"Before I fashioned thee in thy mother's womb, I did know thee: And before thou wast born, I sanctified thee and ordained thee, to be a Prophet unto the people."

Then Yahweh said to me, "You did well to see, for I [am] watching over my word to perform it."

“I will pronounce My judgments against them for all the evil they did when they abandoned Me to burn incense to other gods and to worship the works of their own hands.

Thus says Yahweh: "What injustice did your ancestors find in me that they were far from me, and they went after the vanity, and they became vain?

And they did not say, 'Where [is] Yahweh, the one who brought us up from the land of Egypt, the one who led us in the desert, in a land of desert plains and gorges, in a land of dryness and deep darkness, in a land {that no one passes through}, and no human lives there?'

The priests did not say, 'Where [is] Yahweh?' and those who handle the law did not know me, and the shepherds have {rebelled against me}, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and they went after [things which] do not profit.

Did a nation change their gods, and they no gods? and my people changed their glory for what will not profit

For my people did two evils: they forsook me the fountain of living waters, to hew out for them wells, broken wells which will not hold water.

Did you not do this to yourself, [by] forsaking Yahweh, your God, at the time of your leading in the way?

I planted you myself as a choice vine, from the very best seed. How did you turn against me into a degenerate and foreign vine?

In vain did I strike your sons; they received no instruction: your sword consumed the prophets as a lion destroying.

Why did you trim your way to seek love? Therefore you have also taught the evil women your ways.

Also on your skirts is found [the] blood of [the] life of [the] innocent, [the] poor. You did not find them in the act of breaking into a house. But in spite of all these [things],

And Jehovah will say to me in the days of Josiah the king, Sawest thou what Israel turning back, did? She went up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and she will commit fornication there.

And I thought, 'After her doing all these [things] to me she will return,' but she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw [it].

And though she saw that, because Israel, turning away from me, had been untrue to me, I had put her away and given her a statement in writing ending the relation between us, still Judah, her false sister, had no fear, but went and did the same.

Yet even in all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, {but only} in pretense," {declares} Yahweh.

We know our noisy worship of false gods on the hills and mountains did not help us. We know that the Lord our God is the only one who can deliver Israel.

Thy way and thy doings did these things to thee; this thine evil, for it was bitter because it reached even to thy heart.

O Lord, do not your eyes see good faith? you have given them punishment, but they were not troubled; you have sent destruction on them, but they did not take your teaching to heart: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they would not come back.

And it was when ye shalt say, For what did Jehovah our God all these things to us? and thou saidst to them, As ye forsook me, and ye will serve a strange god in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land not to you.

For from their little even to their great, every one plundering, plundered; and from the prophet and even to the priest every one did falsehood.

Have they acted ashamed, for they have committed a detestable thing? Not at all, nor were they ashamed; they did not know to feel humiliated. {Therefore} they will fall among [those who] fall at the time I punish them, they will stumble," says Yahweh.

Listen, earth! I'm about to bring calamity on this people, on the fruit of their plans, because they didn't listen to my words and they rejected my instruction.

"For go now to my place that [was] in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell in the beginning, and see what I did to it {because of} the wickedness of my people Israel.

And now, because you have done all these works, says the Lord, and I sent my word to you, getting up early and sending, but you did not give ear; and my voice came to you, but you gave no answer:

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.

For I did not speak with your ancestors, nor did I command them in the day of bringing them out from the land of Egypt, concerning the matter of burnt offering and sacrifice.

However, I did give them this command: Obey Me, and then I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must follow every way I command you so that it may go well with you.

Yet they did not obey, and they did not incline their ear, but they walked in [their own] plans, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and {they became worse instead of better}.

Yet they have not listened to me and they have not inclined their ear, but they have hardened their neck, they did more evil than their ancestors.

You shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God or accept correction; truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.

For the sons of Judah did evil in mine eyes, says Jehovah; they set, their abominations in the house which my name was called upon it, to defile it,

And they built the high place of Topheth, which [is] in [the] Valley of Ben Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I have not commanded, and it did not come into my mind.

Wherefore did this people of Jerusalem turn away a continual turning away? they laid hold upon deceit; they refused to turn back.

I listened and heard, but they didn't speak aright: no man repents him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? everyone turns to his course, as a horse that rushes headlong in the battle.

For this I will give their wives to others; their fields to those inheriting them: for from small and even to great all plundering a plunder, from the prophet and even to the priest, all did falsehood.

Were they ashamed, for they had committed a detestable thing? What's worse, they were not ashamed at all, and they did not know to feel humiliated. {Therefore} they will fall among [those who] fall; at the time of their punishment they will stumble," says Yahweh.

From Dan, was heard the snorting of his horses At the sound of the neighing of his chargers, the whole land trembled, - Yea they came in and did sat up The land and the fulness thereof, The city, and them who were dwelling therein.

Behold the voice of the cry for help of the daughter of my people from the land of those being far off: is not Jehovah in Zion? or her king not in her? wherefore did they irritate me with their carved images, with strange vanities?

Is there no balsam in Gilead, or healing there? for wherefore did not the health of the daughter of my people go up?

The Lord said, “It is because they abandoned My instruction that I set in front of them and did not obey My voice or walk according to it.

"{Thus} you shall say to them, 'Gods who did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under these heavens.

But they did not obey and they did not incline their ear. Instead each one walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore, I brought on them all the words of this covenant which I commanded [them] to do, and they did not [do it].'"

A green olive-tree, fair with goodly fruit, did Yahweh call thy name, - with the noise of a great tumult, hath he kindled fire upon it, and the branches thereof shall be broken.

And Jehovah of armies planting thee, spake evil against thee, on account of the evil of the house of Israel and the house of Judah which they did to themselves to irritate me, burning incense to Baal.

Now when Yahweh, let me know and I did know, then, didst thou shew me their doings.

And I [was] like a gentle ram-lamb that is brought to slaughter, and I did not know that they planned plans against me, [saying], "Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from [the] land of [the] living, so that his name will no longer be remembered."

Righteous art Thou, O Jehovah, When I plead towards thee, Only, judgments do I speak with Thee, Wherefore did the way of the wicked prosper? At rest have been all treacherous dealers.

Many shepherds did destroy My vineyard, They have trodden down My portion, They have made My desirable portion Become a wilderness -- a desolation.

For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for renown, for praise and for glory; but they did not listen.’

And if thou shalt say in thy heart, Wherefore did these things befal me? for the multitude of thine iniquities thy skirts were uncovered, thy heel treated with violence.

And the wild donkeys did stand in the high places, they sniffed at the wind like jackals; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.

But the Lord said to me, “These prophets are prophesying a lie in My name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, worthless divination, the deceit of their own minds.

“Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, though I did not send them, and who say, ‘There will never be sword or famine in this land.’ By sword and famine these prophets will meet their end.

And I will make them a terror to all of the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, because of what he did in Jerusalem.

And I have winnowed them with a winnowing fork in the gates of the land. I am bereaved. I have destroyed my people. They did not turn back from their ways.

Woe is me, my mother,
that you gave birth to me,
a man who incites dispute and conflict
in all the land.
I did not lend or borrow,
yet everyone curses me.

Jehovah said, Did I not direct thee for good? Did not I intercede for thee in a time of evil, And in a time of adversity, with the enemy?

Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy words were unto me a joy and the rejoicing of my heart: for I am called by thy name, O Jehovah, God of hosts.

I sat not in the assembly of jokers, [nor did] I exult. Because of the {presence} of your hand I sat alone, for you filled me [with] indignation.

And being when thou shalt announce to this people all these words, and they said to thee, For what did Jehovah speak against us all this great evil? and what our iniquities? and what our sins which we sinned to Jehovah our God?

Then you will answer them: Because your fathers abandoned Me”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and followed other gods, served them, and worshiped them. Indeed, they abandoned Me and did not keep My instruction.

You did more evil than your fathers. Look, each one of you was following the stubbornness of his evil heart, not obeying Me.

O Jehovah, my strength, and my fortress, And my refuge in a day of adversity, Unto Thee nations do come from the ends of earth, And say, Only falsehood did our fathers inherit, Vanity, and none among them is profitable.

[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."

Yet they did not listen, and they did not incline their ear, and they hardened their neck [so as] to not hear, nor to receive discipline.

And it did evil in mine eyes not to hear to my voice, and I lamented for the good which I said to do well to it

For this, thus said Jehovah: Ask now among the nations, who heard like as these things: the virgin of Israel did very horrible things.

Then said they, "Come, let us imagine something against this Jeremiah." Yea, this did even the priests, to whom the law was committed: the Senators, that were the wisest: and the prophets, which wanted not the word of God. "Come," said they, "let us cut out his tongue, and let us not regard his words."

Let there be heard a cry out of their houses, When thou shalt bring in upon them a troop, suddenly, - Because they digged a pit to capture me, And snares, did they hide for my feet.

Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it to other gods, that they didn't know, they and their fathers and the kings of Judah; and have filled this place with the blood of innocents,

and they have built the high places of Baal, to burn their children in the fire, burnt offerings to Baal, which I commanded not, and I ordered not, and it did not come to my {mind}.

For the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah are defiled, like as Tophet, because of all the houses; in whose parlors they did sacrifice unto all the host of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto strange gods.'"

But the next day Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks. When he did, Jeremiah said to him, "The Lord's name for you is not 'Pashhur' but 'Terror is Everywhere.'

But the Lord is with me to help me like an awe-inspiring warrior. Therefore those who persecute me will fail and will not prevail over me. They will be thoroughly disgraced because they did not succeed. Their disgrace will never be forgotten.

Let that man be as the cities which Yahweh overthrew, and didn't repent: and let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at noontime;

Because he did not kill me in [the] womb, so that my mother would have been for me my grave, and [her] womb [would be] pregnant forever.

{Why} did I come out from [the] womb, to see toil, and sorrow, and [to] {end my days in shame}?

“Many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why did the Lord do such a thing to this great city?’

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?

Did he not plead the cause of the oppressed and the needy, And, then, it was well? Was not, that, to know, me? Demandeth Yahweh.

My word came to you in the time of your well-being; but you said, I will not give ear. This has been your way from your earliest years, you did not give attention to my voice.

"Is this man Jehoiachin a despised and shattered jar, a vessel no one wants? Why were he and his descendants hurled away, thrown into a land that they didn't know?

Behold the days coming, says Jehovah, and I raised up to David a just sprout, and a king reigned and prospered, and he did judgment and justice in the earth.

I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.

How long will they go on plotting to make my people forget who I am through the dreams they tell one another? That is just as bad as what their ancestors did when they forgot who I am by worshiping the god Baal.

See, I am against the prophets of false dreams, says the Lord, who give them out and make my people go out of the way by their deceit and their uncontrolled words: but I did not send them or give them orders; and they will be of no profit to this people, says the Lord.

So I, Jeremiah, tell you, "Each of you people should say to his friend or his relative, 'How did the Lord answer? Or what did the Lord say?'

Each of you should merely ask the prophet, 'What answer did the Lord give you? Or what did the Lord say?'

But you didn't listen to me," declares the LORD, "so as to provoke me with the idols you make with your hands to your own harm.

I made Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and its officials drink it. I did it so Judah would become a ruin. I did it so Judah, its kings, and its officials would become an object of horror and of hissing scorn, an example used in curses. Such is already becoming the case!

and by listening to the words of My servants the prophets I have been sending you time and time again, though you did not listen,

If you do not obey me, then I will do to this temple what I did to Shiloh. And I will make this city an example to be used in curses by people from all the nations on the earth.'"

As soon as Jeremiah finished saying everything that the LORD had commanded him to say to all the people, the priests, the prophets, and all the people seized him, telling him as they did: "You must certainly die!

How darest thou be so bold, as to say in the name of the LORD, 'It shall happen to this house as it did unto Shiloh? And this city shall be so waste, that no man shall dwell therein?'"

Only, ye must, know, that If, ye, do put me, to death, verily innocent blood, are ye laying upon yourselves, and against this city, and against her inhabitants, - for of a truth, did Yahweh send me unto you, to speak in your ears lull these words.

[Did] Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and all Judah actually put him to death? [Was he] not in fear of Yahweh? And he entreated the face of Yahweh, and Yahweh relented of the disaster that he had spoken against them. But we [are] about to do great disaster to ourselves."

Now there was another man who prophesied as the Lord's representative against this city and this land just as Jeremiah did. His name was Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim.

Then did King Jehoiakim send men to Egypt, - even Elnathan son of Achbor, and certain men with him, into Egypt