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

The Call of Jeremiah

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

5 “Before I formed you in the wombg I knewa h you,

before you were borni I set you apart;j

I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.k”

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

7 But 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. 8 Do not be afraidn of them, for I am with youo and will rescuep you,” declares the Lord.q

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

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

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

12 The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watchingb x to see that my word is fulfilled.”

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

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

14 The Lord said to me, “From the northz disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land. 15 I 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.a

16 I will pronounce my judgmentsb on my people

because of their wickednessc in forsaking me,d

in burning incense to other godse

and in worshipingf what their hands have made.g

17 “Get yourself ready! Stand up and sayh to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrifiedi by them, or I will terrify you before them. 18 Today I have made youj 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. 19 They will fight against you but will not overcomek you, for I am with youl and will rescuem you,” declares the Lord.

Israel Forsakes God

2 The wordn 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,o

how as a bride you loved me

and followed me through the wilderness,p

through a land not sown.

3 Israel was holyq to the Lord,r

the firstfruitss of his harvest;

all who devouredt her were held guilty,u

and disaster overtook them,’ ”

declares the Lord.

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

all you clans of Israel.

5 This is what the Lord says:

“What fault did your ancestors find in me,

that they strayed so far from me?

They followed worthless idolsv

and became worthlessw themselves.

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

who brought us up out of Egyptx

and led us through the barren wilderness,

through a land of desertsy and ravines,z

a land of drought and utter darkness,

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

7 I brought you into a fertile land

to eat its fruit and rich produce.b

But you came and defiled my land

and made my inheritance detestable.c

8 The priests did not ask,

‘Where is the Lord?’

Those who deal with the law did not know me;d

the leaderse rebelled against me.

The prophets prophesied by Baal,f

following worthless idols.g

9 “Therefore I bring chargesh against you again,”

declares the Lord.

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

10 Cross over to the coasts of Cyprusi and look,

send to Kedara j and observe closely;

see if there has ever been anything like this:

11 Has a nation ever changed its gods?

(Yet they are not godsk at all.)

But my people have exchanged their gloriousl God

for worthless idols.

12 Be appalled at this, you heavens,

and shudder with great horror,”

declares the Lord.

13 “My people have committed two sins:

They have forsakenm me,

the spring of living water,n

and have dug their own cisterns,

broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

14 Is Israel a servant, a slaveo by birth?

Why then has he become plunder?

15 Lionsp have roared;

they have growled at him.

They have laid wasteq his land;

his towns are burnedr and deserted.s

16 Also, the men of Memphist and Tahpanhesu

have cracked your skull.

17 Have you not brought this on yourselvesv

by forsakingw the Lord your God

when he led you in the way?

18 Now why go to Egyptx

to drink water from the Nileb?y

And why go to Assyriaz

to drink water from the Euphrates?a

19 Your wickedness will punish you;

your backslidingb will rebukec you.

Consider then and realize

how evil and bitterd it is for you

when you forsakee the Lord your God

and have no awef of me,”

declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

20 “Long ago you broke off your yokeg

and tore off your bonds;h

you said, ‘I will not serve you!’i

Indeed, on every high hillj

and under every spreading treek

you lay down as a prostitute.l

21 I had plantedm you like a choice vinen

of sound and reliable stock.

How then did you turn against me

into a corrupt,o wild vine?

22 Although you washp yourself with soapq

and use an abundance of cleansing powder,

the stain of your guilt is still before me,”

declares the Sovereign Lord.r

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

I have not run after the Baals’?t

See how you behaved in the valley;u

consider what you have done.

You are a swift she-camel

runningv here and there,

24 a wild donkeyw accustomed to the desert,x

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.

25 Do not run until your feet are bare

and your throat is dry.

But you said, ‘It’s no use!y

I love foreign gods,z

and I must go after them.’a

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

so the people of Israel are disgraced—

they, their kings and their officials,

their priestsc and their prophets.d

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

and to stone,f ‘You gave me birth.’

They have turned their backsg to me

and not their faces;h

yet when they are in trouble,i they say,

‘Come and savej us!’

28 Where then are the godsk you made for yourselves?

Let them come if they can save you

when you are in trouble!l

For you, Judah, have as many gods

as you have towns.m

29 “Why do you bring charges against me?

You have alln rebelled against me,”

declares the Lord.

30 “In vain I punished your people;

they did not respond to correction.o

Your sword has devoured your prophetsp

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?q

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

we will come to you no more’?r

32 Does a young woman forget her jewelry,

a bride her wedding ornaments?

Yet my people have forgottens me,

days without number.

33 How skilled you are at pursuingt love!

Even the worst of women can learn from your ways.

34 On your clothes is found

the lifebloodu of the innocent poor,

though you did not catch them breaking in.v

Yet in spite of all this

35 you say, ‘I am innocent;w

he is not angry with me.’

But I will pass judgmentx on you

because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’y

36 Why do you go about so much,

changingz your ways?

You will be disappointed by Egypta

as you were by Assyria.

37 You will also leave that place

with your hands on your head,b

for the Lord has rejected those you trust;

you will not be helpedc by them.

3 “If a man divorcesd his wife

and she leaves him and marries another man,

should he return to her again?

Would not the land be completely defiled?e

But you have lived as a prostitute with many loversf—

would you now return to me?”g

declares the Lord.

2 “Look up to the barren heightsh and see.

Is there any place where you have not been ravished?

By the roadsidei you sat waiting for lovers,

sat like a nomad in the desert.

You have defiled the landj

with your prostitutionk and wickedness.

3 Therefore the showers have been withheld,l

and no spring rainsm have fallen.

Yet you have the brazenn look of a prostitute;

you refuse to blush with shame.o

4 Have you not just called to me:

‘My Father,p my friend from my youth,q

5 will you always be angry?r

Will your wrath continue forever?’

This is how you talk,

but you do all the evil you can.”

Unfaithful Israel

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

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

“ ‘Return,m faithlessn Israel,’ declares the Lord,

‘I will frown on you no longer,

for I am faithful,’o declares the Lord,

‘I will not be angryp forever.

13 Only acknowledgeq your guilt—

you have rebelled against the Lord your God,

you have scattered your favors to foreign godsr

under every spreading tree,s

and have not obeyedt me,’ ”

declares the Lord.

14 “Return,u faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband.v I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. 15 Then I will give you shepherdsw after my own heart,x who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. 16 In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the Lord, “people will no longer say, ‘The arky of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered;z it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem The Thronea of the Lord, and all nationsb will gather in Jerusalem to honorc the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.d 18 In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel,e and togetherf they will come from a northerng land to the landh 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,i

the most beautiful inheritancej of any nation.’

I thought you would call me ‘Father’k

and not turn away from following me.

20 But like a woman unfaithful to her husband,

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

declares the Lord.

21 A cry is heard on the barren heights,m

the weepingn and pleading of the people of Israel,

because they have perverted their ways

and have forgotteno the Lord their God.

22 “Return,p faithless people;

I will cureq you of backsliding.”r

“Yes, we will come to you,

for you are the Lord our God.

23 Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hillss

and mountains is a deception;

surely in the Lord our God

is the salvationt of Israel.

24 From our youth shamefulu gods have consumed

the fruits of our ancestors’ labor—

their flocks and herds,

their sons and daughters.

25 Let us lie down in our shame,v

and let our disgrace cover us.

We have sinnedw against the Lord our God,

both we and our ancestors;x

from our youthy till this day

we have not obeyedz the Lord our God.”

4 “If you, Israel, will return,a

then return to me,”

declares the Lord.

“If you put your detestable idolsb out of my sight

and no longer go astray,

2 and if in a truthful, just and righteous way

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

then the nations will invoke blessingse by him

and in him they will boast.f”

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

“Break up your unplowed groundg

and do not sow among thorns.h

4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,

circumcise your hearts,i

you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,

or my wrathj will flare up and burn like firek

because of the evill you have done—

burn with no one to quenchm it.

Disaster From the North

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

‘Sound the trumpeto throughout the land!’

Cry aloud and say:

‘Gather together!

Let us flee to the fortified cities!’p

6 Raise the signalq to go to Zion!

Flee for safety without delay!

For I am bringing disasterr from the north,s

even terrible destruction.”

7 A liont has come out of his lair;u

a destroyerv of nations has set out.

He has left his place

to lay wastew your land.

Your towns will lie in ruinsx

without inhabitant.

8 So put on sackcloth,y

lamentz and wail,

for the fierce angera of the Lord

has not turned away from us.

9 “In that day,” declares the Lord,

“the king and the officials will lose heart,b

the priests will be horrified,

and the prophets will be appalled.”c

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

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

13 Look! He advances like the clouds,i

his chariotsj come like a whirlwind,k

his horsesl are swifter than eagles.m

Woe to us! We are ruined!n

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

How longq will you harbor wicked thoughts?

15 A voice is announcing from Dan,r

proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.s

16 “Tell this to the nations,

proclaim concerning Jerusalem:

‘A besieging army is coming from a distant land,t

raising a war cryu against the cities of Judah.v

17 They surroundw her like men guarding a field,

because she has rebelledx against me,’ ”

declares the Lord.

18 “Your own conduct and actionsy

have brought this on you.z

This is your punishment.

How bittera it is!

How it pierces to the heart!”

19 Oh, my anguish, my anguish!b

I writhe in pain.c

Oh, the agony of my heart!

My heart poundsd within me,

I cannot keep silent.e

For I have heard the sound of the trumpet;f

I have heard the battle cry.g

20 Disaster follows disaster;h

the whole land lies in ruins.i

In an instant my tentsj are destroyed,

my shelter in a moment.

21 How long must I see the battle standardk

and hear the sound of the trumpet?l

22 “My people are fools;m

they do not know me.n

They are senseless children;

they have no understanding.o

They are skilled in doing evil;p

they know not how to do good.”q

23 I looked at the earth,

and it was formless and empty;r

and at the heavens,

and their lights was gone.

24 I looked at the mountains,

and they were quaking;t

all the hills were swaying.

25 I looked, and there were no people;

every bird in the sky had flown away.u

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

all its towns lay in ruinsw

before the Lord, before his fierce anger.x

27 This is what the Lord says:

“The whole land will be ruined,y

though I will not destroyz it completely.

28 Therefore the earth will mourna

and the heavens above grow dark,b

because I have spoken and will not relent,c

I have decided and will not turn back.d”

29 At the sound of horsemen and archerse

every town takes to flight.f

Some go into the thickets;

some climb up among the rocks.g

All the towns are deserted;h

no one lives in them.

30 What are you doing,i you devastated one?

Why dress yourself in scarlet

and put on jewelsj of gold?

Why highlight your eyes with makeup?k

You adorn yourself in vain.

Your loversl despise you;

they want to kill you.m

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

a groan as of one bearing her first child—

the cry of Daughter Ziono gasping for breath,p

stretching out her handsq and saying,

“Alas! I am fainting;

my life is given over to murderers.”r

Not One Is Upright

5 “Go up and downs the streets of Jerusalem,

look around and consider,t

search through her squares.

If you can find but one personu

who deals honestlyv and seeks the truth,

I will forgivew this city.

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

still they are swearing falsely.y”

3 Lord, do not your eyesz look for truth?

You strucka them, but they felt no pain;

you crushed them, but they refused correction.b

They made their faces harder than stonec

and refused to repent.d

4 I thought, “These are only the poor;

they are foolish,e

for they do not knowf the way of the Lord,

the requirements of their God.

5 So I will go to the leadersg

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.h

6 Therefore a lion from the foresti will attack them,

a wolf from the desert will ravagej them,

a leopardk will lie in wait near their towns

to tear to pieces any who venture out,

for their rebellion is great

and their backslidings many.l

7 “Why should I forgive you?

Your children have forsaken me

and swornm by gods that are not gods.n

I supplied all their needs,

yet they committed adulteryo

and thronged to the houses of prostitutes.p

8 They are well-fed, lusty stallions,

each neighing for another man’s wife.q

9 Should I not punish them for this?”r

declares the Lord.

“Should I not avenges myself

on such a nation as this?

10 “Go through her vineyards and ravage them,

but do not destroy them completely.t

Strip off her branches,

for these people do not belong to the Lord.

11 The people of Israel and the people of Judah

have been utterly unfaithfulu to me,”

declares the Lord.

12 They have liedv about the Lord;

they said, “He will do nothing!

No harm will come to us;w

we will never see sword or famine.x

13 The prophetsy are but windz

and the word is not in them;

so let what they say be done to them.”

14 Therefore this is what the Lord God Almighty says:

“Because the people have spoken these words,

I will make my words in your moutha a fireb

and these people the wood it consumes.c

15 People of Israel,” declares the Lord,

“I am bringing a distant nationd against you—

an ancient and enduring nation,

a people whose languagee you do not know,

whose speech you do not understand.

16 Their quiversf are like an open grave;

all of them are mighty warriors.

17 They will devourg your harvests and food,

devourh your sons and daughters;

they will devouri your flocks and herds,

devour your vines and fig trees.j

With the swordk they will destroy

the fortified citiesl in which you trust.m

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

20 “Announce this to the descendants of Jacob

and proclaimr it in Judah:

21 Hear this, you foolish and senseless people,s

who have eyest but do not see,

who have ears but do not hear:u

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

“Should you not tremblew in my presence?

I made the sand a boundary for the sea,x

an everlasting barrier it cannot cross.

The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail;

they may roar,y but they cannot cross it.

23 But these people have stubborn and rebelliousz hearts;

they have turned asidea and gone away.

24 They do not say to themselves,

‘Let us fearb the Lord our God,

who gives autumn and spring rainsc in season,

who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.’d

25 Your wrongdoings have kept these away;

your sins have deprived you of good.e

26 “Among my people are the wickedf

who lie in waitg like men who snare birds

and like those who set trapsh to catch people.

27 Like cages full of birds,

their houses are full of deceit;i

they have become richj and powerful

28 and have grown fatk and sleek.

Their evil deeds have no limit;

they do not seek justice.

They do not promote the case of the fatherless;l

they do not defend the just cause of the poor.m

29 Should I not punish them for this?”

declares the Lord.

“Should I not avengen myself

on such a nation as this?

30 “A horribleo and shocking thing

has happened in the land:

31 The prophets prophesy lies,p

the priestsq rule by their own authority,

and my people love it this way.

But what will you do in the end?r