And the word of Yahweh came to me, {saying}, "What [are] you seeing, Jeremiah?" And I said, "I [am] seeing a branch of an almond tree."

And the word of Yahweh came to me a second [time], {saying}, "What [are] you seeing?" And I said, "I [am] seeing a {boiling} pot, and its face [is] from [the] face of [the] north."

Has a nation exchanged gods? And they [are] not gods! But my people have exchanged their glory for that which does not profit.

[The] young lions have roared against him, they have {raised} their voices. And they have made his land as horror; his cities are destroyed, {without} an inhabitant.

"How can you say, 'I have not defiled myself, I have not gone after the Baals?' Look at your way in the valley, know what you have done. [You are] a young she-camel, interweaving her ways.

[Those who] say to the tree, 'You [are] my father,' and to the stone, 'You gave birth [to] me.' For they have turned [their] {backs} to me, and not [their] faces. But in the time of their trouble they say, 'Arise and save us.'

But where [are] your gods that you made for yourself? Let them arise if they can save you in the time of your trouble. For [according to] the number of your towns are your gods, Judah.

Have you not just now called to me, 'My father, you [are] the close friend of my youth?

Return, apostate children, I will heal your backsliding. 'Look, we come to you, for you are Yahweh our God.

Look, he comes up like the clouds, and his chariots [are] like the whirlwind, his horses are swifter than eagles, woe to us, for we are devastated.

"Report to the nations, 'Here they are!' Proclaim against Jerusalem, 'Besiegers [are] coming {from a distant land}, and they raise their voice against the cities of Judah.'

Destruction on destruction is proclaimed, for all of the land is devastated. Suddenly my tents are devastated, my tent curtains in a moment.

"For my people [are] foolish, they have not known me. They [are] foolish children, and they do not have insight. They [are] skillful at doing evil, and they do not know [how] to do good."

Then I said, "[They are] just simple people, they are foolish, for they know not the way of Yahweh, the law of their God.

Therefore a lion from [the] forest will kill them, A wolf [from the] desert plains will devastate them. A leopard [is] watching their cities, everyone [who] goes out from there will be torn, because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are numerous.

"{How} can I forgive you? Your children have forsaken me, and they have sworn by [those who are] not gods. But I fed them to the full, and they committed adultery, and flocked [to] the house of a prostitute.

Go up through her vineyards and destroy, but you must not make complete destruction. Remove her branches, for they [are] not to Yahweh.

And the prophets are like wind, and the word [is] not in them.' Thus it will be done to them."

Their quiver [is] like an open tomb, all of them [are] warriors.

For wicked people are found among my people, they lie in wait like the hiding of fowlers, they set up a trap, they catch humans.

Like a cage full of birds, so their houses [are] full of fraud. {Therefore} they have become great, and they have become rich.

{Sanctify} war against her. Arise, and let us attack at noon. Woe to us, for the day turns, for [the] shadows of evening are lengthened.

As a water well keeps its water cool, so she keeps cool her wickedness. Violence and destruction are heard within her, sickness and wounds [are] continually {before me}.

To whom shall I speak and admonish, that they may hear? Look, their ears [are] {closed}, and they are not able to listen attentively. Look, the word of Yahweh is to them an object of scorn, they do not delight in it.

What [is] this to me? Frankincense comes from Sheba, and the precious spice reed from a distant land. Your burnt offerings [are] not {acceptable}, your sacrifices are not pleasing to me."

[The] bow and [the] short sword they grasp [are] cruel, and they show no mercy. Their sound roars like the sea, and on horses they ride, drawn up like a man for battle against you, O daughter of Zion."

All of them [are] stubborn rebels, going about [talking] slander. [They are] bronze and iron, they [are] all behaving corruptly.

[The] bellows are burned up, lead is consumed by fire. {In vain} {he keeps on refining}, but [the] wicked are not torn apart.

{They are called} rejected silver, For Yahweh has rejected them."

Do not trust in {the deceitful words}, {saying}, 'The temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, they [are] the temple of Yahweh.'

Look, you [are] relying for yourselves on {deceitful words} without benefiting.

And then you come and you stand {before} me in this house, which is called {by my name}, and you say, 'we are safe {to go on doing} all of these detestable things.'

therefore I will do to the house that is called {by my name}, in which you [are] trusting, and to the place that I gave to you and to your ancestors {what} I did to Shiloh.

[Do] you not see what they [are] doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

The children [are] gathering wood, and the fathers [are] kindling the fire, and the women [are] kneading dough to make sacrificial cakes for the queen of heaven, and they pour out libations to other gods for the sake of provoking me to anger.

[Are] they provoking me to anger? " {declares} Yahweh, "[Is it] not themselves [they hurt], for the sake of the shame of their faces?"

Therefore look, days [are] about to come," {declares} Yahweh, "and it will no longer be called Topheth or [the] Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of the Slaughter, and they will bury in Topheth {until there is no more place}.

I have listened attentively, and I have listened. They do not speak honestly, there is no man [who] regrets his wickedness, saying, 'What have I done?' All of them [are] turning to their ways of running, like a horse plunging into battle.

How can you say, 'We [are] wise and the law of Yahweh [is] with us'? Look, surely {the lying stylus of the scribes} has made it a lie.

"{I will take away their harvest}," {declares} Yahweh. "There are no grapes on the vine, and there are no figs on the fig tree, and the leaves wither, and [what] I gave to them passed over them." '"

Why [are] we sitting? Gather, and let us go into the fortified cities, and let us perish there, for Yahweh our God has caused us to perish, and has provided drink for us, water of poison, because we have sinned against Yahweh.

{Oh that I had} in the desert a place of overnight lodging for travelers, that I may leave my people and go from them, for all of them [are] adulterers, a band of traitors.

And everyone deceives his neighbor, and they do not speak [the] truth, they have taught their tongues to speak lies, they are tired [from] going astray.

For the mountains I lift up weeping and wailing, and for [the] pastures of [the] desert a lament, because they are laid waste so that no man passes through. And [the] sounds of cattle are not heard, from [the] birds of heaven to [the] animals they have fled, they are gone.

For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion, 'How we are devastated! We are very ashamed because we have left the land, because they have overthrown our dwelling places.'

"Look, days [are] coming," {declares} Yahweh, "and I will call into account all those who are circumcised in [the] foreskin:

Egypt, Judah, and Edom, and the {Ammonites}, and Moab, and all those who are trimmed to [the] side, those who live in the desert, for all the nations [are] uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel [are] uncircumcised of heart."

Thus says Yahweh: "You must not learn the way of the nations, and you must not be dismayed by the signs of the heavens, for the nations are dismayed by them.

For the statutes of the peoples [are] vanity, for it [is] a tree cut down from [the] forest, [the] work of [the] hands of a craftsman with the tool.

They [are] like scarecrows in a cucumber field, they cannot speak. Indeed, they must be carried, for they cannot march. You must not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil; furthermore, to do good [is] not in them."

There is none like you, Yahweh, you [are] great and your name [is] great in might.

{At the same time} they are stupid and foolish, [in the] instruction of idols, it [is] wood.

Silver beaten from Tarshish is brought, and gold from Uphaz, the work of [the] craftsman and [the] hands of the goldsmith. Blue and purple [are] their clothing, all of them [are] the work of skillful people.

They [are] vanity, a work of mockery, at the time of their punishment, they will perish.

My tent is devastated, and all my tent cords are torn. My children have gone out [from] me, and they are not. There is no [one who] pitches my tent again, or [one who] puts up my tent curtains.

For the shepherds have become stupid, they do not seek Yahweh. {Therefore} they do not have insight, and all of their flock are scattered.

Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods [to] whom they [are] making smoke offerings, but they will certainly not save them in the time of their trouble.

For the number of your towns are your gods, Judah, and the number of the streets of Jerusalem [are the] altars you have set up to the shameful things, to make smoke offerings to Baal.

You [will be] in the right, Yahweh, when I complain to you. Even so, let me speak [my] claims with you. Why does [the] way of [the] wicked succeed? All those who deal treacherously with treachery are at ease.

Not only do you plant them, they take root. They grow, but also they produce fruit. You [are] near in their mouths, but far from their {inmost beings}.

{How long} will the land mourn, and the vegetation of every field dry up, because of the wickedness of those who live in it? [The] animals and [the] birds are swept away, because they have said, "He does not see our future."

The lair of [the] hyena [is] my inheritance to me, the birds of prey [are] all around her. Go, gather all of the animals of the field, bring [them] {to come and devour}.

They have sown wheat and they have reaped thorns. They are exhausted, they do not profit. And they will be ashamed of your produce, because of {the burning anger} of Yahweh."

The towns of the Negev are shut up, and there is no [one who] opens [them]. All of Judah is deported; it is deported [in] completeness.

And if you say in your heart, 'Why have these [things] happened to me?' Because of the greatness of your iniquity your skirts are uncovered; your heels have endured violence.

Can a Cushite change his skin, or a leopard his spots? [Then] you also will be able to do good, [who] are accustomed to doing evil.

"Judah mourns, and her gates languish, they are in mourning on the ground, and the cry of lament of Jerusalem goes up.

And their nobles send their servants for water. They come to [the] pits, they find no water. They return [with] their vessels {empty}. They are ashamed, and they are confounded, and they cover their heads.

Because of the ground, [which] is cracked because there was no rain on the ground. [The] farmers are ashamed, they cover their heads.

Although our iniquities testify against us, Yahweh, act for the sake of your name. Yes, our apostasies are many; we have sinned against you.

[You are] the hope of Israel, its savior in time of distress. Why should you be like an alien in the land, or like a traveler who spreads out [his tent] to spend the night?

Why should you be like a confused man, like a warrior [who] is not able to help? Yet you [are] in our midst, Yahweh, and your name is called upon us. You must not leave us!

Then I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh, look, the prophets [are] saying to them, 'You will not see [the] sword, and famine will not be yours, but reliable peace I will give to you in this place.'"

And Yahweh said to me, "The prophets [are] prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them, and I have not commanded them, and I have not spoken to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, and a divination, worthless, and the deceitfulness of their {minds}."

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who prophecy in my name though I have not sent them, yet they [are] saying, "Sword and famine will not be in this land." "By the sword and by the famine those prophets will perish.

And the people [to] whom they [are] prophesying will be cast out into the streets of Jerusalem {because of} the famine and the sword. And there will be no [one who] buries them, their wives, or their sons, or their daughters. And I will pour out on them their wickedness.

Are there [any] among the idols of the nation [who] cause rain to pour? Or can the heavens give showers? [Is] it not you, Yahweh our God? Therefore, we hope in you, for you do all these [things].

{And then} if they say to you, 'Where shall we go?' Then you shall say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh, "[Those] who [are destined] for the plague, to the plague, and [those] who [are destined] for the sword, to the sword, and [those] who [are destined] for the famine, to the famine, and [those] who [are destined] for the captivity, to the captivity." '

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.

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.

And {you have behaved badly} more than your ancestors, and look, you [are] going each one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, without listening to me.

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

For my eyes [are] on all their ways, they are not hidden {from before me}, and their iniquity is not concealed from before my eyes.

Can a human make for himself gods? Yet they [are] not gods!"

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

Look, they [are] saying to me, "Where [is] the word of Yahweh? Please let it come."

You must not become to me a terror, you [are] my refuge in [the] day of disaster.

"Like this potter, am I not able to do to you, O house of Israel?" {declares} Yahweh. "Look, like the clay in the hand of the potter, so [are] you in my hand, O house of Israel.

Does the snow of Lebanon leave from [the] crags of Sirion? Or are [the] cold waters flowing from distant mountains dried up?

"{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.

For I hear the rumor of many, "Terror [is] from all around, denounce [him], yes, let us denounce him!" {All my close friends} [are] watchers of my stumbling, [saying], "perhaps he can be persuaded, and we can prevail over him, and we can take our revenge on him."

'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.

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 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.

Do you reign as king because you [are] competing in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink, and he did justice and righteousness, then it was well with him?

Go up [to] Lebanon and cry out, and in Bashan lift up your voice, and cry out from Abarim, for all your lovers are shattered.

And I would give you into the hand of those who seek your life, and into the hand of those from whom you [are] frightened by their presence, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

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

[Is] this man Coniah a despised, shattered vessel? Or a vessel [in which] there is no delight? Why are he and his offspring thrown far, and cast away to the land that they do not know?"

"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.