to whom the word of LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the carrying away captive of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

Now the word of LORD came to me, saying,

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou came forth out of the womb I sanctified thee. I have appointed thee a prophet to the nations.

Then I said, Ah, lord LORD! Behold, I know not how to speak, for I am a child.

But LORD said to me, Say not, I am a child. For to whomever I shall send thee thou shall go, and whatever I shall command thee thou shall speak.

Be not afraid because of them, for I am with thee to deliver thee, says LORD.

Then LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And LORD said to me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.

Moreover the word of LORD came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do thou see? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.

Then LORD said to me, Thou have well seen. For I watch over my word to perform it.

And the word of LORD came to me the second time, saying, What do thou see? And I said, I see a boiling caldron, and the face of it is from the north.

Then LORD said to me, Out of the north evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

And I will utter my judgments against them concerning all their wickedness, in that they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.

Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command thee. Be not dismayed at them, lest I dismay thee before them.

For, behold, I have made thee this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the rulers of it, against the priests of it, and against the people of the l

And they shall fight against thee. But they shall not prevail against thee, for I am with thee, says LORD, to deliver thee.

And the word of LORD came to me, saying,

Israel [was] holiness to LORD, the first-fruits of his increase. All who devour him shall be held guilty. Evil shall come upon them, says LORD.

And I brought you into a plentiful land, to eat the fruit of it and the goodness of it. But when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination.

The priests did not say, Where is LORD? and those who handle the law did not know me. The rulers also transgressed against me. And the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

For pass over to the isles of Kittim, and see, and send to Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there has been such a thing.

For my people have committed two evils: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Have thou not procured this to thyself, in that thou have forsaken LORD thy God when he led thee by the way?

And now what have thou to do in the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor? Or what have thou to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?

Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed. How then have thou turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me?

a wild donkey used to the wilderness, that sniffs up the wind in her desire. In her time of estrus who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not weary themselves. In her month they shall find her.

who say to a block of wood, Thou are my father, and to a stone, Thou have brought me forth. For they have turned their back to me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.

But where are thy gods that thou have made thee? Let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble. For according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.

O generation, see ye the word of LORD. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of thick darkness? Why do my people say, We have broken loose. We will come no more to thee?

How thou trim thy way to seek love! Therefore even the wicked women thou have taught thy ways.

Why do thou gad about so much to change thy way? Thou shall be ashamed of Egypt also, as thou were ashamed of Assyria.

Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places if it, if ye can find a man, if there is any who does justly, who seeks truth, and I will pardon her.

O LORD, do not thine eyes look upon truth? Thou have stricken them, but they were not grieved. Thou have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They have refused t

I will go to the great men, and will speak to them, for they know the way of LORD, and the law of their God. But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.

How can I pardon thee? Thy sons have forsaken me, and sworn by those who are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the harlots' houses.

And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them.

And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Why has LORD our God done all these things to us? Then thou shall say to them, Just as ye have forsaken me, and served foreign gods in your land, so ye shall serve strangers in a land t

Do ye not fear me? says LORD. Will ye not tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it? And though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet they cannot prevai

Neither do they say in their heart, Let us now fear LORD our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season, who preserves to us the appointed weeks of the harvest.

They have grown fat. They shine. Yea, they overflow in deeds of wickedness. They do not plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper. And they do not judge the right of the needy.

An astonishing and horrible thing has come to pass in the land.

The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means. And my people love to have it so. And what will ye do in the end thereof?

Shepherds with their flocks shall come to her. They shall pitch their tents against her round about. They shall feed every one in his place.

Prepare ye war against her. Arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us! For the day declines; for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.

For thus has LORD of hosts said: Hew ye down trees, and cast up a mound against Jerusalem. This is the city to be visited. She has oppression completely in the midst of her.

To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken. Behold, the word of LORD has become to them a reproach; they have no delight in it.

And their houses shall be turned to others, their fields and their wives together. For I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, says LORD.

For from the least of them even to the greatest of them everyone is given to covetousness. And from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely.

And I set watchmen over you, [saying], Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.

Hear, O earth: Behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened to my words. And as for my law, they have rejected it.

To what purpose does there come to me frankincense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.

They lay hold on bow and spear. They are cruel, and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride upon horses. Each one set in array, as a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Zion.

The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed of the fire. In vain do they go on refining, for the wicked are not plucked away.

The word that came to Jeremiah from LORD, saying,

Stand in the gate of LORD's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of LORD, all ye of Judah, who enter in at these gates to worship LORD.

Thus says LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.

if ye do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own hurt,

then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers from of old even for evermore.

Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods that ye have not known,

and [then] come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered, that ye may do all these abominations?

But go ye now to my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.

And now, because ye have done all these works, says LORD. And I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not, and I called you, but ye answered not,

therefore I will do to the house, which is called by my name, in which ye trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.

Therefore pray thou not for this people, nor lift up cry nor prayer for them. Neither make intercession to me, for I will not hear thee.

See thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

The sons gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.

Do they provoke me to anger? says LORD, [and] not themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?

Thus says LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt-offerings to your sacrifices, and eat ye flesh.

For I spoke not to your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings or sacrifices.

But this thing I commanded them, saying, Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people. And walk ye in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.

Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them.

Yet they hearkened not to me, nor inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff. They did worse than their fathers.

And thou shall speak all these words to them, but they will not hearken to thee. Thou shall also call to them, but they will not answer thee.

And thou shall say to them, This is the nation that has not hearkened to the voice of LORD their God, nor received instruction. Truth has perished, and is cut off from their mouth.

For the sons of Judah have done that which is evil in my sight, says LORD. They have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.

And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind.

Therefore, behold, the days come, says LORD, that it shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter. For they shall bury in Topheth, till there be no place [to bury].

Then I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste.

And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and which they have worshipped. T

Moreover thou shall say to them, Thus says LORD: Shall men fall, and not rise up again? Shall he turn away, and not return?

Why then has this people of Jerusalem slid back by a perpetual backsliding? They hold firm deceit. They refuse to return.

I hearkened and heard, but they did not speak aright. No man repents of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Everyone turns to his course as a horse that rushes headlong in the battle.

The wise men are put to shame. They are dismayed and taken. Lo, they have rejected the word of LORD, and what manner of wisdom is in them?

Therefore I will give their wives to others, and their fields to those who shall possess them. For everyone from the least even to the greatest is given to covetousness. From the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely.

Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us be silent there. For LORD our God has put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against LORD.

Behold, the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land that is very far off: Is not LORD in Zion? Is not her King in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with foreign vanities?

Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

And they bend their tongue--their bow--for falsehood, and they have grown strong in the land, but not for truth. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, says LORD.

And they will deceive each one his neighbor, and will not speak the truth. They have taught their tongue to speak lies. They weary themselves to commit iniquity.

Thy habitation is in the midst of deceit. Through deceit they refuse to know me, says LORD.

Therefore thus says LORD of hosts: Behold, I will melt them, and try them, for how [else] should I do, because of the daughter of my people?

Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceit. He speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in his heart he lays wait for him.

Who is the wise man, who may understand this, and he to whom the mouth of LORD has spoken, that he may declare it? Why has the land perished and burned up like a wilderness, so that none passes through?

Therefore thus says LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.

For death has come up into our windows. It has entered into our palaces, to cut off the sons from outside, the young men from the streets.

Hear ye the word which LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.

They are like a palm tree, of turned work, and do not speak. They must be carried, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, nor is it in them to do good.

Who should not fear thee, O King of the nations? For to thee it appertains, inasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal estate, there is none like thee.

But LORD is the TRUE God. He is the living God, and an everlasting King. At his wrath the earth trembles, and the nations are not able to abide his indignation.