1 *The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, aof the priests that were in bAnathoth in the land of Benjamin: 2 To whom the word of the Lord came in the days of cJosiah the son of Amon king of Judah, din the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of eJehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, funto the end of the eleventh year of gZedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, hunto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive hiin the fifth month.

4 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 5 Before I jformed thee in the belly kI knew thee; and lbefore thou camest forth out of the womb I msanctified thee, and I †ordained thee a prophet nunto the nations. 6 Then said I, oAh, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for pI am a child. 7 But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and qwhatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. 8 rsBe not afraid of their faces: for stuI am with thee tto deliver thee, saith the Lord. 9 Then vthe Lord put forth his hand, and wtouched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, xI have put my words in thy mouth. 10 See, I have this day set thee nover the nations and over the kingdoms, yto root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

11 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see za rod of an almond tree. 12 Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for aI will hasten my word to perform it. 13 And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see ba seething cpot; and the face thereof is †toward dthe north. 14 Then the Lord said unto me, dOut of the north an evil †shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For, lo, I will call eall the families of the kingdoms dof the north, saith the Lord; and they shall come, and fthey shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah. 16 And gI will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, hiwho have forsaken me, hand jhave burned incense unto other gods, and kworshipped the works of their own hands. 17 Thou therefore lgird up thy loins, and arise, and mspeak unto them all that I command thee: nbe not dismayed at their faces, lest I ||confound thee before them. 18 For, behold, I have omade thee this day pra defenced city, and qan iron pillar, and rbrasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. 19 rAnd they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; rsfor I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.

2 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; I remember ||thee, the kindness of athy youth, bthe love of thine espousals, cwhen thou wentest after me in the wilderness, din a land that was not sown. 3 eIsrael was holiness unto the Lord, and fthe firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him gshall offend; hevil shall come upon them, saith the Lord. 4 Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: 5 Thus saith the Lord, iWhat iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and khave walked after lvanity, and kmare become vain? 6 Neither said they, Where is the Lord nthat brought us up out of the land of Egypt, othat led us through the wilderness, through pa land of deserts and of qpits, through pa land of rdrought, and of sthe shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt? 7 And I brought you into ||ta plentiful country, to eat uthe fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye vdefiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination. 8 The priests said not, Where is the Lord? and wthey that handle the law knew me not: xthe pastors also transgressed against me, and xxthe prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after ythings that do not profit. 9 Wherefore I zwill yet plead with you, saith the Lord, and awith your children’s children will I plead. 10 aaFor pass ||over the isles of bChittim, and see; and send unto cKedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. 11 dHath a nation changed their gods, ewhich are yet no gods? but my people fhave changed their glory for gthat which doth not profit. 12 Be astonished, hO ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. 13 For my people have committed two evils; ikthey have forsaken me klthe fountain of mliving waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

14 nIs Israel a servant? is he oa homeborn slave? why is he †spoiled? 15 pThe young lions roared upon him, and †yelled, and qthey made his land waste: rhis cities are burned qswithout inhabitant. 16 Also the children of tNoph and uTahapanes ||have broken the crown of thy head. 17 wHast thou not procured this unto thyself, iin that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, xwhen he led thee by the way? 18 And now ywhat hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of zSihor? or awhat hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of bthe river? 19 cThine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy dbackslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and ebitter, fthat thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts. 20 For of old time gI have broken thy yoke, and gburst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not ||transgress; when hiupon every high hill and under every green tree kthou wanderest, ilplaying the harlot. 21 Yet mI had planted thee na noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into othe degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? 22 For though pthou wash thee with qnitre, and take thee much rsoap, yet thine iniquity is smarked before me, saith the Lord God. 23 tHow canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way ttin the valley, know what thou hast done: ||thou art ua swift uudromedary traversing her ways; 24 ||vwA wild ass †used to the wilderness, that vsnuffeth up the wind at †her pleasure; in her xoccasion who can ||turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; yin her month they shall find her. 25 Withhold zthy foot from being unshod, and thy throat afrom thirst: bbut thou saidst, ||cThere is no hope: no; for I have loved dstrangers, and after them will I go. 26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, ddtheir kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, 27 Saying to ea stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast ||brought me forth: for they have turned †their back unto me, and not their face: but eein the time of their ftrouble they will say, Arise, and save us. 28 But gwhere are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, hif they can save thee in the time of thy †ftrouble: ifor according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. 29 kWherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the Lord. 30 In vain lhave I smitten your children; they received no correction: myour own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

31 nO generation, see ye the word of the Lord. oHave I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, †pWe are lords; we will come no more unto thee? 32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her qattire? yet rmy people have forgotten me days without number. 33 Why rrtrimmest thou thy way to seek love? stherefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways. 34 Also in thy skirts is found tthe blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by †secret search, but upon all these. 35 Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, uI will plead with thee, vbecause thou sayest, I have not sinned. 36 wWhy gaddest thou about so much to xchange thy way? ythou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, was thou wast ashamed of Assyria. 37 Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and zthine hands upon thine head: for the Lord hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.

3 †They say, aIf a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, ashall he return unto her again? shall not that bland be greatly polluted? but thou hast cplayed the harlot with many lovers; yet dreturn again to me, saith the Lord. 2 Lift up thine eyes unto ethe high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. fIn the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and bthou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. 3 Therefore gthe showers have been withholden, and there hath been no hlatter rain; and thou hadst ia whore’s forehead, kthou refusedst to be ashamed. 4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art lthe guide of mmy youth? 5 nWill he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.

6 *The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which obacksliding Israel hath done? pshe is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath cplayed the harlot. 7 qAnd I said after she had done all these things, dTurn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her rtreacherous ssister Judah saw it. 8 And I saw, twhen for all the causes whereby obacksliding Israel committed adultery uI had put her away, and given her va bill of divorce; tyet her rtreacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. 9 And it came to pass through the ||lightness of her whoredom, that bshe defiled the land, and committed adultery with wstones and with stocks. 10 And yet for all this her rtreacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me xwith her whole heart, but †feignedly, saith the Lord. 11 And the Lord said unto me, The obacksliding Israel yhath justified herself more than rtreacherous Judah. 12 Go and proclaim these words toward zthe north, and say, dReturn, thou obacksliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not acause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am bmerciful, saith the Lord, and cI will not keep anger for ever. 13 dOnly acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast escattered thy ways to the fstrangers gunder every green tree, and hye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord. 14 iTurn, jO backsliding children, saith the Lord; for kI am married unto you: and I will take you lone of a city, and mtwo of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: 15 And nI will give you opastors according to mine heart, pwhich shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it †come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall ||that be done any more. 17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and qall the nations shall be gathered unto it, rto the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither sshall they walk any more after the ||imagination of their evil heart. 18 In those days tthe house of Judah shall walk ||with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of uthe north to vthe land that I have ||given for an inheritance unto your fathers. 19 But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a †pleasant land, †a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, xThou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away †from me. 20 Surely as a wife xxtreacherously departeth from her †husband, so yhave ye xxdealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.

21 A voice was heard upon zthe high places, weeping and asupplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and bthey have forgotten the Lord their God. 22 cReturn, ye backsliding children, and I dwill heal your ebackslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God. 23 Truly in vain is salvation hoped for ffrom the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly gin the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. 24 For hshame hath devoured ithe labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 We lie down in our shame, and jour confusion covereth us: for kwe have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, lfrom our youth even unto this day, and mhave not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.

4 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, areturn unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not bremove. 2 cAnd thou shalt swear, dThe Lord liveth, ein truth, in judgment, and ein righteousness; and fthe nations shall bless themselves in him, and gin him shall they glory. 3 For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, hBreak up your ifallow ground, and ksow not among thorns. 4 lCircumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: mlest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, mnbecause of the evil of your doings. 5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, oBlow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, pAssemble yourselves, and let us go into qthe defenced cities. 6 rSet up the standard toward Zion: ||retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from sthe north, and a great †destruction. 7 tThe lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place uto make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, vwithout an inhabitant. 8 For this wgird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: xfor xythe fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us. 9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall zwonder. 10 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! asurely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, bsaying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul. 11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem,

cA dry wind of dthe high places ein the wilderness toward the daughter of my people,

Not to fan, nor to cleanse,

12  Even ||a full wind from those places shall come unto me:

Now also will I †give sentence against them.

13  Behold, he shall come up as clouds,

And his chariots shall be fas a whirlwind:

His horses are gswifter than eagles.

Woe unto us! hfor we are spoiled.

14  O Jerusalem, iwash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved.

How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?

15  For ka voice declareth lfrom Dan,

And publisheth affliction from mmount Ephraim.

16  Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem,

That watchers come nfrom a far country,

And give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

17  oAs keepers of a field, are they against her round about;

Because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the Lord.

18  Thy way and thy doings phave procured these things unto thee;

This is thy wickedness, because qit is bitter,

Because it reacheth unto thine heart.

19  rMy bowels, my bowels! I am pained at †my very heart;

sMy heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace,

Because thou hast heard, O my soul, tthe sound of the trumpet, ttthe alarm of war.

20  uDestruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled:

Suddenly are vmy tents spoiled, and vmy curtains in a moment.

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

22  For my people is foolish, wthey have not known me;

They are sottish children, and they have none understanding:

xThey are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

23  yI beheld the earth, and, lo, it was zwithout form, and void;

And the heavens, and athey had no light.

24  I beheld bthe mountains, and, lo, they trembled,

And all the hills moved lightly.

25  I beheld, and, lo, cthere was no man,

And call the birds of the heavens dwere fled.

26  I beheld, and, lo, ethe fruitful place was a wilderness,

And all the cities thereof were broken down

At the presence of the Lord, and by his ffierce anger.

27  For thus hath the Lord said,

The whole land shall be desolate;

Yet gwill I not make a full end.

28  For this hshall the earth mourn, and aithe heavens above be black:

Because I have spoken it, I have purposed it,

And kwill not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

29  The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and lbowmen;

They shall go into thickets, and climb up upon mthe rocks:

Every city shall be forsaken, and nnot a man dwell therein.

30  And owhen thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do?

Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou pdeckest thee with ornaments of gold,

Though thou rentest qthy †face with painting, in vain rshalt thou make thyself fair;

Thy slovers twill despise thee, they will seek thy life.

31  For I have heard a voice as of ua woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child,

The voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that vspreadeth her hands,

wSaying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.

5 aRun ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and bseek in the broad places thereof, cif ye can find a man, dif there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; eand I will pardon it. 2 And fthough they say, gThe Lord liveth; hsurely ithey swear falsely. 3 O Lord, are not kthine eyes upon the truth? thou hast lmstricken them, but they have not mgrieved; thou hast consumed them, but nthey have refused to receive correction: othey have made their faces harder than a rock; oothey have refused to return. 4 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; pthey are foolish: for qthey know not the way of the Lord, nor qthe judgment of their God. 5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for qthey have known the way of the Lord, and qthe judgment of their God: but rthese have altogether broken the yoke, and rrburst the bonds. 6 Wherefore sa lion tout of the forest shall slay them, and ua wolf of the ||evenings shall spoil them, va leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their wbackslidings †xare increased. 7 yHow shall I pardon thee for this? yythy children have forsaken me, and zsworn by athem that are no gods: bwhen I had fed them to the full, bbthey then committed adultery, and cassembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses. 8 They were as fed horses in the morning: every one dneighed eafter his neighbour’s wife. 9 fShall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

10 gGo ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but hmake not a full end: take away her ibattlements; for they are not the Lord’s. 11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah khave dealt very treacherously against me, saith the Lord. 12 lThey have belied the Lord, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; mneither shall we see sword nor famine: 13 And the prophets shall become nwind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them. 14 Wherefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, oI will make my words in thy mouth pfire, and this people pwood, and it shall devour them. 15 Lo, I will bring qa nation upon you rfrom far, O house of Israel, saith the Lord: it is sa mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, qa nation whose language thou knowest not, tneither understandest what they say. 16 uTheir quiver is as van open sepulchre, they are all mighty men. 17 And wthey shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy xfenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword. 18 Nevertheless in those days, saith the Lord, I hwill not make a full end with you.

19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, yWherefore doeth the Lord our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as zye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so ashall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours. 20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, 21 Hear now this, O bcfoolish people, and without †dunderstanding; cwhich have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not: 22 ddFear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the ebound of the sea by a perpetual eedecree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof ftoss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though ffthey roar, yet can they not pass over it? 23 But this people hath ga revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. 24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, ggthat giveth rain, both hthe former and ithe latter, in his season: khe reserveth unto us lthe appointed weeks of the harvest. 25 Your iniquities have turned away mthese things, and your sins have withholden mgood things from you. 26 For among my people are found wicked men: ||nthey lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. 27 As a ||cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. 28 oThey are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: pthey judge not the cause, the cause of pthe fatherless, qyet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. 29 rShall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

30 ||A wonderful and shorrible thing is committed in the land; 31 tThe prophets prophesy ufalsely, and the priests ||bear rule vby their means; and wmy people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?