"As for you, don't pray on behalf of this people, don't cry or offer a petition for them, and don't plead with me, for I won't listen to you.

To this day they haven't humbled themselves, they haven't shown reverence for the LORD, and they haven't lived according to my Law and my statutes that I set before them and before their ancestors.'

"As for you, my servant Jacob, don't be afraid, and Israel, don't be dismayed," declares the LORD, "for I am with you. Indeed, I'll make an end of all the nations where I scattered you; but I won't make an end of you! I'll discipline you justly, but I'll certainly not leave you unpunished."

"They have lied about the LORD by saying, "He wouldn't do that! Disaster won't come on us. We won't see sword and famine.

and if you don't oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, and don't shed an innocent person's blood in this place, and if you don't follow other gods to your own harm,

Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field. They can't speak! They must always be carried because they can't walk! Don't be afraid of them because they can do no harm, nor can they do any good."

"Jeremiah, don't pray for this people and don't cry or pray for them. I won't listen when they cry out to me because of their disaster.

Then the LORD told me, "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I didn't send them, I didn't command them, and I didn't speak to them. They're proclaiming to you false visions, worthless predictions, and the delusions of their own minds.

For the sake of your name don't despise us. Don't dishonor your glorious throne. Remember, don't break your covenant with us!

Both the most and the least important people will die in this land, and they won't be buried. People won't mourn for them. They won't cut themselves, nor will they shave their heads for them.

Butthe LORD is with me like a fearsome warrior. Therefore, those who pursue me will stumble and won't prevail. They'll be put to great shame, when they don't succeed. Their everlasting disgrace won't be forgotten.

Don't follow other gods to serve and worship them. Don't provoke me with the idols you make with your hands, and I won't bring disaster on you.'

You aren't to build houses, you aren't to sow seeds, and you aren't to plant vineyards, or own them. Instead, you are to live in tents all your lives, so you will enjoy a long life in the land where you reside.'

I've sent you all my servants, the prophets, sending them again and again. I've said, "Each of you turn from his evil behavior and make your deeds right. Don't follow other gods to serve them. Then you will remain in the land that I gave to you and to your ancestors.' But you haven't paid attention and you haven't obeyed me.

Don't let the archer bend the bow; don't let him rise up in his armor. Don't spare her young men. Completely destroy her entire army.

Don't be afraid of the king of Babylon as you have been. Don't fear him,' declares the LORD, "because I am with you to save you and deliver you from his control.

Hoshaiah's son Azariah, Kareah's son Johanan, and all the arrogant men told Jeremiah, "You're lying! The LORD our God didn't send you to say, "Don't go to Egypt to settle there.'

Because you offered sacrifices and sinned against the LORD, you didn't obey the LORD and didn't live according to his Law, his statutes, or his testimonies; therefore, this disaster has happened to you, as is the case today."

"As for you, my servant Jacob, don't be afraid, and Israel, don't be dismayed. For I'll deliver you from a distant place, and your descendants from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return. He will be undisturbed and secure, and no one will cause him to fear.

Wasn't Israel an object of mocking for you? Wasn't he treated like a thief, so that whenever you spoke about him you shook your head in contempt?

For this is what the LORD says: "Look, those who don't deserve to drink the cup will surely drink it, and will you actually go unpunished? You won't go unpunished! You will certainly drink it!

"They didn't ask, "Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through the land of desert and pits, through the land of dryness and deep darkness, a land that people don't pass through, and where no one lives?'

"The priests didn't say, "Where is the LORD?' and those handling the Law didn't know me. The rulers transgressed against me, the prophets prophesied by Baal, and they followed that which does not profit.

Go, proclaim these words to the north, and say, "Return, unfaithful Israel,' declares the LORD. "I won't look on you in anger, for I am gracious,' declares the LORD. "I won't remain angry forever.

"And in those days when you increase in numbers and multiply in the land," declares the LORD, "people will no longer say, "The Ark of the Covenant of the LORD,' and it won't come to mind, and they won't remember it or miss it, nor will it be made again.

"For my people are foolish, they don't know me. They're stupid children, they have no understanding. They're skilled at doing evil, but how to do good, they don't know."

LORD, don't your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they didn't flinch. You brought them to an end, but they refused to receive discipline. They made their faces harder than stone, and they refused to repent.

"Go through her rows of vines and destroy them, but don't completely destroy them. Strip away her branches, because they aren't the LORD's.

People of Israel, I'm now bringing a nation from far away to attack you," declares the LORD. "It is an enduring nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you don't know. And you won't understand what they say.

"Hear this, you foolish and stupid people: They have eyes, but don't see; they have ears, but don't hear.

"You don't fear me, do you?' declares the LORD. "You don't tremble before me, do you? I'm the one who put the sand as a boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot cross. Though the waves toss, they cannot prevail against it, though they roar, they cannot cross it.'

and have grown fat and sleek. There is no limit to their evil deeds. They don't argue the case of the orphan to secure justice. They don't defend the rights of the poor.

Don't go out into the field, and don't travel on the road, because the enemy has a sword, and terror is on every side.

Now, because you have done all these things," declares the LORD, "I spoke to you over and over again, but you didn't listen. I called to you, but you didn't answer.

But they didn't listen to me, and they didn't pay attention. They stiffened their necks, and they did more evil than their ancestors.

"You will tell them all these things, but they won't listen to you. You will call out to them, but they won't answer you.

You will say to them, "This is the nation that wouldn't listen to the voice of the LORD its God and wouldn't accept correction. Truth has perished; it has been eliminated from their discussions.'

Are they ashamed because they have done what is repugnant to God? They weren't ashamed at all; they don't even know how to blush! Therefore they'll fall with those who fall. When I punish them, they'll be brought down," says the LORD.

The LORD said, "It is because they have forsaken my Law that I gave them. They didn't obey me and didn't live according to it.

This is what the LORD says: "Don't learn the way of the nations, and don't be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified of them.

Because the shepherds are stupid and don't seek the LORD, therefore, they don't prosper, and their flock is scattered.

Pour out your anger on the nations that don't acknowledge you, and on the families that don't call on your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured and consumed him; they have devastated his habitation.

Therefore, this is what the LORD says: "I'm about to bring disaster on them from which they won't be able to escape. They'll cry out to me, but I won't listen to them.

I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I didn't know that they had devised schemes against me. They told themselves, "Let's destroy the tree with its fruit. Let's eliminate him from the land of the living, so his name won't be remembered again."

Therefore, this is what the LORD says about the men of Anathoth who seek to kill you, all the while threatening you, "Don't prophesy in the name of the LORD so you won't die by our hand!"

Why are you like a man taken by surprise, like a strong man who can't deliver? You are among us, LORD, and your name is the one by which we're called. Don't abandon us!

This is what the LORD says to these people: "Yes, they do love to wander, and they haven't restrained their feet. So the LORD won't accept them now. He will remember their iniquity and punish their sin."

Although they fast, I won't listen to their cry, and although they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I won't accept them. Instead, I'll put an end to them with the sword, with famine, and with a plague."

Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD, look! The prophets are saying to them, "You won't see the sword and you won't experience famine. Rather, I'll give you lasting peace in this place.'"

I didn't sit in the company of those who have fun, and I didn't rejoice. Because of your hand on me, I sat alone, for you filled me with indignation.

For this is what the LORD says: "Don't go to a house where there is mourning, don't go to lament, nor to express sorrow to them. For I've taken my peace away from this people," declares the LORD, "as well as gracious love and compassion.

They won't break bread for the mourner to be consoled for the dead. They won't give anyone the cup of consolation to drink for his father or mother.

He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by a stream. He won't fear when the heat comes, and his leaves will be green. In a year of drought he won't be concerned, nor will he stop producing fruit."

I haven't run away from being your shepherd, and I haven't longed for the day of sickness. You know what comes out from my lips, it's open before you.

Let those who pursue me be put to shame, but don't put me to shame. Let them be terrified, but don't let me be terrified. Bring the day of judgment on them, and destroy them with double destruction!

If you listen to me carefully," declares the LORD, "and don't bring a load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, and you consecrate the Sabbath day and don't do any work on it,

But if you don't listen to me, to consecrate the Sabbath day and not carry any load as you enter the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I'll start a fire in its gates. It will consume the palaces of Jerusalem and won't be extinguished."'"

But you, LORD, know all their plots to kill me. Don't forgive their iniquity, and don't erase their sin from your sight. Let them stumble before you. When it's time for you to be angry, act against them!

They built the high places for Baal to burn their children in the fire as a burnt offering to Baal something I didn't command, didn't say, nor did it ever enter my mind!

Afterwards," declares the LORD, "I'll give King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the people those who are left in this city from the plague, the sword, and the famine into the control of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, right into the hand of their enemies and the hand of those who want to kill them. He'll execute them with swords and won't pity them. He won't spare them, nor will he have compassion on them."'

"Don't cry for the dead or grieve for them. Weep bitterly for the one going away, because he won't return again nor see the land of his birth.

Therefore, this is what the LORD says about Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah, "They won't lament for him with these words: "How terrible, my brother, How terrible, my sister!' They won't lament for him with these words: "How terrible, lord, How terrible, your majesty!'

I spoke to you when you were secure, but you said, "I won't listen!" This has been your way since your youth, for you haven't obeyed me.

This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Don't listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you; they're giving you false hopes. They declare visions from their own minds they don't come from the LORD!

I didn't send these prophets, but they ran anyway. I didn't speak to them, but they prophesied.

Look, I'm against those who prophesy based on false dreams," declares the LORD, "and relate them and lead my people astray with their lies and their recklessness. I didn't send them; I didn't command them, and they provide no benefit at all to these people," declares the LORD.

You aren't to listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, and your sorcerers who say to you, "Don't serve the king of Babylon.'

Don't listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, "You won't serve the king of Babylon.' Indeed, they're prophesying a lie to you.

For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Don't let the prophets and diviners who are among you deceive you, and don't listen to them when they tell you their dreams.

because they didn't listen to my words,' declares the LORD. "When I sent my servants, the prophets, to you again and again, you didn't listen,' declares the LORD.

"My servant Jacob, don't be afraid,' declares the LORD, "and Israel, don't be dismayed. For I'll deliver you from a distant place and your descendants from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return. He will be undisturbed and secure, and no one will cause him to fear.

For I'll be with you to save you,' declares the LORD. "For I'll put an end to all the nations where I scattered you; but I won't make an end of you. I'll discipline you justly, but I certainly won't leave you unpunished.'

They came and took possession of it, but they didn't obey you or walk according to your Law. They didn't do what you commanded them to do, so you caused all this calamity to happen to them.

I'll make an everlasting covenant with them that I won't turn away from doing good for them. I'll put the fear of me in their hearts so they won't turn away from me.

"But what Rechab's son Jonadab commanded his sons about not drinking wine is observed, and they haven't drunk wine until this day. Indeed, they obey the commands of their ancestor. But I've spoken to you again and again, and you haven't obeyed me.

Therefore, this is what the LORD God of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel says: "Look, I'm bringing on Judah and all the residents of Jerusalem all the disaster that I pronounced against them, because I spoke to them, but they didn't listen, and I called out to them, but they didn't answer."'"

"This is what the LORD says: "Don't deceive yourselves by saying, "The Chaldeans will surely go away from us," "for they won't go.

Now, please listen, your majesty, and pay attention to what I'm asking you. Don't make me go back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, so I don't die there."

Jeremiah told Zedekiah, "When I tell you, you will surely put me to death, won't you? And when I give you advice, you don't listen to me."

But if you don't surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given to the Chaldeans, and they'll burn it with fire. You won't escape from their hands.'"

Then Zedekiah told Jeremiah, "Don't let anyone know about these words and you won't die.

If the officials hear that I've spoken with you, and they come to you and say, "Tell us what you told the king, and what the king told you; don't hide it from us, and we won't put you to death,'

Now, look, I've freed you today from the chains that were on your hands. If you want to come with me to Babylon, come, and I'll look after you. But if you don't want to come with me to Babylon, don't. Look, the whole land lies before you, so go wherever it seems good and right for you to go."

Therefore the desert creatures along with hyenas will live there. They'll live in it with ostriches, but people won't live in it again. They won't inhabit it from generation to generation.