"Let everyone be on your guard against his neighbor, and you must not trust in any brother, for everyone surely betrays, and every neighbor goes about [with] slander.

For these things, shall I not bring punishment on them? Demandeth Yahweh, - On a nation such as this, must not my soul avenge herself!

For the sound of wailing is soon to be heard in Zion. They will wail, 'We are utterly ruined! We are completely disgraced! For our houses have been torn down and we must leave our land.'"

Thus says Yahweh, "[The] wise man must not boast in his wisdom, and the warrior must not boast in his might, [the] wealthy man must not boast in his wealth.

{But only} in this must the one who boasts boast, [that] he has insight, and [that] he knows me, that I [am] Yahweh, showing loyal love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for in these [things] I delight," {declares} Yahweh.

Thus says Yahweh: "You must not learn the way of the nations, and you must not be dismayed by the signs of the heavens, for the nations are dismayed by them.

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.

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

You must tell them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let a curse be on the man who does not obey the words of this covenant,

Therefore you must not pray for this people, and you must not lift up for them a cry of entreaty, or a prayer, for I [will] not listen in the time of their calling to me, in the time of their trouble.

Therefore, here is what the Lord says concerning the people of Anathoth who want to take your life. They warn, “You must not prophesy in the name of Yahweh, or you will certainly die at our hand.”

How 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.”

For even your relatives, and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you, even they call {loudly} after you. You must not trust in them, though they speak kindly to you.

But they must make sure you learn to follow the religious practices of my people. Once they taught my people to swear their oaths using the name of the god Baal. But then, they must swear oaths using my name, saying, "As surely as the Lord lives, I swear." If they do these things, then they will be included among the people I call my own.

Thus Yahweh said to me: "Go and buy for yourself a loincloth of linen and put it on your loins, but you must not {place} it in water."

"Therefore, you shall say to them this word, 'Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: "Every jar must be filled with wine." ' And they will say to you, 'Do we not certainly know that every jar should be filled with wine?'

Listen, and pay attention, you must not be haughty, for Yahweh has spoken.

Why should you be like a confused man, like a warrior [who] is not able to help? Yet you [are] in our midst, Yahweh, and your name is called upon us. You must not leave us!

So Yahweh said to me, "You must not pray for this people, for [their] happiness.

You must not spurn [us] for the sake of your name, you must not dishonor {your glorious throne}. Remember [us]! You must not break your covenant with us.

If they ask you, ‘Where will we go?’ you must tell them: This is what the Lord says:

Those destined for death, to death;
those destined for the sword, to the sword.
Those destined for famine, to famine;
those destined for captivity, to captivity.

You who know, Yahweh, remember me, and attend to me, and take revenge for me against my persecutors {in your forbearance}. You must take me away. Know [that] I [am] carrying disgrace because of you.

Why must I continually suffer such painful anguish? Why must I endure the sting of their insults like an incurable wound? Will you let me down when I need you like a brook one goes to for water, but that cannot be relied on?"

Therefore, this is what the Lord says:

If you return, I will restore you;
you will stand in My presence.
And if you speak noble words,
rather than worthless ones,
you will be My spokesman.
It is they who must return to you;
you must not return to them.

“You must not marry or have sons or daughters in this place.

For thus says Yahweh, "You must not enter [the] house of [the] funeral meal, and you must not go to lament, and you must not show sympathy for them, for I have taken away my peace from this people," {declares} Yahweh, "the loyal love and the compassion.

You must not enter the house where feasting is taking place to sit with them to eat and drink.

So I will throw you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your ancestors have ever known. There you must worship other gods day and night, for I will show you no mercy.'"

The deceitful maketh a nest, but bringeth forth no young: He cometh by riches, but not righteously. In the midst of his life must he leave them behind him, and at the last be found a very fool.

You must not become to me a terror, you [are] my refuge in [the] day of disaster.

Thus said Yahweh to me, "Go, and you must stand in the {People's Gate} through which the kings of Judah enter, and through which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem.

And you must say to them, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem who enter through these gates.

Thus says Yahweh, "Be on your guard for the sake of yourselves, that you must not carry a burden on the day of the Sabbath, and you must [not] bring [it] through the gates of Jerusalem.

And you must not carry a burden from your houses on the day of the Sabbath, and you must not do any work. But you must declare holy the day of Sabbath, just as I commanded your ancestors.

The Lord says, 'You must make sure to obey me. You must not bring any loads through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day. You must set the Sabbath day apart to me. You must not do any work on that day.

But you must obey me and set the Sabbath day apart to me. You must not carry any loads in through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. If you disobey, I will set the gates of Jerusalem on fire. It will burn down all the fortified dwellings in Jerusalem and no one will be able to put it out.'"

"Now say to the people of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem, "This is what the LORD says: "Look, I'm designing a disaster just for you, and I'm making plans against you. Each one of you must repent from his evil way. Make your ways and deeds right."'

But you, Yahweh, you know {all their plans of assassination against me}. You must not make atonement for their iniquity, and you must not cause their sin to be blotted out from {before you}. But let them be overthrown {before you}. Deal with them in the time of your anger.

For whenever I speak, I must shout out;
I shout violence and destruction,
Because the word of the Lord has become to me
A reprimand and a mockery and has brought me insult all day long.

“But you must say to this people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, I am presenting to you the way of life and the way of death.

For I have set my face against this city, sayeth the LORD, to plague it, and to do it no good. It must be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and be burnt with fire.'

Thus says Yahweh: "Go down [to] the house of the king of Judah and you must speak this word there.

And you must say, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter through these gates.

Thus says Yahweh, "Act [with] justice and righteousness, and deliver [the] one who has been seized from the hand of [the] oppressor. And you must not oppress [the] immigrant, [the] orphan, and [the] widow. And you must not shed innocent blood in this place.

You must not weep for [the] dead person, and you must not show sympathy for him. Weep bitterly for the one who goes away, for he will not return, or see the land of his birth again.

Thus says Yahweh of hosts, "You must not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They [are] deluding you [with] visions of their {mind}, They do not speak from the mouth of Yahweh.

For you will no longer remember the oracle of the Lord, because every man’s own word will become the oracle, [for as they mockingly call all prophecies oracles, whether good or bad, so will it prove to be to them; God will take them at their own word]; and you have perverted the words [not of a lifeless idol, but] of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God.

You must say to the prophet: What has the Lord answered you? and What has the Lord spoken?

But just suppose you continue to say, 'The message of the Lord is burdensome.' Here is what the Lord says will happen: 'I sent word to you that you must not say, "The Lord's message is burdensome." But you used the words "The Lord's message is burdensome" anyway.

He said through them, 'Each of you must turn from your wicked ways and stop doing the evil things you are doing. If you do, I will allow you to continue to live here in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors as a lasting possession.

and you must not go after other gods to serve them, and to bow in worship to them, and you must not provoke me to anger with the work of your hands, then I will not do something bad to you.'

For thus said Yahweh, the God of Israel, to me, "Take this cup of the wine [of] wrath from my hand, and you must give it [to] all the nations to whom I [am] sending you to drink.

all the kings of the north, whether near or far from one another; and all the other kingdoms which are on the face of the earth. After all of them have drunk the wine of the Lord's wrath, the king of Babylon must drink it.

"And you shall say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Drink and become drunk, and vomit, and fall, and you must not rise because of the {presence} of the sword that I [am] sending among you." '

And it will happen, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, "You must certainly drink!

"Thus says Yahweh: 'Stand in the courtyard of the house of Yahweh, and you must speak to all the cities of Judah that come to bow in worship [in] the house of Yahweh all the words that I command you to speak to them. You must not omit a word.

Tell them that the Lord says, 'You must obey me! You must live according to the way I have instructed you in my laws.

You must pay attention to the exhortations of my servants the prophets. I have sent them to you over and over again. But you have not paid any attention to them.

He finished the address the Lord had commanded him to deliver to all the people. Then the priests, the prophets, and all the people took hold of him, yelling, “You must surely die!

Only you must certainly know that if you put me to death, you will bring on yourselves innocent blood, and on this city and on its inhabitants, for {truly} Yahweh sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears."

And you must command them for their masters, {saying}, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, this you shall say to your masters:

All nations must serve him and his son and grandson until the time comes for his own nation to fall. Then many nations and great kings will in turn subjugate Babylon.

And you, you must not listen to your prophets, and to your diviners, and to your dreamers, and to your interpreters of signs, and to your sorcerers who are {saying}, 'You will not serve the king of Babylon.'

And you must not listen to the words of the prophets who are speaking to you, {saying}, 'You must not serve the king of Babylon,' for they [are] prophesying a lie to you.

Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, {saying}, "Thus says Yahweh, 'You must not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, {saying}, "Look, the vessels of the house of Yahweh [are] about to be quickly brought back from Babylon", for they [are] prophesying a lie to you.

And you must not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a site of ruins?

But if they [are] prophets, and if there is with them the word of Yahweh, let them please plead with Yahweh of hosts, that the vessels that are left over in the {temple} of Yahweh, and the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, must not go [to] Babylon.'

"Go, and you must say to Hananiah, {saying}, 'Thus says Yahweh, "You have broken yoke bars of wood, but you have made in place of them yoke bars of iron."

Take wives and father sons and daughters, and take for your sons wives, and give your daughters to men that they may bear sons and daughters, and multiply there, and you must not be few.

For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Do not let your prophets who [are] in your midst, and your diviners, deceive you, and you must not listen to your dreams that you [are] causing [them] to dream.

"Yahweh made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, so that there are overseers [in] the house of Yahweh over any mad man [who] exhibits the behavior of a prophet, and you must put him into the stocks and into the neck iron,

But you must not fear, my servant Jacob,' {declares} Yahweh, 'and you must not be dismayed, Israel, for look, I [am] going to save you from far, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return, and he will be at rest, and he will be at ease, and there will be no [one who] makes [him] afraid.

Thus, saith Yahweh, - There hath found favour in the desert people escaped from the sword, - I must go to cause him, even Israel, to rest.

Was Ephraim, a very precious son to me? Was he a most delightful child? For as often as I have spoken against him, I have, remembered, him again! For this cause, have my affections been deeply moved for him, I must have, compassion, upon him, Declareth Yahweh.

King Zedekiah of Judah will not escape from the Babylonians. He will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon. He must answer personally to the king of Babylon and confront him face to face.

'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase, the sealed one, and this opened deed, and you must put them in an {earthenware jar} so that they may be kept preserved many days."

“From the day that they built it [during the reign of Solomon], even to this day, this city has been such a provocation of My anger and My wrath, that I must remove it from My sight,

"Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: 'Go and say to Zedekiah the king of Judah, now you must say to him, "Thus says Yahweh: 'Look, I [am] going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.

You yourself will not escape his clutches, but will certainly be captured and handed over to him. You must confront the king of Babylon face to face and answer to him personally. Then you must go to Babylon.

"At [the] end of seven years you must let go each one his fellow countryman, the Hebrew who has been sold to you and who has served you six years, and you must let him go free from you." But your ancestors did not listen to me, and they did not incline their ears.

But they replied, “We do not drink wine, for Jonadab, son of our ancestor Rechab, commanded: ‘You and your sons must never drink wine.

You must not build a house or sow seed or plant a vineyard. Those things are not for you. Rather, you must live in tents your whole life, so you may live a long time on the soil where you stay as a temporary resident.’

The Lord God of Israel who rules over all told him, "Go and speak to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem. Tell them, 'I, the Lord, say: "You must learn a lesson from this about obeying what I say!

And I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, {I have sent them over and over again}, {saying}, 'Turn back please each one from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and you must not go after other gods to serve them, {so that you may live} on the land that I gave to you and to your ancestors.' But you did not incline your ear and you did not listen to me.

"Take for yourself {a scroll} and you must write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from [the] day [that] I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, and until this day.

So you must go and you shall read aloud from the scroll that you have written from my mouth the words of Yahweh in the hearing of the people [in] the temple of Yahweh on a day of fast, and also you shall read aloud in the hearing of all those of Judah who came from their towns.

Now when they had heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear and said to Baruch, “We must surely report all these words to the king.”

The officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must hide yourselves and tell no one where you are.”

Thus says Yahweh: 'You must not deceive yourselves, {saying}, "Surely the Chaldeans will go from us," for they will not go.

Now then, my lord the king, please let my plea fall {before you}. You must not send me back [to] the house of Jonathan the secretary, so that I will not die there."

For thus sayeth the LORD: This city, no doubt, must be delivered into the power of the king of Babylon, and he also shall win it."

Then the officials said to the king, "Please, this man must be killed, {because} he [is] making slack the hands of {the soldiers} who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking to them words like these, for this man [is] not seeking for welfare to this people, {but only} for harm."

And Zedekiah the king sent and made someone bring Jeremiah the prophet to him, to [the] third entrance that [was] at the {temple} of Yahweh. And the king said to Jeremiah, "I [am] asking you {something}, you must not hide {anything} from me."

Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "The Lord, the God who rules over all, the God of Israel, says, 'You must surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon. If you do, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down. Indeed, you and your whole family will be spared.

And Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "No man must know about these words so that you will not die.

And if the officials hear that I have spoken with you, and they come to you and say to you, 'Please tell us what you said to the king. You must not conceal [it] from us so that we will not kill you. And what did the king say to you?'

"Take him and set your eyes on him. And you must not do something bad to him, {but only} that which he speaks to you, so do with him."

And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore to them and to their men, {saying}, "You must not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans. Stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.

But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, "You must not do this thing, for you [are] telling a lie about Ishmael."

But ten men were found among them, and they said to Ishmael, "You must not kill us, for {we have} hidden treasures in the field, wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey. So he refrained and he did not kill them in the midst of their fellow countrymen.