My tent hath been spoiled, And all my cords have been broken, My sons have gone out from me, and they are not, There is none stretching out any more my tent, And raising up my curtains.

For the keepers of the sheep have become like beasts, not looking to the Lord for directions: so they have not done wisely and all their flocks have been put to flight.

The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying:

That I commanded your fathers, In the day of My bringing them out from the land of Egypt, Out of the iron furnace, saying, Hearken to My voice, and ye have done them, According to all that I command you, And ye have been to Me for a people, And I am to you for God,

Then the Lord said to me, “A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Then the towns of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go crying for help to the gods to whom they have been burning perfumes: but they will give them no salvation in the time of their trouble.

For -- the number of thy cities have been thy gods, O Judah, And -- the number of the streets of Jerusalem Ye have placed altars to a shameful thing, Altars to make perfume to Baal.

You had been named by the Lord, A branching olive-tree, fair with beautiful fruit: with the noise of a great rushing he has put it on fire and its branches are broken.

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."

Righteous, art thou O Yahweh, when I present my pleading unto thee, - Yet, concerning the things that are right, let me speak with thee, - Wherefore hath, the way of the lawless, prospered? Wherefore have all, utter traitors, been at ease?

They have been planted by you, they have taken root; they go on and give fruit: you are near in their mouths but far from their thoughts.

How long is the land to mourn
And the vegetation of the countryside to wither?
For the wickedness of those who dwell in it,
Animals and birds have been snatched away,
Because men have said, “He will not see our latter ending.”

For even your brothers, your father's family, even they have been untrue to you, crying loudly after you: have no faith in them, though they say fair words to you.

My heritage has become like a lion in the woodland to me; her voice has been loud against me; so I have hate for her.

The keepers of sheep have been the destruction of my vine-garden, crushing my heritage under their feet; they have made my fair heritage an unplanted waste;

“They have made it a wasteland,
Desolate, it mourns before Me;
The whole land has been made a wasteland,
Because no man takes it to heart.

They sowed wheat, and have thorns reaped, They have become sick -- they profit not, And they have been ashamed of your increases, Because of the fierceness of the anger of Jehovah.

"I, the Lord, also have something to say concerning the wicked nations who surround my land and have attacked and plundered the land that I gave to my people as a permanent possession. I say: 'I will uproot the people of those nations from their lands and I will free the people of Judah who have been taken there.

And it will come about that, after they have been uprooted, I will again have pity on them; and I will take them back, every man to his heritage and every man to his land.

And it will be that, if they give their minds to learning the ways of my people, using my name in their oaths, By the living Lord; as they have been teaching my people to take oaths by the Baal; then their place will be made certain among my people.

However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

and I go to Phrat, and dig, and take the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and lo, the girdle hath been marred, it is not profitable for anything.

But if you will not listen and obey,
My soul will weep in secret for your pride;
My eyes will weep bitterly
And flow with tears,
Because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.

The cities of the South (the Negev) have been closed up,
And there is no one to open them;
All Judah has been carried into exile,
Completely carried away into exile.

You will probably ask yourself, 'Why have these things happened to me? Why have I been treated like a disgraced adulteress whose skirt has been torn off and her limbs exposed?' It is because you have sinned so much.

Is it possible for the skin of the Ethiopian to be changed, or the markings on the leopard? Then it might be possible for you to do good, who have been trained to do evil.

This is your lot,
what I have decreed for you—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
because you have forgotten Me
and trusted in Falsehood.

Therefore, even I myself, have drawn away thy skirts, over thy face, And thy shame hath been seen,

That which hath been the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah concerning the matters of the dearths:

“Their nobles have sent their servants for water;
They have come to the cisterns and found no water.
They have returned with their vessels empty;
They have been put to shame and humiliated,
And they cover their heads.

They are dismayed because the ground is cracked because there has been no rain in the land. The farmers, too, are dismayed and bury their faces in their hands.

For even the hind in the field hath brought forth -- to forsake it! For there hath been no grass.

And wild asses have stood on high places, They have swallowed up wind like dragons, Consumed have been their eyes, for there is no herb.

“Although our iniquities testify against us,
O Lord, act for Your name’s sake!
Truly our apostasies have been many,
We have sinned against You.

You have been the object of Israel's hopes. You have saved them when they were in trouble. Why have you become like a resident foreigner in the land? Why have you become like a traveler who only stops in to spend the night?

Wherefore, shouldst thou be as a man astounded, As a mighty man who cannot save? Yet, thou, art in our midst - O Yahweh And, thy Name, on us, hath been called Do not abandon us!

This is what the Lord has said about this people: Even so they have been glad to go from the right way; they have not kept their feet from wandering, so the Lord has no pleasure in them; now he will keep their wrongdoing in mind and send punishment for their sins.

And the people to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword; and they will have no one to bury them—neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters. For I will pour out their [own] wickedness on them [and not only on the imposters posing as prophets, for the people could not have been deceived without their own consent].

“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.

If I go out into the countryside, I see those who have been killed in battle. If I go into the city, I see those who are sick because of starvation. For both prophet and priest go about their own business in the land without having any real understanding.'"

Lord, we confess that we have been wicked. We confess that our ancestors have done wrong. We have indeed sinned against you.

Thou -- thou hast left Me -- an affirmation of Jehovah, Backward thou goest, And I stretch out My hand against thee, And I destroy thee, I have been weary of repenting,

And I have sent a cleaning wind on them in the public places of the land; I have taken their children from them; I have given my people to destruction; they have not been turned from their ways.

Its widows have been more to Me than the sand of the seas, I brought in to them -- against the mother -- A young man -- a spoiler -- at noon. I caused to fall upon her suddenly, wrath and trouble.

“She who has borne seven [sons] languishes;
She has breathed out her soul.
Her sun has set while it was still day;
She has been shamed and humiliated.
So I will hand over [the rest of] the survivors to the sword
Before their enemies,” says the Lord.

“Then I will cause your enemies to bring it
Into a land you do not know;
For a fire has been kindled in My anger,
It will burn upon you.”

I said, "Lord, you know how I suffer. Take thought of me and care for me. Pay back for me those who have been persecuting me. Do not be so patient with them that you allow them to kill me. Be mindful of how I have put up with their insults for your sake.

Your words were found and I ate them,
And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart;
For I have been called by Your name,
O Lord God of hosts.

Why has my pain been perpetual
And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
Will You indeed be to me like a deceptive stream
With water that is unreliable?

Because of this, the Lord said, "You must repent of such words and thoughts! If you do, I will restore you to the privilege of serving me. If you say what is worthwhile instead of what is worthless, I will again allow you to be my spokesman. They must become as you have been. You must not become like them.

Then I will make you a fortified wall of bronze
to this people.
They will fight against you
but will not overcome you,
for I am with you
to save you and deliver you.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Of painful deaths they die, They are not lamented, nor are they buried, For dung on the face of the ground they are, And by sword and by famine are consumed, And their carcase hath been for food To the fowl of the heavens, And to the beast of the earth.

For mine own eyes are upon all their ways, they have not been hid from my face - neither hath their iniquity been concealed from being straight before mine eyes.

And he hath been as a naked thing in a desert, And doth not see when good cometh, And hath inhabited parched places in a wilderness, A salt land, and not inhabited.

Blessed is the man who trusteth in Jehovah, And whose confidence hath been Jehovah.

And hath been as a tree planted by waters, And by a rivulet he sendeth forth his roots, And he doth not see when heat cometh, And his leaf hath been green, And in a year of dearth he is not sorrowful, Nor doth he cease from making fruit.

As a partridge gathereth eggs she did not lay, So is he that maketh riches but not with justice, - In the midst of his days, shall he leave them, And in his latter end, prove to have been base.

Then I said, "Lord, from the very beginning you have been seated on your glorious throne on high. You are the place where we can find refuge.

As for me, I have not said; Let the day of trouble come to them quickly; and I have not been hoping for the death-giving day; you have knowledge of what came from my lips; it was open before you.

And it hath been, if ye certainly hearken unto Me, An affirmation of Jehovah, So as not to bring in a burden By the gates of this city on the day of rest, And to sanctify the day of rest, So as not to do in it any work --

The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,

So now, tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem this: The Lord says, 'I am preparing to bring disaster on you! I am making plans to punish you. So, every one of you, stop the evil things you have been doing. Correct the way you have been living and do what is right.'

Therefore, the Lord says, "Ask the people of other nations whether they have heard of anything like this. Israel should have been like a virgin. But she has done something utterly revolting!

‘Yet My people have forgotten Me;
They burn incense to worthless gods,
They have stumbled from their ways
From the ancient roads,
To walk in pathways,
Not on a highway,

The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like this place, Topheth, all the houses on whose rooftops incense has been burned to all the host of heaven (sun, moon, stars), and where drink offerings have been poured out to other gods.”’”

"Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon every town about it, all the plagues that I have devised against them: for they have been obstinate, and would not obey my warnings."

O Lord, you have been false to me, and I was tricked; you are stronger than I, and have overcome me: I have become a thing to be laughed at all the day, everyone makes sport of me.

Because from the time I speak I cry out, 'Violence and destruction,' I cry, For the word of Jehovah hath been to me For reproach and for derision all the day.

And I said, 'I do not mention Him, Nor do I speak any more in His name,' And it hath been in my heart As a burning fire shut up in my bones, And I have been weary of containing, And I am not able.

And Jehovah is with me, as a terrible mighty one, Therefore my persecutors stumble and prevail not, They have been exceedingly ashamed, For they have not acted wisely, Confusion age-during is not forgotten.

Cursed be the man who made my father very glad when he brought him the news that a baby boy had been born to him!

Then hath that man been as the cities, That Jehovah overthrew, and repented not, And he hath heard a cry at morning, And a shout at time of noon.

Because he did not kill me before my birth,
So that my mother might have been my grave,
And her womb always pregnant.

Why did I ever come forth from the womb
To look on trouble and sorrow,
So that my days have been spent in shame?

The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, in the king Zedekiah's sending unto him Pashhur son of Malchiah, and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,

Whoso is abiding in this city -- dieth, By sword, and by famine, and by pestilence, And whoso is going forth, And hath fallen unto the Chaldeans, Who are laying siege against you -- liveth, And his life hath been to him for a spoil.

O royal family descended from David. The Lord says: 'See to it that people each day are judged fairly. Deliver those who have been robbed from those who oppress them. Otherwise, my wrath will blaze out against you. It will burn like a fire that cannot be put out because of the evil that you have done.

Beware! I am against you,
you who sit above the valley,
you atop the rocky plateau—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
you who say, “Who can come down against us?
Who can enter our hiding places?”

I will punish you according to what you have done—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
I will kindle a fire in its forest
that will consume everything around it.’”

The Lord says, "Do what is just and right. Deliver those who have been robbed from those who oppress them. Do not exploit or mistreat foreigners who live in your land, children who have no fathers, or widows. Do not kill innocent people in this land.

"'For the Lord says concerning the palace of the king of Judah, "This place looks like a veritable forest of Gilead to me. It is like the wooded heights of Lebanon in my eyes. But I swear that I will make it like a wilderness whose towns have all been deserted.

He took up the case of the poor and needy,
then it went well.
Is this not what it means to know Me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.

People of Jerusalem, go up to Lebanon and cry out in mourning. Go to the land of Bashan and cry out loudly. Cry out in mourning from the mountains of Moab. For your allies have all been defeated.

“I spoke to you in your [times of] prosperity,
But you said, ‘I will not listen!’
This has been your attitude and practice from your youth;
You have not obeyed My voice.

O dweller in Lebanon, making a nest among cedars, How gracious hast thou been when pangs come to thee, Pain -- as of a travailing woman.

“Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered jar?
Or is he an undesirable vessel?
Why have he and his descendants been hurled out
And cast into a land that they had not known?

And I do gather the remnant of My flock Out of all the lands whither I drove them, And have brought them back unto their fold, And they have been fruitful, and multiplied.

In reference to the prophets: Broken hath been my heart in my midst, Fluttered have all my bones, I have been as a man -- a drunkard, And as a man -- wine hath passed over him, Because of Jehovah, and of His holy words.

For of adulterers hath the land been full, For because of these hath the land mourned, Dried up hath been the pleasant places of the wilderness, And their course is evil, and their might -- not right.

For both prophet and priest have been profane, Yea, in My house I found their wickedness, An affirmation of Jehovah.

And in prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing, Committing adultery, and walking falsely, Yea, they strengthened the hands of evil doers, So that they have not turned back Each from his wickedness, They have been to me -- all of them -- as Sodom, And its inhabitants as Gomorrah.

But if they had been in my secret, then they would have made my people give ear to my words, turning them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.

My ears have been open to what the prophets have said, who say false words in my name, saying, I have had a dream, I have had a dream, I have had a dream,

And you will no longer put people in mind of the word of weight of the Lord: for every man's word will be a weight on himself; for the words of the living God, of the Lord of armies, our God, have been twisted by you

Yahweh shewed me, and lo! two baskets of figs, which had been set before the temple of Yahweh, - after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive, Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the princes of Judah and the carpenters and the smiths out of Jerusalem, and had brought them into Babylon: -

And have given to them a heart to know Me, For I am Jehovah, And they have been to Me for a people, And I am to them for God, For they turned back unto Me with all their heart.

The word that hath been unto Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, -- it is the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, --

"For the last twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon was ruling in Judah until now, the Lord has been speaking to me. I told you over and over again what he said. But you would not listen.

And the Lord has sent to you all his servants the prophets, getting up early and sending them; but you have not given attention and your ear has not been open to give hearing;

And all this land hath been for a waste, for an astonishment, and these nations have served the king of Babylon seventy years.