The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,

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.

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

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.

For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, says LORD. And they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls of it round about, and

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.

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

Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says LORD, I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, how thou went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

Thus says LORD: What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they have gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and have become vain?

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.

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?

Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee. Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that thou have forsaken LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, says the Lord, L

How can thou say, I am not defiled; I have not gone after the Baalim? See thy way in the valley. Know what thou have done, a swift dromedary traversing her ways,

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.

Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst. But thou said, It is in vain. No, for I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.

As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed, they, their kings, their rulers, and their priests, and their prophets,

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.

In vain I have smitten your sons. They received no correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a destroying lion.

Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor. Thou did not find them breaking in. But it is because of all these things.

Thou shall also go forth from there with thy hands upon thy head. For LORD has rejected those in whom thou trust. And thou shall not prosper with them.

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.

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.

Therefore a lion out of the forest shall kill them; a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them; a leopard shall watch against their cities. Everyone who goes out from there shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are m

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.

Shall I not visit for these things? says LORD. And shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

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

Therefore thus says LORD, the God of hosts: Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, says LORD. It is a mighty nation. It is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou know not, nor understand what they say.

Their quiver is an open sepulcher. They are all mighty men.

But even in those days, says LORD, I will not make a full end with you.

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

Declare ye this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,

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.

For among my people are found wicked men. They watch as fowlers lay in wait. They set a trap; they catch men.

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.

Shall I not visit for these things? says LORD. Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

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?

Flee for safety, ye sons of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem. And blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise up a signal on Beth-haccherem. For evil looks forth from the north, and a great destruction.

The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, I will cut off.

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.

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.

As a well casts forth its waters, so she casts forth her wickedness. Violence and destruction is heard in her. Continually before me is sickness and wounds.

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.

Therefore I am full of the wrath of LORD. I am weary with holding in. Pour it out upon the sons in the street, and upon the assembly of young men together. For even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him who is

They have also lightly healed the hurt of my people, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace.

Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed, nor could they blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall. At the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, says LORD.

Thus says LORD, Stand ye in the ways and see. And ask for the old paths where is the good way. And walk in it, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk.

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.

We have heard the report of it. Our hands grow feeble. Anguish has taken hold of us, [and] pangs as of a woman in travail.

Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way, for the sword of the enemy, [and] terror, are on every side.

O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes. Make thee mourning, as for an only son, a most bitter lamentation. For the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.

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.

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.

Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of LORD, the temple of LORD, the temple of LORD, are these.

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.

Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

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?

Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, says LORD.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in [their own] counsels, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

Cut off thy hair, [O Jerusalem], and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights. For LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

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].

And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places where I have driven them, says LORD of hosts.

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.

Yea, the stork in the heavens knows her appointed times, and the turtledove and the swallow and the crane observe the time of their coming, but my people know not the law of LORD.

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?

And they have lightly healed the hurt of the daughter of my people, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace.

Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed, nor could they blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall. In the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, says LORD.

I will utterly consume them, says LORD. There shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade, and [things] I have given them shall pass away from them.

The snorting of his horses is heard from Dan. At the sound of the neighing of his strong ones the whole land trembles. For they have come, and have devoured the land and all that is in it, the city and those who dwell therein.

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?

For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt. I mourn. Dismay has taken hold on me.

Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men, that I might leave my people, and go from them! For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

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.

Take ye heed each one of his neighbor, and trust ye not in any brother, for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will go about with slanders.

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.

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.

Shall I not visit them for these things? says LORD. Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

And LORD says, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, nor walked in it,

but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baalim, which their fathers taught them.

Yet hear the word of LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and each one her neighbor lamentation.

Thus says LORD: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor let the mighty man glory in his might. Let not the rich man glory in his riches,

but let him who boasts boast in this, that he has understanding, and knows me, that I am LORD who exercises loving kindness, justice, and righteousness, in the earth. For in these things I delight, says LORD.

Behold, the days come, says LORD, that I will punish all those who are circumcised in [their] uncircumcision: