so that none shall remain. For upon the citizens of Anathoth will I bring a plague, and the year of their visitation."

Righteous art thou, O Jehovah, when I contend with thee; yet would I reason the cause with thee: wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they at ease that deal very treacherously?

You plant them and they take root, they grow and bear fruit. "You are near to us," they say with their mouths, but the truth is that you're far from their hearts.

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.

How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of the whole country wither? for the wickedness of them that dwell therein, the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our latter end.

As for me, say I, I have forsaken mine own dwelling place, and left mine heritage. My life also that I love so well, have I given into the hands of mine enemies.

Is it, a variegated bird of prey, that mine inheritance is to me? The birds of prey, are round about against her! Go ye, assemble all the beasts of the field bring them to devour.

They have laid it waste: and now that it is waste, it sigheth unto me. Yea, the whole land lieth waste, and no man regardeth it.

Over all the barren heights in the wilderness
the destroyers have come,
for the Lord has a sword that devours
from one end of the earth to the other.
No one has peace.

Thus says Yahweh concerning all of the evil neighbors who touch the inheritance that I gave as an inheritance [to] my people Israel: "Look, I [am] about to drive them out from their land, and the house of Judah I will drive out from among them.

And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them up, I will return and have compassion on them; and I will bring them again, 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.

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

"Take the loincloth that you bought, that [is] on your loins, and stand up, go [to the] Euphrates and hide it there in the cleft of the rock."

{And then}, {after a long time}, then Yahweh said to me, "Stand up, go [to the] Euphrates and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there."

So I went to Perath and dug up the shorts from the place where I had buried them. I found that they were ruined; they were good for nothing.

This evil people, that refuse to hear my words, that walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and are gone after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is profitable for nothing.

For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith Jehovah; that they may be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.

"Therefore, you shall say to them this word, 'Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: "Every jar must be filled with wine." ' And they will say to you, 'Do we not certainly know that every jar should be filled with wine?'

Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.

And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith Jehovah: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have compassion, that I should not destroy them.

Be obedient, give ear, take no disdain at it, for it is the LORD himself that speaketh!

Show the Lord your God the respect that is due him. Do it before he brings the darkness of disaster. Do it before you stumble into distress like a traveler on the mountains at twilight. Do it before he turns the light of deliverance you hope for into the darkness and gloom of exile.

But if ye will not hear me, that give you secret warning, I will mourn from my whole heart for your stubbornness. Piteously will I weep, and the tears shall gush out of mine eyes. For the LORD's flock shall be carried away captive.

The cities toward the south shall be shut up, and no man shall open them. All Judah shall be carried away captive, so that none shall remain.

Lift up your eyes and see those coming from [the] north. Where [is] the flock that was given to you, {your magnificent flock}?

What will you say when the Lord appoints as rulers over you those allies that you, yourself, had actually prepared as such? Then anguish and agony will grip you like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.

And when you ask yourself,
“Why have these things happened to me?”
It is because of your great guilt
that your skirts have been stripped off,
your body exposed.

Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

Therefore will I scatter them, as the stubble that passeth away, by the wind of the wilderness.

This is thy lot Thy measured portion from me, Declareth Yahweh; For that thou didst forget me, And confide in falsehood:

Therefore will I uncover your skirts over your face, that your shame may appear.

[That] which came [as] the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah concerning the matter of the severe drought.

Because of the ground which is cracked, for that no rain hath been in the land, the plowmen are put to shame, they cover their heads.

The Hind shall forsake the young fawn that she bringeth forth in the field because there shall be no grass.

“O Lord, though our many sins testify against us” [prays Jeremiah],
“Act now [for us and] for Your name’s sake [so that the faithless may witness Your faithfulness]!
For our backslidings are countless;
We have sinned against You.

O thou hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in the time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a sojourner in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?

Why shouldest thou be as a man affrighted, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O Jehovah, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.

Thus, saith Yahweh To this people In this way, have they loved to wander, Their feet, have they not restrained, - Yahweh, therefore hath not accepted them, Now, will he call to mind their iniquity, - That he may punish their sins.

Then I said, "Oh, Lord God, look! The prophets are telling them that you said, 'You will not experience war or suffer famine. I will give you lasting peace and prosperity in this land.'"

Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land: By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.

If I go forth into the field, then, behold, the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then, behold, they that are sick with famine! for both the prophet and the priest go about in the land, and have no knowledge.

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.

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

Be not displeased, O LORD, for thy name's sake, forget not thy loving-kindness: Remember the throne of thine honour, break not the covenant that thou hast made with us.

Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O Jehovah our God? therefore we will wait for thee; for thou hast made all these things.

Then spake the LORD unto me, and said, "Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet have I no heart to this people. Drive them away, that they may go out of my sight.

And it hath come to pass, when they say to thee, Whither do we go out? that thou hast said unto them, Thus said Jehovah: Those who are for death -- to death, And those who are for the sword, to the sword, And those who are for famine, to famine, And those who are for captivity, to captivity.

And I will cause them to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.

She that hath borne seven languisheth; she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day; she hath been put to shame and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith Jehovah.

Woe to me, my mother, that you gave birth to me, a man of contention and quarreling {to the whole land}. I have not lent out and {I have not borrowed}. All of them [are] cursing me.

Can you people who are like iron and bronze break that iron fist from the north?

Thy substance and thy treasures will I give for a spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.

And I will make you serve your enemies in a land [that] you [do] not know, for a fire will kindle in my anger. Upon you it will be kindled."

You who know, Yahweh, remember me, and attend to me, and take revenge for me against my persecutors {in your forbearance}. You must take me away. Know [that] I [am] carrying disgrace because of you.

I sat not in the assembly of them that make merry, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand; for thou hast filled me with indignation.

Why is my pain endless, and my wound incurable? It refuses to become healed. Truly you are to me like a deceitful [brook], waters [that] are not trustworthy.

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.

For thus saith Jehovah concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land:

Again, thus sayeth the LORD: Go not unto them that come together for to mourn and weep: for I have taken my peace from this people, sayeth the LORD; yea, my favour and my mercy.

For thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I shall take away out of this place, the voice of mirth and gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride: yea and that in your days, that ye may see it.

{And then} when you tell this people all these words and they ask you, '{Why} has Yahweh pronounced against us all this great evil, and what [is] our iniquity, and what [is] our sin that we have sinned against Yahweh our God?'

Then thou hast said unto them: Because that your fathers have forsaken Me, An affirmation of Jehovah, And go after other gods, and serve them, And they bow themselves to them, And Me have forsaken, and My law not kept,

and ye have done evil more than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, so that ye hearken not unto me:

So I will throw you from this land to the land that you have not known, you or your ancestors, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will not show you favor.

Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that it shall no more be said, As Jehovah liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

{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.

See, I will send for great numbers of fishermen, says the Lord, and they will take them like fish in a net; and after that, I will send for numbers of bowmen, and they will go after them, driving them from every mountain and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

O Yahweh, my strength, and my refuge, and my place to fly to, in the day of distress, - Unto thee, shall nations come in, out of the ends of the earth, that they may say - Surely! Falsehood, did our fathers inherit, Vanity, among whom is none that can profit:

Shall a son of earth, make for himself gods, Seeing that, they, are no-gods?

"{Therefore} look, I [am] about to let them know, this time I am going to let them know my {power} and my might, and they will know that my name [is] Yahweh."

that your children also may think upon your altars, woods, thick trees, high hills, mountains and fields.

Wherefore, I will make all your substance and treasure be spoiled, for the great sin that ye have done upon your high places throughout all the coasts of your land.

And {you will let go your hand from your inheritance} that I gave to you, and I will make you serve your enemies in the land that you do not know, for you kindled a fire in my anger, until eternity it will be kindled."

Thus saith Jehovah: Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from Jehovah.

For he shall be like a juniper in the desert, and shall not see when good comes. But he shall live in the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land that is not inhabited.

Blessed is the man that trusteth in Jehovah, and whose trust Jehovah is.

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.

I the Lord am the searcher of the heart, the tester of the thoughts, so that I may give to every man the reward of his ways, in keeping with the fruit of his doings.

[Like] a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay [is] one who amasses wealth without justice. In the middle of his days it will leave him, and at his end he will [prove to] be a fool."

O Jehovah, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be put to shame. They that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken Jehovah, the fountain of living waters.

Heal thou me O Yahweh, that I may be healed, Save me that I may be saved, - For, my praise, thou art!

Behold, they keep saying to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord [that is, the disaster that you prophesied]?
Let it come now!”

As for me, I have not hastened from being a shepherd after thee; neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was before thy face.

Let them be put to shame that persecute me, but let not me be put to shame; let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed; bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.

and say unto them, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:

Thus says Yahweh, "Be on your guard for the sake of yourselves, that you must not carry a burden on the day of the Sabbath, and you must [not] bring [it] through the gates of Jerusalem.

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 be, that if with all care you give ear to me, says the Lord, and take no weight through the doorways of this town on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work in it;

then shall there go through the gates of this city, kings and princes, that shall sit upon the stool of David: They shall be carried upon chariots, and ride upon horses, both they and their princes. Yea, whole Judah and all the citizens of Jerusalem shall go herethrough, and this city shall ever be the more and more inhabited.

But if ye will not be obedient unto me, to hallow the Sabbath: so that ye will bear your burdens through the gates of Jerusalem upon the Sabbath: Then shall I set fire upon the gates of Jerusalem, and it shall burn up the houses of Jerusalem, and no man shall be able to quench it."

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

And the vessel that he [was] making with the clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter, so {he made again} another vessel, as it was right in the eyes of the potter to make.

At the moment that I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to break down, and to destroy,

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.

And at the moment that I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant,

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.

"Speak now therefore unto whole Judah, and to them that dwell at Jerusalem. Thus sayeth the LORD: Behold, I am devising a plague for you, and am taking a thing in hand against you. Therefore let every man turn from his evil way, take upon you the thing that is good, and do right.

But they will say, ‘That is hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act in accordance with the stubbornness of his evil heart.’

Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field? or'shall the cold waters that flow down from afar be dried up?