Jeremiah in the Bible

Meaning: exaltation of the Lord

Exact Match

Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

Zedekiah was twenty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

And these were the heads of the house of their fathers, even Epher, and Ishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of valour, famous men, and heads of the house of their fathers.

And Ismaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty, and over the thirty; and Jeremiah, and Jahaziel, and Johanan, and Josabad the Gederathite,

And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel: and, behold, they are written in the lamentations.

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD.

To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

Now these are the priests and the Levites that went up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

And in the days of Joiakim were priests, the chief of the fathers: of Seraiah, Meraiah; of Jeremiah, Hananiah;

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

Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.

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.

When Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, "Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward Israel has done. You have seen how she went up to every high hill and under every green tree to give herself like a prostitute to other gods.


“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.”


Therefore, 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.

"So then, Jeremiah, when your people ask, 'Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?' tell them, 'It is because you rejected me and served foreign gods in your own land. So you must serve foreigners in a land that does not belong to you.'


To 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.


O 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].


“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.”

And as for you (Jeremiah), make no prayers for this people, send up no cry or prayer for them, make no request for them to me: for I will not give ear.

“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]?


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


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


“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.”

"Jeremiah, don't pray for this people and don't cry or pray for them. I won't listen when they cry out to me because of their disaster.

Before this I had been like a docile lamb ready to be led to the slaughter. I did not know they were making plans to kill me. I did not know they were saying, "Let's destroy the tree along with its fruit! Let's remove Jeremiah from the world of the living so people will not even be reminded of him any more."


[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?


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


“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.


“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.


The 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.


Therefore, 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].

And you [Jeremiah] shall not go into a house of feasting to sit with them to eat and drink.”


[Then said Jeremiah] “O Lord, my Strength and my Stronghold,
And my Refuge in the day of distress and need,
The nations will come to You
From the ends of the earth and say,
‘Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies and illusion,
[Worthless] things in which there is no benefit!’

There are times, Jeremiah, when I threaten to uproot, tear down, and destroy a nation or kingdom.

Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.

The Lord told Jeremiah, "Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take with you some of the leaders of the people and some of the leaders of the priests.

Tell them the Lord who rules over all says, 'I will do just as Jeremiah has done. I will smash this nation and this city as though it were a potter's vessel which is broken beyond repair. The dead will be buried here in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.'

Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD'S house; and said to all the people,

Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.

Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magormissabib.


[Jeremiah said,] O Lord, You have persuaded me and I was deceived;
You are stronger than I and You have prevailed.
I am a laughingstock all day long;
Everyone mocks me.

The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,

“And to this people you (Jeremiah) shall also say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.


Concerning the prophets:
My heart [says Jeremiah] is broken within me,
All my bones shake;
I have become like a drunken man,
A man whom wine has overcome,
Because of the Lord
And because of His holy words [declared against unfaithful leaders].

"Jeremiah, when these people, the prophet, or a priest ask you, "What is the oracle of the LORD?' say to them, "You are the burden, and I'll cast you out,'" declares the LORD.

So I, Jeremiah, tell you, "Each of you people should say to his friend or his relative, 'How did the Lord answer? Or what did the Lord say?'

Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;

The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,

And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.

Then I (Jeremiah) took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations to whom the Lord had sent me drink it:

"Then, Jeremiah, make the following prophecy against them: 'Like a lion about to attack, the Lord will roar from the heights of heaven; from his holy dwelling on high he will roar loudly. He will roar mightily against his land. He will shout in triumph like those stomping juice from the grapes against all those who live on the earth.

The Lord spoke to Jeremiah at the beginning of the reign of Josiah's son, King Jehoiakim of Judah.

“Thus says the Lord, ‘Stand in the court of the Lord’s house [Jeremiah], and speak to all [the people of] the cities of Judah who have come to worship in the Lord’s house all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. Do not omit a word!

So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the LORD.

Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.

Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.

And when all the people were gathered about Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, the princes of Judah heard of this rumor, and they came soon out of the king's Palace into the house of the LORD, and sat them down before the new door of the LORD.

Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes, and unto all the people, saying, - Worthy of death, is this man, because he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your own ears, Then spake Jeremiah, unto all the princes and unto all the people, saying, -

Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.

And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah:

Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

And it came about in that year, when Zedekiah first became king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah, the son of Azzur the prophet, who came from Gibeon, said to Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, before the priests and all the people,

Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of the LORD,

Even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: the LORD do so: the LORD perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the LORD'S house, and all that is carried away captive, from Babylon into this place.

Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it.

And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.

Then the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the prophet, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,

Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie.

Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;

Which letter Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah did bear, whom Zedekiah the king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon. These were the words of Jeremiah's letter:

The Lord told Jeremiah, "Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite

Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you?

At this I (Jeremiah) awoke and looked, and my [trancelike] sleep was sweet [in the assurance it gave] to me.

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar.

For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house.

For King Zedekiah had confined Jeremiah there after he had reproved him for prophesying as he did. He had asked Jeremiah, "Why do you keep prophesying these things? Why do you keep saying that the Lord says, 'I will hand this city over to the king of Babylon? I will let him capture it.

Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,

The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying,

Thematic Bible




Woe 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.

Woe is me (judgment is coming)! For I am
Like one who gathers the summer fruits, like one who gleans the vintage grapes.
There is not a cluster of grapes to eat,
No first-ripe fig which my appetite craves.



I 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].


Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; [and] I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am only a youth. But the Lord said to me, Say not, I am only a youth; for you shall go to all to whom I shall send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.


Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; [and] I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am only a youth. But the Lord said to me, Say not, I am only a youth; for you shall go to all to whom I shall send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.



But as for me, I have not tried to escape from being a shepherd [walking] after You,
Nor have I longed for the woeful day [of judgment];
You know that, whatever I said
Was [spoken] in Your presence and was from You.

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the Lord: Thus says the Lord: Stand in the court of the Lord's house [Jeremiah] and speak to all [the people of] the cities of Judah who come to worship in the Lord's house all the words that I command you to speak to them; subtract not a word. It may be that they will listen and turn every man from his evil way, that I may relent and reverse My decision concerning the evil which I purpose to do to them because of their evil doings. read more.
And you will say to them, Thus says the Lord: If you will not listen to and obey Me, to walk in My law, which I have set before you, And to hear and obey the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you urgently and persistently -- "though you have not listened and obeyed -- " Then will I make this house [the temple] like Shiloh [the home of the Tent of Meeting, abandoned and later destroyed after the ark was captured by the Philistines], and I will make this city subject to the curses of all nations of the earth [so vile in their sight will it be]. And the priests and the [false] prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. Now when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the [false] prophets and all the people seized him, saying, You shall surely die! Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh [after the ark of the Lord had been taken by our enemies] and this city [Jerusalem] shall be desolate, without inhabitant? And all the people were gathered around Jeremiah in the [outer area of the] house of the Lord. When the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king's house to the house of the Lord and sat down in the entry of the New Gate of the house of the Lord. Then the priests and the prophets said to the princes and to all the people, This man is deserving of death, for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears. Then Jeremiah said to all the princes and to all the people: The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. Therefore now amend your ways and your doings and obey the voice of the Lord your God; then the Lord will relent and reverse the decision concerning the evil which He has pronounced against you. As for me, behold, I am in your hands; do with me as seems good and suitable to you. But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and upon its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.

Thus says the Lord: Do not deceive yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans will surely stay away from us -- "for they will not stay away. For though you should defeat the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained only the wounded and men stricken through among them, every man confined to his tent, yet they would rise up and burn this city with fire.

When Jeremiah had come into the cells in the dungeon and had remained there many days, Zedekiah the king sent and brought him out; and the king asked him secretly in his house, Is there any word from the Lord? And Jeremiah said, There is! And he said also, You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. Moreover, Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, In what have I sinned against you or against your servants or against this people, that you have put me in prison?


Then [my enemies] said, “Come and let us work out schemes against Jeremiah. Surely the law is not going to be lost to the priest [as Jeremiah predicts], nor the counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us strike him with our tongue [by making charges against him before the king], and let us ignore anything he says.”



Woe 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.

Woe is me (judgment is coming)! For I am
Like one who gathers the summer fruits, like one who gleans the vintage grapes.
There is not a cluster of grapes to eat,
No first-ripe fig which my appetite craves.



I 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].



Then I said, “Ah, Lord God!
Behold, I do not know how to speak,
For I am [only] a young man.”



Yet you keep saying, ‘I am innocent;
Surely His anger has turned away from me.’
Behold (listen very carefully), I will bring you to judgment and will plead my case against you
Because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’



If I say, “I will not remember Him
Or speak His name anymore,”
Then my heart becomes a burning fire
Shut up in my bones.
And I am weary of enduring and holding it in;
I cannot endure it [nor contain it any longer].

Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day appointed you to the oversight of the nations and of the kingdoms to root out and pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.


And when he was at the Gate of Benjamin, a sentry was [on guard] there, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, You are deserting to the Chaldeans. Then said Jeremiah, It is false! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans. But the sentry would not listen to him. So Irijah took Jeremiah and brought him to the princes.


After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken Jeconiah [who was also called Coniah and Jehoiachin] the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah [along] with the craftsmen and smiths into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, the Lord showed me [in a vision] two baskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord.

In the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year and the fifth month, the [false] prophet Hananiah the son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon [one of the priests’ cities], spoke [without godly authority] to me in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying:

Moreover, 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?

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the priest the son of Maaseiah, saying,

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah -- "which was the first year of the reign of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon -- " Which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: For these twenty-three years -- "from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, even to this day -- "the word of the Lord has come to me and I have spoken to you persistently early and late, but you have not listened and obeyed.

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord, saying,

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, with all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his sovereignty and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and against all of its cities:

The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,

The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:


Now the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah while he was [still] shut up in the court of the guard, saying, Go and say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring to pass My words against this city for evil and not for good; and they will be accomplished before you on that day. But I will deliver you [Ebed-melech] on that day, says the Lord, and you will not be given into the hands of the men of whom you are afraid. read more.
For I will surely deliver you; and you will not fall by the sword, but your life will be [as your only booty and] as a reward of battle to you, because you have put your trust in Me, says the Lord.

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still confined in the court of the guard, saying,

Therefore the princes were enraged with Jeremiah and beat him and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe -- "for they had made that the prison. When Jeremiah had come into the cells in the dungeon and had remained there many days, Zedekiah the king sent and brought him out; and the king asked him secretly in his house, Is there any word from the Lord? And Jeremiah said, There is! And he said also, You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. read more.
Moreover, Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, In what have I sinned against you or against your servants or against this people, that you have put me in prison? Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you or against this land? Therefore hear now, I pray you, O my lord the king. Let my supplication, I pray you, come before you and be acceptable, that you do not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there. Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guard, and a round loaf of bread from the bakers' street was given to him daily until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained [imprisoned] in the court of the guard.

So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon or cistern pit [in the charge] of Malchiah the king's son, which was in the court of the guard; and they let Jeremiah down [into the pit] with ropes. And in the dungeon or cistern pit there was no water, but only mire, and Jeremiah sank in the mire. Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian [a Cushite], one of the eunuchs who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon or cistern pit; and while the king was then sitting in the Gate of Benjamin, Ebed-melech went out of the king's house and spoke to the king, saying, read more.
My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon or cistern pit; and he is liable to die of hunger and is [as good as] dead in the place where he is, for there is no more bread left in the city. Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from here thirty men with you and raise Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon or cistern pit before he dies. So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king [to a room] under the treasury, and took along from there old rags and worn-out garments and let them down by ropes into the dungeon or cistern pit to Jeremiah. And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Put now these old rags and worn-out garments under your armpits under the ropes. And Jeremiah did so. So they drew up Jeremiah with the ropes and took him up out of the dungeon or cistern pit; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

They [thought they had] destroyed my life in the dungeon (pit) and cast a stone [over it] above me. The waters ran down on my head; I said, I am gone. I called upon Your name, O Lord, out of the depths [of the mire] of the dungeon.


Oh 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!

O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved! How long shall your iniquitous and grossly offensive thoughts lodge within you? For a voice declares from Dan [in the north] and proclaims evil from Mount Ephraim [the range dividing Israel from Judah]. Warn the [neighboring] nations [that our adversary is coming]; announce to Jerusalem that besiegers are coming from a far country, and they shout against the cities of Judah. read more.
Like keepers of a field they are against her round about, because she has been rebellious against Me, says the Lord. Your ways and your doings have brought these things upon you. This is your calamity and doom; surely it is bitter, for surely it reaches your very heart!

Oh, that I [Jeremiah] could comfort myself against sorrow, [for my grief is beyond healing], my heart is sick and faint within me! Behold [says the prophet, listen to the voice of] the cry of the daughter of my people [for help] because of those who dwell in a far country: Is not the Lord in Zion? Is not her King in her? [But the Lord answers] Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images and with foreign idols? The harvest is past, the summer has ended and the gathering of fruit is over, yet we are not saved! [comes again the voice of the people.] read more.
For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I [Jeremiah] hurt; I go around mourning; dismay has taken hold on me.

Woe is me because of my hurt! [says Jeremiah, speaking for the nation.] My wound is grievous and incurable. But I said, Surely this sickness and suffering and grief are mine, and I must endure, tolerate, and bear them. My tent (home) is taken by force and plundered, and all my [tent] cords are broken. My children have gone forth [as captives] from me, and they are no more; there is no one to stretch forth my tent any more and to set up my [tent] curtains. For the shepherds [of the people] have become like brutes, irrational and stupid, and have not sought the Lord or inquired of Him or required Him [by necessity and by right of His word]. Therefore they have not dealt prudently and have not prospered, and all their flocks are scattered. read more.
Hark, the sound of a rumor! [The invading army] comes! -- "a great commotion out of the north country -- "to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling place of jackals.


Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned for [only] three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.


Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah [along] with Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “Please pray [now] to the Lord our God for us.”

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malchiah, and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying, Inquire, I pray you, of the Lord for us, for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all His wonderful works, forcing him to withdraw from us.

Then King Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance that is in the house of the Lord. And the king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something; hide nothing from me.”



Woe 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.


O 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.

Behold, they say to me, Where is the word of the Lord [predicting the disaster that you said would befall us]? Let it come now! But as for me, I have not sought to escape from being a shepherd after You, nor have I desired the woeful day [of judgment]; You know that. Whatever I said was spoken in Your presence and was from You. Be not a terror to me; You are my refuge and my hope in the day of evil. read more.
Let those be put to shame who persecute me, but let me not be put to shame; let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed. Bring on them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.


Therefore thus says the Lord about the men of Anathoth [Jeremiah's hometown], who seek your life [Jeremiah] and say, Prophesy not in the name of the Lord, that you die not by our hands -- " Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and their daughters will die by famine; And there will be no remnant [of the conspirators] left, for I will bring evil and calamity upon the men of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.

Then [my enemies] said, Come and let us devise schemes against Jeremiah; for the law [of Moses] shall not perish from the priest [as this false prophet Jeremiah predicts], nor will counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us smite him with the tongue [making a charge against him to the king], and let us not pay any attention to his words. Give heed to me, Lord; listen to [what] my adversaries [are plotting to do to me -- "and intercede]. Shall evil be recompensed for good? Yet they have dug a pit for my life. [Earnestly] remember that I stood before You to speak good for them, to turn away Your anger from them. read more.
Therefore deliver up their children to the famine; give them over to the power of the sword. And let their wives become childless and widows; let their men meet death by pestilence, their young men be slain by the sword in battle. Let a cry be heard from their houses when You suddenly bring a troop upon them, for they have dug a pit to take me and have hidden snares for my feet. Yet, Lord, You know all their plotting against me to slay me. Forgive not their iniquity, nor blot out their sin from Your sight. But let them be overthrown before You; deal with them in the time of Your anger.


Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave command concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying, Take him and look after him well; do him no harm but deal with him as he may ask of you. So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, Nebushasban [the Rabsaris] a chief of the eunuchs, Nergal-sharezer [II, the Rabmag] a chief of the magicians, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon read more.
Sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guard and entrusted him to Gedaliah [a prominent man whose father had once saved the prophet's life] son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, that he should take him home [with him to Mizpah]. So Jeremiah was released and dwelt among the people.

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all who were carried away captive from Jerusalem and Judah, who were taken as exiles to Babylon. And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, The Lord your God pronounced evil upon this place. Now the Lord has brought it about and has done as He said: [It is] because you [of Judah] have sinned against the Lord and have not obeyed His voice, therefore this thing has come upon you. read more.
Now, see, I am freeing you today [Jeremiah] from the chains upon your hands. If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will keep an eye on you and look after you well. But if it seems bad to you to come with me to Babylon, then do not do it. Behold, all the land is before you; wherever it seems good, right, and convenient for you to go, go there.


O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us [prays Jeremiah], deal and work with us for Your own name's sake [that the heathen may witness Your might and faithfulness]! For our backslidings are many; we have sinned against You. O Hope of Israel, her Savior in time of trouble, why should You be like a sojourner in the land and like a wayfaring man who turns aside and spreads his tent to tarry [only] for a night? Why should You be [hesitant and inactive] like a man stunned and confused, like a mighty man who cannot save? Yet You, O Lord, are in the midst of us, and we are called by Your name; do not leave us!

Alas, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! There is nothing too hard or too wonderful for You -- " You Who show loving-kindness to thousands but recompense the iniquity of the fathers into the bosoms of their children after them. The great, the mighty God; the Lord of hosts is His name -- " Great [are You] in counsel and mighty in deeds, Whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to reward or repay each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings, read more.
Who wrought signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day [continues to do so], both in Israel and among other men, and made for Yourself a name, as at this day. And You brought forth Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and outstretched arm and with great terror; And You gave them this land which You swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey; And they entered and took possession of it, but they obeyed not Your voice, nor walked in Your law; they have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do. Therefore You have caused all this evil to come upon them. See the siege mounds [of earth which the foe has heaped against the walls]; they have come up to the city to take it. And the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because [the people are overcome] by the sword and the famine and the pestilence. What You have spoken has come to pass, and behold, You see it. Yet, O Lord God, You said to me, Buy the field with money and get witnesses, even though the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.


The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying,

In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: Take a scroll [of parchment] for a book and write on it all the words I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations from the day I spoke to you in the days of [King] Josiah until this day. It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do to them, so that each one may turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. read more.
Then Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote upon the scroll of the book all the words which Jeremiah dictated, [words] that the Lord had spoken to him. And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am [in hiding, virtually] restrained and shut up; I cannot go into the house of the Lord. Therefore you go, and on a day of fasting, in the hearing of all the people in the Lord's house, you shall read the words of the Lord which you have written on the scroll at my dictation. Also you shall read them in the hearing of all who come out of the cities of Judah. It may be that they will make their supplication [for mercy] before the Lord, and each one will turn back from his evil way, for great is the anger and the wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.

Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.


The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now this Seraiah was chief chamberlain or quartermaster [and brother of Baruch]. So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon -- "even all these words that are written against Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When you come to Babylon, see to it that you read all these words. read more.
Then say, O Lord, You have spoken concerning this place that it shall be cut off, so that nothing shall remain and dwell in it, neither man nor beast; but it shall be desolate forever. And it shall be that when you have finished reading this book, you shall bind a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates. Then say, Thus will Babylon sink and not rise because of the evil that I will bring upon her; and [the Babylonians] will be weary (hopelessly exhausted). Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.


Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth,

Jeremiah the tenth, Machbannai the eleventh.


Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian [a Cushite], one of the eunuchs who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon or cistern pit; and while the king was then sitting in the Gate of Benjamin, Ebed-melech went out of the king's house and spoke to the king, saying, My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon or cistern pit; and he is liable to die of hunger and is [as good as] dead in the place where he is, for there is no more bread left in the city. read more.
Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from here thirty men with you and raise Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon or cistern pit before he dies. So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king [to a room] under the treasury, and took along from there old rags and worn-out garments and let them down by ropes into the dungeon or cistern pit to Jeremiah. And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Put now these old rags and worn-out garments under your armpits under the ropes. And Jeremiah did so. So they drew up Jeremiah with the ropes and took him up out of the dungeon or cistern pit; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.


[But Jeremiah said] O Lord, You have persuaded and deceived me, and I was persuaded and deceived; You are stronger than I am and You have prevailed. I am a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I must cry out and complain; I shout, Violence and destruction! For the word of the Lord has become to me a reproach and a derision and has brought me insult all day long. If I say, I will not make mention of [the Lord] or speak any more in His name, in my mind and heart it is as if there were a burning fire shut up in my bones. And I am weary of enduring and holding it in; I cannot [contain it any longer]. read more.
For I have heard many whispering and defaming, [There is] terror on every side! Denounce him! Let us denounce him! Say all my familiar friends, they who watch for my fall, Perhaps he will be persuaded and deceived; then we will prevail against him, and we will get our revenge on him. But the Lord is with me as a mighty and terrible One; therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they will not overcome [me]. They will be utterly put to shame, for they will not deal wisely or prosper [in their schemes]; their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten. But, O Lord of hosts, You Who try the righteous, Who see the heart and the mind, let me see Your vengeance on them, for to You have I revealed and committed my cause. Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! For He has delivered the life of the poor and needy from the hands of evildoers. Cursed be the day on which I was born! Let not the day on which my mother bore me be blessed! Cursed be the man who brought the tidings to my father, saying, A son is born to you! -- "making him very glad. And let that man be like the cities which the Lord overthrew, and did not relent. Let him hear the [war] cry in the morning and the shouting of alarm at noon, Because he did not slay me in the womb, so that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb always great. Why did I come out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed in shame?


Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, Take large stones in your hands and hide them in the mortar in the pavement of brick which is at the entrance of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah; And say to them, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, My servant [because he works for Me], and I [through him] will set his throne upon these stones that I have hidden; and his [glittering, royal] canopy will be stretched over them. read more.
And he shall come and smite the land of Egypt, giving such as are [destined] for death, to death, and such as are [destined] for captivity, to captivity, and such as are [destined] for the sword, to the sword. And I [through him] will kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt; and he will burn [the houses] and carry [the people] away captive. And he will array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment [as he wills and when he chooses]; and he will go away from there in peace.


And Baruch son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from [Jeremiah's] book the words of the Lord in the Lord's house. And in the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, a fast was proclaimed before the Lord for all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came to Jerusalem from the cities of Judah. Then Baruch read in the hearing of all the people the words of Jeremiah from the scroll of the book in the house of the Lord, in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord's house. read more.
When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the Lord, He went down to the king's house into the scribe's chamber, and behold, all the princes were sitting there: Elishama the scribe, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the [other] princes. Then Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read the book in the hearing of the people. Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read in the hearing of the people and come [to us]. So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. And they said to him, Sit down now and read it in our hearing. So Baruch read it in their hearing. Now when they had heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear and said to Baruch, We must surely tell the king of all these words. And they asked Baruch, Tell us now, how did you write all these words? At [Jeremiah's] dictation? Then Baruch answered them, He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink in the book. Then the princes said to Baruch, Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are. Then they went into the court to the king, but they [first] put the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe; then they reported all the words to the king. So the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and of all the princes who stood beside the king. Now it was the ninth month, and the king was sitting in the winter house, and a fire was burning there before him in the brazier. And [each time] when Jehudi had read three or four columns [of the scroll], he [King Jehoiakim] would cut them off with a penknife and cast them into the fire that was in the brazier, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. Yet they were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments -- "neither the king, nor any of his servants who heard all these words. Even though Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah tried to persuade the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son and Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them. Now the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll with the words which Baruch wrote at the dictation of Jeremiah, [and the Lord] said: Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned. And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, Thus says the Lord: You have burned this scroll, saying, Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon shall surely come and destroy this land and shall cut off man and beast from it? Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have no [heir] to sit upon the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and to the frost by night. And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the evil that I have pronounced against them -- "but they would not hear. Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and besides them many similar words were added.


Behold, Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle shall come to you and say, Buy my field that is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is yours to buy it. So Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the guard in accordance with the word of the Lord, and he said to me, I pray you, buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin, for the right of inheritance is yours and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself. Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. And I bought the field that was in Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle's son and weighed out for him the money -- "seventeen shekels of silver. read more.
And I signed the deed and sealed it, called witnesses, and weighed out for him the money on the scales.


I have forsaken My house, I have cast off My heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of My life into the hands of her enemies. My heritage has become to Me like a lion in the forest; she has uttered her voice against Me; therefore I have [treated her as if I] hated her. Is My heritage to Me like a speckled bird of prey? Are the birds of prey against her round about? Go, assemble all the wild beasts of the field; bring them to devour. read more.
Many shepherds [of an invading host] have destroyed My vineyard, they have trampled My portion underfoot; they have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. They have made it a desolation, and desolate it mourns before Me; the whole land has been made desolate, but no man lays it to heart. Destroyers have come upon all the bare heights in the desert, for the sword of the Lord devours from one end of the land even to the other; no flesh has peace or can find the means to escape. They have sown wheat but have reaped thorns; they have worn themselves out but without profit. And they shall be ashamed of your [lack of] harvests and revenues because of the fierce and glowing anger of the Lord.


Now Pashhur son of Immer, the priest, who was [also] chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate by the house of the Lord. And the next day Pashhur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, The Lord does not call your name Pashhur, but Magor-missabib [terror on every side].


And when Jeremiah had finished speaking to all the people all these words of the Lord their God -- "everything for which the Lord their God had sent him to them -- " Then Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the proud and insolent men said to Jeremiah, You are not telling the truth! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, Do not go into Egypt to dwell there temporarily. But Baruch son of Neriah is setting you against us to deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, so they may put us to death or carry us away captive to Babylon. read more.
So Johanan son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the Lord to remain in the land of Judah. But Johanan son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces took all the remnant of Judah who had returned to dwell in the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been driven -- " Even men, women, and children, the king's daughters, and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan; also he took Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah. So they came into the land of Egypt -- "for they obeyed not the voice of the Lord. And they came to Tahpanhes.


And the next day Pashhur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, The Lord does not call your name Pashhur, but Magor-missabib [terror on every side]. For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; they will fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon; he will carry them captive to Babylon and will slay them with the sword. Moreover, I will deliver all the riches of this city -- "all the results of its labors, all its precious things, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah -- "into the hand of their enemies, who will make them a prey and plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. read more.
And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house shall go into captivity; you shall go to Babylon, and there you shall die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied falsely.


Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah [Azariah] son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest came near And said to Jeremiah the prophet, We beseech you that you will let our supplication be presented before you and that you will pray to the Lord your God for us, even for all this remnant [of the people of Judah]; for whereas we were once many, there are but a few of us left, as you see with your [own] eyes. [Pray] that the Lord your God may show us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do. read more.
Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words; and it will be that whatever thing the Lord will answer you, I will declare it to you; I will keep nothing back from you. Then they said to Jeremiah, May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we fail to do according to all the things that the Lord your God sends you to tell us. Whether it is good or evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to Whom we are sending you [to inquire], that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.


Uncompromisingly righteous and rigidly just are You, O Lord, when I complain against and contend with You. Yet let me plead and reason the case with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are all they at ease and thriving who deal very treacherously and deceitfully? You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; they grow, yes, they bring forth fruit. You are near in their mouths but far from their hearts. But You, O Lord, know and understand me and my devotion to You; You see me and try my heart toward You. [O Lord] pull [these rebellious ones] out like sheep for the slaughter and devote and prepare them for the day of slaughter. read more.
How long must the land mourn and the grass and herbs of the whole country wither? Through the wickedness of those who dwell in it, the beasts and the birds are consumed and are swept away [by the drought], because men [mocked] me, saying, He shall not [live to] see our final end. [But the Lord rebukes Jeremiah's impatience, saying] If you have raced with men on foot and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses? And if [you take to flight] in a land of peace where you feel secure, then what will you do [when you tread the tangled maze of jungle haunted by lions] in the swelling and flooding of the Jordan? For even your brethren and the house of your father -- "even they have dealt treacherously with you; yes, even they are [like a pack of hounds] in full cry after you. Believe them not, though they speak fair words and promise good things to you.


Then the word of the Lord came to me [Jeremiah], saying, Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; [and] I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am only a youth. read more.
But the Lord said to me, Say not, I am only a youth; for you shall go to all to whom I shall send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Be not afraid of them [their faces], for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord. Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day appointed you to the oversight of the nations and of the kingdoms to root out and pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant. Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see a branch or shoot of an almond tree [the emblem of alertness and activity, blossoming in late winter]. Then said the Lord to me, You have seen well, for I am alert and active, watching over My word to perform it. And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying, What do you see? And I said, I see a boiling pot, and the face of it is [tipped away] from the north [its mouth about to pour forth on the south, on Judea]. Then the Lord said to me, Out of the north the evil [which the prophets had foretold as the result of national sin] shall disclose itself and break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. For, behold, I will call all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord; and they will come and set every one his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls round about, and against all the cities of Judah [as God's judicial act, a consequence of Judah's wickedness]. And I will utter My judgments against them for all the wickedness of those who have forsaken Me, burned incense to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands [idols]. But you [Jeremiah], gird up your loins! Arise and tell them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed and break down at the sight of their faces, lest I confound you before them and permit you to be overcome. For I, behold, I have made you this day a fortified city and an iron pillar and bronze walls against the whole land -- "against the [successive] kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land [giving you divine strength which no hostile power can overcome]. And they shall fight against you, but they shall not [finally] prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you.


But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that he was not given into the hands of the people to put him to death.


Then Jeremiah sung a lament (funeral song) for Josiah, and all the male and female singers have spoken about Josiah in their laments to this day. They made the songs an ordinance in Israel; behold, they are written in the Lamentations.



Your 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.


These were the heads of their fathers’ households: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, warriors of valor [willing and able to encounter danger], famous men, and heads of the households of their fathers.


Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam at Mizpah and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.


“You shall not take a wife or have sons and daughters in this place (Jerusalem).”


Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah [along] with Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “Please pray [now] to the Lord our God for us.”


So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites,


Ishmaiah of Gibeon, a mighty man among the thirty, and [a leader] over them; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad of Gederah,


The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, [one] of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,


The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, [one] of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,




in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the books the number of years which, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the desolations [which had been] pronounced on Jerusalem would end; and it was seventy years.




Then I said, “Ah, Lord God!
Behold, I do not know how to speak,
For I am [only] a young man.”



“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.”


Cursed be the day on which I was born! Let not the day on which my mother bore me be blessed! Cursed be the man who brought the tidings to my father, saying, A son is born to you! -- "making him very glad. And let that man be like the cities which the Lord overthrew, and did not relent. Let him hear the [war] cry in the morning and the shouting of alarm at noon, read more.
Because he did not slay me in the womb, so that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb always great. Why did I come out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed in shame?


As for me, behold, I am in your hands; do with me as seems good and suitable to you.


Cursed be the day on which I was born! Let not the day on which my mother bore me be blessed! Cursed be the man who brought the tidings to my father, saying, A son is born to you! -- "making him very glad. And let that man be like the cities which the Lord overthrew, and did not relent. Let him hear the [war] cry in the morning and the shouting of alarm at noon, read more.
Because he did not slay me in the womb, so that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb always great. Why did I come out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed in shame?


Cursed be the day on which I was born! Let not the day on which my mother bore me be blessed! Cursed be the man who brought the tidings to my father, saying, A son is born to you! -- "making him very glad. And let that man be like the cities which the Lord overthrew, and did not relent. Let him hear the [war] cry in the morning and the shouting of alarm at noon, read more.
Because he did not slay me in the womb, so that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb always great. Why did I come out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed in shame?


But King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, “As the Lord lives, who made our lives, be assured that I will not put you to death or put you into the hand of these men who are seeking your life.”


Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah.


Now when I had delivered the purchase deed to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: Alas, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! There is nothing too hard or too wonderful for You -- " You Who show loving-kindness to thousands but recompense the iniquity of the fathers into the bosoms of their children after them. The great, the mighty God; the Lord of hosts is His name -- " read more.
Great [are You] in counsel and mighty in deeds, Whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to reward or repay each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings, Who wrought signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day [continues to do so], both in Israel and among other men, and made for Yourself a name, as at this day. And You brought forth Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and outstretched arm and with great terror; And You gave them this land which You swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey; And they entered and took possession of it, but they obeyed not Your voice, nor walked in Your law; they have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do. Therefore You have caused all this evil to come upon them. See the siege mounds [of earth which the foe has heaped against the walls]; they have come up to the city to take it. And the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because [the people are overcome] by the sword and the famine and the pestilence. What You have spoken has come to pass, and behold, You see it. Yet, O Lord God, You said to me, Buy the field with money and get witnesses, even though the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.


I called upon Your name, O Lord, out of the depths [of the mire] of the dungeon. You heard my voice [then]: [Oh] hide not Your ear [now] at my prayer for relief.


Now when I had delivered the purchase deed to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: Alas, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! There is nothing too hard or too wonderful for You -- " You Who show loving-kindness to thousands but recompense the iniquity of the fathers into the bosoms of their children after them. The great, the mighty God; the Lord of hosts is His name -- " read more.
Great [are You] in counsel and mighty in deeds, Whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to reward or repay each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings, Who wrought signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day [continues to do so], both in Israel and among other men, and made for Yourself a name, as at this day. And You brought forth Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and outstretched arm and with great terror; And You gave them this land which You swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey; And they entered and took possession of it, but they obeyed not Your voice, nor walked in Your law; they have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do. Therefore You have caused all this evil to come upon them. See the siege mounds [of earth which the foe has heaped against the walls]; they have come up to the city to take it. And the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because [the people are overcome] by the sword and the famine and the pestilence. What You have spoken has come to pass, and behold, You see it. Yet, O Lord God, You said to me, Buy the field with money and get witnesses, even though the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.


they even sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guardhouse and entrusted him to Gedaliah [a prominent citizen], the son of Ahikam [who had once saved Jeremiah’s life], the son of Shaphan, to take him home [with him to Mizpah]. So Jeremiah [was released and] lived among the people.

So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon or cistern pit [in the charge] of Malchiah the king's son, which was in the court of the guard; and they let Jeremiah down [into the pit] with ropes. And in the dungeon or cistern pit there was no water, but only mire, and Jeremiah sank in the mire. Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian [a Cushite], one of the eunuchs who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon or cistern pit; and while the king was then sitting in the Gate of Benjamin, Ebed-melech went out of the king's house and spoke to the king, saying, read more.
My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon or cistern pit; and he is liable to die of hunger and is [as good as] dead in the place where he is, for there is no more bread left in the city. Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from here thirty men with you and raise Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon or cistern pit before he dies. So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king [to a room] under the treasury, and took along from there old rags and worn-out garments and let them down by ropes into the dungeon or cistern pit to Jeremiah. And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Put now these old rags and worn-out garments under your armpits under the ropes. And Jeremiah did so. So they drew up Jeremiah with the ropes and took him up out of the dungeon or cistern pit; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard. Then Zedekiah the king sent and brought Jeremiah the prophet to him into the third entrance that is in the house of the Lord. And the king said to Jeremiah, I am going to ask you something; hide nothing from me. Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me. So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, As the Lord lives, Who made our lives, I will not put you to death or give you into the hands of these men who seek your life. Then said Jeremiah to Zedekiah, Thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will go forth and surrender to the princes of the king of Babylon, then you will live and this city will not be burned with fire; and you will live -- "you and your house. But if you will not go forth and surrender to the princes of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given into the hands of the Chaldeans and they will burn it with fire; and you will not escape out of their hands. And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest the enemy deliver me into their [these former subjects'] hands and they mock me and abuse me. But Jeremiah said, They will not deliver you [to them]. Obey, I beg of you, the voice of the Lord, Who speaks to you through me. Then it will be well with you, and you will live. But if you refuse to go forth and surrender to them, this is the word [the vision] that the Lord has shown me: Behold, [in it] all the women who are left in the house of the king of Judah will be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes and will say [to you, King Zedekiah], Your friends have prevailed against your better judgment and have deceived you. Now when your feet are sunk in the mire [of trouble], they have turned their backs. All your wives and your children will be brought out to the Chaldeans; and you [yourself] will not escape out of their hands, but you will be seized by the king of Babylon, and you will cause this city [Jerusalem] to be burned with fire. Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, Let no man know of this conversation and you will not die. But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say, Tell us what you said to the king and what he said to you; hide it not from us and we will not put you to death, Then you shall say to them, I was presenting to the king my humble plea that he would not send me back to Jonathan's house to die there. Then came all the princes to Jeremiah and asked him [just what King Zedekiah had anticipated they would ask], and he told them all that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him, for what the conversation [with the king] had been was not discovered. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken [by the Chaldeans].


He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God; he did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke for the Lord.

to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had restored its Sabbaths; for as long as the land lay desolate it kept Sabbath until seventy years were complete.



If I say, “I will not remember Him
Or speak His name anymore,”
Then my heart becomes a burning fire
Shut up in my bones.
And I am weary of enduring and holding it in;
I cannot endure it [nor contain it any longer].

Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day appointed you to the oversight of the nations and of the kingdoms to root out and pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.



“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.”



“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.”


For these twenty-three years -- "from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, even to this day -- "the word of the Lord has come to me and I have spoken to you persistently early and late, but you have not listened and obeyed. Although the Lord persistently sent you all the prophets, His servants, yet you have not listened and obeyed or [even] inclined your ear to hear.