Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹That is to say, "If a man divorces his wife And she goes [away] from him And becomes another man's [wife], Will he return to her again? [Of course not!] Will not that land [where such a thing happened] be completely desecrated? But you [rebelled against Me and you] are a prostitute with many lovers; Yet you turn to Me." says the LORD.

²"Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see; Where have you not been violated? You sat by the road waiting [eagerly] for them [those man-made gods] Like an Arab [tribesman who waits to attack] in the desert, And you have desecrated the land With your [vile] prostitution and your wickedness (disobedience to God).

³"Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no spring rain. Yet you have the forehead (appearance) of a prostitute; You refuse to be ashamed.

⁴"Will you not just now call out to Me, 'My Father, you were the guide and companion of my youth?

⁵'Will He be angry forever? Will He be indignant to the end?' Behold, you have spoken, And you have done all the evil things [you could], And you have had your way and have carried out your wickedness."

⁶Moreover, the LORD said to me in the days of Josiah the king [of Judah], "Have you seen what that faithless Israel has done—how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there she was a prostitute?

⁷I thought, 'After she has done all these things she will return to Me'; but she did not return, and her treacherous (faithless) sister Judah saw it.

⁸And I saw [that even though Judah knew] that for all the acts of adultery (idolatry) of faithless Israel, I [the LORD] had sent her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid; but she went and was a prostitute also [following after idols].

⁹Because of the thoughtlessness of Israel's prostitution [her immorality mattered little to her], she desecrated the land and committed adultery with [idols of] stones and trees.

¹⁰Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with her whole heart, but rather in [blatant] deception [she merely pretended obedience to King Josiah's reforms]," declares the LORD.

¹¹And the LORD said to me, "Faithless Israel has proved herself less guilty than treacherous Judah [a land of renegades].

¹²Go and proclaim these words toward the north [where the ten tribes have been taken as captives] and say, 'Return, faithless Israel,' says the LORD; 'I will not look on you in anger. For I am gracious and merciful,' says the LORD; 'I will not be angry forever.

¹³'Only understand fully and acknowledge your wickedness and guilt, That you have rebelled (transgressed) against the LORD your God And have scattered your favors among strangers under every green tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,' says the LORD.

¹⁴'Return, O faithless children [of the twelve tribes],' says the LORD, 'For I am a master and husband to you, And I will take you [not as a nation, but individually]—one from a city and two from a [tribal] family— And I will bring you to Zion.'

¹⁵"Then [in the final time] I will give you [spiritual] shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and [true] understanding.

¹⁶"It will be in those days when you have [repented and] multiplied and increased in the land," says the LORD, "they will no longer say, 'The ark of the covenant of the LORD.' It will not come to mind, nor will they [seriously] remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again [for instead of the ark, which symbolized My presence, I will be present].

¹⁷At that time they will call Jerusalem 'The Throne of the LORD,' and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name (renown) of the LORD; and they will not walk anymore after the stubbornness of their [own] evil heart.

¹⁸In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.

¹⁹"Then I said, 'How [gloriously and honorably] I would set you among My children And give you a pleasant land—a wonderful heritage, The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!' And I said, 'You shall call Me, My Father And not turn away from following Me.'

²⁰"Surely, as a wife treacherously (unfaithfully) leaves her husband, So you have dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel," says the LORD.

²¹A voice is heard on the barren heights, The weeping and pleading of the children of Israel, Because they have lost their way, They have [deliberately] forgotten the LORD their God.

²²"Return, O faithless sons," [says the LORD], "I will heal your unfaithfulness." [They answer] "Behold, we come to You, For You are the LORD our God.

²³"Truly, [the hope of salvation from] the hill [where idols are worshiped] is a deception, A tumult and noisy multitude on the mountains; Truly in the LORD our God Is the salvation of Israel.

²⁴"But the shameful act [of idolatry] has consumed the labor of our fathers since our youth—their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

²⁵Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor and humiliation cover us; for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers; from our youth even to this day we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God."

¹"If you will return, O Israel," says the LORD, "If you will return to Me, And if you will put away your detestable things and remove your man-made gods from My sight, And not stray or waver,

²And if you swear [your oaths], 'As the LORD lives,' In truth, in justice, and in righteousness, Then the nations will bless themselves in Him, And in Him they will glory."

³For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, "Plow your uncultivated ground [for a season], And do not sow among thorns.

⁴"Circumcise (dedicate, sanctify) yourselves to the LORD And remove the foreskin [sins] of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Or else My wrath will go forth like fire [consuming all that gets in its way] And burn and there will be no one to quench it, Because of the evil of your acts."

⁵Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say, "Blow the trumpet in the land; Cry aloud and say, 'Assemble yourselves, and let us go Into the fortified cities.'

⁶"Raise a banner toward Zion [to mark the way for those seeking safety inside Jerusalem's walls]! Seek refuge, do not stand [immobile], For I am bringing evil from the north (the army of Babylon), And great destruction.

⁷"A lion has left his lair, And a destroyer of nations is on his way. He has gone out from his place To desolate your land; Your cities will be in ruins Without an inhabitant.

⁸"For this reason, put on sackcloth [for mourning], Lament (mourn with expressions of grief for the dead) and wail, For the fierce anger of the LORD Has not turned back from us."

⁹"It shall come about in that day," says the LORD, "that the heart and courage of the king will fail (be paralyzed), and also the heart of the princes; the priests will be appalled and the prophets will be astounded and horrified."

¹⁰Then I said, " Alas, Lord GOD! Surely You have completely deceived and misled this people and Jerusalem, [for the prophets represented You as] saying [to Your people], 'You will have peace,' but [in fact] a sword reaches to their throat."

¹¹In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, "A scorching wind from the barren heights in the wilderness [comes at My command] against the daughter of My people—not [a wind] to winnow and not to cleanse [from chaff, as when threshing, but]

¹²a wind too strong and full for this comes at My word. Now I will also speak judgment against My people."

¹³"Behold, the enemy comes up like clouds, His chariots like the whirlwind; His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe (judgment is coming) to us, for we are ruined!"

¹⁴O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, That you may be saved. How long will your wicked and immoral thoughts Lodge within you?

¹⁵For a voice declares from Dan [far in the north], And proclaims evil from Mount Ephraim.

¹⁶"Warn the [neighboring] nations now [that our enemy is coming]! Announce to Jerusalem, 'Besiegers are coming from a far country, And they lift their voices and shout against the cities of Judah.

¹⁷'Like watchmen of a field they are against her on all sides, Because she has rebelled against Me,' says the LORD.

¹⁸"Your ways and your deeds Have brought these things on you. This is your tragedy and doom; how bitter, How it has touched your heart!"

¹⁹My soul, my soul! I writhe in anguish and pain! Oh, the walls of my heart! My heart is pounding and throbbing within me; I cannot be silent, For you have heard, O my soul, The sound of the trumpet, The alarm of war.

²⁰News of one [terrible] disaster comes close after another, For the whole land is devastated; Suddenly my tents are spoiled and destroyed, My [tent] curtains [ruined] in a moment.

²¹How long [O LORD] must I see the banner [marking the way for flight] And hear the sound of the trumpet [urging the people to run for safety]?

²²"For My people are stupid and foolish," [says the LORD to Jeremiah]; "They do not know Me; They are foolish children And have no understanding. They are shrewd [enough] to do evil, But they do not know [how] to do good."

²³I looked at the earth [in my vision], and behold, it was [as at the time of creation] formless and void; And to the heavens, and they had no light.

²⁴I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were trembling, And all the hills moved back and forth.

²⁵I looked, and behold, there was no man, And all the birds of the air had fled.

²⁶I looked, and behold, the fertile land was a wilderness, And all its cities were pulled down Before the [presence of the] LORD, before His fierce anger.

²⁷Therefore says the LORD, "The whole land shall be a desolation, Yet I will not cause total destruction.

²⁸"For this reason the earth shall mourn And the heavens above shall become dark, Because I have spoken, I have decided, And I will not change my mind (relent), nor will I turn back from it."

²⁹Every city runs away at the sound of the horsemen and archers. They go into the thickets and climb among the rocks; Every city is deserted, And no man lives in them.

³⁰And you, O desolate one, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself in scarlet, Though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, Though you enlarge your eyes with paint, You make yourself beautiful in vain. Your lovers (allies) despise you; They seek your life.

³¹For I heard a cry like a woman in labor, The anguish as of one giving birth to her first child, The cry of the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem), who gasps for breath, Who stretches out her hands, saying, "Woe is me [my judgment comes]! I faint [in fear] before the murderers."

¹"Roam back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, And look now and take note. And look in her open squares To see if you can find a man [as Abraham sought in Sodom], One who is just, who [has integrity and moral courage and] seeks truth (faithfulness); Then I will pardon Jerusalem—[for the sake of one uncompromisingly righteous person].

²"And though they say, 'As the LORD lives,' Surely they swear [their oaths] falsely."

³O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You [have seen their faithless heart and] have stricken them, But they did not weaken; You have consumed them, But they refused to take correction or instruction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to repent and return to You.

⁴Then I said, "[Surely] these are only the poor (uneducated); They are [sinfully] foolish and have no [spiritual] understanding, For they do not know the way of the LORD Or the ordinance of their God [and the requirements of His just and righteous law].

⁵"I will go to the great [men] And speak to them, For they [must] know the way of the LORD, The ordinance of their God." But [I found the reverse to be true, that] they too had all alike broken the yoke [of God's law] And had burst the bonds [of obedience to Him].

⁶Therefore a lion from the forest will kill them, A wolf of the deserts will destroy them, A leopard is watching their cities. Everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces, Because their transgressions are many, Their desertions of faith are countless.

⁷"Why should I [overlook these offenses and] forgive you? Your children have abandoned (rejected) Me And sworn [their oaths] by those who are not gods. When I had fed them until they were full [and bound them to Me by a promise], They committed [spiritual] adultery, Assembling in troops at the houses of prostitutes (idols).

⁸"They were like well-fed, lusty stallions, Each one neighing after his neighbor's wife.

⁹"Shall I not punish them [for these things]?" says the LORD; "Shall I not avenge Myself On a nation such as this?"

¹⁰"Go up through the rows of Jerusalem's vineyards and destroy [them], But do not completely destroy everything. Strip away her branches and the tendrils [of her vines], For they are not the Lord's.

¹¹"For the house of Israel and the house of Judah Have dealt very treacherously (faithlessly) with Me," declares the LORD.

¹²They have lied about and denied the LORD By saying, "It is not He [who speaks through His prophets]; Misfortune and evil shall not come on us, Nor will we see war or famine.

¹³"The prophets are like the wind [their prophecy will not come to pass], And the word [of God] is not in them. In this manner it will be done to them [as they prophesied, not to us]."

¹⁴Therefore, thus says the LORD God of hosts, "Because you [people] have spoken this word, Behold, I am making My words a fire in your mouth [Jeremiah] And this people wood, and My words will consume them.

¹⁵"Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from far away, O house of Israel," says the LORD. "It is a mighty and enduring nation, It is an ancient nation, A nation whose language you do not know, Whose words you do not comprehend.

¹⁶"Their quiver is [filled with the dead] like an open grave; They are all mighty men [heroes of their nation].

¹⁷"They will consume your harvest and [eat up] your bread; They will consume your sons and your daughters; They will consume your flocks and your herds; They will consume your vines and your fig trees. With the sword they will break down and demolish your fortified cities in which you trust.

¹⁸"But even in those days," says the LORD, "I will not totally destroy you.

¹⁹It will come about when your people say, 'Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?' then you shall answer them, 'As you have abandoned (rejected) Me,' [says the LORD,] 'and have served strange and foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.'

²⁰"Declare this in the house of Jacob And proclaim it in Judah, saying:

²¹'Now hear this, O foolish people without heart, Who have eyes but do not see, Who have ears but do not hear.

²²'Do you not fear Me?' says the LORD. 'Do you not tremble [in awe] in My presence? For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, An eternal decree and a perpetual barrier beyond which it cannot pass. Though the waves [of the sea] toss and break, yet they cannot prevail [against the sand ordained to hold them back]; Though the waves and the billows roar, yet they cannot cross over [the barrier]. [Is not such a God to be feared?]

²³'But this people has a stubborn heart and a rebellious will [that draws them away from Me]; They have turned away and have gone [into idolatry].

²⁴'They do not say in their heart, "Let us now fear and worship the LORD our God [with profound awe and reverence], Who gives rain in its season, Both the autumn and the spring rain, Who keeps for us The appointed weeks of the harvest."

²⁵'Your wickedness has turned these [blessings] away, And your sins have withheld good [harvests] from you.

²⁶'For wicked men are found among My people, They watch like fowlers who lie in wait; They set a trap, They catch men.

²⁷'As a cage is full of birds, So are their houses full of deceit and treachery; Therefore they have become influential and rich.

²⁸'They are fat and they are sleek (prosperous), They excel in acts of wickedness; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the orphan, so that they [the wicked] may prosper, And they do not defend the rights of the poor.

²⁹'Shall I not punish them [for these things]?' says the LORD. 'Shall I not avenge Myself On such a nation as this?'

³⁰"An appalling and horrible thing [bringing desolation and destruction] Has come to pass in the land:

³¹The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love [to have] it so! But what will you do when the end comes?

¹"Run for safety, you children of Benjamin, Out of the midst of Jerusalem! And blow a trumpet in Tekoa [in Judah] And raise a signal-fire in Beth-haccherem [near Jerusalem]; For evil is looking down [with eager anticipation] from the north, And great destruction.

²"I will destroy the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem), the lovely and delicate one [so like a luxurious pasture].

³"Shepherds with their flocks will come against her; They will pitch their tents all around her; They will pasture, each one in his place [eating up all her rich grasses].

⁴"[They shout], 'Prepare for war against her; Arise, let us [take her by surprise and] attack her at noon. But alas, the daylight pales, The evening shadows grow long.

⁵'Arise, let us [awaken to] attack her at night And destroy her [fortified] palaces!'"

⁶For the LORD of hosts has said, "Cut down her trees And build a siege [mound] against Jerusalem. This is the city which must be punished; There is nothing but oppression inside her [walls].

⁷"As a fountain springs up and pours out its fresh waters, So she [continually] pours out her fresh wickedness. Violence and destruction are heard inside her [walls]; Sickness and wounds are always before Me.

⁸"Be wise and be warned, O Jerusalem, Or I will be alienated from you, And make you a desolation, An uninhabited land."

⁹Thus says the LORD of hosts, "They will thoroughly gather like [fruit on] a vine what is left of Israel; Pass your hand [over the vine] again and again [Babylon, tool of destruction] like a grape gatherer, Over the branches [stripping the tendrils off the vine]."

¹⁰To whom shall I (Jeremiah) speak and give warning That they may hear? Behold, their ears are closed [absolutely deaf to God] And they cannot listen. Behold, the word of the LORD has become a reprimand and an object of scorn to them; They have no delight in it.

¹¹But I am full of the wrath (judgment) of the LORD; I am tired of restraining it. "[I will] pour it out on the children in the street And on the young men gathered together; For both the husband and wife shall be taken, The aged and the very old [though full of days they are not exempt from judgment].

¹²"Their houses shall be turned over to others, Their fields and their wives together; For I will stretch out My hand Against the inhabitants of the land," says the LORD.

¹³"For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is greedy for [unfair] gain; And from the prophet even to the priest Everyone deals deceitfully.

¹⁴"They have treated superficially the [bloody] broken wound of My people, Saying, 'Peace, peace,' When there is no peace.

¹⁵"Were they ashamed because they had committed disgusting and vile things? No, they were not at all ashamed; They did not even know how to blush [at their idolatry]. Therefore they will fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them They will be overthrown," says the LORD.

¹⁶Thus says the LORD, "Stand by the roads and look; ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is; then walk in it, And you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it!'

¹⁷"I have set watchmen (prophets) over you, Saying, 'Listen and pay attention to the [warning] sound of the trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not listen.'

¹⁸"Therefore hear, O [Gentile] nations, And see, O congregation, what [vengeful act] is to be done to them.

¹⁹"Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people, The fruit of their schemes, Because they have not listened and paid attention to My words, And as for My law, they have rejected it also.

²⁰"For what purpose does frankincense come to Me from Sheba And the sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable And your sacrifices are not sweet and pleasing to Me."

²¹Therefore, thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am laying stumbling blocks before this people. The fathers and the sons together Will stumble against them; The neighbor and his friend will perish."

²²Thus says the LORD, "Behold, a people is coming from the north country, And a great nation shall be stirred up and put into action from the remote parts of the earth.

²³"They seize bow and spear; They are cruel and inhuman and have no mercy. Their voice sounds like the roaring sea; They ride [in formation] on horses, Arrayed as a man for battle Against you, O Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem)!"

²⁴We have heard the report of it; Our hands become limp and helpless. Anguish has gripped us, Pain like that of a woman in childbirth.

²⁵Do not go out into the field Nor walk on the road, For the enemy is armed with the sword; Terror is on every side.

²⁶O daughter of my people [says Jeremiah], Clothe yourself in sackcloth and wallow in ashes; Mourn [aloud] as for an only son, A most bitter cry [of sorrow and regret], For suddenly the destroyer will come upon us [on both prophet and people].

²⁷"I [the LORD] have set you as an assayer [O Jeremiah] and as a tester [of the ore] of My people, That you may know and analyze their acts."

²⁸They are all the worst [kind] of [stiff-necked, godless] rebels, Going around spreading slander. They are [not gold and silver ore, but] bronze and iron; They are all corrupt.

²⁹The bellows blow fiercely, The lead is consumed by the fire; In vain they continue refining, But the wicked are not separated and removed.

³⁰They call them rejected silver [only dross, without value], Because the LORD has rejected them.

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

²"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 by these gates to worship the LORD.'"

³Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Change your ways and your behavior, and I will let you live in this place.

⁴"Do not trust in the deceptive and lying words [of the false prophets who claim that Jerusalem will be protected by God because of the temple], saying, 'This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.'

⁵For if you thoroughly change your ways and your behavior, if you thoroughly and honestly practice justice between a man and his neighbor,

⁶if you do not oppress the transient and the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood [by oppression and by unjust judicial murders] in Jerusalem, nor follow after other gods to your own ruin,

⁷then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers [to live in] forever and ever.

⁸"Behold, you are trusting in deceptive and useless words that bring no benefit.

⁹Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear [oaths] falsely, offer sacrifices or burn incense to Baal, and follow after other gods that you have not known,

¹⁰and [then dare to] come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My Name, and say, 'We are protected and set free [by this act of religious ritual]!'—only to go on with this wickedness and these disgusting and loathsome things?

¹¹Has this house, which is called by My Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes [a place of retreat for you between acts of violence]? Behold, I Myself have seen it," says the LORD.

¹²"But go now to My place which was in Shiloh [in Ephraim], where I first set My Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.

¹³And now, because you have done all these things," says the LORD, "and I spoke [persistently] to you, even rising up early and speaking, but you did not listen, and I called you but you did not answer,

¹⁴therefore, I will do to this house (the temple) which is called by My Name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers, just as I did to Shiloh.

¹⁵I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brothers (relatives through Jacob), all the descendants of Ephraim.

¹⁶"Therefore, do not pray for this people [of Judah] or lift up a cry or entreaty for them or make intercession to Me, for I do not hear you.

¹⁷Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

¹⁸The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods that they may offend and provoke Me to anger.

¹⁹Do they offend and provoke Me to anger?" says the LORD. "Is it not themselves [they offend], to their own shame?"

²⁰Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, My anger and My wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and [the fire will] not be quenched."

²¹Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the meat.

²²"For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices.

²³But this thing I did command them: 'Listen to and obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, so that it may be well with you.'

²⁴But they did not obey Me or bend their ear [to hear Me], but followed the counsels and the stubbornness of their [own] evil heart (mind), and [they turned and] went backward instead of forward.

²⁵Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have [persistently] sent you all My servants the prophets, sending them daily, early [and late].

²⁶Yet they did not listen to Me and obey Me or bend their ear [to hear Me], but stiffened their neck; they did more evil and behaved worse than their fathers.

²⁷"You shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you; and you shall [also] call to them, but they will not answer you.

²⁸You shall say to them, 'This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the LORD their God or accept correction and warning; truth and faithfulness have perished and have completely vanished from their mouths.

²⁹'Cut off your hair [your crown, O Jerusalem] and throw it away, And take up a mournful cry on the barren heights, For the LORD has rejected and abandoned The generation of His wrath.'

³⁰For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight," says the LORD; "they have set their disgusting and shamefully vile things in the house which is called by My Name, to defile it.

³¹They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom), to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire [to honor Molech, the fire god]—which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart (mind).

³²"Therefore, behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when it will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of the Slaughter, for [in bloody warfare] they will bury [the dead] in Topheth until there is no more room.

³³And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth and no one will frighten them away.

³⁴Then I will cause the voices of joy and gladness, and the voices of the bridegroom and the bride to vanish from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem; for the land will become a ruin—a wasteland.

¹"At that time," says the LORD, "they [the Babylonian army] will bring out from their graves the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its princes, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

²They will [carelessly scatter and] spread them out before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which the dead have loved and which they have served, and which they have walked after and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered or be buried; they will be like dung on the face of the earth.

³And death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant of those who remain of this evil family (nation), who remain in all the places to which I have driven them," says the LORD of hosts.

⁴"Moreover [Jeremiah], you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD, "Do men fall and not rise up again? Does one turn away [from God] and not repent and return [to Him]?

⁵"Why then has this people of Jerusalem Turned away with a perpetual turning away [from Me]? They hold tightly to deceit (idolatry); They refuse to repent and return [to God].

⁶"I have listened and heard, But they have spoken what is not right; No man repented of his wickedness, Saying, 'What have I done?' Everyone turns to his [individual] course, As the horse rushes like a torrent into battle.

⁷"Even the stork in the sky Knows her seasons [of migration], And the turtledove, the swallow and the crane Observe the time of their return. But My people do not know The law of the LORD.

⁸"How can you say, 'We are wise, And the law of the LORD is with us [and we are learned in its language and teachings]'? Behold, [the truth is that] the lying pen of the scribes Has made the law into a lie [a mere code of ceremonial observances].

⁹"The wise men are shamed, They are dismayed and caught. Behold, they have [manipulated and] rejected the [truth in the] word of the LORD, And what kind of wisdom and insight do they have?

¹⁰"Therefore I will give their wives to others And their fields to new owners; Because from the least even to the greatest Everyone is greedy for [unjust] gain; From the prophet even to the priest Everyone practices deceit and deals in corruption.

¹¹"For they have treated the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, 'Peace, peace,' When there is no peace.

¹²"Were they ashamed because of the extremely disgusting and shamefully vile things they had done? They were not at all ashamed, And they did not know how to blush. Therefore, they shall fall among those who fall; At the time of their punishment they shall be overthrown," Says the LORD.

¹³"I will gather and snatch them away [utterly consuming them]," says the LORD. "There will be no grapes on the vine, Nor figs on the fig tree, And even the leaf will wither; And the things that I have given them will pass away [by the hand of those whom I have appointed]."'"

¹⁴Why are we sitting still [the people wonder]? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter the fortified cities And let us die there, For the LORD our God has decreed our ruin And given us bitter and poisonous water to drink, Because we have sinned against the LORD.

¹⁵We waited for peace and salvation, but no good came, And for a time of healing, but behold, terror!

¹⁶The snorting of [Nebuchadnezzar's] horses is heard from Dan [on Palestine's northern border]. At the sound of the neighing of his strong stallions The whole land quakes; For they come and devour the land and all that is in it, The city and those who live in it.

¹⁷"For behold, I am sending serpents among you, Vipers which cannot be charmed, And they will bite you," says the LORD.

¹⁸Oh, that I (Jeremiah) could find comfort from my sorrow [for my grief is beyond healing], My heart is sick and faint within me!

¹⁹Behold, [hear the sound of] the cry of the daughter of my people from the distant land [of Babylon]: "Is not the LORD in Zion? Is not her King within her?" [But the LORD answers] "Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images and with foreign idols?"

²⁰"The harvest is past, the summer has ended and the gathering of fruit is over, But we are not saved," [comes the voice of the people again].

²¹For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I (Jeremiah) am broken; I mourn, anxiety has gripped me.

²²Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the [spiritual] health of the daughter of my people been restored?

¹Oh that my head were waters And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people!

²Oh that I had in the wilderness A lodging place (a mere shelter) for wayfaring men, That I might leave my people And go away from them! For they are all adulterers [worshiping idols instead of the LORD], [They are] an assembly of treacherous men [of weak character, men without integrity].

³"They bend their tongue like their bow; [Their] lies and not truth prevail and grow strong in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know and understand and acknowledge Me," says the LORD.

⁴"Let everyone beware of his neighbor And do not trust any brother. For every brother is a supplanter [like Jacob, a deceiver, ready to grab his brother's heel], And every neighbor goes around as a slanderer.

⁵"Everyone deceives and mocks his neighbor And does not speak the truth. They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They exhaust themselves with sin and cruelty.

⁶"Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit [oppression upon oppression and deceit upon deceit]; Through deceit they refuse to know (understand) Me," says the LORD.

⁷Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold, I will refine them [through suffering] and test them; For how else should I deal with the daughter of My people?

⁸"Their tongue is a murderous arrow; It speaks deceit; With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor, But in his heart he lays traps and waits in ambush for him.

⁹"Shall I not punish them for these things?" says the LORD. "Shall I not avenge Myself On such a nation as this?

¹⁰"I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, And a [funeral] dirge for the pastures of the wilderness, Because they are burned up and desolated so that no one passes through [them]; Nor can anyone hear the lowing of cattle. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they are gone.

¹¹"I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, A haunt and dwelling place of jackals; And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."

¹²Who is the wise man who may understand this [without any doubt]? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, so that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?

¹³The LORD said, "Because they have turned away from My law which I set before them, and have not listened to and obeyed My voice nor walked in accordance with it,

¹⁴but have walked stubbornly after their [own] heart and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them,"

¹⁵therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them bitter and poisonous water to drink.

¹⁶"I will [also] scatter them among nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send the sword after them until I have annihilated them."

¹⁷Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider and call for the mourning women to come; Send for the wailing women to come.

¹⁸"Let them hurry and take up a wailing for us, That our eyes may shed tears And our eyelids flow with water.

¹⁹"For a sound of wailing is heard [coming] from Zion: 'How we are ruined! We are greatly perplexed and utterly shamed, Because we have left the land, Because they have torn down our dwellings.'"

²⁰Now hear the word of the LORD, O you women, And let your ear hear the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters a song of mourning, And each one [teach] her neighbor a dirge.

²¹For death has come up through our windows; It has entered our palaces, Cutting off the children from the streets And the young men from the town squares.

²²Speak, "Thus says the LORD, 'The dead bodies of men will fall like dung on the open field, And like sheaves [of grain] behind the reaper, And no one will gather them.'"

²³Thus says the LORD, "Let not the one who is wise and skillful boast in his insight; let not the one who is mighty and powerful boast in his strength; let not the one who is rich boast in his [temporal satisfactions and earthly] abundance;

²⁴but let the one who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me [and acknowledges Me and honors Me as God and recognizes without any doubt], that I am the LORD who practices lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on the earth, for in these things I delight," says the LORD.

²⁵"Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "when I will punish all who are circumcised [physically] and yet uncircumcised [spiritually]—

²⁶Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and all those who live in the desert who clip off the hair on their temples; for all these nations are uncircumcised (sinful, impure), and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart."

¹Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.

²Thus says the LORD, "Do not learn the way of the [pagan] nations, And do not be terrified and distressed by the signs of the heavens Although the pagans are terrified by them;

³For the customs and decrees of the peoples are [mere] delusion [exercises in futility]; It is only wood which one cuts from the forest [to make a god], The work of the hands of the craftsman with the axe or cutting tool.

⁴"They adorn the idol with silver and with gold; They fasten it with hammers and nails So that it will not fall apart.

⁵"They are like scarecrows in a cucumber field; They cannot speak; They have to be carried, Because they cannot walk! Do not be afraid of them, For they can do no harm or evil, Nor can they do any good."

⁶There is none like You, O LORD; You are great, and great is Your mighty and powerful name.

⁷Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? For it is appropriate and it is Your due! For among all the wise men of the nations And in all their kingdoms, There is none like You.

⁸But they are altogether irrational and stupid and foolish In their discipline of delusion—their idol is [only] wood [it is ridiculous, empty and worthless]!

⁹Silver that has been beaten [into plates] is brought from Tarshish, And gold from Uphaz, The work of the craftsman and of the hand of the goldsmith; Violet and purple are their clothing; They are all the work of skilled men.

¹⁰But the LORD is the true God and the God who is Truth; He is the living God and the everlasting King. The earth quakes and shudders at His wrath, And the nations are not able to endure His indignation.

¹¹In this manner you shall say to them, "The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens."

¹²God made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom And by His understanding and skill He has stretched out the heavens.

¹³When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, And He causes the clouds and the mist to ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain, And brings out the wind from His treasuries and from His storehouses.

¹⁴Every man has become [like a brute] irrational and stupid, without knowledge [of God]; Every goldsmith is shamed by his carved idols; For his molten images are frauds and lies, And there is no breath in them.

¹⁵They are worthless and devoid of promise, a work of delusion and mockery; In their time of [trial and] punishment they will perish [without hope].

¹⁶The Portion of Jacob [the true God on whom Israel has a claim] is not like these; For He is the Designer and Maker of all things, And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance [and He will not fail them]— The LORD of hosts is His name.

¹⁷Gather up your bundle [of goods] from the ground, You who live under siege.

¹⁸For thus says the LORD; "Behold, I am slinging out at this time the people of this land, And will cause them [great] distress, That they may find it [to be as I have said]."

¹⁹"Woe to me because of my [spiritual] brokenness!" [says Jeremiah, speaking for the nation.] "My wound is incurable." But I said, "Surely this sickness and suffering and grief are mine, And I must bear it."

²⁰My tent is destroyed, And all my [tent] cords are broken; My children have been taken from me [as captives] and are no more. There is no one to stretch out my tent again And to set up my [tent] curtains.

²¹For the shepherds [of the people] have become [like brutes,] irrational and stupid, And have not searched for the LORD or asked about Him or realized their need for Him; Therefore they have not been wise and have not prospered, And all their flocks are scattered.

²²The sound of a report! Behold, [the invader] comes— A great commotion from the country of the north (Babylonia)— To make the cities of Judah A desolation, a haunt and dwelling place of jackals.

²³O LORD, I know that the path of [life of] a man is not in himself; It is not within [the limited ability of] man [even one at his best] to choose and direct his steps [in life].

²⁴O LORD, correct me [along with Your people], but with mercy and in just measure— Not in Your anger, or You will crush me and bring me to nothing.

²⁵Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know nor recognize You And on the families that do not call Your name. For they have devoured Jacob; They have devoured him and consumed him And made his land a desolate waste.

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD,

²"Hear the words of this [solemn] covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the people of Jerusalem.

³Say to them, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, "Cursed is the man who does not heed the words of this covenant

⁴which I commanded your fathers at the time that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, 'Listen to My voice and do according to all that I command you. So you shall be My people, and I will be your God,'

⁵that I may complete the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land [of plenty] flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day."'" Then I answered, "Amen (so be it), O LORD."

⁶And the LORD said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: 'Hear the words of this [solemn] covenant and do them.

⁷For I solemnly warned your fathers at the time that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, warning them persistently, saying, "Obey My voice."

⁸Yet they did not obey or incline their ear [to listen to Me], but everyone walked in the stubborn way of his [own] evil heart. Therefore I brought on them all [the suffering threatened in] the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.'"

⁹Then the LORD said to me, "A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the people of Jerusalem.

¹⁰They have returned to the wickedness of their ancestors who refused to hear My words; they have followed other gods [in order] to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My [solemn] covenant which I made with their fathers."

¹¹Therefore thus says the LORD, "Behold I am bringing disaster and suffering on them which they will not be able to escape; though they cry to Me, I will not listen to them.

¹²Then the cities of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry to the [man-made] gods to whom they burn incense, but they cannot save them in the time of their disaster.

¹³For [as many as] the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah; and [as many as] the number of the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.

¹⁴"Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, for I shall not listen when they cry to Me in the time of their disaster.

¹⁵"What right has My beloved [to be] in My house When she has done many vile things and acted treacherously [over and over again]? Can vows and the meat of your sacrifices remove your wickedness from you and cancel the consequences of your sin, So that you can [escape your judgment and] rejoice?"

¹⁶The LORD [acknowledged you once as worthy and] called your name, "A green olive tree, fair and beautiful in fruit and form"; But with the roar of a great tempest He has set fire to it, And its branches are worthless.

¹⁷For the LORD of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil and horror against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me [to anger] by offering sacrifices and burning incense to Baal.

¹⁸Then the LORD gave me knowledge [of their plot], and I knew it; So You [O LORD] revealed their deeds to me.

¹⁹But I was like a gentle and tame lamb brought to the slaughter; And I did not know that they had devised plots and schemes against me, saying, "Let us destroy the tree with its fruit; Let us cut him off from the land of the living, That his name be remembered no longer."

²⁰But, O LORD of hosts, who judges righteously, Who tests the feelings and the heart (mind), Let me see Your vengeance on them, For to You I have committed my cause.

²¹Therefore thus says the LORD regarding the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, saying, "Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, so that you will not die by our hand."

²²Therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold, I am about to punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and their daughters will die by famine;

²³and there will be no remnant [of the conspirators] left, for I will bring disaster and horror on the men of Anathoth in the year of their punishment."

¹You, O LORD are [uncompromisingly] righteous and consistently just when I plead my case with You; Yet let me discuss issues of justice with You: Why has the way of the wicked prospered? Why are those who deal in treachery (deceit) at ease and thriving?

²You have planted them, they have also taken root; They grow, they have even produced fruit. You are honored by their [hypocritical] lips But [You are] far from their heart and mind.

³But You, O LORD, know me [and understand my devotion to You]; You see me; And You examine the attitude of my heart toward You. Drag out the faithless like sheep for the slaughter [O LORD] And set them apart for the day of slaughter.

⁴How long must the land mourn And the grass of the countryside wither? Because of the wickedness and hypocrisy of those who live in it, The beasts and the birds are consumed and are swept away [by the drought], Because men [mocking me] have said, "He will not [live long enough to] see [what happens at] our final end."

⁵[The LORD rebukes Jeremiah for his impatience, saying] "If you have raced with men on foot and they have tired you out, Then how can you compete with horses? If you fall down in a land of peace [where you feel secure], Then how will you do [among the lions] in the [flooded] thicket beside the Jordan?

⁶"For even your [tribal] brothers and the household of your father, Even they have dealt treacherously (unfaithfully) with you; Indeed they are [like a pack of hounds] howling after you. Do not believe them, although they may say kind words and promise you good things."

⁷"I have abandoned My house, I have given up My [precious] inheritance (Judah); I have given the [dearly] beloved of My life Into the hands of her enemies.

⁸"My inheritance has become to Me Like a lion in the forest; She has raised her voice and roared against Me; So I have come to [treat her as if I] hate her.

⁹"Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me [unlike the others]? Are the birds of prey (enemies) surrounding her on every side? Go, gather all the [wild] beasts of the field; Bring them to devour [her]!

¹⁰"Many shepherds (invaders) have destroyed My vineyard (Judah), They have trampled My field underfoot; They have made My pleasant field A desolate wilderness.

¹¹"They have made it a wasteland, Desolate, it mourns before Me; The whole land has been made a wasteland, Because no man takes it to heart.

¹²"Destroyers have come On all the caravan roads in the desert, For the sword of the LORD (Babylon) is devouring From one end of the land even to the other; No one has peace or a way of escape.

¹³"They have planted wheat but have reaped thorns; They have exhausted themselves but without profit. So be ashamed of your harvest Because of the fierce and raging anger of the LORD."

¹⁴Thus says the LORD regarding all My evil neighbors (Gentile nations) who strike at the inheritance which I have granted to My people Israel, "Behold, I will uproot them from their land and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them.

¹⁵And it shall come about that after I have uprooted them, I will return and have compassion on them; and I will bring them back again, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land.

¹⁶And if these [neighboring nations] will diligently learn the ways of My people, to swear by My Name, saying, 'As the LORD lives'—even as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up among My people.

¹⁷But if [any nation] will not listen and obey, I will [completely] uproot and destroy that nation, says the LORD."

¹Thus the LORD said to me, "Go and buy yourself a linen waistband and put it on your loins, but do not put it in water."

²So I bought the waistband according to the word of the LORD and put it on my loins.

³Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying,

⁴"Get up and take the waistband that you have bought, which is [wrapped] around your loins, and go to the [river] Euphrates and hide it there in a crevice of the rock."

⁵So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD had commanded me.

⁶And after many days the LORD said to me, "Get up, go to the Euphrates and get the waistband which I commanded you to hide there."

⁷Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the waistband was decayed and ruined; it was completely worthless.

⁸Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

⁹"Thus says the LORD, 'In this same way I shall destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

¹⁰These wicked and malevolent people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubborn way of their heart and have followed other gods [which are nothing—just man-made carvings] to serve them and to worship them, let them be just like this waistband which is completely worthless.

¹¹For as the waistband clings to the body of a man, so I caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me,' says the LORD, 'that they might be for Me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory; but they did not listen and obey.'

¹²"Therefore you are to speak this word to them, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, "Every jar should be filled with wine."' The people will say to you, 'Do we not already know that every jar should be filled with wine?'

¹³Then say to them, 'Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am about to fill with drunkenness all the people of this land, even the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets and all the people of Jerusalem.

¹⁴I will smash them one against another, both the fathers and the sons together," says the LORD. "I shall destroy them [nothing will restrain Me]; I will not show pity nor be sorry nor have compassion."'"

¹⁵Listen and pay close attention, do not be haughty and overconfident, For the LORD has spoken [says Jeremiah].

¹⁶Give glory to the LORD your God, Before He brings darkness And before your feet stumble On the dark and shadowy mountains, And while you are longing for light He turns it into the shadow of death, And makes it into thick darkness.

¹⁷But if you will not listen and obey, My soul will weep in secret for your pride; My eyes will weep bitterly And flow with tears, Because the Lord's flock has been taken captive.

¹⁸Say to the king and the queen mother, "Humble yourselves and take a lowly seat, For your beautiful crown [the crown of your glory] Has come down from your head."

¹⁹The cities of the South (the Negev) have been closed up, And there is no one to open them; All Judah has been carried into exile, Completely carried away into exile.

²⁰"Lift up your eyes and see Those coming from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you [to shepherd], Your beautiful flock?

²¹"What will you say [O Jerusalem] when the LORD appoints [foreign nations to rule] over you— Those former friends and allies whom you have encouraged [to be your companions]— Will not pain seize you Like [that of] a woman in childbirth?

²²"And if you [wonder and] say in your heart, 'Why have these things happened to me?' It is because of the greatness and nature of your sin That your skirts have been pulled away [subjecting you to public disgrace] And [like a barefoot slave] your heels have been wounded.

²³"Can the Ethiopian change his skin Or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good Who are accustomed to evil and even trained to do it.

²⁴"Therefore I will scatter you like drifting straw [Driven away] by the desert wind.

²⁵"This is your destiny, the portion [of judgment] measured to you From Me," says the LORD, "Because you have forgotten Me And trusted in [pagan] lies [the counterfeit gods, and the pretense of alliance]."

²⁶"So I Myself will throw your skirts up over your face, That your shame may be exposed [publicly].

²⁷"I have seen your vile and detestable acts, Even your adulteries and your lustful neighings [after idols], And the lewdness of your prostitution On the hills in the fields. Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O Jerusalem! How long will you remain unclean [by ignoring My precepts]?"

¹The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

²"Judah mourns And her gates languish; Her people sit on the ground in mourning clothes And the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.

³"Their nobles have sent their servants for water; They have come to the cisterns and found no water. They have returned with empty vessels; They have been shamed and humiliated, And they cover their heads.

⁴"The ground is cracked Because there has been no rain on the land; The farmers are distressed, And they have covered their heads [in shame].

⁵"The doe in the field has given birth only to abandon her young Because there is no grass.

⁶"And the wild donkeys stand on the barren heights; They pant for air like jackals, Their eyesight fails Because there is no grass.

⁷"O LORD, though our many sins testify against us" [prays Jeremiah], "Act now [for us and] for Your name's sake [so that the faithless may witness Your faithfulness]! For our backslidings are countless; We have sinned against You.

⁸"O Hope of Israel, Her Savior in time of distress and trouble, Why should You be like a sojourner (temporary resident) in the land Or like a traveler who turns aside and spreads his tent to linger [only] for a night?

⁹"Why should You be [hesitant and inactive] like a man astounded and perplexed, Like a mighty man unable to save? Yet You, O LORD, are among us, And we are called by Your name; Do not leave us!"

¹⁰Thus says the LORD to this people [Judah], "In the manner and to the degree [already pointed out] they have loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet. Therefore the LORD does not accept them; He will now remember [in detail] their wickedness and punish them for their sins."

¹¹So the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for good things for this people.

¹²Though they fast, I will not hear their cry; and though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them [because they are done as obligations, and not as acts of loving obedience]. Instead I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence."

¹³But I said, "Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, the [false] prophets are telling them, 'You will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I [the LORD] will give you lasting peace in this place.'"

¹⁴Then the LORD said to me, "The [counterfeit] prophets are prophesying lies in My Name. I have neither sent them nor authorized them nor spoken to them. They are prophesying to you made-up visions [pretending to call forth responses from handmade gods], a worthless divination and the deceit of their own mind.

¹⁵Therefore, thus says the LORD concerning the [false] prophets who are prophesying in My Name, although I did not send them—yet they keep saying, 'Sword and famine shall not be in this land': by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end and be consumed.

¹⁶And the people to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword; and they will have no one to bury them—neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters. For I will pour out their [own] wickedness on them [and not only on the imposters posing as prophets, for the people could not have been deceived without their own consent].

¹⁷"Therefore [Jeremiah] you will say this word to them, 'Let my eyes flow with tears night and day, And let them never cease; For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a great blow, With a very serious and severely infected wound.

¹⁸'If I go out into the field, Then I gaze on those slaughtered with the sword! And if I enter the city, Then I gaze on [those tormented with] the diseases of famine! For both prophet and priest [who should have guided the people] Go about [bewildered and exiled] in a land (Babylon) that they do not know or understand.'"

¹⁹Have You [O LORD] completely rejected Judah? Do You loathe Zion? Why have You stricken us so that there is no healing for us? We looked for peace and completeness, but nothing good came; And [we hoped] for a time of healing, but behold, terror!

²⁰We know and acknowledge, O LORD, Our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against You.

²¹Do not treat us with contempt and condemn us, for Your own name's sake; Do not disgrace Your glorious throne; Remember [with consideration] and do not break Your [solemn] covenant with us.

²²Are there any among the idols of the nations who can send rain? Or can the heavens [of their own will] give showers? Is it not You, O LORD our God? Therefore we will wait and hope [confidently] in You, For You are the one who has made all these things [the heavens and the rain].

¹Then the LORD said to me, "Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me [interceding for them], My heart would still not be [turned with favor] toward this people [Judah]. Send them away from My presence and out of My sight and let them go!

²And it shall be that when they say to you, 'Where should we go?' then tell them, 'Thus says the LORD: "Those [destined] for death, to death; Those for the sword, to the sword; Those for famine, to famine; Those for captivity, to captivity."'

³I will appoint four kinds of destroyers over them," says the LORD, "the sword to slay, the dogs to tear and drag away, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and to destroy.

⁴I will make them an object of horror to all nations of the earth because of Manasseh [the despicable] son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for the [evil and detestable] things which he did in Jerusalem.

⁵"For who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem, Or who will mourn for you, Or who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?

⁶"You have abandoned (rejected) Me," says the LORD. "You keep going backward. Therefore I shall stretch out My hand against you and destroy you; I am tired of delaying [your punishment]!

⁷"I will winnow (sort, separate) them with a winnowing fork At the gates of the land; I will deprive them of children, I will destroy My people; They did not repent and turn from their [evil] ways.

⁸"I will make their widows more numerous before Me Than the sand of the seas; I will bring against them, against the mother of the young men, A destroyer at noonday; I will suddenly cause anguish and terror To fall on her.

⁹"She who has borne seven [sons] languishes; She has breathed out her soul. Her sun has set while it was still day; She has been shamed and humiliated. So I will hand over [the rest of] the survivors to the sword Before their enemies," says the LORD.

¹⁰Woe to me, my mother, that you have given birth to me To be a man of strife and a man of contention to all the earth! I have not loaned, nor have men lent money to me, Yet everyone curses me.

¹¹The LORD said, "Surely [it will go well for Judah's obedient remnant for] I will set you free for good purposes; Surely [Jeremiah] I will [intercede for you with the enemy and I will] cause the enemy to plead with you [for help] In a time of disaster and a time of distress.

¹²"Can anyone crush iron, The iron from the north, or bronze?

¹³"Your [nation's] riches and your treasures I will give as plunder without price [to the Babylonians], Because of all your sins And within all your territories.

¹⁴"Then I will make your enemies bring [you along with] your possessions Into a land which you do not know [for there you will serve your conquerors]; For a fire has been kindled in My anger, Which will burn upon you."

¹⁵O LORD, You know and understand; Remember me [thoughtfully], take notice of me, take vengeance for me on my persecutors. Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away; Know that for Your sake I endure [continual] rebuke and dishonor.

¹⁶Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became a joy to me and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.

¹⁷I did not sit with the group of those who celebrate, Nor did I rejoice; I sat alone because Your [powerful] hand was upon me, For You had filled me with indignation [at their sin].

¹⁸Why has my pain been perpetual And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you indeed be to me like a deceptive brook With water that is unreliable?

¹⁹Therefore, thus says the LORD [to Jeremiah], "If you repent [and give up this mistaken attitude of despair and self-pity], then I will restore you [to a state of inner peace] So that you may stand before Me [as My obedient representative]; And if you separate the precious from the worthless [examining yourself and cleansing your heart from unwarranted doubt concerning My faithfulness], You will become My spokesman. Let the people turn to you [and learn to value My values]— But you, you must not turn to them [with regard for their idolatry and wickedness].

²⁰"And I will make you to this people A fortified wall of bronze; They will fight against you, But they will not prevail over you, For I am with you [always] to save you And protect you," says the LORD.

²¹"So I will rescue you out of the hand of the wicked, And I will redeem you from the [grasping] palm of the terrible and ruthless [tyrant]."