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¹The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,

²to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

³It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

⁴Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

⁵“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

⁶Then I said, “Oh, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, Because I am a youth.”

⁷But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, And all that I command you, you shall speak.

⁸Do not be afraid of them, For I am with you to save you,” declares the LORD.

⁹Then the LORD stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.

¹⁰See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to tear down, To destroy and to overthrow, To build and to plant.”

¹¹And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”

¹²Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it.”

¹³And the word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.”

¹⁴Then the LORD said to me, “Out of the north the evil will be unleashed on all the inhabitants of the land.

¹⁵For, behold, I am calling all the families of the kingdoms of the north,” declares the LORD; “and they will come and place, each one of them, his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls around, and against all the cities of Judah.

¹⁶And I will pronounce My judgments against them concerning all their wickedness, since they have abandoned Me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands.

¹⁷Now, belt your garment around your waist and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will make you dismayed before them.

¹⁸Now behold, I have made you today like a fortified city and like a pillar of iron and walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its leaders, to its priests, and to the people of the land.

¹⁹And they will fight against you but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to save you,” declares the LORD.

¹Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²“Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘This is what the LORD says: “I remember regarding you the devotion of your youth, Your love when you were a bride, Your following after Me in the wilderness, Through a land not sown.

³Israel was holy to the LORD, The first of His harvest. All who ate of it became guilty; Evil came upon them,” declares the LORD.’ ”

⁴Hear the word of the LORD, house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.

⁵This is what the LORD says: “What injustice did your fathers find in Me, That they went far from Me, And walked after emptiness and became empty?

⁶They did not say, ‘Where is the LORD Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness, Through a land of deserts and of pits, Through a land of drought and of deep darkness, Through a land that no one crossed And where no person lived?’

⁷I brought you into the fruitful land To eat its fruit and its good things. But you came and defiled My land, And you made My inheritance an abomination.

⁸The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’ And those who handle the Law did not know Me; The rulers also revolted against Me, And the prophets prophesied by Baal And walked after things that were of no benefit.

⁹“Therefore I will still contend with you,” declares the LORD, “And I will contend with your sons’ sons.

¹⁰For cross to the coastlands of Kittim and see, And send to Kedar and observe closely, And see if there has been anything like this!

¹¹Has a nation changed gods, When they were not gods? But My people have exchanged their glory For that which is of no benefit.

¹²Be appalled at this, you heavens, And shudder, be very desolate,” declares the LORD.

¹³“For My people have committed two evils: They have abandoned Me, The fountain of living waters, To carve out for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That do not hold water.

¹⁴“Is Israel a slave? Or is he a servant born in the home? Why has he become plunder?

¹⁵The young lions have roared at him, They have roared loudly. And they have made his land a waste; His cities have been destroyed, without inhabitant.

¹⁶Also the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes Have shaved your head.

¹⁷Have you not done this to yourself By your abandoning the LORD your God When He led you in the way?

¹⁸But now what are you doing on the road to Egypt, Except to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what are you doing on the road to Assyria, Except to drink the waters of the Euphrates River?

¹⁹Your own wickedness will correct you, And your apostasies will punish you; Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter For you to abandon the LORD your God, And the fear of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord GOD of armies.

²⁰“For long ago I broke your yoke And tore off your restraints; But you said, ‘I will not serve!’ For on every high hill And under every leafy tree You have lain down as a prostitute.

²¹Yet I planted you as a choice vine, A completely faithful seed. How then have you turned yourself before Me Into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine?

²²Although you wash yourself with lye And use much soap, The stain of your guilt is before Me,” declares the Lord GOD.

²³“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baals’? Look at your way in the valley! Know what you have done! You are a swift young camel running about senselessly on her ways,

²⁴A wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness, That sniffs the wind in her passion. Who can turn her away in her mating season? None who seek her will grow weary; In her month they will find her.

²⁵Keep your feet from being bare, And your throat from thirst; But you said, ‘It is hopeless! No! For I have loved strangers, And I will walk after them.’

²⁶“Like the shame of a thief when he is discovered, So the house of Israel is shamed; They, their kings, their leaders, Their priests, and their prophets,

²⁷Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ And to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their backs to Me, And not their faces; But in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘Arise and save us!’

²⁸But where are your gods Which you made for yourself? Let them arise, if they can save you In the time of your trouble! For as many as the number of your cities Are your gods, Judah.

²⁹“Why do you contend with Me? You have all revolted against Me,” declares the LORD.

³⁰“In vain I have struck your sons; They did not accept discipline. Your sword has devoured your prophets Like a destroying lion.

³¹You generation, look to the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, Or a land of thick darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam; We will no longer come to You’?

³²Can a virgin forget her jewelry, Or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me For days without number.

³³How well you prepare your way To seek love! Therefore even to the wicked women You have taught your ways.

³⁴Also on your skirts is found The lifeblood of the innocent poor; You did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things,

³⁵You said, ‘I am innocent; Surely His anger is turned away from me.’ Behold, I will enter into judgment with you Because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’

³⁶Why do you go around so much Changing your way? Also, you will be put to shame by Egypt, Just as you were put to shame by Assyria.

³⁷From this place as well you will go out With your hands on your head; For the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust, And you will not prosper with them.”

¹God says, “If a husband divorces his wife And she leaves him And becomes another man’s wife, Will he return to her again? Would that land not be completely defiled? But you are a prostitute with many lovers; Yet you turn to Me,” declares the LORD.

²“Raise your eyes to the bare heights and see; Where have you not been violated? You have sat for them by the roads Like an Arab in the desert, And you have defiled a land With your prostitution and your wickedness.

³Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no spring rain. Yet you had a prostitute’s forehead; You refused to be ashamed.

⁴Have you not just now called to Me, ‘My Father, You are the friend of my youth?

⁵Will He be angry forever, Or keep His anger to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken And have done evil things, And you have had your own way.”

⁶Then the LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every leafy tree, and she prostituted herself there.

⁷Yet I thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

⁸And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and prostituted herself also.

⁹And because of the thoughtlessness of her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.

¹⁰Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception,” declares the LORD.

¹¹And the LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel has proved herself to be more righteous than treacherous Judah.

¹²Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the LORD; ‘I will not look at you in anger. For I am gracious,’ declares the LORD; ‘I will not be angry forever.

¹³Only acknowledge your wrongdoing, That you have revolted against the LORD your God, And have scattered your favors to the strangers under every leafy tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the LORD.

¹⁴‘Return, you faithless sons,’ declares the LORD; ‘For I am a master to you, And I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, And bring you to Zion.’

¹⁵“Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you knowledge and understanding.

¹⁶And it shall be in those days when you become numerous and are fruitful in the land,” declares the LORD, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor miss it, nor will it be made again.

¹⁷At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of the LORD,’ and all the nations will assemble at it, at Jerusalem, for the name of the LORD; and they will no longer follow the stubbornness of their 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 I would set you among My sons And give you a pleasant land, The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’ And I said, ‘You shall call Me, My Father, And not turn away from following Me.’

²⁰However, as a woman treacherously leaves her lover, So you have dealt treacherously with Me, House of Israel,” declares the LORD.

²¹A voice is heard on the bare heights, The weeping, the pleading of the sons of Israel. Because they have perverted their way, They have forgotten the LORD their God.

²²“Return, you faithless sons, I will heal your faithlessness.” “Behold, we come to You; For You are the LORD our God.

²³Certainly the hills are a deception, Commotion on the mountains. Certainly in the LORD our God Is the salvation of Israel.

²⁴“But the shame has consumed the product of our fathers’ labor since our youth—their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

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