I know the plans (intentions) (thoughts) that I have for you, says Jehovah. They are plans (intentions) for peace and not disaster. They are intentions to give you a future filled with hope.

The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately corrupt. Who can understand it?

The time is coming, proclaims Jehovah, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

Listen to the word of Jehovah, offspring of Jacob, all the families in the house of Israel.

Jehovah spoke his word to me, Jeremiah, He said:

Call to me and I will answer you. I will tell you grand and impressive things, things you do not know.'

Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart for my holy purpose. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.

Jehovah says: Stand by the way [of life] and see and ask for the ancient paths. Walk in the good way and you will find rest. But you said: We will not walk in it!

Jehovah also spoke when Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, was king of Judah. It was during the eleven years that Zedekiah, another son of Josiah, was king of Judah. Jehovah continued to speak to Jeremiah until the people of Jerusalem were taken away into captivity in the fifth month of the year.

Do not be afraid of people. I am with you. I will rescue you, says Jehovah.

I, Jeremiah, said: Lord Jehovah, I do not know how to speak. I am only a child!

The days are coming, declares Jehovah, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch. He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land.

When you look for me, you will find me. When you wholeheartedly seek me,

Jehovah appeared to him from afar, saying: I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving-kindness.

Israel was dedicated (consecrated) to Jehovah. It was the best part of the harvest. All who consumed it became guilty, and disaster struck them,' says Jehovah.

This is what Jehovah says: Cursed is the person who trusts humans, who makes flesh and blood his strength and whose heart turns away from Jehovah.

This is the covenant (agreement) that I will make with Israel after those days, declares Jehovah. I will put my teachings (Law) inside them. I will write those teachings (Law) on their hearts (inner man) (mind) (will) (conscience) (understanding). I will be their God, and they will be my people.

You spoke to me, and I listened to every word. I belong to you, Lord Jehovah. Your words filled my heart with joy and happiness.

Jehovah spoke his word to me again. He asked: What do you see Jeremiah? I answered: I see a branch of an almond tree.

Jehovah is the true (faithful) (right) God! He is the living God and the everlasting king. The earth quakes at his wrath. The nations cannot endure his indignation.

You are trusting in deceptive words that are of no value to you.

Blessed is the man who trusts in Jehovah, whose refuge and security (confidence and hope) is Jehovah.

Jehovah said to me: 'Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go wherever I send you. You must say whatever I command you to say.

Jehovah spoke his word to Jeremiah:

Then Jehovah stretched out his hand and touched my mouth. Jehovah said to me: I have put my words in your mouth.

Now you call to me. You say, 'Father!' You have been my friend ever since I was young.

You will say to the idolaters: The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.

This is what Jehovah says: Do not let wise people brag about their wisdom. Do not let strong people brag about their strength. Do not let rich people brag about their riches.

Today I have appointed you in charge of nations and kingdoms. You will uproot and tear down. You will destroy and overthrow. You will build and plant.

Let those who persecute me be put to shame. Do not let me be put to shame. Let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed. Bring on them a day of disaster. Crush them with twofold destruction!

Again Jehovah asked: What do you see? I answered: I see a boiling pot, and its top is tilted away from the north.

It will not be like the promise that I made to their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of Egypt. They rejected that promise, although I was a husband to them, says Jehovah.

That is why lions from the forest will kill them. Wolves from the desert will tear them to pieces, and leopards will prowl through their towns. If those people go out, they will be torn apart because their sins are numerous and time after time they have turned from God.

Jehovah said: You are right. For I watch to make sure that my words come true.

O Jehovah, I know that humans are not able to govern their own lives. Humans cannot administer their own steps.

Jehovah said to me: Disaster will be poured out from the north on all those who live in the land.

Report this message in Judah. Make it heard in Jerusalem. Say: Blow the ram's horn throughout the land. Shout loudly and say: 'Assemble together! Let us go into the fortified cities.'

I will cry and weep for the mountains. I will sing a funeral song for the pastures in the wilderness. They are destroyed so that no one can travel through them. No one can hear the sound of cattle. Birds and cattle have fled. They are gone.

Today I have made you like a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a copper wall. You will be able to stand up to the whole land. You will be able to stand up to Judah's kings, its officials, its priests, and all the common people.

I am going to call every family and kingdom from the north, says Jehovah. They will come, and they will set up their thrones at the entrance of Jerusalem's gates. They will attack all the walls around the city and all the cities of Judah.

Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known?

As a well pours out its water, so Jerusalem pours out her wickedness. Violence and destruction are heard in her. Sickness and wounds are ever before me.

They will fight you but they will not defeat you. I am with you, and I will rescue you, declares Jehovah.

I will pronounce judgment against my people because of all their wickedness. They abandoned me. They burned incense to other gods. They worshiped what their hands have made.

Strengthen yourself, Jeremiah! Stand up, and say to them whatever I tell you to say. Do not be terrified in their presence, or I will make you even more terrified in their presence.

Will you hold a grudge forever? Will you always be angry? You have said and done all the evil things that you could.

Wise people are put to shame, confused, and trapped. They have rejected the word of Jehovah. They do not really have any wisdom.

Raise the flag to signal people to go to Zion. Take cover! Do not just stand there! I am bringing disaster and widespread destruction from the north.

I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy falsely in my name. They say: 'I had a dream! I had a dream!

Jehovah asked: Why should I forgive the sins of my people? They have abandoned me and have worshiped gods that are not real. I fed my people until they were full, but they committed adultery and spent their time with prostitutes.

Every man is stupid lacking knowledge. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. His molten images are deceitful. There is no breath in them.

I did not send these prophets. Yet, they prophesy in my name that there will be no wars or famines in this land. So this is what I, Jehovah, say about them: 'Wars and famines will bring an end to these prophets.

Jehovah said to me: Go and stand in the public gate, through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, as well as in all the gates of Jerusalem.

My people planted wheat. They gathered weeds! They worked hard and got nothing for it. Because of my fierce anger their crops have failed.

I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins. It will be a gathering place of jackals. I will make the cities of Judah desolation, without inhabitant.

Be warned, O Jerusalem, I will be alienated from you. I will make you desolation, a land not inhabited.

Then the cities of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem will cry to the gods to whom they have been sacrificing. But these gods will never rescue them in a time of distress.

He speaks, and the water in the sky produces a storm. He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning flash with the rain. He brings wind out of his storehouses.

But go to my place in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell from the beginning, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.

all the kings of the north, near and far, one after another-all the kingdoms of the earth. Last of all, the king of Sheshach will drink from the cup.

Jehovah says: What bad thing (injustice) did your fathers find in me that they went so far away from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless (lead astray) themselves.

During the reign of King Josiah, Jehovah asked me: Did you see what unfaithful Israel did? She went up every high mountain and under every large tree, and she acted like a prostitute there.

I see everything that they do. They cannot hide anything from me. Their wickedness cannot be hidden; I can see it.

Then come and stand before me in this house. It is called by my name. You say, 'We are safe to do all these abominations.'

They were like well-fed stallions wild with desire, each lusting for his neighbor's wife.

I will dash them against each other, both the fathers and the sons together, declares Jehovah. 'I will not show pity nor be sorry nor have compassion so as not to destroy them.'

A lion has come out of its lair. A destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place and is on his way to destroy your land. Your cities will be ruined. No one will live in them.

Jacob's share is not like this. For he made everything! Israel is the tribe of his inheritance. Jehovah of Hosts is his name.

Jehovah says: I have something to say about Israel's neighbors who have ruined the land I gave to my people Israel. I will take those wicked people away from their countries like an uprooted plant, and I will rescue Judah from them.

They did not ask: 'Where is Jehovah who brought us from Egypt? He led us through the desert, through a wasteland and its pits, a land of drought and the shadow of death. No one lives there or travels there.'

Pick up your bundle from the ground, you who dwell under siege!

Has this house, called by my name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, declares Jehovah.

Say to them: Listen to the word of Jehovah, kings of Judah, and all Judah and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who come in through these gates:

Jehovah says: I am evicting the inhabitants of the land at this time. I will cause them distress that they may be found.

Do pay close attention to me, O Jehovah! Listen to what my opponents are saying!

I did not spend my time with other people laughing and having a good time. In obedience to your orders I stayed by myself and was filled with anger.

Send this message to all the captives. This is what Jehovah says about Shemaiah from Nehelam: Shemaiah prophesied to you, but I did not send him. He has made you believe a lie.

Judah saw that I sent unfaithful Israel away because of her adultery and that I gave Israel her divorce papers. But treacherous Judah, her sister, was not afraid. She also acted like a prostitute.

The people to whom they prophesy will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem. They will be victims of famines and wars. No one will bury them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters. I will pour on them the destruction that they deserve.'

I thought that after she had done all this she would come back to me. But she did not come back, and her treacherous (unstable) (unreliable) (false) sister Judah saw her.

Jehovah of Hosts says: They will thoroughly glean as the vine the remnant of Israel. Pass your hand again like a grape gatherer over the baskets.

You who dwell in Lebanon nested in the cedars. How you will groan when pangs come upon you, Pain like a woman in childbirth!

I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and its produce. You came and made my land unclean. You made my heritage disgusting.

Go up through her vineyards and destroy them. But do not execute a complete destruction. Strip away her branches, for they are not Jehovah's.

Then Jehovah spoke his word to Jeremiah. He said:

So I will give their wives to other men. I will give their fields to new owners. From the least even to the greatest everyone is greedy for gain. From the prophet even to the priest everyone is deceitful.

However if any nation will not obey I will completely uproot it and destroy it. I, Jehovah, have spoken.

For the reason that you did all these things, says Jehovah, I spoke to you. I rose up early and spoke. But you did not hear, and I called you but you did not answer.

Jeremiah, do not pray for these people. Do not cry or pray for them. I will not listen when they call to me for help in times of trouble.

If with all their hearts they will accept the religion of my people and will swear: As Jehovah lives, as they once taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will also be a part of my people and will prosper.

First, I will have them pay twice as much for their wickedness and their sin, because they have polluted my land. They have filled my property with the lifeless statues of their detestable and disgusting idols.

The priests did not ask: 'Where is Jehovah? Those who deal with my Law did not know me. The rulers rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied in the name of Baal and followed things that could not help (profit) them.'

Dress in sackcloth, beat your breasts (mourn), and cry because Jehovah's burning anger has not turned back from us.

Judah, you have as many gods as you have cities. You have set up many altars in Jerusalem to sacrifice to Baal. You have as many detestable altars as there are streets in Jerusalem.'

My tent is destroyed. All the ropes are broken. My children have left me and have disappeared. There is no one to set up my tent again or put up my tent curtains.

Who is the wise man that may understand this? Who is he to whom the mouth of Jehovah has spoken? Let him declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through?

Go over to the coasts of Cyprus (Kittim), and see. Send someone to Kedar and observe closely. See if there has ever been such a thing as this.

Because she was not concerned about her prostitution. She polluted the land and committed adultery with stone and wood.

How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets, who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart?

To whom can I speak and give warning that they may hear? Their ears are closed and they cannot listen. Behold, the word of Jehovah has become a reproach to them. They have no delight in it.

Jehovah says: 'Take heed for yourselves, and do not carry any load on the Sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem.

That is why I will bring charges against you, proclaims Jehovah, and I will bring charges against your grandchildren.

The shepherds are foolish. They do not look to Jehovah for help. That is why they will not succeed and all their flocks will be scattered.

Oh, I am wounded! My wound is serious. Then I thought that this is my punishment, and I will bear it.

They heal the brokenness of the daughter of my people superficially. They say: 'Peace! Peace!' But there is no peace.

Correct me, O Jehovah but please be fair. Do not correct me when you are angry. Otherwise, you will reduce me to nothing.

They will come in from the cities of Judah and from the environs of Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country and from the Negev. They will bring burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings and incense. They will also bring sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of Jehovah.

Jehovah then told me: These are the lies that the prophets are telling in my name: They claim that I sent them. They claim that I commanded them. They claim that I spoke to them. They even dreamed up visions to tell you. Their predictions are worthless! They are the products of their own imagination.

Listen, give heed and do not be haughty (arrogant). Jehovah has spoken.

Be horrified over this, heaven. Be terribly afraid, declares Jehovah.

Why do I suffer constant pain? Why is my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you indeed be to me like a deceptive stream with water that is unreliable?

Why should I not punish the people of Judah? Says Jehovah, Should I take retribution (vengeance)?

Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat flesh.

Go and proclaim this message to the north: 'Come back, unfaithful Israel. It is Jehovah speaking. I will no longer frown on you because I am merciful,' declares Jehovah. 'I will no longer be angry with you.

They think the dreams they tell will make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name and turned to Baal worship.

They are worthless, a work of mockery. In the time of their punishment they will perish.

Jehovah said: They have forsaken the Law I set before them. They have not obeyed my voice nor walked according to it.

They set up their detestable idols in the Temple that is called by my name, and they dishonored it.

Even after all this, Israel's treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart. She was deceitful, says Jehovah.

In that day, declares Jehovah, the king and the officials will lose their courage. The priests will be stunned. The prophets will be amazed and astonished.

I said, Lord Jehovah, you have greatly deceived these people and Jerusalem. You said that everything would go well for them, but a sword is held at their throats (threatens their lives).

But after I have taken them away I will have mercy on them. I will bring each nation back to its own land and to its own country.

I am full of the wrath of Jehovah. I am weary with holding it in. Pour it out on the children in the street and on the gathering of young men together. For both husband and wife will be taken, the aged and the very old.

Should good be repaid with evil? For they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before you to speak good on their behalf. I tried to turn away your wrath from them.

Jehovah spoke his word to me:

Has any nation ever exchanged gods? Their gods are not really gods. Yet my people have exchanged their glory for something that does not help them.

It is said: If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him and marries another man, her first husband should not go back to her again. The land would become completely polluted. You have behaved like a prostitute who has many lovers. Now you want to come back to me! Says Jehovah.

Jehovah said to me: Treacherous Judah was more reprehensible than unfaithful Israel.

They have walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the Baals as their fathers taught them.

Then it will be said to these people and to Jerusalem: A hot wind from the heights will blow in the desert toward my people. It will not be a wind that winnows or cleanses.

Listen house of Israel, Hear the word Jehovah speaks to you.

The house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously with me, says Jehovah.

Return, you disobedient people, proclaims Jehovah. I am your husband. I will take you, one from every city and two from every family, and bring you to Zion.'

Consider what I will do to the house that is called by my name. It is the house in which you trust. It is the place I gave you and your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.

Listen to what I, Jehovah, say! I am against the prophets who tell their dreams that are full of lies. They tell these dreams and lead my people astray with their lies and their boasting. I did not send them or order them to go. They are of no help at all to the people. I Jehovah have spoken!

What right do these people I love have to be in my house when they do so many deceitful things? Can the meat from their sacrifices turn tragedy away from them? They exult (celebrate) when they do evil.

Jehovah revealed their plot to me so that I would understand. He showed me what they were doing.

Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done? They certainly were not ashamed! And they did not know how to blush. For that reason they will fall among those who fall. At the time of their punishment they will be brought down, Says Jehovah.

Therefore Jehovah says: If you return I will restore you. You will stand before me. If you extract the precious from the worthless, you will become my spokesman. They for their part may turn to you. But you must not turn to them.

The report has arrived. Listen! An incredible uproar is coming from the land of the north. Its army will destroy Judah's cities and make them homes for jackals.

Jehovah called you a large olive tree that has fine-looking fruit to look at. He will set fire to you with a mighty lightning storm, and your branches will be broken.

Superficially they have healed the brokenness of my people. They declare: 'Peace! Peace!' But there is no peace.'

I will give you shepherds after my own heart. They will be shepherds who feed (shepherd) (lead) (tend) you with knowledge and understanding (learning) (reasoning) (insight).

This is what Jehovah says: 'If the heavens could be measured or the foundations of the earth could be searched, I would reject all of Israel's descendants because of everything that they have done,' declares Jehovah.

At that time, they will call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah. All nations will gather in Jerusalem because the name of Jehovah will be found there. They will no longer follow their own stubborn, evil ways.

As I live,' says Jehovah, 'even though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a signet ring on my right hand, yet I would pull you off.

Men from Noph (Memphis, capital city of Egypt) and Tahpanhes have shaved the crown of your head, Israel.

The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire. The women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to spite me.

Your own wickedness will correct you. Your apostasies (unfaithful ways) will punish you! You should know and see how evil and bitter it is for you when you abandon Jehovah your God! You do not respect (reverence) me, says the Sovereign Lord Jehovah of Hosts.

I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, all the offspring of Ephraim.

I will surely snatch them away, declares Jehovah. There will be no grapes on the vine and no figs on the fig tree. The leaf will wither and what I have given them will pass away.'

Long ago you broke off your yoke, tore off your bonds, and said that you would not be a slave. You lay down and acted like a prostitute on every high hill and under every large tree.

If I go to the field, I see those killed because of war. If I go to the city, I see those sick because of famine. Prophets and priests wander through a land they have not heard of.'

Are the people of Israel slaves? Were they born into slavery? Why, then, have they become someone's property?

From the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for gain! From the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely!

Their houses, their fields and their wives will be turned over to others. I will stretch out my hand (extend my power) against the inhabitants of the land, declares Jehovah.

The enemy comes up like clouds. His chariots are like a raging wind. His horses are swifter than eagles. How horable it will be for us! We will be destroyed!

Go and announce to Jerusalem, 'This is what Jehovah says: I remember the unfailing loyalty of your youth, the love you had for me as a bride. I remember how you followed me into the desert, into a land that was not sown (farmed).

I planted you like a choice grapevine from the very best seed. Now you have turned against me and have become a wild vine.

O Jehovah of Hosts, you are a fair judge. You test motives and thoughts. I want to see you take revenge on them. For that reason I presented my case to you.

That is what I will teach them. This time I will make my power and my strength known to them. THEN THEY WILL KNOW THAT MY NAME IS JEHOVAH.

They lied about Jehovah. They said: It is not he, bad things will not happen to us. We will not see sword or famine.

In those days you will be fertile, and your population will increase in the land, says Jehovah. Men will no longer talk about the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah. It will no longer come to mind. They will not remember it, miss it, or make another one.

You have done this to yourself by abandoning Jehovah your God when he led you on his way.

Jehovah of Hosts planted you. He has pronounced disaster on you. This is because of the evil things that Israel and Judah have done. They have made him infuriated by burning incense as an offering to Baal.

Jehovah, if I argued my case with you, you would prove to be right. Indeed, I must question you about matters of justice. Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why do dishonest people succeed with impunity?

I will make you a fortified wall of copper to these people. Though they fight against you, they will not prevail over you. For I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares Jehovah.

Admit that you have done wrong! You have rebelled against Jehovah your God. You have given yourself to foreign gods under every large tree. You have not obeyed me,' says Jehovah.

The people's customs are erroneous and empty. It is wood cut from the forest. It is the work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.

I am going to gather the people from all the lands where I scattered them in my anger, fury, and terrifying wrath. I will bring them back to this place and make them live here securely.

Why are you going to Egypt to drink water from the Nile (Shihor) River? You will not gain anything by going to Assyria to drink water from the Euphrates River.

As for you, do not pray for this people. Do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me for I do not hear you.

My sorrow is beyond healing, my heart is faint within me!

This is what Jehovah says: The people of Anathoth want to kill you. They say: Do not prophesy in the name of Jehovah, or we will kill you.

Then the nation of Judah will live with the nation of Israel. They will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave their ancestors as their own inheritance.

Young lions have roared at them. Young lions have turned the land into waste. The cities have been destroyed, without inhabitant.

Are they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They are not even ashamed! Not at all! They do not even know how to blush. Therefore they will fall among those who fall. When I punish them, they will be cast down, says Jehovah.

The valueless gods of the nations cannot make it rain. The skies cannot give showers by themselves. But you can, O Jehovah our God. We hope in you because you do all these things.

If you wash with detergent and use a lot of soap, I would still see the stains from your wickedness, says the Lord Jehovah.

I am bringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel, declares Jehovah. It is an enduring nation. It is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know. You cannot understand (comprehend) (make sense of) what they say.

For the sake of your name, do not despise us. Do not dishonor your glorious throne. Remember your promise to us. Do not break it.

Therefore the Lord Jehovah says: My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and on beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground. It will burn and not be quenched.

I was like an unquestioning lamb brought to the slaughter. I did not know that they were plotting against me. They were saying: Let us destroy the tree with its fruit. Let us cut Jeremiah off from this world of the living so that we will not be reminded of him anymore.

Therefore Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel says: 'Behold! I will feed this people with wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink.'

The prophets are as wind! The word is not in them. Thus it will be done to them!

I wanted to treat you like children and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful property among the nations. I thought you would call me Father and not turn away from me.

Give glory to Jehovah your God before he brings darkness and before your feet stumble on the dusky mountains. You hope for light. He makes it into deep darkness and turns it into gloom.

Say this to them: 'My eyes flow with tears day and night without stopping because my dear people will suffer massive destruction. It will be a very serious blow.

Do not run until your feet are bare and your throats are dry. But you say that it is useless. You love foreign gods and follow them.

Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

Return you backsliding children, and I will forgive you for being unfaithful. See, we have come to you because you are Jehovah our God.

Jehovah spoke his word to Jeremiah about all the people of Judah when Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, was in his fourth year as king. This was the first year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon.

Pour out your fury on the nations who do not know you and on people who do not worship you. They have devoured the descendants of Jacob. They have devoured them completely. They have destroyed their homes.

O my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. My heart pounds in side of me. My heart is pounding! I cannot keep quiet because I hear a ram's horn sounding the alarm for war.

The prophet who has had a dream should say it is only a dream. The prophet who has heard my message should proclaim that message faithfully. What good is chaff compared with wheat? Says Jehovah.

From Dan is heard the snorting of his horses. At the sound of the neighing of his stallions the whole land quakes. For they come and devour the land and its fullness, the city and its inhabitants.

But like a wife who is unfaithful to her husband, so you, O house of Israel, were unfaithful me, says Jehovah.

If any of my people or a prophet or a priest even uses the words: 'Jehovah's infallable utterance,' I will punish them and their families.

I will scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. I will send the sword (violence and warfare) after them until I have annihilated them.'

I gave them this command: 'Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. You will walk in all the way that I command you that it may be well with you.'

Jehovah of Hosts says: 'Consider the mourning women that they may come. Send for the wailing women that they may come!

How can you say, 'I have not been dishonored and have not gone after the Baal gods?' Look how you have behaved in the valley. Acknowledge what you have done. You are like a young camel that swiftly runs here and there.

Why are we sitting still? Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified (mother) cities. Let us perish there, because Jehovah our God has doomed us. He has given us poisoned water to drink, for we have sinned against Jehovah.

They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire. I did not command this. I would never think of such a thing. (It would not come from my heart.)

O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart so that you may be saved. How long will your wicked thoughts lodge within you?

Jehovah is my strength and my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. Nations come to you from the most distant parts of the world and say: Our ancestors have inherited lies, worthless and unprofitable gods.

Jehovah says: Jeremiah, if you get tired racing against people, how can you race against horses? If you cannot even stand up in open country, how will you manage in the thicket by the Jordan?

I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth. It will be a year of punishment. There will be no survivors.

This is what Jehovah of Hosts says: I am going to punish them. The young men will die by the sword because of war. Their sons and daughters will die by famine.

Be circumcised by Jehovah, and get rid of the foreskins of your hearts (cleanse your hearts), people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. If you do not, my fury will blaze like a fire. It will burn, and no one will be able to put it out. This is because of the evil you do.

Harvest is past, summer is ended, and we are not saved.

People of Jerusalem, run through your streets! Look around and see for yourselves! Search the marketplaces! Can you find one person who does what is right and tries to be faithful to God? If you can, Jehovah will forgive Jerusalem.

We waited for peace, but no good came. We waited for a time of healing, but all we got was terror!

Jehovah said: 'Say to them, This is what Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: 'Drink, get drunk, vomit, fall down, and do not get up because of the wars that I am going to send you.'

Therefore, give their children over to famine and deliver them up to the power of the sword. Let their wives become childless and widowed. Let their men also be smitten to death and their young men struck down by the sword in battle.

Jehovah, the God of hosts says: Because you have spoken this word and I am making my words fire in your mouth. This people are wood and will be consumed.

It will be a stronger wind than that. It will come from me. Now, I will pass sentence on them.

A voice is heard on the bare hills. It is the crying and the pleading of the people of Israel. They are perverted and have forgotten Jehovah their God.

You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day nor do any work. You should keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your forefathers.

There is none like you, O Jehovah. You are great and your name is powerful.

The people of Babylon might go up to heaven. They might fortify their strongholds. But destroyers will still come from me against them, declares Jehovah.

You are like a wild donkey accustomed to the desert. You sniff at the wind while in heat. All who seek you will not get tired. They will find you during your monthly period.

As a thief feels ashamed when he is caught, so the nation of Israel will feel ashamed. Their kings, princes, priests, and prophets will also feel ashamed.

Jehovah said to me:

For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.

They are like scarecrows in cucumber fields. They cannot speak. They must be carried, for they cannot walk! Do not fear them! For they can do no harm and they can do no good.

My people are fools. They do not know me. They are stupid people. They do not understand. They are experts in doing wrong, and they do not know how to do good.

Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. It is the work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith. Violet and purple are their clothing. They are all the work of skilled men.

That is why the days are coming, declares Jehovah, when I will punish their idols, and those who are wounded will moan everywhere in the land.

Where are the gods that you made for yourselves? Let them come and rescue you when you have trouble. You have as many gods as you have cities, Judah!

Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician (healer) there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?

Only if this covenant is removed, declares Jehovah, will Israel's descendants stop being a nation in my presence.

Do they spite me? Asks Jehovah. Is it not themselves they spite, to their own shame?

Their quiver is like an open grave. All of them are mighty men.

Jehovah says: If you come back, Israel, if you come back to me, if you take your disgusting idols out of my sight and you do not stray from me,

Lift up your eyes to the bare hills and see. You have had sex with men in every place. You sat by the roadside waiting for them like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled (corrupted) (profaned) the land with your prostitution and wickedness.

Truly the sound from the hills and mountains is the noise of false worship. Truly Jehovah our God will be our salvation.

Therefore Jehovah says: 'I am going to bring a disaster on them that they cannot escape. Although they will cry out to me, I will not listen to them.

You call wood your father. You call stone your mother. You turned your backs, not your faces, to me. But when you are in trouble, you ask me to come and rescue you.

Do you not reverence (respect) me? Asks Jehovah. Do you not tremble [with awe] in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, a permanent barrier it cannot cross. Although the waves toss continuously, they cannot break through. Although they roar, they cannot cross it.

You plant them, and they take root. They grow and bear fruit. You are near their lips, but far from their mind.

There will be no place for the shepherds to flee, no escape for the leaders of the flock.

Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land: Is Jehovah not in Zion? Is her King not within her? Why have they provoked me with their graven images, with foreign idols?

Hear this, you stupid and senseless people! You have eyes, but you cannot see. You have ears, but you cannot hear.'

How long will our land be dry and the grass in every field be withered? Animals and birds are dying because of the wickedness of our people. These people say: God does not see what we are doing.

Accordingly the rain has been withheld, and there have been no spring showers. Yet, you have the unashamed (conspicuous) (impudent) look of a prostitute, and you refuse to be ashamed.

I am sending serpents against you, adders, for which there is no charm. They will bite you, says Jehovah.

If they want to brag, instead let them advocate (glory) (celebrate) that they understand and know me. They should advocate that I, Jehovah, act out of love, righteousness, and justice on the earth. This kind of celebration pleases me, declares Jehovah.

They decorate it with silver and with gold. They fasten it with nails and with hammers so that it will not tip over.

They are very stupid and foolish. They teach vanity to a tree. Their idol is wood!

Flee for safety people of Benjamin. Run from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow a ram's horn in Tekoa and raise a signal over Beth-haccerem. Evil looks down from the north. There is great destruction.

Destruction upon destruction is proclaimed. The whole land is ruined. My tents are suddenly destroyed. Their curtains are torn in an instant.

Who would not respect you, O King of the nations? It is your right! There is none like you among all the wise men of the nations.

I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked. I will redeem you from the grasp of the cruel.

Many foreign rulers have destroyed my vineyard. They trampled down my fields and turned my beautiful land into a desert.

I will bring on you everlasting shame and disgrace that will never be forgotten.'

Yet they did not obey or incline their ear. They walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart. They went backward and not forward.

Jehovah said to me: A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Listen to the word of Jehovah, you women, and open your ears to hear his words. Teach your daughters how to cry. Teach your neighbors funeral songs.

You brought this on yourself. This is your punishment. It is bitter. It breaks your heart.

Jehovah says: I have abandoned Israel. I have rejected my chosen nation. I have given the people I love into the power of their enemies.

They will devour your harvest and your food. They will devour your sons and your daughters. They will devour your flocks and your herds. They will devour your vines and your fig trees. They will demolish with the sword your fortified cities in which you trust.

Jeremiah, ask the prophets: 'What answer did Jehovah give you? What did Jehovah say?'

They went back to the evil ways of their ancestors and refused to obey my words. They followed other gods and worshiped them. The nations of Israel and Judah have rejected the covenant that I made to their ancestors.

Jehovah the God of Israel says, 'Cursed is everyone who does not obey the terms of this covenant.'

Across the entire desert highlands people have come to plunder. Jehovah has sent war to destroy the entire land. No one can live in peace.

Prophets prophesy falsehoods. Priests rule under the prophets' directions, and my people love this. But what will you do when the end comes?'

Ever since we were young, the shameful worship of Baal has taken everything our ancestors worked for, their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters.

Yet they did not obey or incline their ear (pay attention). They walked, each one, in the stubbornness of his evil heart! Therefore I brought on them all the words of the covenant I commanded them to do. But they did not do it.'

If they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink from it, say to them: 'This is what Jehovah of Hosts says: You must drink from it!

We must lie down in our shame and let our humiliation cover us. Ever since we were young, we and our fathers have sinned against Jehovah our God. We have not obeyed Jehovah our God.

They do not say in their hearts, to themselves: 'We should respect Jehovah our God. He sends rain at the right time, the autumn rain and the spring rain. He makes sure that we have harvest seasons.'

Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people as the fruit of their plans. This is because they have not listened to my words, and have rejected my law.

These people are stubborn and rebellious. They have turned aside and departed from me.

A message is heard from Dan. A report of disaster comes from the mountains of Ephraim.

But, you know me, Jehovah. You see what I do and how in my heart I love you. Drag them away like sheep to be butchered. Guard them until it is time for them to be slaughtered.

It is the covenant I made with their ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt. Egypt was like an iron smelter (furnace) to them. I told them to obey me and to do everything that I commanded. I told them that if they obeyed, they would be my people and I would be their God.

Jehovah said to me: Go to the cities of Judah and to the streets of Jerusalem. Proclaim my message there and tell the people: 'Listen to the terms of the covenant and obey them.'

Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.

have turned their backs, not their faces to me. I taught them again and again, but they refused to listen and learn.

I solemnly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up from the land of Egypt. Even to this day I persistently warned them, saying: 'Listen to my voice.'

Then I would keep the promise I made to their ancestors that I would give them the rich and fertile land which they now have.'' I answered: Amen (Yes) Jehovah.

Warn the nations about this. Tell it to Jerusalem. Hostile troops are coming from a distant country. They shout battle cries against the cities of Judah.

This is what Jehovah says: 'As I brought all these disasters on these people, so I will bring on them all these blessings that I have promised them.

Listen to the terms of the covenant. Tell the people of Judah and of Jerusalem:

then there will come in through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David. They will ride in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. This city will be inhabited for a very long time.

Even storks know when it is time to return. Mourning doves, swallows (swifts), and cranes know when it is time to migrate. But my people do not know that I, Jehovah, am urging them to return.

Let them hurry and take up a wailing for us. Let our eyes shed tears and our eyelids flow with water.

They surround Judah like men guarding a field, because Judah has rebelled against me, declares Jehovah.

In the valley of Ben Hinnom they built worship sites for Baal to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech. I did not ask them to do this. It never entered my heart (mind). I did not make Judah sin.'

Wicked men are found among my people. They lie in ambush like bird catchers. They set traps and catch men.

My chosen people have turned against me. Like a lion in the forest they have roared at me, and so I hate them.

They made it a wasteland. It lies desolate before me. The whole land has become a desert, and no one cares.

Yet even in those days, says Jehovah, I will not make you a complete destruction.

Even your relatives, members of your own family, have betrayed you. They join in the attacks against you. Do not trust them, even though they speak friendly words.

Then says: 'Jehovah, you have threatened to destroy this place so that no person or animal will live here. It will become a permanent ruin.'

Something horrible and disgusting is happening in the land.

Why do you complain about me? You have rebelled against me, proclaims Jehovah.

My chosen people are like a bird attacked from all sides by hawks. Call the wild animals to come and join in the feast!

Your wickedness has turned these things away. Your sins have kept good things away from you.

The earth will mourn, and the sky will grow black. I have spoken, and I have determined it. I will not change my plans, and I will not turn back!

I have made you an assayer and a tester among my people. You will know and assay their course of life.

Like cages filled with birds, their houses are filled with deceit. That is why they become powerful and rich.

For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken. I mourn and dismay has taken hold of me.

Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Amend (make right) your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place.

You are going to be destroyed! What are you going to do? Why do you dress in scarlet (crimson) and put on gold jewelry? Why do you wear eye shadow? You are making yourself beautiful for nothing. Your lovers despise you. They want to kill you.

They will ask: 'Why has Jehovah our God done all this to us?' Answer them: You have abandoned me and served foreign gods in your land. So you will serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.'

How long must I see the battle flag and hear the sound of rams' horns?

A measuring line will stretch from there straight to the Hill of Gareb, and then it will turn to Goah.

Jehovah says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem: Break up your unplowed fields, and do not plant among thorns.

I set watchmen over you. I said: 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet! But they said: 'We will not listen!'

If you will not listen, I will cry secretly over your arrogance. I will cry bitterly, and my eyes will flow with tears because Jehovah's flock will be taken captive.

Jehovah says: Behold, a people is coming from the northland! A great nation will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth.

Therefore, Jehovah says: I am laying stumbling blocks before this people. They will stumble against them, Fathers and sons together; Neighbors and friends will perish.

Declare this to the house of Jacob, and make this heard in Judah:

if you take the oath, as Jehovah lives in an honest, fair, and right way, then the nations will be blessed, and in him they will glory.

They grow big and fat. Their evil deeds have no limits. They have no respect for the rights of others. They have no respect for the rights of orphans. But they still prosper. They do not defend the rights of the poor.

Say to them: 'This is what Jehovah says: When someone falls, he gets back up. When someone turns away from me, he returns.'

I paid attention and listened, but they were not honest. They do not turn away from their wickedness. They do not ask: 'What have we done?' They go their own ways like horses charging into battle.'

Do not trust in deceptive words. They say: 'This is the Temple of Jehovah, the Temple of Jehovah, and the Temple of Jehovah.

Jehovah looks for faithfulness. He struck you, but you paid no attention. He crushed you, but you refused to learn. You were stubborn and would not turn from your sins.

O my people put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn as for an only son, a lamentation most bitter. For suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

But it will come about, if you listen attentively to me, declares Jehovah, to bring no load in through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but to keep the Sabbath day holy by doing no work on it,

I will destroy the beautiful and luxurious one, the daughter of Zion.

Even though you claim to worship Jehovah, you do not mean what you say.

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

The sons of Judah have done what is evil in my sight, declares Jehovah. They placed their detestable things in the house called by my name, to defile it.

Arise, and let us attack at night and destroy her palaces!

Cut off your hair and cast it away. Take up a cry of sorrow and grief on the bare heights. Jehovah has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.'

They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon, and all the stars in the sky. These are the things that they had loved, served, gone after, sought, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered or buried, but they will become manure on the ground.

Yet You, O Jehovah, know all their deadly designs against me. Do not forgive their iniquity or blot out their sin from your sight. But may they be overthrown before you. Deal with them in the time of your anger!

All the people in the city will flee at the sound of riders and archers. They will go off into the thickets and climb among the rocks. The entire city will be abandoned. No one will live in it.

A voice of wailing is heard from Zion: How we are ruined! We are put to great shame for we have left the land, because they have cast down our dwellings.

We have heard the report! Our hands are limp. Anguish has seized us! We have pain like a woman in childbirth.

I see the mountains. They tremble and the hills sway.

They seize bow and spear. They are cruel and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses. They are arrayed as a man for the battle against you, O daughter of Zion!

Let an outcry be heard from their houses when you suddenly bring raiders upon them. For they have dug a pit to capture me and hidden snares for my feet.

You have said this about the city: Because of wars, famines, and plagues it will be handed over to the king of Babylon. Jehovah the God of Israel says:

Jehovah says: At that time the bones of the kings and the leaders of Judah, the bones of the priests and the prophets, and the bones of the others who lived in Jerusalem will be taken out of their graves.

Since the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all my servants the prophets, daily rising early and sending them.

For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor,

I will punish them for these things, declares Jehovah. I will punish these people!

Jehovah says: The whole earth will be ruined, although I will not entirely destroy it.

I see that the fertile land has become a desert. Its cities are torn down because of Jehovah and his burning anger.

I will punish Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, and Moab. I will punish all who shave the hair on their foreheads or live in the desert. Even though all these nations are uncircumcised, all Israel has uncircumcised hearts.

Stand at the gate of Jehovah's house and proclaim there this word: 'Hear the word of Jehovah, all you of Judah who enter by these gates to worship Jehovah!

Jehovah of Hosts says: Cut down trees and build up a siege against Jerusalem. This city should be punished, for there is only oppression in her.

Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear. Instead they stiffened their neck (became stubborn). They did more evil than their fathers.

Then the few who remain from these wicked people will want to die rather than live where I will scatter them, declares Jehovah of Hosts.

I will go to the great men (leaders) and talk with them. Surely they know what their God requires, what Jehovah wants them to do. But all of them have rejected Jehovah's authority and refuse to obey him.

Do not go out into the field. Do not walk on the road. The enemy has a sword and terror is on every side.

I see that there are no people, and every bird has flown away.

The people of Jerusalem turned away from me without ever returning. They still cling to deceit. They refuse to return.

This is what Jehovah says: 'A sound is heard in Ramah, the sound of crying in bitter grief. Rachel is crying for her children. She refuses to be comforted, because they are dead.'

You will say to them: 'This is the nation that did not obey the voice of Jehovah their God or accept correction. Truth has perished and truth has been removed from their mouth.

Prepare for war against her. Arise, and let us attack at noon. Woe to us, for the day declines (is nearly over), for the shadows of the evening lengthen!

if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin,

They call them rejected silver, for Jehovah has rejected them.

Jehovah says: 'I will punish Shemaiah from Nehelam. I will also punish his descendants. No one from his family will be left alive. He will not see the blessings that I am going to send my people,' declares Jehovah, 'because he has encouraged rebellion against Jehovah.''

They bend their tongue like their bow. Lies and not truth prevail in the land. They move from evil to evil. They do not know me, says Jehovah.

Can people make gods for themselves? They are not really gods!

Shepherds and their flocks will come to her. They will pitch their tents around her. They will pasture each in his place.

My people have done two things wrong: (l) They have abandoned me, the fountain (source) of living waters. They have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. (Revelation 4:11)

Death has come through our windows and entered our palaces. Death has cut down the children in the streets and the young men in the market places.

then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land I gave to your fathers from generation to generation and for a very long time.'

No longer will each person teach his neighbors or his relatives by saying: 'Know Jehovah.' All of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me, declares Jehovah. I will forgive their wickedness and I will no longer hold (remember) their sins against them.

All of them are stubborn rebels. They go about telling false stories. They are copper and iron. They are all corrupt, all of them!

The bellows blow fiercely and the fire consumes the lead. The refining goes on in vain, but the wicked are not separated.

The time is coming, declares Jehovah, when the city will be rebuilt for me from the Tower of Hananel to Corner Gate.

Ah Lord Jehovah! You have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for you.

Yet they did not listen or incline their ears. They stiffened their necks in order not to listen or take correction.

How terrible that day will be! There will be no other day like it. It will be a time of calamity for the descendants of Jacob, but they will be rescued from it.

I thought: These are only the poor and ignorant. They are foolish. They do not know what their God requires, what Jehovah wants them to do.

Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me and I will hear you.

This is what Jehovah says: Dead bodies will fall like manure on the field. They will be like grain that has been cut but not gathered.'

You will speak all these words to them. But they will not listen to you. You will call them but they will not answer you.

As I live, says Jehovah, I will hand you over to those who want to kill you, those you fear, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Babylonians.

Say to the king and his mother: Come down from your thrones, because your crowns have fallen off your heads.

The days are coming, proclaims Jehovah, when I will punish all who are circumcised [only in the flesh]. Yet they are not circumcised [in the heart].

I am a God who is near, declares Jehovah. I am not a God far off!

The whole valley is filled with its dead bodies and ashes. The entire area to the Kidron Valley, as far as the corner of Horse Gate in the east, will be holy to Jehovah. It will never be uprooted or torn down again.

Behold! I am Jehovah the God of all humanity. Nothing is too hard for me.

I am also against those prophets, says Jehovah, They speak their own words and claim they came from me!

The prophets and priests are godless. Even in my Temple I have found them doing evil, declares Jehovah.

I wish I had a dwelling in the desert. I would abandon my people and go away from them. They are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor. Do not trust any brother because every brother deals craftily (cunningly), and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.

If you do not listen to me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying a load and coming in through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem. And it will not be quenched.'

Jehovah said to me: Jeremiah, when one of my people or a prophet or a priest asks you, what is Jehovah's message? You are to say: 'You are a burden to Jehovah, and he is going to get rid of you.'

This is what Jehovah says: Do not learn the practices of the nations. Do not be frightened by the signs in the sky because they frighten the nations.

I will restore your health and heal your wounds, proclaims Jehovah. People call you an outcast: 'Zion, no one cares for you.'