But I protested, “Oh no, Lord, God! Look, I don’t know how to speak since I am only a youth.”

But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.

But you [Jeremiah], gird up your loins [in preparation]! Get up and tell them all which I command you. Do not be distraught and break down at the sight of their [hostile] faces, or I will bewilder you before them and allow you to be overcome.

And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.

And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.

Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.

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

Your wickedness will be punished, and you will be corrected due to your acts of apostasy. Know and see that it's evil and bitter for you to forsake the LORD your God, but the fear of me is not in you," declares the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies.

“For long ago you broke your yoke [in deliberate disobedience]
And tore off your bonds [of the law that I gave you];
You said, ‘I will not serve and obey You!’
For on every high hill
And under every green tree
You have lain down [in idolatrous worship] like a [compliant] prostitute.

But when you were planted by me, you were a noble vine, in every way a true seed: how then have you been changed into the branching plant of a strange vine?

But though thou dost wash with nitre, And dost multiply to thyself soap, Marked is thine iniquity before Me, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

and thy wantonness is like a wild Ass, that useth the wilderness, and that snuffeth and bloweth at his will. Who can tame thee? All they that seek thee, shall not fail, but find thee in thy own uncleanness.

Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.

Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.

But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.

It is but lost labour, that I smite your children, for they receive not my correction. Your own sword destroyeth your prophets, like a devouring lion.

Doth a virgin forget her ornaments, a bride her attire? But my people have forgotten me days without number.

Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.

yet you say, 'But I am innocent, surely his anger has turned away from me.' Look, I [am] entering into judgment with you because of your saying, 'I have not sinned.'

They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.

And the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; but thou hast a harlot's forehead, thou refusest to be ashamed.

‘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.”

And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.

"Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have rebelled against the LORD your God, and have scattered your favors to strangers under every green tree. But you haven't obeyed me,' declares the LORD.

‘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.’

But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.

But -- a woman hath deceived her friend, So ye have dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel, an affirmation of Jehovah.

Surely, falsehood comes from the hills,
commotion from the mountains,
but the salvation of Israel
is only in the Lord our God.

But the shameful thing hath devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

In response to all this I said, "Ah, Lord God, you have surely allowed the people of Judah and Jerusalem to be deceived by those who say, 'You will be safe!' But in fact a sword is already at our throats."

In 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]

My 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.

For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

For thus saith Jehovah: The whole land shall be a desolation; but I will not make a full end.

These people make promises in the name of the Lord. But the fact is, what they swear to is really a lie."

O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

Then I said, But these are the poor: they are foolish, for they have no knowledge of the way of the Lord or of the behaviour desired by their God.

I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.

"{How} can I forgive you? Your children have forsaken me, and they have sworn by [those who are] not gods. But I fed them to the full, and they committed adultery, and flocked [to] the house of a prostitute.

Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD'S.

But the prophets, shall prove to be wind, And there is no one speaking in them, - Thus, shall it be done to themselves!

But even in those days, saith Jehovah, I will not make a full end with you.

But if they say, 'Wherefore doth the LORD our God all this unto us?' Then answer them, 'Because, that like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your own land, even so shall ye serve other gods also in a strange land!'"

Hear this please, foolish and {senseless} people, {who have eyes} but do not see, {who have ears} but do not hear.'

Will ye not fear me? saith Jehovah. Will ye not tremble at my presence, who have set the sand a bound for the sea by a perpetual decree, and it shall not pass it? and its waves toss themselves, but they do not prevail; and they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.

"Evil men are found among my people. They lie in wait like someone who traps birds. They set a trap, but they do so to catch people.

the prophets prophesy falsehood, and the priests rule by their means; and my people love to have it so. But what will ye do in the end thereof?

“[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.

For 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].

But unto whom shall I speak, whom shall I warn, that he may take heed? Their ears are so uncircumcised, that they may not hear. Behold, they take the word of God but for a scorn, and have no lust thereto.

But I am full with the wrath of Yahweh, I struggle to hold [it] in. Pour [it] out on [the] children in the street, and on the assemblies of young men at the same time. For even husband with wife will get trapped, [the] old with [him who is] full of days.

And they have treated the wound of my people lightly, {saying}, 'Peace, peace,' but there is no peace.

Therefore they must be ashamed, for they have committed abomination. But how should they be ashamed, when they know nothing, neither of shame nor good nurture? And therefore they shall fall among the slain; and in the hour when I shall visit them, they shall be brought down," sayeth the LORD.

Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.

Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.

They 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.

[The] bellows are burned up, lead is consumed by fire. {In vain} {he keeps on refining}, but [the] wicked are not torn apart.

But if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if ye really do justice between a man and his neighbour,

But look, you keep trusting in deceitful words that cannot help.

What? Think you this house that beareth my name, is a den of thieves? And these things are not done privily, but before mine eyes, sayeth the LORD.

But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.

And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;

But are they really provoking Me?” This is the Lord’s declaration. “Isn’t it they themselves being provoked to disgrace?”

But when I brought your fathers out of Egypt, I spake no word unto them of burnt offerings and sacrifices:

But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.

But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.

Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.

But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.

Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.

They will be exposed to the sun, the moon, and the whole heavenly host, which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be collected and buried but will become like manure on the surface of the soil.

However, I will leave some of these wicked people alive and banish them to other places. But wherever these people who survive may go, they will wish they had died rather than lived," says the Lord who rules over all.

I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.

Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.

How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of Jehovah is with us? But, behold, the false pen of the scribes hath wrought falsely.

And they have treated the wound of the daughter of my people lightly, {saying}, 'Peace, peace,' but there is no peace.

"I would have gathered them," declares the LORD, "but there were no grapes on the vine, and no figs on the fig tree, and their leaves were withered. What I've given them has been taken away."'"

We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!

Behold, [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?”

Harvest has passed, summer has ended,
but we have not been saved.

And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.

Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait.

But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:

But hear, ye women, a word of Jehovah, And your ear receiveth a word of His mouth, And teach ye your daughters wailing, and each her neighbour lamentation.

Tell your daughters and neighbors, 'The Lord says, "The dead bodies of people will lie scattered everywhere like manure scattered on a field. They will lie scattered on the ground like grain that has been cut down but has not been gathered."'"

But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

The Egyptians, the Jews, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, and the shaven Midianites that dwell in the wilderness. For all the Gentiles are uncircumcised in the flesh, but all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart."

For 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.

They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

But there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and great is the name of thy power.

But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.

But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.

But as for our God, he made the earth with his power, and with his wisdom hath he finished the whole compass of the world; with his discretion hath he spread out the heavens.

His wisdom maketh all men fools. And confounded be all casters of images, for that they cast is but a vain thing, and hath no life.

Nevertheless, Jacob's portion is not such: but it is he that hath made all things, and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of Hosts is his name.

Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.