, declares the Lord, I swear by myself that this palace will become a ruin.’ ”

6For this is what the Lord says about the palace of the king of Judah:

“Though you are like Gilead to me,

like the summit of Lebanon,

I will surely make you like a wasteland,

like towns not inhabited.

7I will send destroyers against you,

each man with his weapons,

and they will cut up your fine cedar beams

and throw them into the fire.

8“People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?’ 9And the answer will be: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and have worshiped and served other gods.’ ”

10Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss;

rather, weep bitterly for him who is exiled,

because he will never return

nor see his native land again.

11For this is what the Lord says about Shallum son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah but has gone from this place: “He will never return. 12He will die in the place where they have led him captive; he will not see this land again.”

13“Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,

his upper rooms by injustice,

making his own people work for nothing,

not paying them for their labor.

14He says, ‘I will build myself a great palace

with spacious upper rooms.’

So he makes large windows in it,

panels it with cedar

and decorates it in red.

15“Does it make you a king

to have more and more cedar?

Did not your father have food and drink?

He did what was right and just,

so all went well with him.

16He defended the cause of the poor and needy,

and so all went well.

Is that not what it means to know me?”

declares the Lord.

17“But your eyes and your heart

are set only on dishonest gain,

on shedding innocent blood

and on oppression and extortion.”

18Therefore this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:

“They will not mourn for him:

‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’

They will not mourn for him:

‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’

19He will have the burial of a donkey—

dragged away and thrown

outside the gates of Jerusalem.”

20“Go up to Lebanon and cry out,

let your voice be heard in Bashan,

cry out from Abarim,

for all your allies are crushed.

21I warned you when you felt secure,

but you said, ‘I will not listen!’

This has been your way from your youth;

you have not obeyed me.

22The wind will drive all your shepherds away,

and your allies will go into exile.

Then you will be ashamed and disgraced

because of all your wickedness.

23You who live in ‘Lebanon,’

who are nestled in cedar buildings,

how you will groan when pangs come upon you,

pain like that of a woman in labor!

24“As surely as I live,” declares the Lord, “even if you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. 25I will deliver you into the hands of those who want to kill you, those you fear—Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Babylonians. 26I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. 27You will never come back to the land you long to return to.”

28Is this man Jehoiachin a despised, broken pot,

an object no one wants?

Why will he and his children be hurled out,

cast into a land they do not know?

29O land, land, land,

hear the word of the Lord!

30This is what the Lord says:

“Record this man as if childless,

a man who will not prosper in his lifetime,

for none of his offspring will prosper,

none will sit on the throne of David

or rule anymore in Judah.”

The Righteous Branch

1“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. 2Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the Lord. 3“I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. 4I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.

5“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,

“when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,

a King who will reign wisely

and do what is just and right in the land.

6In his days Judah will be saved

and Israel will live in safety.

This is the name by which he will be called:

The Lord Our Righteous Savior.

7“So then, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ 8but they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ Then they will live in their own land.”

Lying Prophets

9Concerning the prophets:

My heart is broken within me;

all my bones tremble.

I am like a drunken man,

like a strong man overcome by wine,

because of the Lord

and his holy words.

10The land is full of adulterers;

because of the curse the land lies parched

and the pastures in the wilderness are withered.

The prophets follow an evil course

and use their power unjustly.

11“Both prophet and priest are godless;

even in my temple I find their wickedness,”

declares the Lord.

12“Therefore their path will become slippery;

they will be banished to darkness

and there they will fall.

I will bring disaster on them

in the year they are punished,”

declares the Lord.

13“Among the prophets of Samaria

I saw this repulsive thing:

They prophesied by Baal

and led my people Israel astray.

14And among the prophets of Jerusalem

I have seen something horrible:

They commit adultery and live a lie.

They strengthen the hands of evildoers,

so that not one of them turns from their wickedness.

They are all like Sodom to me;

the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”

15Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says concerning the prophets:

“I will make them eat bitter food

and drink poisoned water,

because from the prophets of Jerusalem

ungodliness has spread throughout the land.”

16This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you;

they fill you with false hopes.

They speak visions from their own minds,

not from the mouth of the Lord.

17They keep saying to those who despise me,

‘The Lord says: You will have peace.’

And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts

they say, ‘No harm will come to you.’

18But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord

to see or to hear his word?

Who has listened and heard his word?

19See, the storm of the Lord

will burst out in wrath,

a whirlwind swirling down

on the heads of the wicked.

20The anger of the Lord will not turn back

until he fully accomplishes

the purposes of his heart.

In days to come

you will understand it clearly.

21I did not send these prophets,

yet they have run with their message;

I did not speak to them,

yet they have prophesied.

22But if they had stood in my council,

they would have proclaimed my words to my people

and would have turned them from their evil ways

and from their evil deeds.

23“Am I only a God nearby,”

declares the Lord,

“and not a God far away?

24Who can hide in secret places

so that I cannot see them?”

declares the Lord.

“Do not I fill heaven and earth?”

declares the Lord.

25“I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ 26How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds? 27They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name through Baal worship. 28Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?” declares the Lord. 29“Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

30“Therefore,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me. 31Yes,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ 32Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares the Lord. “They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least,” declares the Lord.

False Prophecy

33“When these people, or a prophet or a priest, ask you, ‘What is the message from the Lord?’ say to them, ‘What message? I will forsake you, declares the Lord.’ 34If a prophet or a priest or anyone else claims, ‘This is a message from the Lord,’ I will punish them and their household. 35This is what each of you keeps saying to your friends and other Israelites: ‘What is the Lord’s answer?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 36But you must not mention ‘a message from the Lord’ again, because each one’s word becomes their own message. So you distort the words of the living God, the Lord Almighty, our God. 37This is what you keep saying to a prophet: ‘What is the Lord’s answer to you?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 38Although you claim, ‘This is a message from the Lord,’ this is what the Lord says: You used the words, ‘This is a message from the Lord,’ even though I told you that you must not claim, ‘This is a message from the Lord.’ 39Therefore, I will surely forget you and cast you out of my presence along with the city I gave to you and your ancestors. 40I will bring on you everlasting disgrace—everlasting shame that will not be forgotten.”

Two Baskets of Figs

1After Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the officials, the skilled workers and the artisans of Judah were carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the Lord. 2One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very bad figs, so bad they could not be eaten.

3Then the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”

“Figs,” I answered. “The good ones are very good, but the bad ones are so bad they cannot be eaten.”

4Then the word of the Lord came to me: 5“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians. 6My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. 7I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

8“ ‘But like the bad figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the Lord, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the survivors from Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt. 9I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, a curse and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish them. 10I will send the sword, famine and plague against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.’ ”

Seventy Years of Captivity

1The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 2So Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people of Judah and to all those living in Jerusalem: 3For twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—the word of the Lord has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.

4And though the Lord has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention. 5They said, “Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the Lord gave to you and your ancestors for ever and ever. 6Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you.”

7“But you did not listen to me,” declares the Lord, “and you have aroused my anger with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves.”

8Therefore the Lord Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, 9I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy25:9 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them. them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. 10I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. 11This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

12“But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians,25:12 Or Chaldeans for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate forever. 13I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. 14They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

The Cup of God’s Wrath

15This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16When they drink it, they will stagger and go mad because of the sword I will send among them.”

17So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations to whom he sent me drink it: 18Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a ruin and an object of horror and scorn, a curse25:18 That is, their names to be used in cursing (see 29:22); or, to be seen by others as cursed—as they are today; 19Pharaoh king of Egypt, his attendants, his officials and all his people, 20and all the foreign people there; all the kings of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines (those of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the people left at Ashdod); 21Edom, Moab and Ammon; 22all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; the kings of the coastlands across the sea; 23Dedan, Tema, Buz and all who are in distant places25:23 Or who clip the hair by their foreheads; 24all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the foreign people who live in the wilderness; 25all the kings of Zimri, Elam and Media; 26and all the kings of the north, near and far, one after the other—all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. And after all of them, the king of Sheshak25:26 Sheshak is a cryptogram for Babylon. will drink it too.

27“Then tell them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Drink, get drunk and vomit, and fall to rise no more because of the sword I will send among you.’ 28But if they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink, tell them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: You must drink it! 29See, I am beginning to bring disaster on the city that bears my Name, and will you indeed go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am calling down a sword on all who live on the earth, declares the Lord Almighty.’

30“Now prophesy all these words against them and say to them:

“ ‘The Lord will roar from on high;

he will thunder from his holy dwelling

and roar mightily against his land.

He will shout like those who tread the grapes,

shout against all who live on the earth.

31The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth,

for the Lord will bring charges against the nations;

he will bring judgment on all mankind

and put the wicked to the sword,’ ”

declares the Lord.

32This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Look! Disaster is spreading

from nation to nation;

a mighty storm is rising

from the ends of the earth.”

33At that time those slain by the Lord will be everywhere—from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned or gathered up or buried, but will be like dung lying on the ground.

34Weep and wail, you shepherds;

roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock.

For your time to be slaughtered has come;

you will fall like the best of the rams.25:34 Septuagint; Hebrew fall and be shattered like fine pottery

35The shepherds will have nowhere to flee,

the leaders of the flock no place to escape.

36Hear the cry of the shepherds,

the wailing of the leaders of the flock,

for the Lord is destroying their pasture.

37The peaceful meadows will be laid waste

because of the fierce anger of the Lord.

38Like a lion he will leave his lair,

and their land will become desolate

because of the sword25:38 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint (see also 46:16 and 50:16); most Hebrew manuscripts anger of the oppressor

and because of the Lord’s fierce anger.

Jeremiah Threatened With Death

1Early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: 2“This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s house and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who come to worship in the house of the Lord. Tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word. 3Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from their evil ways. Then I will relent and not inflict on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done. 4Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: If you do not listen to me and follow my law, which I have set before you, 5and if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you again and again (though you have not listened), 6then I will make this house like Shiloh and this city a curse among all the nations of the earth.’ ”

7The priests, the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speak these words in the house of the Lord. 8But as soon as Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the Lord had commanded him to say, the priests, the prophets and all the people seized him and said, “You must die! 9Why do you prophesy in the Lord’s name that this house will be like Shiloh and this city will be desolate and deserted?” And all the people crowded around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.

10When the officials of Judah heard about these things, they went up from the royal palace to the house of the Lord and took their places at the entrance of the New Gate of the Lord’s house. 11Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and all the people, “This man should be sentenced to death because he has prophesied against this city. You have heard it with your own ears!”

12Then Jeremiah said to all the officials and all the people: “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the things you have heard. 13Now reform your ways and your actions and obey the Lord your God. Then the Lord will relent and not bring the disaster he has pronounced against you. 14As for me, I am in your hands; do with me whatever you think is good and right. 15Be assured, however, that if you put me to death, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on those who live in it, for in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

16Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man should not be sentenced to death! He has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”

17Some of the elders of the land stepped forward and said to the entire assembly of people, 18“Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. He told all the people of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“ ‘Zion will be plowed like a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,

the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.’

19“Did Hezekiah king of Judah or anyone else in Judah put him to death? Did not Hezekiah fear the Lord and seek his favor? And did not the Lord relent, so that he did not bring the disaster he pronounced against them? We are about to bring a terrible disaster on ourselves!”

20(Now Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord; he prophesied the same things against this city and this land as Jeremiah did. 21When King Jehoiakim and all his officers and officials heard his words, the king was determined to put him to death. But Uriah heard of it and fled in fear to Egypt. 22King Jehoiakim, however, sent Elnathan son of Akbor to Egypt, along with some other men. 23They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him struck down with a sword and his body thrown into the burial place of the common people.)

24Furthermore, Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah, and so he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.

Judah to Serve Nebuchadnezzar

1Early in the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2This is what the Lord said to me: “Make a yoke out of straps and crossbars and put it on your neck. 3Then send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4Give them a message for their masters and say, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Tell this to your masters: 5With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please. 6Now I will give all your countries into the hands of my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him. 7All nations will serve him and his son and his grandson until the time for his land comes; then many nations and great kings will subjugate him.

8“ ‘ “If, however, any nation or kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon or bow its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation with the sword, famine and plague, declares the Lord, until I destroy it by his hand. 9So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums or your sorcerers who tell you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10They prophesy lies to you that will only serve to remove you far from your lands; I will banish you and you will perish. 11But if any nation will bow its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let that nation remain in its own land to till it and to live there, declares the Lord.” ’ ”

12I gave the same message to Zedekiah king of Judah. I said, “Bow your neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and you will live. 13Why will you and your people die by the sword, famine and plague with which the Lord has threatened any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14Do not listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they are prophesying lies to you. 15‘I have not sent them,’ declares the Lord. ‘They are prophesying lies in my name. Therefore, I will banish you and you will perish, both you and the prophets who prophesy to you.’ ”

16Then I said to the priests and all these people, “This is what the Lord says: Do not listen to the prophets who say, ‘Very soon now the articles from the Lord’s house will be brought back from Babylon.’ They are prophesying lies to you. 17Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon, and you will live. Why should this city become a ruin? 18If they are prophets and have the word of the Lord, let them plead with the Lord Almighty that the articles remaining in the house of the Lord and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem not be taken to Babylon. 19For this is what the Lord Almighty says about the pillars, the bronze Sea, the movable stands and the other articles that are left in this city, 20which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away when he carried Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— 21yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about the things that are left in the house of the Lord and in the palace of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem: 22‘They will be taken to Babylon and there they will remain until the day I come for them,’ declares the Lord. ‘Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.’ ”

The False Prophet Hananiah

1In the fifth month of that same year, the fourth year, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, said to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people: 2“This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon. 4I will also bring back to this place Jehoiachin28:4 Hebrew Jeconiah, a variant of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other exiles from Judah who went to Babylon,’ declares the Lord, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’ ”

5Then the prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah before the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord. 6He said, “Amen! May the Lord do so! May the Lord fulfill the words you have prophesied by bringing the articles of the Lord’s house and all the exiles back to this place from Babylon. 7Nevertheless, listen to what I have to say in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people: 8From early times the prophets who preceded you and me have prophesied war, disaster and plague against many countries and great kingdoms. 9But the prophet who prophesies peace will be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord only if his prediction comes true.”

10Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it, 11and he said before all the people, “This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon off the neck of all the nations within two years.’ ” At this, the prophet Jeremiah went on his way.

12After the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13“Go and tell Hananiah, ‘This is what the Lord says: You have broken a wooden yoke, but in its place you will get a yoke of iron. 14This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will put an iron yoke on the necks of all these nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him. I will even give him control over the wild animals.’ ”

15Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies. 16Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you are going to die, because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.’ ”

17In the seventh month of that same year, Hananiah the prophet died.

A Letter to the Exiles

1This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2(This was after King Jehoiachin and the queen mother, the court officials and the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the skilled workers and the artisans had gone into exile from Jerusalem.) 3He entrusted the letter to Elasah son of Shaphan and to Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said:

4This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” 8Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. 9They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord.

10This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

15You may say, “The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,” 16but this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your fellow citizens who did not go with you into exile— 17yes, this is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. 18I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse and an object of horror, of scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them. 19For they have not listened to my words,” declares the Lord, “words that I sent to them again and again by my servants the prophets. And you exiles have not listened either,” declares the Lord.

20Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. 21This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying lies to you in my name: “I will deliver them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your very eyes. 22Because of them, all the exiles from Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.’ 23For they have done outrageous things in Israel; they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and in my name they have uttered lies—which I did not authorize. I know it and am a witness to it,” declares the Lord.

Message to Shemaiah

24Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite, 25“This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the other priests. You said to Zephaniah, 26‘The Lord has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada to be in charge of the house of the Lord; you should put any maniac who acts like a prophet into the stocks and neck-irons. 27So why have you not reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you? 28He has sent this message to us in Babylon: It will be a long time. Therefore build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.’ ”

29Zephaniah the priest, however, read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet. 30Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 31“Send this message to all the exiles: ‘This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send him, and has persuaded you to trust in lies, 32this is what the Lord says: I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good things I will do for my people, declares the Lord, because he has preached rebellion against me.’ ”

Restoration of Israel

1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. 3The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess,’ says the Lord.”

4These are the words the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah: 5“This is what the Lord says:

“ ‘Cries of fear are heard—

terror, not peace.

6Ask and see:

Can a man bear children?

Then why do I see every strong man

with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor,

every face turned deathly pale?

7How awful that day will be!

No other will be like it.

It will be a time of trouble for Jacob,

but he will be saved out of it.

8“ ‘In that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty,

‘I will break the yoke off their necks

and will tear off their bonds;

no longer will foreigners enslave them.

9Instead, they will serve the Lord their God

and David their king,

whom I will raise up for them.

10“ ‘So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant;

do not be dismayed, Israel,’

declares the Lord.

‘I will surely save you out of a distant place,

your descendants from the land of their exile.

Jacob will again have peace and security,

and no one will make him afraid.

11I am with you and will save you,’

declares the Lord.

‘Though I completely destroy all the nations

among which I scatter you,

I will not completely destroy you.

I will discipline you but only in due measure;

I will not let you go entirely unpunished.’

12“This is what the Lord says:

“ ‘Your wound is incurable,

your injury beyond healing.

13There is no one to plead your cause,

no remedy for your sore,

no healing for you.

14All your allies have forgotten you;

they care nothing for you.

I have struck you as an enemy would

and punished you as would the cruel,

because your guilt is so great

and your sins so many.

15Why do you cry out over your wound,

your pain that has no cure?

Because of your great guilt and many sins

I have done these things to you.

16“ ‘But all who devour you will be devoured;

all your enemies will go into exile.

Those who plunder you will be plundered;

all who make spoil of you I will despoil.

17But I will restore you to health

and heal your wounds,’

declares the Lord,

‘because you are called an outcast,

Zion for whom no one cares.’

18“This is what the Lord says:

“ ‘I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents

and have compassion on his dwellings;

the city will be rebuilt on her ruins,

and the palace will stand in its proper place.

19From them will come songs of thanksgiving

and the sound of rejoicing.

I will add to their numbers,

and they will not be decreased;

I will bring them honor,

and they will not be disdained.

20Their children will be as in days of old,

and their community will be established before me;

I will punish all who oppress them.

21Their leader will be one of their own;

their ruler will arise from among them.

I will bring him near and he will come close to me—

for who is he who will devote himself

to be close to me?’

declares the Lord.

22“ ‘So you will be my people,

and I will be your God.’ ”

23See, the storm of the Lord

will burst out in wrath,

a driving wind swirling down

on the heads of the wicked.

24The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back

until he fully accomplishes

the purposes of his heart.

In days to come

you will understand this.

1“At that time,” declares the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”

2This is what the Lord says:

“The people who survive the sword

will find favor in the wilderness;

I will come to give rest to Israel.”

3The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;

I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

4I will build you up again,

and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt.

Again you will take up your timbrels

and go out to dance with the joyful.

5Again you will plant vineyards

on the hills of Samaria;

the farmers will plant them

and enjoy their fruit.

6There will be a day when watchmen cry out

on the hills of Ephraim,

‘Come, let us go up to Zion,

to the Lord our God.’ ”

7This is what the Lord says:

“Sing with joy for Jacob;

shout for the foremost of the nations.

Make your praises heard, and say,

‘Lord, save your people,

the remnant of Israel.’

8See, I will bring them from the land of the north

and gather them from the ends of the earth.

Among them will be the blind and the lame,

expectant mothers and women in labor;

a great throng will return.

9They will come with weeping;

they will pray as I bring them back.

I will lead them beside streams of water

on a level path where they will not stumble,

because I am Israel’s father,

and Ephraim is my firstborn son.

10“Hear the word of the Lord, you nations;

proclaim it in distant coastlands:

‘He who scattered Israel will gather them

and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’

11For the Lord will deliver Jacob

and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they.

12They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion;

they will rejoice in the bounty of the Lord—

the grain, the new wine and the olive oil,

the young of the flocks and herds.

They will be like a well-watered garden,

and they will sorrow no more.

13Then young women will dance and be glad,

young men and old as well.

I will turn their mourning into gladness;

I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.

14I will satisfy the priests with abundance,

and my people will be filled with my bounty,”

declares the Lord.

15This is what the Lord says:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,

mourning and great weeping,

Rachel weeping for her children

and refusing to be comforted,

because they are no more.”

16This is what the Lord says:

“Restrain your voice from weeping

and your eyes from tears,

for your work will be rewarded,”

declares the Lord.

“They will return from the land of the enemy.

17So there is hope for your descendants,”

declares the Lord.

“Your children will return to their own land.

18“I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:

‘You disciplined me like an unruly calf,

and I have been disciplined.

Restore me, and I will return,

because you are the Lord my God.

19After I strayed,

I repented;

after I came to understand,

I beat my breast.

I was ashamed and humiliated

because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

20Is not Ephraim my dear son,

the child in whom I delight?

Though I often speak against him,

I still remember him.

Therefore my heart yearns for him;

I have great compassion for him,”

declares the Lord.

21“Set up road signs;

put up guideposts.

Take note of the highway,

the road that you take.

Return, Virgin Israel,

return to your towns.

22How long will you wander,

unfaithful Daughter Israel?

The Lord will create a new thing on earth—

the woman will return to the man.”

23This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “When I bring them back from captivity, the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: ‘The Lord bless you, you prosperous city, you sacred mountain.’ 24People will live together in Judah and all its towns—farmers and those who move about with their flocks. 25I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”

26At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me.

27“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will plant the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with the offspring of people and of animals. 28Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the Lord. 29“In those days people will no longer say,

‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,

and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

30Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge.

31“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,

“when I will make a new covenant

with the people of Israel

and with the people of Judah.

32It will not be like the covenant

I made with their ancestors

when I took them by the hand

to lead them out of Egypt,

because they broke my covenant,

though I was a husband to them,”

declares the Lord.

33“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel

after that time,” declares the Lord.

“I will put my law in their minds

and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

34No longer will they teach their neighbor,

or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’

because they will all know me,

from the least of them to the greatest,”

declares the Lord.

“For I will forgive their wickedness

and will remember their sins no more.”

35This is what the Lord says,

he who appoints the sun

to shine by day,

who decrees the moon and stars

to shine by night,

who stirs up the sea

so that its waves roar—

the Lord Almighty is his name:

36“Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,”

declares the Lord,

“will Israel ever cease

being a nation before me.”

37This is what the Lord says:

“Only if the heavens above can be measured

and the foundations of the earth below be searched out

will I reject all the descendants of Israel

because of all they have done,”

declares the Lord.

38“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when this city will be rebuilt for me from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39The measuring line will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. 40The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be holy to the Lord. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.”

Jeremiah Buys a Field

1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace of Judah.

3Now Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him there, saying, “Why do you prophesy as you do? You say, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. 4Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape the Babylonians32:4 Or Chaldeans; also in verses 5, 24, 25, 28, 29 and 43 but will certainly be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes. 5He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will remain until I deal with him, declares the Lord. If you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed.’ ”

6Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: 7Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, because as nearest relative it is your right and duty to buy it.’

8“Then, just as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.’

“I knew that this was the word of the Lord; 9so I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels32:9 That is, about 7 ounces or about 200 grams of silver. 10I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and weighed out the silver on the scales. 11I took the deed of purchase—the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions, as well as the unsealed copy— 12and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and of the witnesses who had signed the deed and of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.

13“In their presence I gave Baruch these instructions: 14‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Take these documents, both the sealed and unsealed copies of the deed of purchase, and put them in a clay jar so they will last a long time. 15For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.’

16“After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord:

17“Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. 18You show love to thousands but bring the punishment for the parents’ sins into the laps of their children after them. Great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord Almighty, 19great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds. Your eyes are open to the ways of all mankind; you reward each person according to their conduct and as their deeds deserve. 20You performed signs and wonders in Egypt and have continued them to this day, in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown that is still yours. 21You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror. 22You gave them this land you had sworn to give their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23They came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey you or follow your law; they did not do what you commanded them to do. So you brought all this disaster on them.

24“See how the siege ramps are built up to take the city. Because of the sword, famine and plague, the city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians who are attacking it. What you said has happened, as you now see. 25And though the city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians, you, Sovereign Lord, say to me, ‘Buy the field with silver and have the transaction witnessed.’ ”

26Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 27“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? 28Therefore this is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it. 29The Babylonians who are attacking this city will come in and set it on fire; they will burn it down, along with the houses where the people aroused my anger by burning incense on the roofs to Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods.