Day of Disaster

16 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “You must not marryi and have sons or daughters in this place.” 3 For 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:j 4 “They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buriedk but will be like dung lying on the ground.l They will perish by sword and famine,m and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.”n

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Lord says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pityo from this people,” declares the Lord. 6 “Both high and low will die in this land.p They will not be buried or mourned,q and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

8 “And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink.w 9 For 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 soundsx of joy and gladness and to the voices of bridey and bridegroom in this place.z

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?’a 11 then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshipedb them. They forsook me and did not keep my law.c 12 But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors.d See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil heartse instead of obeying me. 13 So I will throw you out of this landf into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known,g and there you will serve other godsh day and night, for I will show you no favor.’i

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

16 “But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them.p After that I will send for many hunters, and they will huntq them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks.r 17 My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hiddens from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes.t 18 I will repayu them doublev for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my landw with the lifeless forms of their vile imagesx and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.y”z

19 Lord, my strength and my fortress,

my refugea in time of distress,

to you the nations will comeb

from the ends of the earth and say,

“Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods,c

worthless idolsd that did them no good.e

20 Do people make their own gods?

Yes, but they are not gods!”f

21 “Therefore I will teach them—

this time I will teach them

my power and might.

Then they will know

that my nameg is the Lord.

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

inscribed with a flint point,

on the tablets of their heartsi

and on the hornsj of their altars.

2 Even their children remember

their altars and Asherah polesa k

beside the spreading trees

and on the high hills.l

3 My mountain in the land

and yourb wealth and all your treasures

I will give away as plunder,m

together with your high places,n

because of sin throughout your country.o

4 Through your own fault you will lose

the inheritancep I gave you.

I will enslave you to your enemiesq

in a landr you do not know,

for you have kindled my anger,

and it will burns forever.”

5 This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,t

who draws strength from mere flesh

and whose heart turns away from the Lord.u

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

they will not see prosperity when it comes.

They will dwell in the parched placesv of the desert,

in a saltw land where no one lives.

7 “But blessedx is the one who trustsy in the Lord,

whose confidence is in him.

8 They will be like a tree planted by the water

that sends out its roots by the stream.z

It does not fear when heat comes;

its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of droughta

and never fails to bear fruit.”b

9 The heartc is deceitful above all things

and beyond cure.

Who can understand it?

10 “I the Lord search the heartd

and examine the mind,e

to rewardf each person according to their conduct,

according to what their deeds deserve.”g

11 Like 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.h

12 A glorious throne,i exalted from the beginning,

is the place of our sanctuary.

13 Lord, you are the hopej of Israel;

all who forsakek you will be put to shame.

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

because they have forsaken the Lord,

the spring of living water.m

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

saveo me and I will be saved,

for you are the one I praise.p

15 They keep saying to me,

“Where is the word of the Lord?

Let it now be fulfilled!”q

16 I have not run away from being your shepherd;

you know I have not desired the day of despair.

What passes my lipsr is open before you.

17 Do not be a terrors to me;

you are my refuget in the day of disaster.u

18 Let 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.v

Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

19 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People,c through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem.w 20 Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalemx who come through these gates.y 21 This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbathz day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Do 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.a 23 Yet they did not listen or pay attention;b they were stiff-neckedc and would not listen or respond to discipline.d 24 But 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 holye by not doing any work on it, 25 then kings who sit on David’s thronef 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.g 26 People 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,h bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27 But if you do not obeyi me to keep the Sabbathj 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 firek in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’ ”l

At the Potter’s House

18 This 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.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But 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.

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

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 disasterv for you and devising a planw against you. So turnx from your evil ways,y each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’z 12 But they will reply, ‘It’s no use.a We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.b’ ”

13 Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“Inquire among the nations:

Who has ever heard anything like this?c

A most horribled thing has been done

by Virgine Israel.

14 Does the snow of Lebanon

ever vanish from its rocky slopes?

Do its cool waters from distant sources

ever stop flowing?a

15 Yet my people have forgottenf me;

they burn incenseg to worthless idols,h

which made them stumblei in their ways,

in the ancient paths.j

They made them walk in byways,

on roads not built up.k

16 Their land will be an object of horrorl

and of lasting scorn;m

all who pass by will be appalledn

and will shake their heads.o

17 Like a windp from the east,

I will scatter them before their enemies;

I will show them my back and not my faceq

in the day of their disaster.”

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

19 Listen to me, Lord;

hear what my accusersw are saying!

20 Should good be repaid with evil?x

Yet they have dug a pity for me.

Remember that I stoodz before you

and spoke in their behalfa

to turn your wrath away from them.

21 So give their children over to famine;b

hand them over to the power of the sword.c

Let their wives be made childless and widows;d

let their men be put to death,

their young mene slain by the sword in battle.

22 Let a cryf be heard from their houses

when you suddenly bring invaders against them,

for they have dug a pitg to capture me

and have hidden snaresh for my feet.

23 But you, Lord, know

all their plots to killi me.

Do not forgivej 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.k

19 This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter.l Take along some of the eldersm of the people and of the priests 2 and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom,n near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. There proclaim the words I tell you, 3 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kingso of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disasterp on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle.q 4 For they have forsakenr me and made this a place of foreign godss; they have burned incenset 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.u 5 They have built the high places of Baal to burn their childrenv in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind.w 6 So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call this place Tophethx or the Valley of Ben Hinnom,y but the Valley of Slaughter.z

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

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

14 Jeremiah then returned from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and stood in the courtr 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 disasters I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-neckedt and would not listenu to my words.’ ”

Jeremiah and Pashhur

20 When the priest Pashhur son of Immer,v the officialw in charge of the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, 2 he had Jeremiah the prophet beatenx and put in the stocksy at the Upper Gate of Benjaminz at the Lord’s temple. 3 The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord’s namea for you is not Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side.b 4 For this is what the Lord says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyesc you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will gived all Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon, who will carrye them away to Babylon or put them to the sword. 5 I will deliver all the wealthf of this city into the hands of their enemies—all its products, all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. They will take it awayg as plunder and carry it off to Babylon. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into exile to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesiedh lies.’ ”

Jeremiah’s Complaint

7 You deceiveda i me, Lord, and I was deceivedb;

you overpoweredj me and prevailed.

I am ridiculedk all day long;

everyone mocksl me.

8 Whenever I speak, I cry out

proclaiming violence and destruction.m

So the word of the Lord has brought me

insult and reproachn all day long.

9 But if I say, “I will not mention his word

or speak anymore in his name,”o

his word is in my heart like a fire,p

a fire shut up in my bones.

I am weary of holding it in;q

indeed, I cannot.

10 I hear many whispering,

“Terrorr on every side!

Denounces him! Let’s denounce him!”

All my friendst

are waiting for me to slip,u saying,

“Perhaps he will be deceived;

then we will prevailv over him

and take our revengew on him.”

11 But the Lordx is with me like a mighty warrior;

so my persecutorsy will stumble and not prevail.z

They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced;a

their dishonor will never be forgotten.

12 Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous

and probe the heart and mind,b

let me see your vengeancec on them,

for to you I have committedd my cause.

13 Singe to the Lord!

Give praise to the Lord!

He rescuesf the life of the needy

from the hands of the wicked.g

14 Cursed be the day I was born!h

May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!

15 Cursed be the man who brought my father the news,

who made him very glad, saying,

“A child is born to you—a son!”

16 May that man be like the townsi

the Lord overthrew without pity.

May he hear wailingj in the morning,

a battle cry at noon.

17 For he did not kill me in the womb,k

with my mother as my grave,

her womb enlarged forever.

18 Why did I ever come out of the wombl

to see troublem and sorrow

and to end my days in shame?n