Yahweh, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in [the] day of distress, to you [the] nations will come from the ends of [the] earth, and they will say, "Our ancestors have inherited only lies, vanity, and there is no profit in them.

Will a man make for himself gods which 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."

my mountain in the open country, I will give your wealth, all your treasures, for spoil, your high places, because of [your] sin, throughout all your territories.

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."

The Lord says, "I will put a curse on people who trust in mere human beings, who depend on mere flesh and blood for their strength, and whose hearts have turned away from the Lord.

And he will be like a juniper in the wilderness, and he will not see when good comes, and he will dwell [in the] parched places in the desert, [in] a land of salt flats, where no one lives.

For he will be like a tree planted by water, and to [the] stream it sends its roots, and it will not fear when heat comes, and its leaves will be luxuriant, and in [the] year of drought it will not be anxious, and it will not cease from the bearing of fruit.

[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."

Yahweh, the hope of Israel, all [those who] forsake you will be put to shame, and [those who] turn aside from you in the earth will be recorded, for they have forsaken the fountain of living water, Yahweh.

Heal me, Yahweh, and I will be healed, save me, and I will be saved, for you [are] my praise.

Thou wilt not be for a terror to me; thou my refuge in the evil day.

And they heard not, and they inclined not their ear, and they will harden their neck not to hear, and not to 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,

then kings and officials who sit on the throne of David will enter through the gates of this city riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their officials, the people of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited {forever}.

And they will come from the towns of Judah, and from all around Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the Shephelah, and from the hill country, and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and grain offerings, and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings [to] the house of Yahweh.

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." '"

"Stand up and go down [to] the house of the potter, and there I will let you hear my words."

And the vessel which he made was destroyed as clay in the hand of the potter: and he turned back, and he will make another vessel as was right in the eyes of the potter to make.

And the word of Jehovah will be to me, saying,

At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, tear down, and destroy it.

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.

At another time I announce that I will build and plant a nation or a kingdom.

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.

And now, say now to the men of Judah, and concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus said Jehovah: Behold, I will form evil against you, and purpose a purpose against you; turn ye back now each from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.

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.'

Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which comes from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?

For my people have put me out of their memory, burning perfumes to that which is nothing; and because of this, I will put a cause of falling in their ways, even in the old roads, and will make them go on side-roads, in a way not lifted up;

To make their land a horror, [an object of] whistling for eternity. All [who] pass by it will be appalled, and he will shake his head.

Like the wind from the east I will scatter them {before} [the] enemy. I will show them [my] back and not [my] face in the day of their disaster.'"

Then they said, "Come and let us plan plans against Jeremiah, for instruction will not be lost from [the] priest, nor advice from [the] wise man, nor [the] word from [the] prophet. Come and {let us bring charges against him}, and let us not listen attentively to any of his words."

And thou, O Jehovah, knewest all their counsel against me to kill: thou wilt not expiate for their iniquity, and their sin from before thee thou wilt not wipe away, and they shall be weak before thee; do with them in the time of thine anger.

And go out to the valley of the son of Hinnom, by the way into the door of broken pots, and there say in a loud voice the words which I will give you;

And you shall say, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: "Look, I [am] about to bring disaster upon this place so that {everyone who hears it}, his ears will ring.

Because they forsook me and rejected this place, and they will burn incense in it to other gods which they knew them not, they and their fathers, and the kings of Judah; and they filled this place with the blood of the innocent ones.

"{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 I will lay waste the plans of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will bring them to ruin by the sword {before} their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life, and I will give their dead bodies as food to the birds of heaven and to the animals of the earth.

And I will make this city a horror, and [an object of] hissing, everyone [who] passes by it will be appalled, and will hiss because of all its wounds.

And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons, and the flesh of their daughters, and each one will eat the flesh of his neighbor in [the] siege and in [the] distress which their enemies and those who seek their life inflict on them." '

And you shall say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "So I will break this people and this city as one breaks the vessel of the potter, [so] that it is not able to be repaired again. And in Topheth they will bury {until there is no room to bury}.

Thus will I do to this place," {declares} Yahweh, "and to its inhabitants, to make this city like Topheth.

And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be unclean like the place of Topheth, all the houses where they made smoke offerings upon their roofs to all the host of heaven, and [where] they poured out libations to other gods." '"

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,

Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it; because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.

And Pashur, son of Immer the priest, and he appointed overseer of the house of Jehovah, will hear Jeremiah prophesying these words.

And Pashur will strike Jeremiah the prophet and give him upon the stocks which were in the gate of Benjamin the highest, which were in the house of Jehovah.

{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.

For thus says Yahweh, 'Look, I [am] making you a terror to yourself and to all your friends, and they will fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes [will be] seeing [it]. And all Judah I will give into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will deport them [to] Babylon, and he will strike them with the sword.

And I will give all the wealth of this city, and all its acquisitions, and all its precious items, and all of the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give into the hand of their enemies, and they will plunder them, and they will seize them, and they will bring them [to] Babylon.

And you, Pashhur, and all [those who] live [in] your house will go into captivity, and you will go [to] Babylon, and there you will die, and there you will be buried, you, and all your friends to whom you have prophesied {falsely}.'"

Thou didst persuade me, O Jehovah, and I shall be persuaded: thou didst hold me fast, and thou wilt prevail: I was for a derision all the day, all mocking to 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.

For I have heard the defaming of many, terror on every side. Denounce, and we will denounce him,'say all my familiar friends, they that watch for my fall; peradventure he will be persuaded, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.

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.

Because he killed me not from the womb, and my mother will be to me my grave, and her womb pregnant forever.

"Please inquire [of] Yahweh on behalf of us, for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon [is] fighting against us. Perhaps Yahweh will do with us according to all his miraculous acts, so that he may go up from against us."

And Jeremiah will say to them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah:

'Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: "Look, I [am] about to turn back the weapons of war that [are] in your hands, [with] which you [are] fighting against them, the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are laying siege to you from outside the wall, and I will gather them into the center of this city.

And I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand, and with strong arm, and in {anger}, and in fury, and in great wrath.

And I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both humankind and animal; by a great plague they will die.

And {afterward}," {declares} Yahweh, "I will give Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and those who remain in this city from the plague, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their lives, and he will strike them with [the] {edge} of [the] sword. He will not take pity on them, and he will not have compassion, nor will he show compassion." '

"But tell the people of Jerusalem that the Lord says, 'I will give you a choice between two courses of action. One will result in life; the other will result in death.

He who stays in this city will die by the sword, or by the famine, or by the plague. And he who goes out and goes over to the Chaldeans who are laying siege to you will live, and his life will be to him as booty.

For I have set my face against this city for evil and not for good," {declares} Yahweh. It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire." '

O family of David, this is what the Lord has said: Do what is right in the morning, and make free from the hands of the cruel one him whose goods have been violently taken away, or my wrath will go out like fire, burning so that no one may put it out, because of the evil of your doings.

See, I am against you, you who are living on the rock of the valley, says the Lord; you who say, Who will come down against us? or who will get into our houses?

And I will punish you according to the fruit of your deeds," {declares} Yahweh, "And I will kindle a fire in its forest, and it will devour all its surroundings." '"

And if you indeed obey this word, then kings who sit for David on his throne will enter through the gates of this house, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.

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

For thus says Yahweh concerning the house of the king of Judah, "You [are like] Gilead to me, [like] the head of the Lebanon. {Surely} I will make you a desert, [like] cities [that] are not inhabited.

And I will consecrate against you destroyers, everyone with his weapons, and they will cut down {your choicest cedars}, and cast [them] on the fire.

And many nations will pass by this city and they will say each one to his neighbor, '{Why} has Yahweh done in this manner to this great city?'

Then they will answer, 'Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh their God, and bowed down in worship to other gods, and served them.'"

You must not weep for [the] dead person, and you must not show sympathy for him. Weep bitterly for the one who goes away, for he will not return, or see the land of his birth again.

For thus says Yahweh concerning Shallum, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, who reigned as king in place of Josiah his father, who went out from this place: "He will not return here again.

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

Woe for the one who builds his palace
through unrighteousness,
his upper rooms through injustice,
who makes his fellow man serve without pay
and will not give him his wages,

Who says 'I will build for myself a spacious house with large upper rooms,' and he cuts windows for it, and [it is] paneled with cedar, and he paints [it] with vermilion.

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh concerning Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah: "They will not lament for him, 'Alas, my brother,' or 'Alas, sister.' They will not lament for him, 'Alas, lord,' or 'alas, his majesty.'

He will be buried [with] the burial of a donkey. [He will be] dragged away and thrown {outside} the gates of Jerusalem.

I spoke to you {in the times you were secure}, [and] you said, 'I will not listen!' This [was] your way from your youth, for you have not obeyed my voice.

All your shepherds will shepherd [the] wind, and your lovers will go into captivity. Yes, then you will be ashamed and humiliated because of all your wickedness.

Inhabitants of Lebanon, nestled among the cedars, how you will groan when labor pains come to you, fear and pain as the [woman who] gives birth.

As I live, saith Jehovah, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were a signet upon my right hand, yet will I pluck thee thence;

and I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them of whom thou art afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

And I will throw you and your mother who gave birth to you to another country where you were not born, and there you will die.

As for the land to which they are {longing} to return, they will not return.

This man, Jeconiah, will be like a broken pot someone threw away. He will be like a clay vessel that no one wants. Why will he and his children be forced into exile? Why will they be thrown out into a country they know nothing about?

Thus says Yahweh: "Record this man [as] childless, a man [who] will not succeed in his days, for no man from his offspring will succeed [him], sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah."

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people, "You yourselves have scattered my flock, and you have driven them away, and you do not attend to them. Look, I [will] punish you [for] the evil of your deeds," {declares} Yahweh.

"Then I myself will gather together the remnant of my flock from all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their grazing place, and they will be fruitful, and they will become numerous.

And I will raise up over them shepherds, and they will shepherd them, and they will no longer fear, and they will not be dismayed, and they will not be missing," {declares} Yahweh.

"Look, days [are] coming," {declares} Yahweh, "when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he will reign [as] king, and he will achieve success, and he will do justice and righteousness in the land.

In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell {in safety}, and this [is] his name [by] which he will be called: 'Yahweh [is] our righteousness.'

"{Therefore} look, days [are] coming," {declares} Yahweh, "when they will no longer say, '{As Yahweh lives}, who led up the {Israelites} from the land of Egypt,'

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."

For the land was filled from adulteries, for from the face of these the land mourned, the beautiful things of the desert were dried up, and their race will be evil, and their strength not right

"{Therefore} their way will be to them like the slippery places, they will be pushed in the darkness, and they will fall into it, for I will bring disaster on them [in] the year of their punishment," {declares} Yahweh.

And I saw folly in the prophets of Shomeron; they prophesied in Baal, and they will cause my people Israel to wander.

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets, "Look, I [am] going to let them eat wormwood and I will give them water of poison to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem went out ungodliness to all the land."