"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came out from [the] womb I consecrated you; I appointed you [as] a prophet to the nations."

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."

Then Yahweh said to me, "From [the] north disaster will be unleashed on all the inhabitants of the land.

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?'

"For from long ago you have broken your yoke, you tore to pieces your bonds. And you said, 'I will not serve!' But on every high hill and under every leafy tree you [were] lying down [as] a prostitute.

Restrain your foot from [being] barefoot, and your throat from thirst. But you said, '[It is] hopeless. No! For I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.'

yet you say, 'But I am innocent, surely his anger has turned away from me.' Look, I [am] entering into judgment with you because of your saying, 'I have not sinned.'

Also from there you will come out with your hands on your head, for Yahweh has rejected {those in whom you trust}, and you will not prosper through them.

A {saying}: 'Look, [if] a man divorces his wife, and she goes from him {and she becomes another man's wife}, will he return to her again?' Will not that land be greatly defiled? And you have prostituted [yourself] [with] many lovers, [would] you now return to me?" {declares} Yahweh.

"Return, apostate children," {declares} Yahweh. "For {I am your master}, and I will take you one from a city and two from a clan, and I will bring you [to] Zion.

In those days the house of Judah will walk along with the house of Israel and they will come together from [the] land of [the] north to the land that I gave as an inheritance [to] your ancestors.

Then I thought, 'How I would set you among the children, and I would give you a land of desire, an inheritance of [the] glory of [the] hosts of nations.' And I thought, 'You would call me, "My father," and you would not turn back from {behind} me.'

However, as a wife departs treacherously from her lover, so you have dealt treacherously with me, house of Israel," {declares} Yahweh.

Surely, an illusion [comes] from [the] hills, [the] turmoil [on] the mountains. Surely, in Yahweh our God [is] the salvation of Israel.

But the shameful thing has devoured the labor of our ancestors from our youth, their flocks, and their cattle, their sons and their daughters.

Let us lie down in our shame, and let our disgrace cover us. For against Yahweh our God we have sinned, we and our ancestors, from our youth and until this day. and we have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh our God.'

If you return, Israel," {declares} Yahweh, "you return to me. And if you remove your abominations from my {presence}, and you do not wander,

Lift up a signal toward Zion, bring yourselves to safety; you must not remain standing, for I [am] bringing evil from [the] north, and a great destruction.

A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has gone out from his place to make your land as a horror, your cities will go to ruin {without} inhabitant.

Because of this gird yourselves [with] sackcloth, lament and wail, for {the burning anger} of Yahweh has not turned back from us.

At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, "{A hot wind from the barren heights} in the desert, {in the direction of} the daughter of my people, not to winnow and not to cleanse,

Cleanse your heart from wickedness, Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. {How long} will your thoughts of mischief dwell in your inner part?

For a voice [is] declaring from Dan, and [is] proclaiming disaster from the mountain of Ephraim.

"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.'

Like watchers of a field they were against her from all around, because she has rebelled against me," {declares} Yahweh.

Because of this the earth will mourn, and the heavens above will become dark. Because I have spoken, I have planned, and I have not relented, and I will not turn back from it."

From the sound of a horseman and {an archer} every town flees, they enter in the thickets and among the rocks they climb. Every town [is] forsaken, and there is no person [who] lives in them.

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.

Look, I [am] about to bring on you a nation from afar, house of Israel," {declares} Yahweh. "It [is] an enduring nation, it [is] {an ancient nation}. A nation whose language you do not know, and you cannot understand what they speak.

Your iniquities have disturbed these, and your sins have kept away the good from you.

Flee for safety, children of Benjamin, from the midst of Jerusalem. And in Tekoa blow a horn, and on Beth-haccherem lift up a signal, for evil looks down from [the] north, and a great destruction.

Be warned, Jerusalem, lest I turn away from you in disgust, lest I make you a desolation, a land that is not inhabited."

"For from the smallest of them to the greatest of them, {everyone} makes profit for unlawful gain. And from the prophet to the priest, {everyone} practices deceit.

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."

Thus says Yahweh: "Look, a people [is] coming from [the] land of [the] north, a great nation is woken up from [the] farthest part of [the] earth.

The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, {saying},

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.

From the day that your ancestors came out from the land of Egypt until this day I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, day after day, {sending again and again}.

"And you shall say to them, 'This [is] the nation that has not obeyed the voice of Yahweh their God, and they have not accepted discipline. The truth has perished, and it is cut off from their mouths.

And I will cause to disappear from the towns of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem [the] sound of jubilation, and [the] sound of joy, [the] voice of [the] bridegroom, and [the] voice of [the] bride, for the land will become a site of ruins.

"At that time," {declares} Yahweh, "they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its officials, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Judah from their graves.

Therefore I will give their wives to others, their fields to conquerors, because from [the] smallest to [the] greatest, all of them make profit [for] unlawful gain, from prophet to priest, all of them practice deceit.

"From Dan is heard the snorting of their horses, from the sound of the neighing of their stallions all the land quakes, for they come and devour the land, and that which fills [the] city, and [those who] live in it.

"My comfort [is gone] from me, sorrow [is] on me, my heart [is] sick.

Look, the sound of the cry for help of the daughter of my people from a distant land, 'Is Yahweh not in Zion? Is her king not in her?' Why have they provoked me to anger with their images, with idols of a foreign land?"

{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 they bend their tongue [like] their bow, [for] falsehood and not truth is superior in the land, for they go forth from evil to evil, and they do not know me," {declares} Yahweh.

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.'

For death has come into our windows, it has entered into our fortresses, to cut off [the] children from [the] streets, [the] young men from [the] public squares.

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.

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.

"{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.

{When he utters his voice} [there is] a noise of water in the heavens, and he causes [the] mist to rise from [the] ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he causes [the] wind to go out from his storehouses.

Gather your bundle from [the] ground, you who live under the siege.'"

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.

Listen, news: Look, [it is] coming, a great roar from [the] land of [the] north, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a lair of jackals.

The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, {saying},

which I commanded your ancestors in the day of my bringing them from the land of Egypt, from the furnace of iron, {saying}, 'Listen to my voice and do according to all that I command you, {so will you be my people, and I will be your God}.'

for I solemnly admonished your ancestors in the day of my leading them out from the land of Egypt and up to this day, {admonishing persistently}, {saying}, "Obey my voice."

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh, "I [am] about to bring on them disaster from which they will not be able to escape. Though they cry out to me, yet I will not listen to them.

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."

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}.

Upon all [the] barren heights in the desert destroyers have come, for [the] sword of Yahweh devours, from [one] end of [the] land to the [other] end of the land, there is no peace for all flesh.

Thus says Yahweh concerning all of the evil neighbors who touch the inheritance that I gave as an inheritance [to] my people Israel: "Look, I [am] about to drive them out from their land, and the house of Judah I will drive out from among them.

{And then}, {after a long time}, then Yahweh said to me, "Stand up, go [to the] Euphrates and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there."

Then I went [to the] Euphrates and I dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it, and look, the loincloth was ruined; it was not good for anything.

And I will smash them, each one against his brother, and the fathers and the sons together," {declares} Yahweh. "I will not have compassion, and I will not take pity, and I will not show compassion from destroying them." '"

"Say to the king and to the queen mother, '{Take a lower seat}, for {your beautiful crown} has come down from your head.'

Lift up your eyes and see those coming from [the] north. Where [is] the flock that was given to you, {your magnificent flock}?

This [is] your lot, the portion of your measure from me," {declares} Yahweh, "because you have forgotten me, and you have trusted in the lie.

Then Yahweh said to me, "[Even] if Moses and Samuel stood {before me}, my heart [would] not [be] to this people. Send [them] away from my {sight}, and let them go out.

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.

Can anyone break iron, iron from the north, or bronze?

"And I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you from [the] hand of [the] tyrant."

For thus says Yahweh, "You must not enter [the] house of [the] funeral meal, and you must not go to lament, and you must not show sympathy for them, for I have taken away my peace from this people," {declares} Yahweh, "the loyal love and the compassion.

For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Look, I [am] about to cause to disappear from this place, before your eyes and in your days, [the] voice of jubilation, and [the] voice of joy, and [the] voice of [the] bridegroom, and [the] voice of [the] bride.

So I will throw you from this land to the land that you have not known, you or your ancestors, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will not show you favor.

{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,"

{but only} "{As Yahweh lives}, who led up the {Israelites} from [the] land of [the] north, and from all the lands where he had driven them," for I will bring them back to their ground that I gave to their ancestors.

Look, I [am] sending for many fishermen,' {declares} Yahweh, 'and they will fish them out, and {afterward} I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and from the clefts of the cliffs.

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.

Yahweh, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in [the] day of distress, to you [the] nations will come from the ends of [the] earth, and they will say, "Our ancestors have inherited only lies, vanity, and there is no profit in them.

And {you will let go your hand from your inheritance} that I gave to you, and I will make you serve your enemies in the land that you do not know, for you kindled a fire in my anger, until eternity it will be kindled."

Thus says Yahweh, "Cursed [is] the person who trusts in humankind and makes flesh his {strength}, and turns aside his heart from Yahweh.

For he will be like a tree planted by water, and to [the] stream it sends its roots, and it will not fear when heat comes, and its leaves will be luxuriant, and in [the] year of drought it will not be anxious, and it will not cease from the bearing of fruit.

A lofty throne of glory from the beginning [is] the place of our sanctuary.

Yahweh, the hope of Israel, all [those who] forsake you will be put to shame, and [those who] turn aside from you in the earth will be recorded, for they have forsaken the fountain of living water, Yahweh.

But I, I have not run away from being a shepherd {who follows you}, and I have not desired the disastrous day. You, you know the pronouncement of my lips, it was before your face.

And you must not carry a burden from your houses on the day of the Sabbath, and you must not do any work. But you must declare holy the day of Sabbath, just as I commanded your ancestors.

And they will come from the towns of Judah, and from all around Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the Shephelah, and from the hill country, and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and grain offerings, and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings [to] the house of Yahweh.

The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, {saying},

But [if] that nation turns back from its evil that I have threatened against it, then I will relent concerning the disaster that I planned to do to it.

"So now then, say, please, to the {people} of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, {saying}, 'Thus says Yahweh, "Look, I [am] preparing evil against you, and [I am] planning a plan against you. Please turn back, each one from his evil way, and walk rightly [in] your ways and your deeds." '

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

Like the wind from the east I will scatter them {before} [the] enemy. I will show them [my] back and not [my] face in the day of their disaster.'"

Then they said, "Come and let us plan plans against Jeremiah, for instruction will not be lost from [the] priest, nor advice from [the] wise man, nor [the] word from [the] prophet. Come and {let us bring charges against him}, and let us not listen attentively to any of his words."

Should good be repaid in place of evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember my standing {before you} to speak good for them, to avert your wrath from them.