But our tents have been destroyed. The ropes that held them in place have been ripped apart. Our children are gone and are not coming back. There is no survivor to put our tents back up, no one left to hang their tent curtains in place.

Chastise me, Yahweh, but in moderation, not in your anger, lest you eradicate me.

But they did not obey and they did not incline their ear. Instead each one walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore, I brought on them all the words of this covenant which I commanded [them] to do, and they did not [do it].'"

Therefore thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and they shall cry unto me, but I will not hearken unto them.

Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods [to] whom they [are] making smoke offerings, but they will certainly not save them in the time of their trouble.

But pray not thou for this people; bid neither praise nor prayer for them. For though they cry unto me in their trouble, yet will I not hear them.

I, the Lord, once called you a thriving olive tree, one that produced beautiful fruit. But I will set you on fire, fire that will blaze with a mighty roar. Then all your branches will be good for nothing.

But, Yahweh of hosts, who planted thee hath pronounced against thee calamity, - on account of the wickedness of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah which they have wrought for themselves, provoking me to anger by burning incense to Baal.

But I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me,'saying , Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.

But Yahweh of hosts, who judges [in] righteousness, who tests [the] {inmost being}, and [the] {mind}, let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have revealed my legal case.

You are righteous, LORD, even when I bring a complaint to you. But I want to discuss justice with you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper, while all who are treacherous are at ease?

Not only do you plant them, they take root. They grow, but also they produce fruit. You [are] near in their mouths, but far from their {inmost beings}.

But you, Yahweh, you know me, you see me, and you test [that] my heart [is] with you. Tear them apart like sheep for [the] slaughtering, and set them apart for [the] day of slaughter.

[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?

The people I call my own attack me like birds of prey or like hyenas. But other birds of prey are all around them. Let all the nations gather together like wild beasts. Let them come and destroy these people I call my own.

They have made it a desolation. Desolate, it mourns to me. All the land is made desolate, but there is no person taking [it] to heart.

They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the LORD.

But after I have uprooted the people of those nations, I will relent and have pity on them. I will restore the people of each of those nations to their own lands and to their own country.

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

But if they do not listen, then {I will completely uproot and destroy that nation}." {declares} Yahweh.

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

So I went to the Euphrates and dug up the underwear and got it from the place where I had hidden it, but it was ruined—of no use at all.

For as the loincloth clings to [the] loins of a person, so I caused to cling to me all the house of Israel and all the house of Judah,' {declares} Yahweh, 'to be for me a people, and a name, and a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.'

And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, says the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.

Give glory to Yahweh your God {before} he brings darkness, and {before} your feet stumble on the mountains at twilight. And you will hope for light, but he makes it as gloom, he makes [it] as thick darkness.

But if you will not listen to it, my inner self will weep in secret places, because of {the presence of} [your] pride. And my eyes will weep bitterly, and they will melt [in] tears, because the flock of Yahweh has been taken captive.

But if thou say in thy heart, Wherefore have these things befallen me? For the greatness of thine iniquity have Thy skirts been turned aside Thy heels suffered violence!

But there is little hope for you ever doing good, you who are so accustomed to doing evil. Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin? Can a leopard remove its spots?

The leading men of the cities send their servants for water. They go to the cisterns, but they do not find any water there. They return with their containers empty. Disappointed and dismayed, they bury their faces in their hands.

"Doubtless our own wickedness reward us: But LORD do thou according to thy name, though our transgressions and sins be many.

Why are you like a man surprised, like a man of war who is not able to give help? but you, O Lord, are with us, and we are named by your name; do not go away from us.

Although they fast, I [am] not listening to their cry of entreaty. And although they present burnt offering and grain offering, I [am] not favorable to them. But by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague, I [am] about to destroy them."

Then I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh, look, the prophets [are] saying to them, 'You will not see [the] sword, and famine will not be yours, but reliable peace I will give to you in this place.'"

But the Lord said to me, “These prophets are prophesying a lie in My name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, worthless divination, the deceit of their own minds.

I did not send those prophets, though they claim to be prophesying in my name. They may be saying, 'No war or famine will happen in this land.' But I, the Lord, say this about them: 'War and starvation will kill those prophets.'

If I go out into the field, I see those slain by the sword! If I go into the city, I see the ravages of the famine! Indeed, both prophet and priest ply their trade in the land, but they don't know anything.'"

Have you completely rejected Judah? Or has your soul loathed Zion? Why have you struck us so that there is no healing for us? We hope for peace, but there is no good, and for a time of healing, but look, there is terror.

Sorrow is mine, my mother, because you have given birth to me, a cause of fighting and argument in all the earth! I have not made men my creditors and I am not in debt to any, but every one of them is cursing me.

Your wealth and your treasures I will give for prey, not for price, but for all your sins, even in all your borders.

But to me your word is a joy, making my heart glad; for I am named by your name, O Lord God of armies.

I dwell not among the council of scorners, neither is my delight therein: but I dwell only in the fear of thy hand, for thou hast filled me with bitterness.

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

Therefore thus saith Jehovah, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, that thou mayest stand before me; and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: they shall return unto thee, but thou shalt not return unto them.

And I will make you to this people a wall of fortified bronze, and they will fight against you, but they will not prevail over you, for I [am] with you, to save you, and to deliver you," {declares} Yahweh.

They shall die grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as refuse upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their dead bodies shall be food for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

Then you are to say to them, ‘It is because your forefathers have forsaken Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and have followed other gods and served them and bowed down to them; but Me they have forsaken and have not kept My law.

Therefore lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh, When it shall be said no more By the life of Yahweh, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but -

{but only} "{As Yahweh lives}, who led up the {Israelites} from [the] land of [the] north, and from all the lands where he had driven them," for I will bring them back to their ground that I gave to their ancestors.

But for now I, the Lord, say: "I will send many enemies who will catch these people like fishermen. After that I will send others who will hunt them out like hunters from all the mountains, all the hills, and the crevices in the rocks.

But first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double, because they have profaned my land with the carcases of their detestable things, and with their abominations have they filled mine inheritance.

O Jehovah, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of affliction, unto thee shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Our fathers have inherited nought but lies, even vanity and things wherein there is no profit.

Can one make gods for himself?
But they are not gods.

For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited.

For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreadeth out its roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat cometh, but its leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

Like the partridge, getting eggs together but not producing young, is a man who gets wealth but not by right; before half his days are ended, it will go from him, and at his end he will be foolish.

But thou, O LORD, whose throne is most glorious, excellent and of most antiquity, which dwellest in the place of our holy rest:

But I, I have not run away from being a shepherd {who follows you}, and I have not desired the disastrous day. You, you know the pronouncement of my lips, it was before your face.

Let my persecutors be put to shame, {but as for me}, [do] not let me be put to shame. Let them be dismayed, {but as for me}, [do] not let me be dismayed. Bring on them the day of disaster, and [with] double destruction, destroy them.

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

But they hearkened not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, and might not receive instruction.

"And it will happen, if you carefully listen to me," {declares} Yahweh, "to bring no burden through the gates of this city on the day of the Sabbath, but to declare holy the day of Sabbath, not to do on it any work,

But if you do not listen to me, to declare holy the day of the Sabbath, and to not carry a burden and enter through the gates of Jerusalem on the day of the Sabbath, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it will not be quenched." '"

But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.

But [if] that nation turns back from its evil that I have threatened against it, then I will relent concerning the disaster that I planned to do to it.

But [if] it does evil in my sight, to not listen to my voice, then I will relent concerning the good that I said I would do [to] it.

But they will say, '[It is] hopeless, for we will go after our [own] plans, and each one of us will act [according to] the stubbornness of his evil heart.'

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!

But my people have forgotten me. They make smoke offerings to the idols, and they caused them to stumble in their ways, [the] ancient ways, to go [into] {bypaths}, not [one that] is built up.

With an East wind will I scatter them, before their enemies. And when their destruction cometh, I will turn my back upon them, but not my face."

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

"{Therefore} look, days [are] about to come," {declares} Yahweh, "when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, {but} the Valley of the Slaughter.

{And then} on the next day, when Pashhur brought Jeremiah out from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, "Yahweh will not call your name Pashhur, {but} Terror From All Around.

But as for thee, O Pashhur, thou shalt be carried unto Babylon with all thine household, and to Babylon shalt thou come, where thou shalt die, and be buried: thou and all thy favorers, to whom thou hast preached lies."

[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.

But [if] I say, "I will not mention him and I will no longer speak in his name," then it becomes in my heart like a fire burning, locked up in my bones, and I struggle to contain [it], and I am not able.

But Yahweh [is] with me like a powerful warrior. {Therefore} my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail. They will be very ashamed, for they will not achieve success. [Their] {everlasting insult} will not be forgotten.

But, O Jehovah of hosts, that triest the righteous, that seest the heart and the mind, let me see thy vengeance on them; for unto thee have I revealed my cause.

But let that man be like the cities
Which the Lord overthrew without relenting,
And let him hear an outcry in the morning
And a shout of alarm at noon;

because he slew me not, as soon as I came out of my mother's womb, and because my mother was not my grave herself, that the birth might not have come out, but remained still in her.

But Jeremiah answered, “This is what you are to say to Zedekiah:

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

He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he that goeth out, and passeth over to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey.

For I, the Lord, say that I am determined not to deliver this city but to bring disaster on it. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon and he will destroy it with fire.'"

But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, says the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in its forest, and it shall devour all things round about it.

Thus said Jehovah, Do ye judgment and justice, and deliver him taken by force, from the hand of him oppressing: ye shall not be violent, ye shall not oppress the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, and ye shall not pour but innocent blood in this place.

But if you do not obey these words, I swear by myself," {declares} Yahweh, "that this house will become a site of ruins." '"

For this is what the Lord has said about the family of the king of Judah: You are Gilead to me, and the top of Lebanon: but, truly, I will make you waste, with towns unpeopled.

Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him; but weep sore for him that goeth away; for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.

"'For the Lord has spoken about Shallum son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah but was carried off into exile. He has said, "He will never return to this land.

But in [the] place where they have deported him, there he will die, and he will not see this land again.

Yea when he helped the oppressed and poor to their right, then prospered he well. From whence came this? But only because he had me before his eyes, sayeth the LORD.

"But there is nothing [in] your eyes and your heart {except} your unlawful gain, and on shedding the blood of the innocent, and on committing oppression and extortion."

But as an Ass shall he be buried corrupt, and be cast without the gates of Jerusalem.

I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice.

You may feel as secure as a bird nesting in the cedars of Lebanon. But oh how you will groan when the pains of judgment come on you. They will be like those of a woman giving birth to a baby.

But to the land whereunto their soul longeth to return, thither shall they not return.

The Lord says, "The leaders of my people are sure to be judged. They were supposed to watch over my people like shepherds watch over their sheep. But they are causing my people to be destroyed and scattered.

but '{As Yahweh lives}, who led up, and who brought the offspring of the house of Israel from [the] land [of the] north and from all the lands where he had driven them.' Then they will live in their land."

But I see the prophets of Jerusalem doing something just as shocking. They are unfaithful to me and continually prophesy lies. So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil, with the result that they do not stop their evildoing. I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom, and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah.

“But who has stood in the council of the Lord,
That he should see and hear His word?
Who has given heed to His word and listened?