Men were cruel to him, but he was gentle and quiet; as a lamb taken to its death, and as a sheep before those who take her wool makes no sound, so he said not a word.

"Sing, you barren woman, even the one who never bore a child! Burst into song and shout for joy, even you who were never in labor! For the children of the desolate woman will be more than the children of her that is married," says the LORD.

For the LORD has called you as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when you were refused, says your God.

As the heavens were high above the earth, so my ways were high above your ways, and my purposes above your purposes.

“You were wearied by the length of your road,
Yet you did not say, ‘It is no use.’
You found renewed strength,
Therefore you did not grow weak.

“About whom were you worried and fearful
That you lied and did not remember Me,
Nor give Me a thought?
Was I not silent even for a long time
And [as a result] you do not fear Me?

But if I may see his right way again, I make him whole, I lead him and restore him unto them whom he maketh joyful, and that were sorry for him.

“Yet they seek Me day by day and delight [superficially] to know My ways,
As [if they were in reality] a nation that has done righteousness
And has not abandoned (turned away from) the ordinance of their God.
They ask of Me righteous judgments,
They delight in the nearness of God.

And from thee the old wastes were built; the foundations of generation and generation thou shalt raise them up, and it was called to thee, Walling the breach, Turning back the beaten paths to dwell in.

But your iniquities were separating between you and between your God, and your sins caused to hide;the face from you from hearing.

For your hands were polluted with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips spake falsehood, your tongue will mutter evil.

We grope along a wall like the blind;
we grope like those without eyes.
We stumble at noon as though it were twilight;
we are like the dead among those who are healthy.

For our transgressions were multiplied before thee, and our sins answered against us: for our transgressions are with us, and our iniquities we knew them.

And thy gates were opened continually; day and night they shall not be shut; to bring to thee the strength of the nations, and their kings being led on.

And the sons of those who were cruel to you will come before you with bent heads; and those who made sport of you will go down on their faces at your feet; and you will be named, The Town of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

And though you were turned away from, and hated, and had no helper, I will make you a pride for ever, a joy from generation to generation.

Thy sun shall no more go down, and thy moon shall not withdraw, for Jehovah shall be to thee for an eternal light, and the days of thy mourning were finished.

They will rebuild the perpetual ruins and restore the places that were desolate; they will reestablish the ruined cities, the places that have been desolate since ancient times.

As they had twice as much grief, and marks of shame were their heritage, so in their land they will be rewarded twice over, and will have eternal joy.

For I the LORD, which love right and hate robbery, though it were offered me, shall make their works full of faithfulness, and make an everlasting covenant with them.

I trampled the winepress alone,
and no one from the nations was with Me.
I trampled them in My anger
and ground them underfoot in My fury;
their blood spattered My garments,
and all My clothes were stained.

“I trampled the peoples in My anger
And made them drunk with [the cup of] My wrath,
And I spilled their lifeblood on the earth.”

But they {were the ones who} rebelled, and they grieved {his Holy Spirit}, so he {became an enemy to them}; he himself fought against them.

Then were recalled the days of the age-past time Moses - his people: - Where is he that led them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he that put within him his Holy Spirit?

He who made the arm of his glory go at the right hand of Moses, by whom the waters were parted before them, to make himself an eternal name;

We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not called by thy name.

You meet him who rejoices in doing that which is morally right,
Who remembers You in Your ways.
Indeed, You were angry, for we sinned;
We have long continued in our sins [prolonging Your anger].
And shall we be saved [under such circumstances]?

But we have become as one unclean all of us, And, as a garment polluted, were all our righteous doings, - And so we faded like a leaf all of us, And, our iniquity, as a wind, carried us away;

The cities of thy holy place were desert; Zion was a desert., Jerusalem a desolation.

The house of our holy place and our glory where our fathers praised thee, was for a burning of fire, and all our precious things were for desolation.

I have been ready to give an answer to those who did not make prayer to me; I have been offering myself to those who were not searching for me; I said, Here am I, here am I, to a nation which gave no respect to my name.

Who sit among the graves [trying to conjure up evil spirits] and spend the night in the secret places [where spirits are thought to dwell];
Who eat swine’s flesh,
And their pots hold the broth of unclean meat;

For their sins and the sins of their fathers, who were burning perfumes on the mountains, and saying evil things against me on the hills: so I will take the measure of their sins, and will send the punishment for them into their breast.

That he praising himself in the earth shall praise himself in the true God; and he swearing in the earth, shall swear in the true God; for the former straits were forgotten, and because they were hid from mine eyes.

“He who kills an ox [for pagan sacrifice] is [as guilty] as one who kills a man;
He who sacrifices a lamb, as one who breaks a dog’s neck;
He who offers a grain offering, as one who offers swine’s blood;
He who offers incense, as one who blesses an idol.
Such people have chosen their own ways,
And their soul delights in their repulsive acts;

For with fire and with sword Jehovah judged all flesh: and the wounded of Jehovah were many.

And they went forth and saw the carcasses of the men transgressing against me: for their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched; and they were an abhorrence to all flesh.

The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:

The Lord also spoke to him when Jehoiakim son of Josiah ruled over Judah, and he continued to speak to him until the fifth month of the eleventh year that Zedekiah son of Josiah ruled over Judah. That was when the people of Jerusalem were taken into exile.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you [and approved of you as My chosen instrument],
And before you were born I consecrated you [to Myself as My own];
I have appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Go and say in the ears of Jerusalem, The Lord says, I still keep the memory of your kind heart when you were young, and your love when you became my bride; how you went after me in the waste of sand, in an unplanted land.

Israel [was] holy to Yahweh, the first fruit of his produce. All [those who] ate it were held guilty; disaster came to them," {declares} Yahweh.'"

Thus says Yahweh: "What injustice did your ancestors find in me that they were far from me, and they went after the vanity, and they became vain?

And I took you into a fertile land, where you were living on its fruit and its wealth; but when you came in, you made my land unclean, and made my heritage a disgusting thing.

The priests did not say, Where is the Lord? and those who were expert in the law had no knowledge of me: and the rulers did evil against me, and the prophets became prophets of the Baal, going after things without value.

Has a nation ever exchanged its gods?
(But they were not gods!)
Yet My people have exchanged their Glory
for useless idols.

Upon him the young lions roared, they gave their voice, they will set his land for a desolation: his cities were burned from not being inhabited.

"For from long ago you have broken your yoke, you tore to pieces your bonds. And you said, 'I will not serve!' But on every high hill and under every leafy tree you [were] lying down [as] a 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?

And where thy gods which thou didst make to thee? they will arise, if they shall save thee in the time of thine evil: for from the numbering of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah.

Also in thy wings were found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor: not by breaking in did I find them, but upon all these.

“Why do you go around and wander so much
Changing your way?
Also, you will be shamed by Egypt
As you were shamed by Assyria.

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

And thou swearest, Jehovah lives in truth, in judgment, and in justice; and the nations were blessed in him, and in him shall they praise.

And it was in that day, says Jehovah, the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the chiefs; and the priests were astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.

Then said I, Ah, Lord God! your words were not true when you said to this people and to Jerusalem, You will have peace; when the sword has come even to the soul.

Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots as the whirlwind: his horses were swift above eagles. Wo to us for we were laid waste.

Like watchers of a field they were against her from all around, because she has rebelled against me," {declares} Yahweh.

They cry murder upon murder; the whole land shall perish. Immediately my tents were destroyed, and my hangings, in the twinkling of an eye.

I looked at the earth, and behold, it was wasteland and emptiness, and to the heavens, and [they were] without their light.

I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, and all of the hills were jolted to and fro.

I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.

I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.

For, methink I hear a noise, like as it were of a woman travailing, or one laboring of her first child: Even the voice of the daughter Zion, that casteth out her arms, and swooneth, saying, "Ah woe is me! How sore vexed and faint is my heart, for them that are slain?"

O Jehovah, do not thine eyes look upon truth? thou hast stricken them, but they were 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.

For this, a lion from the forest struck them, a wolf of the deserts will destroy them, the panther watched over their cities: every one going forth from thence shall be torn in pieces; for their transgressions were multiplied, their turnings away were strong.

How is it possible for you to have my forgiveness for this? your children have given me up, taking their oaths by those who are no gods: when I had given them food in full measure, they were false to their wives, taking their pleasure in the houses of loose women.

They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.

Will ye not fear me? says Jehovah; or will ye not tremble from my face, who set the sand a bound to the sea a law forever, and it shall not pass over it: and its waves shall toss themselves and shall not prevail; and they were put in commotion and shall not pass over it

for evil ones were found among my people: he will look about as the stooping of fowlers; they set snares, they will take men.

As a cane full of birds, so their houses full of deceit: for this they were magnified and they will be rich.

This is what the Lord who rules over all said to me: "Those who remain in Israel will be like the grapes thoroughly gleaned from a vine. So go over them again, as though you were a grape harvester passing your hand over the branches one last time."

And their houses were turned to others, the fields and women together; for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the earth, says Jehovah.

Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.

Wherefore this to me shall frankincense come from Sheba, and the good cane from a land from far off? your burnt-offerings are not for acceptance, and your sacrifices were not sweet to me.

We heard its report: our hands were relaxed; straits held us, pain as of her bringing forth

The bellows were burnt from their fire, the founder melted the lead in vain, and the evil were not plucked up.

And ye came and stood before me in this house which my name was called upon it, and ye said, We were delivered to do all these abominations.

But they took no note and did not give ear, but were guided by the thoughts and the pride of their evil hearts, going back and not forward.

But your ancestors did not listen to me nor pay attention to me. They became obstinate and were more wicked than even their own forefathers.'"

The wise were ashamed, they were confounded, and they will be taken: behold, they rejected in the word of Jehovah; and what wisdom to them?

Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.

"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 were looking for peace, but no good came; and for a time of well-being, but there is only a great fear.

From Dan, was heard the snorting of his horses At the sound of the neighing of his chargers, the whole land trembled, - Yea they came in and did sat up The land and the fulness thereof, The city, and them who were dwelling therein.

The harvest passed by, the summer was completed, and we were not saved.

Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

And they bend their tongue, as it were their bow, for falsehood; and they are grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith Jehovah.

For the mountains I will lift up weeping and lamentation, and for the seats of the desert, a song of mourning, for they were burnt, from not a man passing through; and they heard not the voice of cattle: from the bird of the heavens and even to the cattle, they fled away, they departed.

For a voice of lamentation was heard from Zion: How were we laid waste! we were greatly ashamed, for we forsook the land, and cast away our dwellings

My tent was laid waste, and all my cords were broken: my sons went forth from me, and they are not: none stretched forth my tent any more, and the place of my curtains.

For the shepherds were brutish, and they sought not Jehovah: for this they considered not, and all their flock was scattered.

For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal.

A green olive tree, fair, of fruit of figure, Jehovah called thy name; by the voice of a great noise he kindled a fire upon her, and its branches were evil.

For the Lord of armies, by whom you were planted, has given his decision for evil against you, because of the evil which the people of Israel and the people of Judah have done, In moving me to wrath by offering perfumes to the Baal.

The Lord gave me knowledge, that I might have understanding. Then he showed me what the people were doing.

But I was like a gentle lamb taken to be put to death; I had no thought that they were designing evil against me, saying, Come and let us make trouble his food, cutting him off from the land of the living, so that there may be no more memory of his name.

Then the Lord told me about some men from Anathoth who were threatening to kill me. They had threatened, "Stop prophesying in the name of the Lord or we will kill you!"

Just art thou, O Jehovah, for I will strive to thee: surely I will speak judgments with thee: Wherefore did the way of the evil prosper? all they acting faithlessly with treachery were secure?

Even your brothers—your own father’s household—
even they were treacherous to you;
even they have cried out loudly after you.
Do not have confidence in them,
though they speak well of you.