Sorrow for the Doomed Nation

19 O my asoul, my soul!

I am pained in my very heart!

My heart makes a noise in me;

I cannot hold my peace,

Because you have heard, O my soul,

The sound of the trumpet,

The alarm of war.

20 bDestruction upon destruction is cried,

For the whole land is plundered.

Suddenly cmy tents are plundered,

And my curtains in a moment.

21 How long will I see the 6standard,

And hear the sound of the trumpet?

22 “For My people are foolish,

They have not known Me.

They are 7silly children,

And they have no understanding.

dThey are wise to do evil,

But to do good they have no knowledge.”

23 eI beheld the earth, and indeed it was fwithout form, and void;

And the heavens, they had no light.

24 gI beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled,

And all the hills moved back and forth.

25 I beheld, and indeed there was no man,

And hall the birds of the heavens had fled.

26 I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a iwilderness,

And all its cities were broken down

At the presence of the Lord,

By His fierce anger.

27 For thus says the Lord:

“The whole land shall be desolate;

jYet I will not make a full end.

28 For this kshall the earth mourn,

And lthe heavens above be black,

Because I have spoken.

I have mpurposed and nwill not relent,

Nor will I turn back from it.

29 The whole city shall flee from the noise of the horsemen and bowmen.

They shall go into thickets and climb up on the rocks.

Every city shall be forsaken,

And not a man shall dwell in it.

30 “And when you are plundered,

What will you do?

Though you clothe yourself with crimson,

Though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,

oThough you enlarge your eyes with paint,

In vain you will make yourself fair;

pYour lovers will despise you;

They will seek your life.

31 “For I have heard a voice as of a woman in 8labor,

The anguish as of her who brings forth her first child,

The voice of the daughter of Zion bewailing herself;

She qspreads her hands, saying,

‘Woe is me now, for my soul is 9weary

Because of murderers!’

The Justice of God’s Judgment

5 “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem;

See now and know;

And seek in her open places

aIf you can find a man,

bIf there is anyone who executes 1judgment,

Who seeks the truth,

cAnd I will pardon her.

2 dThough they say, ‘As ethe Lord lives,’

Surely they fswear falsely.”

3 O Lord, are not gYour eyes on the truth?

You have hstricken them,

But they have not grieved;

You have consumed them,

But ithey have refused to receive correction.

They have made their faces harder than rock;

They have refused to return.

4 Therefore I said, “Surely these are poor.

They are foolish;

For jthey do not know the way of the Lord,

The judgment of their God.

5 I will go to the great men and speak to them,

For kthey have known the way of the Lord,

The judgment of their God.”

But these have altogether lbroken the yoke

And burst the bonds.

6 Therefore ma lion from the forest shall slay them,

nA wolf of the deserts shall destroy them;

oA leopard will watch over their cities.

Everyone who goes out from there shall be torn in pieces,

Because their transgressions are many;

Their backslidings have increased.

7 “How shall I pardon you for this?

Your children have forsaken Me

And psworn by those qthat are not gods.

rWhen I had fed them to the full,

Then they committed adultery

And assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.

8 sThey were like well-fed lusty stallions;

Every one neighed after his neighbor’s wife.

9 Shall I not punish them for these things?” says the Lord.

“And shall I not tavenge Myself on such a nation as this?

10 “Go up on her walls and destroy,

But do not 2make a ucomplete end.

Take away her branches,

For they are not the Lord’s.

11 For vthe house of Israel and the house of Judah

Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” says the Lord.

12 wThey have lied about the Lord,

And said, x“It is not He.

yNeither will 3evil come upon us,

Nor shall we see sword or famine.

13 And the prophets become wind,

For the word is not in them.

Thus shall it be done to them.”

14 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts:

“Because you speak this word,

zBehold, I will make My words in your mouth fire,

And this people wood,

And it shall devour them.

15 Behold, I will bring a anation against you bfrom afar,

O house of Israel,” says the Lord.

“It is a mighty nation,

It is an ancient nation,

A nation whose language you do not know,

Nor can you understand what they say.

16 Their quiver is like an open tomb;

They are all mighty men.

17 And they shall eat up your charvest and your bread,

Which your sons and daughters should eat.

They shall eat up your flocks and your herds;

They shall eat up your vines and your fig trees;

They shall destroy your fortified cities,

In which you trust, with the sword.

18 “Nevertheless in those days,” says the Lord, “I dwill not 4make a complete end of you. 19 And it will be when you say, e‘Why does the Lord our God do all these things to us?’ then you shall answer them, ‘Just as you have fforsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so gyou shall serve aliens in a land that is not yours.’

20 “Declare this in the house of Jacob

And proclaim it in Judah, saying,

21 ‘Hear this now, O hfoolish people,

Without 5understanding,

Who have eyes and see not,

And who have ears and hear not:

22 iDo you not fear Me?’ says the Lord.

‘Will you not tremble at My presence,

Who have placed the sand as the jbound of the sea,

By a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it?

And though its waves toss to and fro,

Yet they cannot prevail;

Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.

23 But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart;

They have revolted and departed.

24 They do not say in their heart,

“Let us now fear the Lord our God,

kWho gives rain, both the lformer and the latter, in its season.

mHe reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.”

25 nYour iniquities have turned these things away,

And your sins have withheld good from you.

26 ‘For among My people are found wicked men;

They olie in wait as one who sets snares;

They set a trap;

They catch men.

27 As a cage is full of birds,

So their houses are full of deceit.

Therefore they have become great and grown rich.

28 They have grown pfat, they are sleek;

Yes, they 6surpass the deeds of the wicked;

They do not plead qthe cause,

The cause of the fatherless;

rYet they prosper,

And the right of the needy they do not defend.

29 sShall I not punish them for these things?’ says the Lord.

‘Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?’

30 “An astonishing and thorrible thing

Has been committed in the land:

31 The prophets prophesy ufalsely,

And the priests rule by their own power;

And My people vlove to have it so.

But what will you do in the end?

Impending Destruction from the North

6 “O you children of Benjamin,

Gather yourselves to flee from the midst of Jerusalem!

Blow the trumpet in Tekoa,

And set up a signal-fire in aBeth Haccerem;

bFor disaster appears out of the north,

And great destruction.

2 I have likened the daughter of Zion

To a lovely and delicate woman.

3 The cshepherds with their flocks shall come to her.

They shall pitch their tents against her all around.

Each one shall pasture in his own place.”

4 “Prepare dwar against her;

Arise, and let us go up eat noon.

Woe to us, for the day goes away,

For the shadows of the evening are lengthening.

5 Arise, and let us go by night,

And let us destroy her palaces.”

6 For thus has the Lord of hosts said:

“Cut down trees,

And build a mound against Jerusalem.

This is the city to be punished.

She is full of oppression in her midst.

7 fAs a fountain 1wells up with water,

So she wells up with her wickedness.

gViolence and plundering are heard in her.

Before Me continually are 2grief and wounds.

8 Be instructed, O Jerusalem,

Lest hMy soul depart from you;

Lest I make you desolate,

A land not inhabited.”

9 Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel;

As a grape-gatherer, put your hand back into the branches.”

10 To whom shall I speak and give warning,

That they may hear?

Indeed their iear is uncircumcised,

And they cannot give heed.

Behold, jthe word of the Lord is a reproach to them;

They have no delight in it.

11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord.

kI am weary of holding it in.

“I will pour it out lon the children outside,

And on the assembly of young men together;

For even the husband shall be taken with the wife,

The aged with him who is full of days.

12 And mtheir houses shall be turned over to others,

Fields and wives together;

For I will stretch out My hand

Against the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord.

13 “Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them,

Everyone is given to ncovetousness;

And from the prophet even to the opriest,

Everyone deals falsely.

14 They have also phealed the 3hurt of My people 4slightly,

qSaying, ‘Peace, peace!’

When there is no peace.

15 Were they rashamed when they had committed abomination?

No! They were not at all ashamed;

Nor did they know how to blush.

Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;

At the time I punish them,

They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.

16 Thus says the Lord:

“Stand in the ways and see,

And ask for the sold paths, where the good way is,

And walk in it;

Then you will find trest for your souls.

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

17 Also, I set uwatchmen over you, saying,

v‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’

But they said, ‘We will not listen.’

18 Therefore hear, you nations,

And know, O congregation, what is among them.

19 wHear, O earth!

Behold, I will certainly bring xcalamity on this people—

yThe fruit of their thoughts,

Because they have not heeded My words

Nor My law, but rejected it.

20 zFor what purpose to Me

Comes frankincense afrom Sheba,

And bsweet cane from a far country?

cYour burnt offerings are not acceptable,

Nor your sacrifices sweet to Me.”

21 Therefore thus says the Lord:

“Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people,

And the fathers and the sons together shall fall on them.

The neighbor and his friend shall perish.”

22 Thus says the Lord:

“Behold, a people comes from the dnorth country,

And a great nation will be raised from the farthest parts of the earth.

23 They will lay hold on bow and spear;

They are cruel and have no mercy;

Their voice eroars like the sea;

And they ride on horses,

As men of war set in array against you, O daughter of Zion.”

24 We have heard the report of it;

Our hands grow feeble.

fAnguish has taken hold of us,

Pain as of a woman in 5labor.

25 Do not go out into the field,

Nor walk by the way.

Because of the sword of the enemy,

Fear is on every side.

26 O daughter of my people,

gDress in sackcloth

hAnd roll about in ashes!

iMake mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation;

For the plunderer will suddenly come upon us.

27 “I have set you as an assayer and ja fortress among My people,

That you may know and test their way.

28 kThey are all stubborn rebels, lwalking as slanderers.

They are mbronze and iron,

They are all corrupters;

29 The bellows blow fiercely,

The lead is consumed by the fire;

The smelter refines in vain,

For the wicked are not drawn off.

30 People will call them nrejected silver,

Because the Lord has rejected them.”

Trusting in Lying Words

7 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 a“Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the Lord!’ ” 3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: b“Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. 4 cDo not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these.’

5 “For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly dexecute 1judgment between a man and his neighbor, 6 if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, eor walk after other gods to your hurt, 7 fthen I will cause you to dwell in this place, in gthe land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.

8 “Behold, you trust in hlying words that cannot profit. 9 iWill you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and jwalk after other gods whom you do not know, 10 kand then come and stand before Me in this house lwhich is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? 11 Has mthis house, which is called by My name, become a nden of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the Lord.

12 “But go now to oMy place which was in Shiloh, pwhere I set My name at the first, and see qwhat I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. 13 And now, because you have done all these works,” says the Lord, “and I spoke to you, rrising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I scalled you, but you did not answer, 14 therefore I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done to tShiloh. 15 And I will cast you out of My sight, uas I have cast out all your brethren—vthe whole posterity of Ephraim.

16 “Therefore wdo not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; xfor I will not hear you. 17 Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 yThe children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they zpour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger. 19 aDo they provoke Me to anger?” says the Lord. “Do they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces?”

20 Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place—on man and on beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground. And it will burn and not be quenched.”

21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: b“Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat. 22 cFor I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices. 23 But this is what I commanded them, saying, d‘Obey My voice, and eI will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.’ 24 fYet they did not obey or incline their ear, but gfollowed 2the counsels and the 3dictates of their evil hearts, and hwent 4backward and not forward. 25 Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have even isent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them. 26 jYet they did not obey Me or incline their ear, but kstiffened their neck. lThey did worse than their fathers.

27 “Therefore myou shall speak all these words to them, but they will not obey you. You shall also call to them, but they will not answer you.

Judgment on Obscene Religion

28 “So you shall say to them, ‘This is a nation that does not obey the voice of the Lord their God nnor receive correction. oTruth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth. 29 pCut off your hair and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the desolate heights; for the Lord has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.’ 30 For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight,” says the Lord. q“They have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to 5pollute it. 31 And they have built the rhigh places of Tophet, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to sburn their sons and their daughters in the fire, twhich I did not command, nor did it come into My heart.

32 “Therefore behold, uthe days are coming,” says the Lord, “when it will no more be called Tophet, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; vfor they will bury in Tophet until there is no room. 33 The wcorpses of this people will be food for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. And no one will frighten them away. 34 Then I will cause to xcease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. For ythe land shall be desolate.

8 “At that time,” says the Lord, “they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves. 2 They shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked, which they have sought and awhich they have worshiped. They shall not be gathered bnor buried; they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth. 3 Then cdeath shall be chosen rather than life by all the 1residue of those who remain of this evil family, who remain in all the places where I have driven them,” says the Lord of hosts.

The Peril of False Teaching

4 “Moreover you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord:

“Will they fall and not rise?

Will one turn away and not return?

5 Why has this people dslidden back,

Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding?

eThey hold fast to deceit,

fThey refuse to return.

6 gI listened and heard,

But they do not speak aright.

hNo man repented of his wickedness,

Saying, ‘What have I done?’

Everyone turned to his own course,

As the horse rushes into the battle.

7 “Even ithe stork in the heavens

Knows her appointed times;

And the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow

Observe the time of their coming.

But jMy people do not know the judgment of the Lord.

8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise,

kAnd the law of the Lord is with us’?

Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood.

9 lThe wise men are ashamed,

They are dismayed and taken.

Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord;

So mwhat wisdom do they have?

10 Therefore nI will give their wives to others,

And their fields to those who will inherit them;

Because from the least even to the greatest

Everyone is given to ocovetousness;

From the prophet even to the priest

Everyone deals falsely.

11 For they have phealed the hurt of the daughter of My people 2slightly,

Saying, q‘Peace, peace!’

When there is no peace.

12 Were they rashamed when they had committed abomination?

No! They were not at all ashamed,

Nor did they know how to blush.

Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;

In the time of their punishment

They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.

13 “I will surely 3consume them,” says the Lord.

“No grapes shall be son the vine,

Nor figs on the tfig tree,

And the leaf shall fade;

And the things I have given them shall upass away from them.” ’ ”

14 “Why do we sit still?

vAssemble yourselves,

And let us enter the fortified cities,

And let us be silent there.

For the Lord our God has put us to silence

And given us wwater 4of gall to drink,

Because we have sinned against the Lord.

15 “We xlooked for peace, but no good came;

And for a time of health, and there was trouble!

16 The snorting of His horses was heard from yDan.

The whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of His zstrong ones;

For they have come and devoured the land and all that is in it,

The city and those who dwell in it.”

17 “For behold, I will send serpents among you,

Vipers which cannot be acharmed,

And they shall bite you,” says the Lord.