So I said, "Oh, my dear people, put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with painful sobs as though you had lost your only child. For any moment now that destructive army will come against us."

"I have made you an assayer among my people, a fortification, so that you may know and put to the test their ways.

The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, {saying},

Stand in the gate of Jehovah's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, all Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship Jehovah.

Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts God of Israel, Amend your ways, and your doings, - That I may cause you to dwell in this place.

Stop putting your confidence in the false belief that says, "We are safe! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here!"

Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. Stop killing innocent people in this land. Stop paying allegiance to other gods. That will only bring about your ruin.

then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your ancestors {forever and ever}.

Behold, ye confide in words of falsehood that cannot profit.

Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods that ye have not known,

and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered; that ye may do all these abominations?

What? Think you this house that beareth my name, is a den of thieves? And these things are not done privily, but before mine eyes, sayeth the LORD.

"For go now to my place that [was] in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell in the beginning, and see what I did to it {because of} the wickedness of my people Israel.

therefore I will do to the house that is called {by my name}, in which you [are] trusting, and to the place that I gave to you and to your ancestors {what} I did to Shiloh.

The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.

And therefore thus sayeth the LORD God, "Behold, my wrath and my indignation shall be poured out upon this place, upon men and cattle, upon the trees in the field and all fruit of the land, and it shall burn so, that no man may quench it."

The Lord said to the people of Judah, "The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says: 'You might as well go ahead and add the meat of your burnt offerings to that of the other sacrifices and eat it, too!

For I spoke not unto your fathers, nor commanded them concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices, in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt;

But I only commanded them this word, {saying}, 'Obey my voice, and I will be to you God, and you will be to me people, and you must walk in all of the way that I command you, so that it goes well with you.'

From the day that your ancestors came out from the land of Egypt until this day I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, day after day, {sending again and again}.

"And you shall say to them, 'This [is] the nation that has not obeyed the voice of Yahweh their God, and they have not accepted discipline. The truth has perished, and it is cut off from their mouths.

So, mourn, you people of this nation. Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a song of mourning on the hilltops. For the Lord has decided to reject and forsake this generation that has provoked his wrath!'"

For the people of Judah have done evil in my eyes," {declares} Yahweh, "They have set their abominations in the house that is called {by my name}, to defile it.

And have built the high places of Tophet, That are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, To burn their sons and their daughters with fire, Which I did not command, Nor did it come up on My heart.

Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that it shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter: for they shall bury in Topheth, till there be no place to bury .

"At that time," {declares} Yahweh, "they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its officials, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Judah from their graves.

And have spread them to sun, and to moon, And to all the host of the heavens, that they have loved, And that they have served, And that they have walked after, And that they have sought, And to which they have bowed themselves, They are not gathered, nor buried, They are for dung on the face of the ground.

And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, in all the places whither I have driven those that remain, saith Jehovah of hosts.

"This shalt thou say unto them also: Thus sayeth the LORD, Do men fall also, that they arise not up again? And turn they so far away, that they never convert?

Wherefore then is this people and Jerusalem gone so far back, that they turn not again? They are ever the longer, the more obstinate, and will not be converted.

I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repenteth him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turneth to his course, as a horse that rusheth headlong in the battle.

How is it that you say, We are wise and the law of the Lord is with us? But see, the false pen of the scribes has made it false.

Therefore will I give their wives unto others, their fields to those that shall possess them; for every one, from the least even unto the greatest, is given to covetousness; from the prophet even unto the priest, every one dealeth falsely.

Are they ashamed that they have committed abomination? Nay, they are not at all ashamed, and they know not how to blush. Therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall stumble, saith Jehovah.

I will utterly take them away, saith Jehovah: there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig-tree; and the leaf is faded: and I will give them up to those that shall pass over them.

"From Dan is heard the snorting of their horses, from the sound of the neighing of their stallions all the land quakes, for they come and devour the land, and that which fills [the] city, and [those who] live in it.

Indeed, I am about to send snakes among you,
poisonous vipers that cannot be charmed.
They will bite you.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Oh that I could comfort myself against sorrow! my heart is faint within me.

Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land that is very far off: is not Jehovah in Zion? is not her King in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with foreign vanities?

for there is no more treacle at Gilead, and there is no Physician, that can heal the hurt of my people.

{Oh that my head were waters}, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night, [for] the slain of the daughter of my people.

{Oh that I had} in the desert a place of overnight lodging for travelers, that I may leave my people and go from them, for all of them [are] adulterers, a band of traitors.

Their tongue is a deadly arrow that speaks deceit. With his mouth a person says, "Peace,' to his friend, but inwardly he sets a trap for him.

Because of these [things] shall I not punish them?" {declares} Yahweh, "On a nation that [is] like this shall I not take revenge?

For the mountains I lift up weeping and wailing, and for [the] pastures of [the] desert a lament, because they are laid waste so that no man passes through. And [the] sounds of cattle are not heard, from [the] birds of heaven to [the] animals they have fled, they are gone.

The Lord said, "I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins. Jackals will make their home there. I will destroy the towns of Judah so that no one will be able to live in them."

Who [is] the wise man that can understand this? And to whom has the mouth of Yahweh spoken, so that he may declare it? Why is the land destroyed? It is laid waste like the desert so that no one passes through."

And Yahweh said, "Because of their forsaking my law that I set {before} them, and they have not obeyed my voice, and have not walked in it,

And they walk after the stubbornness of their heart, And after the Baalim, that their fathers taught them,

and I will scatter them among the nations that they have not known, they and their ancestors, and I will send the sword after them until I bring them to an end."

Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Consider closely, and call for the wailing women, so that they come, and for the skillful women, so that they come.

And let them hasten, and let them lift up wailing over us, so that our eyes may melt [with] tears, and our eyelids may flow [with] water.

“For a sound of wailing is heard [coming] from Zion:
‘How we are ruined!
We are greatly perplexed and utterly shamed,
Because we have left the land,
Because they have torn down our dwellings.’”

Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ears regard the words of his mouth: that ye may learn your daughters to mourn, and that every one may teach her neighbouress to make lamentation.

That death Hath come up through our windows, Hath entered our palaces, - Cutting off The boy from the street, The young men from the broadways.

Tell your daughters and neighbors, 'The Lord says, "The dead bodies of people will lie scattered everywhere like manure scattered on a field. They will lie scattered on the ground like grain that has been cut down but has not been gathered."'"

The Lord says, "Wise people should not boast that they are wise. Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful. Rich people should not boast that they are rich.

{But only} in this must the one who boasts boast, [that] he has insight, and [that] he knows me, that I [am] Yahweh, showing loyal love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for in these [things] I delight," {declares} Yahweh.

Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will punish all them that are circumcised in their uncircumcision:

Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that have the corners of their hair cut off, that dwell in the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.

Hear the word that Yahweh speaks to you, house of Israel.

The Lord says, "Do not start following pagan religious practices. Do not be in awe of signs that occur in the sky even though the nations hold them in awe.

For that which is feared by the people is foolish: it is the work of the hands of the workman; for a tree is cut down by him out of the woods with his axe.

He decorates it with silver and gold, they strengthen it with nails and hammers, so that it does not stagger.

Who would not fear thee? Or what King of the Gentiles would not obey thee? For among all the wise men of the Gentiles, and in all their kingdoms, there is none that may be likened unto thee.

namely, wood; silver, which is brought out of Tarshish, and beaten to plates; and gold from Ophir, a work that is made with the hand of the craftsman and the caster, clothed with yellow silk and scarlet: even so is the work of their wise men altogether.

But, Yahweh, is God in truth, He, is a God that, liveth, And a King of times age-abiding, - At his anger, quaketh the earth, And nations cannot endure his wrath.

Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth, and from under the heavens.

He that made the earth by his power, That established the world by his wisdom, - And by his understanding stretched out the heavens,

At the voice that he uttered, there was a tumult of waters in the heavens, And he caused vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth, - The lightnings for rain, he made, And brought forth wind out of his treasuries.

His wisdom maketh all men fools. And confounded be all casters of images, for that they cast is but a vain thing, and hath no life.

The vain craftsmen with their works, that they in their vanity hath made, shall perish one with another in the time of visitation.

The portion of Jacob is not like them; for it is he that hath formed all things, and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: Jehovah of hosts is his name.

Gather up thy wares out of the land, O thou that abidest in the siege.

For thus says Yahweh, "Look, I [am] about to sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I will bring distress to them, so that they may feel it."

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.

For the herdsmen have done foolishly, that they have not sought the LORD. Therefore have they dealt unwisely with their cattle, and all are scattered abroad.

News is going about, see, it is coming, a great shaking is coming from the north country, so that the towns of Judah may be made waste and become the living-place of jackals.

I know, Yahweh, that to the human [is] not his [own] way, nor to a person [is the] walking and the directing of his [own] step.

Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you, and on [the] peoples that do not call on your name, for they have devoured Jacob, they have devoured and consumed him, and they have caused his settlement to be desolate.

The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, {saying},

"Hear the words of the covenant, and speak unto all Judah, and to all them that dwell at Jerusalem.

and say thou unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man that heareth not the words of this covenant,

which I commanded your ancestors in the day of my bringing them from the land of Egypt, from the furnace of iron, {saying}, 'Listen to my voice and do according to all that I command you, {so will you be my people, and I will be your God}.'

in order to keep the oath that I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as [it is] this day." '" Then I answered and said, "{Let it be so}, O Yahweh."

Then the LORD said unto me again, "Preach this in the cities of Judah and round about Jerusalem, and say: Hear the words of this covenant, that ye may keep them.

For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice.

And they have not hearkened nor inclined their ear, And they walk each in the stubbornness of their evil heart, And I bring on them all the words of this covenant, That I commanded to do, and they did not.'

And the LORD said unto me, "It is found out, that whole Israel and all these citizens of Jerusalem are gone back.

They have turned back to the iniquities of their former ancestors, who refused to obey my words, and they have gone after other gods, to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I {made} with their ancestors."

“Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am about to bring on them disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to Me, but I will not hear them.

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

Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me because of their trouble.

What hath my beloved to do in my house, seeing that the more part practise their evil devices, and the holy flesh is passed from thee? When thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest.

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.

And Yahweh of hosts, the [one who] planted you, has spoken evil against you, because of the evil of the house of Israel and the house of Judah, that they have done to themselves, to provoke me to anger by making smoke offerings to Baal."

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

And I [was] like a gentle ram-lamb that is brought to slaughter, and I did not know that they planned plans against me, [saying], "Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from [the] land of [the] living, so that his name will no longer be remembered."

But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause.

Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Thou shalt not prophesy in the name of Jehovah, that thou die not by our hand;