For my eyes are on all their ways: there is no cover for them from my face, and their evil-doing is not kept secret from my eyes.

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

For he shall be as a tree, that is planted by the waterside: which spreadeth out the root unto moistness, whom the heat cannot harm, when it cometh, but his leaves are green. And though there grow but little fruit because of drought yet is he not careful, but he never leaveth off to bring forth fruit.

then kings and princes who will sit on the throne of David will enter through the gates of this city, riding in chariots and on horses—the kings and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city will be inhabited and endure throughout the ages.

There shall come men also from the cities of Judah; from about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin; from the plain fields; from the mountains and from the wilderness; which shall bring burnt offerings, sacrifices, oblations, and incense, and offer up thanksgiving in the house of the LORD.

"Go down at once to the potter's house. I will speak to you further there."

Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel.

Now and then there would be something wrong with the pot he was molding from the clay with his hands. So he would rework the clay into another kind of pot as he saw fit.

And there is a word of Jehovah to me, saying:

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

And there are times when I promise to build up and establish a nation or kingdom.

But they will say, There is no hope: we will go on in our designs, and every one of us will do what he is moved by the pride of his evil heart to do.

Then some people said, "Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God's word. Come on! Let's bring charges against him and get rid of him! Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says."

Let there be heard a cry out of their houses, When thou shalt bring in upon them a troop, suddenly, - Because they digged a pit to capture me, And snares, did they hide for my feet.

Go out to the part of the Hinnom Valley which is near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Announce there what I tell you.

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

And Jeremiah will come from Tophet where Jehovah sent him there to prophesy; and he will stand in the enclosure of the house of Jehovah and say to all the people,

You, Pashhur, and all your household will go into exile in Babylon. You will die there and you will be buried there. The same thing will happen to all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.'"

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

For I have heard the whispering and defaming words of many,
“Terror on every side!
Denounce him! Let us denounce him!”
All my familiar and trusted friends,
[Those who are] watching for my fall, say,
“Perhaps he will be persuaded and deceived; then we will overcome him,
And take our revenge on him.”

A curse on the day of my birth: let there be no blessing on the day when my mother had me.

Accursed, be the man who carried tidings to my father saying, There is born to thee a man-child!

O house of David! Thus, saith Yahweh, Administer justice betimes, And deliver the robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, - Lest mine indignation come forth like fire And burn and there be none to quench it, Because of the wickedness of your doings:

The Lord told me, "Go down to the palace of the king of Judah. Give him a message from me there.

For if you will indeed obey this word, then kings will enter through the gates of this palace, sitting in David’s place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself and his servants and his people.

Let there be no weeping for the dead, and make no songs of grief for him: but make bitter weeping for him who has gone away, for he will never come back or see again the country of his birth.

For this is what the Lord has said about Shallum, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in place of Josiah his father, who went out from this place: He will never come back there again:

But in the place whither they have led him captive, there shall he die, and he shall see this land no more.

"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."

By my life, says the Lord, even if Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, was the ring on my right hand, even from there I would have you pulled off;

I will force you and your mother who gave you birth into exile. You will be exiled to a country where neither of you were born, and you will both die there.

But as for the land to which they long to return, they will not return to it.

Is this man Coniah a broken vessel of no value? is he a vessel in which there is no pleasure? why are they violently sent out, he and his seed, into a land which is strange to them?

Thus, saith Yahweh, - Register ye this man, childless, A man who shall not prosper in his days, - For there shall prosper of his seed No man sitting upon the throne of David, Or ruling any more over Judah.

And I will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands where I thrust them away there, and I turned them back to their rests, and they were fruitful and multiplied.

And I will put over them keepers who will take care of them: never again will they be overcome with fear or be troubled, and there will not be the loss of one of them, says the Lord

But But Jehovah lives who brought up and who caused the seed of the house of Israel to come from the land of the north, and from all the lands where I thrust them away there; and they shall dwell upon their land.

For this cause their steps will be slipping on their way: they will be forced on into the dark and have a fall there: for I will send evil on them in the year of their punishment, says the Lord.

Therefore, Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts Concerning the prophets, - Behold me! Feeding them with wormwood, And I will cause them to drink poisoned water, - For from the prophets of Jerusalem, hath there gone forth profanity unto all the land.

They keep on saying to them who despise me, Yahweh, hath spoken, saying, Prosperity, shall ye have! And to every one who is going on in the stubbornness of his own heart, have they said, There shall come on you, no calamity

In what secret place may a man take cover without my seeing him? says the Lord. Is there any place in heaven or earth where I am not? says the Lord.

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

And if this people, or the prophet, or a priest, questioning you, says, What word of weight is there from the Lord? then you are to say to them, You are the word, for I will not be troubled with you any more, says the Lord.

After that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had led away captive Jechoniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the mighty men also of Judah, with the workmasters, and cunning men of Jerusalem, unto Babylon. The LORD showed me a vision: Behold, there stood two mounds of figs before the Temple of the LORD.

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:

I will look after their welfare and will restore them to this land. There I will build them up and will not tear them down. I will plant them firmly in the land and will not uproot them.

And I gave them for maltreatment, and for evil to all the kingdoms of the earth, for a reproach and for a parable, and for a derision, and for a curse in, all the places which I shall thrust them away there.

There hath come in a tumult as far as the end of the earth, For a controversy, hath Yahweh with the nations, Himself, hath entered into judgment with all flesh, - As for the lawless, he hath delivered them to the sword Declareth Yahweh.

And at that day, the bodies of those whom the Lord has put to death will be seen from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth: there will be no weeping for them, their bodies will not be taken up or put to rest in the earth; they will be like waste on the face of the land.

There will be no way of flight for the keepers of sheep, no road for the chiefs of the flock to get away safely.

There shall be a voice of the cry of the shepherds, and a howling of the noble ones of the flock: for Jehovah layeth waste their pasture;

And there is no sound in the fields of peace, because of the burning wrath of the Lord.

“This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple and speak all the words I have commanded you to speak to all Judah’s cities that are coming to worship there. Do not hold back a word.

Then said the princes, and all the people, unto the priests and unto the prophets, - There is nothing in this man worthy of death, for in the name of Yahweh our God, hath he spoken unto us.

Then some of the elders of Judah stepped forward and spoke to all the people gathered there. They said,

Now there was another man who prophesied as the Lord's representative against this city and this land just as Jeremiah did. His name was Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim.

and they brought Uriah back from there. They took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him executed and had his body thrown into the burial place of the common people.

There is no reason why you and your people should die in war or from starvation or disease! That's what the Lord says will happen to any nation that will not be subject to the king of Babylon.

But if they [are] prophets, and if there is with them the word of Yahweh, let them please plead with Yahweh of hosts, that the vessels that are left over in the {temple} of Yahweh, and the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, must not go [to] Babylon.'

He has said, 'They will be carried off to Babylon. They will remain there until it is time for me to show consideration for them again. Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.' I, the Lord, affirm this!"

And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah after the breaking, by Hananiah the prophet, of the yoke from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, saying,

Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there and do not decrease [in number].

And seek ye the peace of the city where I caused you to be carried away captive there, and pray for it to Jehovah; for in her peace, peace shall be to you.

For, thus, saith Yahweh, - That as soon as there are fulfilled to Babylon seventy years, I will visit you, - and establish for you my good word, by causing you to return unto this place.

And you will be searching for me and I will be there, when you have gone after me with all your heart.

And I was found to you, says Jehovah: and I turned back your captivity, and I gathered you from all the nations, and from all the places where I thrust you away there says Jehovah; and I turned you back to the place where I caused you to be carried away captive from thence.

And I pursued after them with the sword, with famine and with death, and I gave them for agitation to all the kingdoms of the earth, for a curse and for astonishment, and for hissing and for a reproach among all the nations which I thrust them away there:

So shall there be taken up - from them - a curse, by all of the captivity of Judah who are in Babylon saying, - Yahweh make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, Whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire!

Jehovah hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that there may be officers in the house of Jehovah, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in the stocks and in shackles.

For he has even sent a message to us here in Babylon. He wrote and told us, "You will be there a long time. Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce."'"

And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah, saying,

Because he has done this," the Lord says, "I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his whole family. There will not be any of them left to experience the good things that I will do for my people. I, the Lord, affirm it! For he counseled rebellion against the Lord."'"

Yes, here is what he says: "You hear cries of panic and of terror; there is no peace in sight.

Alas, what a terrible time of trouble it is! There has never been any like it. It is a time of trouble for the descendants of Jacob, but some of them will be rescued out of it.

Thou therefore do not fear O my Servant Jacob Urgeth Yahweh, Neither be thou dismayed, O Israel, For behold me! saving thee from afar And thy seed out of the land of their captivity, - Then shall Jacob return, and rest and be quiet, And there shall be none to make him afraid;

For I am with thee, says Jehovah, to serve thee: for I will make a completion to all nations where I scattered thee there, but with thee I will not make a completion: and I corrected thee for judgment, and acquitting, I will not let thee go unpunished.

There is no one to plead your cause. There are no remedies for your wounds. There is no healing for you.

For I increase health to thee, And from thy strokes I do heal thee, An affirmation of Jehovah, For 'Outcast' they have called to thee, 'Zion it is, there is none seeking for her.'

So shall there proceed from them thanksgiving, and The sound of them who make merry, - And I will multiply them, and they shall not become few, And will make them honourable, and they shall not be despised:

And, his illustrious one, shall spring, from himself, And his ruler, from his own midst, shall proceed, And I will bring him near and he shall approach unto me, - For who is there that hath pledged his own heart to approach unto me? Demandeth Yahweh:

Thus, saith Yahweh, - There hath found favour in the desert people escaped from the sword, - I must go to cause him, even Israel, to rest.

“For there will be a day when the watchmen
On the hills of Ephraim cry out,
‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
To the Lord our God.’”

Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the ends of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travails with child together: a great company shall return there.

They will come with weeping, and going before them I will be their guide: guiding them by streams of water in a straight way where there is no falling: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is the first of my sons.

So has the Lord said: In Ramah there is a sound of crying, weeping and bitter sorrow; Rachel weeping for her children; she will not be comforted for their loss.

Thus, saith Yahweh - Restrain thy voice from weeping, And thine eyes from tears, - For there is a reward for thy labour, Declareth Yahweh, So they shall return from the land of the enemy:

Indeed, there is hope for your posterity. Your children will return to their own territory. I, the Lord, affirm it!

“How long will you go here and there,
O faithless daughter?
For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth—
A woman will encompass a man.”

And [the people of] Judah and all its cities will live there together—the farmer and they who wander about with flocks.

The boundary line will extend beyond that, straight west from there to the Hill of Gareb and then turn southward to Goah.

And the whole valley (Hinnom) of the dead bodies and [the hill] of the ashes [long dumped there from the temple sacrifices], and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be holy to the Lord. It (the city) will not be uprooted or overthrown anymore to the end of the age.”

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

Zedekiah will be carried off to Babylon and will remain there until I have fully dealt with him. I, the Lord, affirm it! Even if you continue to fight against the Babylonians, you cannot win.'"

and so I loosed the land from Hananel of Anathoth, mine Uncle's son, and weighed him there the money: even seven sicles, and ten silver pence.

I caused him also to make me a writing, and to seal it, and called record thereby, and weighed him there the money upon the weights.

There were two copies of the deed of purchase. One was sealed and contained the order of transfer and the conditions of purchase. The other was left unsealed.

For the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said, There will again be trading in houses and fields and vine-gardens in this land.

‘Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! There is nothing too difficult or too wonderful for You—

Lo! the earthworks! they have entered the city, to capture it, And the city, hath been given into the hand of the Chaldeans, who are fighting against it, because of the sword and the famine and the pestilence, - And so what thou didst speak, hath come to pass, And there thou art looking on!

"I am the Lord, the God of all humankind. There is, indeed, nothing too difficult for me.