Indeed, I am about to summon all the clans and kingdoms of the north.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

They will come, and each king will set up his throne
at the entrance to Jerusalem’s gates.
They will attack all her surrounding walls
and all the other cities of Judah.

I am about to bring a nation
from far away against you,
house of Israel.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
It is an established nation,
an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know
and whose speech you do not understand.

This is what the Lord says:

Stand by the roadways and look.
Ask about the ancient paths:
Which is the way to what is good?
Then take it
and find rest for yourselves.
But they protested, “We won’t!”

Listen, earth!
I am about to bring disaster on these people,
the fruit of their own plotting,
for they have paid no attention to My word.
They have rejected My instruction.

We have heard about it,
and we are discouraged.
Distress has seized us—
pain like a woman in labor.

Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “Look, My anger—My burning wrath—is about to be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the tree of the field, and on the produce of the land. My wrath will burn and not be quenched.”

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.

Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
So why has the healing of my dear people
not come about?

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Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says:

I am about to refine them and test them,
for what else can I do
because of My dear people?

Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to feed this people wormwood and give them poisonous water to drink.

“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.

Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: “I am about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword; their sons and daughters will die by famine.

This is what the Lord says: “Concerning all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people, Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from them.

And you will say to them: This is what the Lord says: I am about to fill all who live in this land—the kings who reign for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the residents of Jerusalem—with drunkenness.

Who will have pity on you, Jerusalem?
Who will show sympathy toward you?
Who will turn aside
to ask about your welfare?

For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am about to eliminate from this place, before your very eyes and in your time, the sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the groom and the bride.

“I am about to send for many fishermen”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and they will fish for them. Then I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and out of the clefts of the rocks,

“Therefore, I am about to inform them,
and this time I will make them know
My power and My might;
then they will know that My name is Yahweh.”

However, if that nation I have made an announcement about turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the disaster I had planned to do to it.

So now, say to the men of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem: This is what the Lord says: I am about to bring harm to you and make plans against you. Turn now, each from your evil way, and correct your ways and your deeds.

Say: Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will shudder

“This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to bring on this city—and on all its dependent villages—all the disaster that I spoke against it, for they have become obstinate, not obeying My words.’”

for this is what the Lord says, ‘I am about to make you a terror to both yourself and those you love. They will fall by the sword of their enemies before your very eyes. I will hand Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will deport them to Babylon and put them to the sword.

“Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who shepherd My people: You have scattered My flock, banished them, and have not attended to them. I will attend to you because of your evil acts”—this is the Lord’s declaration.

Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says concerning the prophets:

I am about to feed them wormwood
and give them poisoned water to drink,
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has spread throughout the land.

Look, a storm from the Lord!
Wrath has gone out,
a whirling storm.
It will whirl about the heads of the wicked.

So now, correct your ways and deeds and obey the voice of the Lord your God so that He might relent concerning the disaster that He warned about.

Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all the people of Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord and plead for the Lord’s favor, and did not the Lord relent concerning the disaster He had pronounced against them? We are about to bring great harm on ourselves!”

For this is what the Lord of Hosts says about the pillars, the sea, the water carts, and the rest of the articles that still remain in this city,

Yes, this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about the articles that remain in the temple of the Lord, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem:

Therefore, this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to send you off the face of the earth. You will die this year because you have spoken rebellion against the Lord.’”

This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “I am about to send against them sword, famine, and plague and will make them like rotten figs that are inedible because they are so bad.

This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says to Ahab son of Kolaiah and to Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, the ones prophesying a lie to you in My name: “I am about to hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your very eyes.

this is what the Lord says: I am about to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. There will not be even one of his descendants living among these people, nor will any ever see the good that I will bring to My people”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“for he has preached rebellion against the Lord.”

Why do you cry out about your injury?
Your pain has no cure!
I have done these things to you
because of your enormous guilt
and your innumerable sins.

But I will bring you health
and will heal you of your wounds—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
for they call you Outcast,
Zion whom no one cares about.

Look, a storm from the Lord!
Wrath has gone out,
a churning storm.
It will whirl about the heads of the wicked.

Watch! I am going to bring them from the northern land.
I will gather them from remote regions of the earth—
the blind and the lame will be with them,
along with those who are pregnant and those about to give birth.
They will return here as a great assembly!

Isn’t Ephraim a precious son to Me,
a delightful child?
Whenever I speak against him,
I certainly still think about him.
Therefore, My inner being yearns for him;
I will truly have compassion on him.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying: “Why are you prophesying, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, I am about to hand this city over to Babylon’s king, and he will capture it.

Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am about to hand this city over to the Chaldeans, to Babylon’s king Nebuchadnezzar, and he will capture it.

“Now therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to this city about which you said, ‘It has been handed over to Babylon’s king through sword, famine, and plague’:

I am about to gather them from all the lands where I have banished them in My anger, rage and great wrath, and I will return them to this place and make them live in safety.

“For this is what the Lord says: Just as I have brought all this great disaster on these people, so am I about to bring on them all the good I am promising them.

Fields will be bought in this land about which you are saying, ‘It’s a desolation without man or beast; it has been handed over to the Chaldeans!’

This city will bear on My behalf a name of joy, praise, and glory before all the nations of the earth, who will hear of all the good I will do for them. They will tremble with awe because of all the good and all the peace I will bring about for them.

“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Go, speak to Zedekiah, king of Judah, and tell him: This is what the Lord says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down.

I am about to give the command”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it down. I will make Judah’s cities a desolation, without inhabitant.”

Perhaps when the house of Judah hears about all the disaster I am planning to bring on them, each one of them will turn from his evil way. Then I will forgive their wrongdoing and their sin.”

I will punish him, his descendants, and his officers for their wrongdoing. I will bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the disaster, which I warned them about but they did not listen.”

Jeremiah was going about his daily tasks among the people, for they had not yet put him into the prison.

But King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am worried about the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans. They may hand me over to the Judeans to abuse me.”

Then Zedekiah warned Jeremiah, “Don’t let anyone know about these things or you will die.

“Go tell Ebed-melech the Cushite: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfill My words for harm and not for good against this city. They will take place before your eyes on that day.

But Gedaliah son of Ahikam responded to Johanan son of Kareah, “Don’t do that! What you’re saying about Ishmael is a lie.”

then the sword you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine you are worried about will follow on your heels there to Egypt, and you will die there.

“Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am about to turn against you to bring disaster, to cut off all Judah.

This will be a sign to you’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘that I am about to punish you in this place, so you may know that My words of disaster concerning you will certainly come to pass.

This is what the Lord says: I am about to hand over Pharaoh Hophra, Egypt’s king, to his enemies, to those who want to take his life, just as I handed over Judah’s King Zedekiah to Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar, who was his enemy, the one who wanted to take his life.’”

“This is what you are to say to him: ‘This is what the Lord says: What I have built I am about to demolish, and what I have planted I am about to uproot—the whole land!

But as for you, do you seek great things for yourself? Stop seeking! For I am about to bring disaster on every living creature’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘but I will grant you your life like the spoils of war wherever you go.’”

The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the nations:

About Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco, Egypt’s king, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Judah’s King Jehoiakim son of Josiah:

This is the word the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to defeat the land of Egypt:

The Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to punish Amon, god of Thebes, along with Pharaoh, Egypt, her gods, and her kings—Pharaoh and those trusting in him.

This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the Philistines before Pharaoh defeated Gaza.

on account of the day that is coming
to destroy all the Philistines,
to cut off from Tyre and Sidon
every remaining ally.
Indeed, the Lord is about to destroy the Philistines,
the remnant of the islands of Caphtor.

About Moab, this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says:

Woe to Nebo, because it is about to be destroyed;
Kiriathaim will be put to shame; it will be taken captive.
The fortress will be put to shame and dismayed!

About the Ammonites, this is what the Lord says:

Does Israel have no sons?
Is he without an heir?
Why then has Milcom dispossessed Gad
and his people settled in their cities?

Why do you brag about your valleys,
your flowing valley,
you faithless daughter?
You who trust in your treasures
and boast, “Who can attack me?”

Look, I am about to bring terror on you—
this is the declaration of
the Lord God of Hosts—
from all those around you.
You will be banished, each man headlong,
with no one to gather up the fugitives.

About Edom, this is what the Lord of Hosts says:

Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?
Has counsel perished from the prudent?
Has their wisdom rotted away?

About Damascus:

Hamath and Arpad are put to shame,
for they have heard a bad report and are agitated;
in the sea there is anxiety that cannot be calmed.

About Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon’s king, defeated, this is what the Lord says:

Rise up, go against Kedar,
and destroy the people of the east!

This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet about Elam at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah.

This is what the Lord of Hosts says:

I am about to shatter Elam’s bow,
the source of their might.

The word the Lord spoke about Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet:

They will ask about Zion,
turning their faces to this road.
They will come and join themselves to the Lord
in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.

Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to punish the king of Babylon and his land just as I punished the king of Assyria.

The king of Babylon has heard reports about them,
and his hands fall helpless.
Distress has seized him—
pain, like a woman in labor.

This is what the Lord says:

I am about to stir up a destructive wind against Babylon
and against the population of Leb-qamai.

The Lord has brought about our vindication;
come, let’s tell in Zion
what the Lord our God has accomplished.

Therefore, this is what the Lord says:

I am about to plead your case
and take vengeance on your behalf;
I will dry up her sea
and make her fountain run dry.

Jeremiah wrote on one scroll about all the disaster that would come to Babylon; all these words were written against Babylon.