Then said I, "Oh LORD God, I cannot speak, for I am yet but young."

Cometh not this unto thee, because thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, ever since he led thee by the way?

Thine own wickedness shall reprove thee, and thy turning away shall condemn thee: that thou mayest know and understand, how evil and hurtful a thing it is, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and not feared him, sayeth the LORD God of Hosts.

and among all green trees. Whereas I planted thee out of noble grapes and good roots. How art thou turned then into a bitter, unfruitful, and strange grape?

Yea, and that so sore, that though thou washest thee with Nitre and makest thyself to savour with that sweet smelling herb of Borith: yet in my sight thou art stained with thy wickedness, sayeth the LORD thy God.

but on this condition, that thou know thy great blasphemy: Namely, that thou hast unfaithfully forsaken the LORD thy God, and hast made thyself partaker of strange gods under all green trees, but hast had no will to hear my voice, sayeth the LORD.

And therefore the voice of the children of Israel was heard on every side, weeping and wailing: for they have defiled their way, and forgotten God their LORD.

"O ye shrinking children, turn again, saying, "Lo, we are thine, for thou art the LORD our God!" And so shall I heal your backturnings.

The hills fall, and all the high pride of the mountains; but the health of Israel standeth only upon God our LORD.

So do we also sleep in our confusion, and shame covereth us: for we and our fathers from our youth up unto this day have sinned against the LORD our God, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God."

Be circumcised in the LORD, and cut away the foreskins of your heart, all ye of Judah, and all the indwellers of Jerusalem: that my indignation break not out like fire, and kindle so that no man may quench it, because of the wickedness of your imaginations."

Then said I, "O LORD God, hast thou then deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, 'Ye shall have peace,' and now the sword goeth through their lives?"

Therefore thought I in myself, "Peradventure they are so simple and foolish, that they understand nothing of the LORD's way, and judgments of our God.

Therefore will I go unto their heads and rulers, and talk with them: if they know the way of the LORD, and the judgments of our God." But these, in like manner, have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds in sunder.

Wherefore a lion out of the wood shall hurt them, and a wolf in the evening shall destroy them. The cat of the mountain shall lie lurking by their cities, to tare in pieces all them that come thereout. For their offenses are many, and their departing away is great.

"Climb up upon their walls, beat them down, but destroy them not utterly: cut off their branches because they are not the LORD's.

As for the warning of the Prophets, it is but wind; yea, there is not the word of God in them: such things shall happen unto themselves."

Wherefore thus sayeth the LORD God of Hosts, "Because ye speak such words, behold: The words that are in thy mouth will I turn to fire, and make the people to be wood, that it may consume them.

But if they say, 'Wherefore doth the LORD our God all this unto us?' Then answer them, 'Because, that like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your own land, even so shall ye serve other gods also in a strange land!'"

They think not in their hearts, 'O let us fear the LORD our God, that giveth us rain, early and late, when need is: which keepeth ever still the harvest for us yearly.'

But unto whom shall I speak, whom shall I warn, that he may take heed? Their ears are so uncircumcised, that they may not hear. Behold, they take the word of God but for a scorn, and have no lust thereto.

Therefore they must be ashamed, for they have committed abomination. But how should they be ashamed, when they know nothing, neither of shame nor good nurture? And therefore they shall fall among the slain; and in the hour when I shall visit them, they shall be brought down," sayeth the LORD.

Thus sayeth the LORD, "Go into the streets, consider and make inquisition for the old way: and if it be the good and right way, then go therein, that ye may find rest for your souls. But they say, 'We will not walk therein.'

These are the words that God spake unto Jeremiah:

Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel. Amend your ways and your counsels, and I will let you dwell in this place.

But take heed: ye trust in counsels that beguile you and do you no good.

And therefore thus sayeth the LORD God, "Behold, my wrath and my indignation shall be poured out upon this place, upon men and cattle, upon the trees in the field and all fruit of the land, and it shall burn so, that no man may quench it."

Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, "Yea, heap up your burnt offerings with your sacrifices, and eat the flesh.

but this I commanded them, saying, 'Hearken and obey my voice, and I shall be your God, and ye shall be my people: so that ye walk in all the ways, which I have commanded you, that ye may prosper.'

Therefore shalt thou say unto them, 'This is the people, that neither heareth the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth his correction. Faithfulness and truth is clean rooted out of their mouth.

Wherefore cut off thine hair, and cast it away; take up a complaint in the whole land, for the LORD shall cast away and scatter the people, that he is displeased withal.'

For I have looked, and considered: but there is no man that speaketh a good word. There is no man that taketh repentance for his sin, that will so much as say, 'Wherefore have I done this?' But every man, as soon as he is turned back, runneth forth still, like a wild horse in a battle.

Why prolong we the time? Let us gather ourselves together, and go into the strong city; there shall we be in rest. For the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water mixed with gall to drink: because we have sinned against him.

Would God that I had a cottage somewhere far from folk, that I might leave my people, and go from them: for they be all adulterers and a shrinking sort.

Therefore, thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, "Behold, I will feed this people with wormwood, and give them gall to drink.

It standeth as stiff as the palm tree, it can neither speak nor go, but must be borne. Be not ye afraid of such, for they can do neither good nor evil."

But the LORD is a true God, a living God, and an everlasting king. If he be wroth, the earth shaketh: all the Gentiles may not abide his indignation.

But as for our God, he made the earth with his power, and with his wisdom hath he finished the whole compass of the world; with his discretion hath he spread out the heavens.

And say thou unto them, Thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel: Cursed be every one that is not obedient unto the words of this covenant

which I commanded unto your fathers; what time as I brought them out of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Be obedient unto my voice, and do according to all that I commanded you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God,

How long shall the land mourn, and all the herbs of the field perish, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? The cattle and the birds are gone, yet say they, "Tush, God will not destroy us utterly."

They shall sow wheat, and reap thorns. They shall take heritage in possession, but it shall do them no good. And ye shall be confounded of your own winnings, because of the great wrath of the LORD."

Moreover, thus said the LORD unto me, "Go thy way, and get thee a linen breech, and gird it about thy loins, and let it not be wet."

Then I got me a breech, according to the commandment of the LORD, and put it about my loins.

"Take the breech that thou hast prepared and put it about thee, and get thee up, and go unto Euphrates, and hide it in a hole of the rock."

And it happened, long after this, that the LORD spake unto me, "Up, and get thee to Euphrates, and fetch the breech from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there."

"Therefore lay this riddle before them, and say, 'Thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel: Every pot shall be filled with wine.' And they shall say, 'Thinkest thou we know not, that every pot shall be filled with wine?'

Honour the LORD your God herein, or he take his light from you, and before your feet stumble in darkness at the hill: lest when ye look for the light, he turn it into the shadow and darkness of death.

For like as the man of Ethiopia may change his skin, and the cat of the mountains her spots: so may ye that be exercised in evil, do good.

Yea, even thus said the LORD unto me, "Thou shalt not pray to do this people good.

Then answered I, "O LORD God, the prophets say unto them, 'Tush, ye shall see no sword, and no hunger shall come upon you, but the LORD shall give you continual rest in this place.'"

"Hast thou then utterly forsaken Judah?" said I, "Doest thou so abhor Zion? Or hast thou so plagued us, that we can be healed no more? We looked for peace, and there cometh no good: for the time of health, and lo, here is nothing but trouble.

Are there any among the gods of the Gentiles, that send rain or give the showers of heaven? Dost not thou it, O LORD our God, in whom we trust? Yea LORD, thou dost all these things."

And the LORD answered me, "Lead not I thee then unto good? Come not I to thee, when thou art in trouble? And help thee, when thine enemy oppresseth thee?

When I had found thy words, I ate them up greedily: they have made my heart joyful and glad, for I call upon thy name, O LORD God of Hosts.

For thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I shall take away out of this place, the voice of mirth and gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride: yea and that in your days, that ye may see it.

"Now when thou showest this people all these words, and they say unto thee, 'Wherefore hath the LORD devised all this great plague for us?' Or, 'What is the offense and sin that we have done against the LORD our God?'

He shall be like the heath that groweth in the wilderness. As for the good thing that is for to come, he shall not see it: but dwell in a dry place of the wilderness, in a salt and unoccupied land."

Again, thus hath the LORD said unto me, "Go stand under the gate, wherethrough the people and the kings of Judah go out and in; yea, under all the gates of Jerusalem,

and say unto them, 'Hear the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all thou people of Judah, and all ye citizens of Jerusalem, that go through this gate!

Nevertheless, if ye will hear me, sayeth the LORD, and bear no burden into the city through this gate upon the Sabbath; If ye will hallow the Sabbath, so that ye do no work therein;

This is another communication that God had with Jeremiah, saying,

if the same people do evil before me, and hear not my voice: Immediately, I repent of the good, that I devised to do for them.

"Speak now therefore unto whole Judah, and to them that dwell at Jerusalem. Thus sayeth the LORD: Behold, I am devising a plague for you, and am taking a thing in hand against you. Therefore let every man turn from his evil way, take upon you the thing that is good, and do right.

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."

Do they not recompense evil for good, when they dig a pit for my soul? Remember, how that I stood before thee, to speak for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.

and say thus unto them: 'Hear the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and ye citizens of Jerusalem! Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring such a plague upon this place, that the ears of all that hear it, shall glow.

"Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon every town about it, all the plagues that I have devised against them: for they have been obstinate, and would not obey my warnings."

he smote Jeremiah, and put him in the stocks, that are by the high gate of Benjamin, in the house of the LORD.

'Thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel: behold, I will turn back the weapons, that ye have in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans, which besiege you round about the walls, and I will bring them together into the midst of this city,

For I have set my face against this city, sayeth the LORD, to plague it, and to do it no good. It must be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and be burnt with fire.'

and say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, thou king of Judah that sittest in the kingly seat of David: thou, and thy servants, and thy people, that go in and out at this gate.

Then shall it be answered: Because they have broken the covenant of the LORD their God, and have worshipped and served strange gods.'"

Woe worth him, that buildeth his house with unrighteousness, and his parlors with the good that he hath gotten by violence: which never recompenceth his neighbour's labour, nor payeth him his hire.

Wherefore, this is the commandment of the LORD God of Israel, unto the shepherds that feed my people, "Ye scatter and thrust out my flock, and look not upon them. Therefore now will I visit the wickedness of your imaginations, sayeth the LORD:

Am I then God that seeth but the thing, which is nigh at hand, and not that is afar off? sayeth the LORD.

And as for 'the burden of the LORD,' ye shall speak no more of it: for every man's own word is his burden, because ye have altered the words of the living God the LORD of Hosts our God.

In the one mound were very good figs, even like as those that be first ripe. In the other mound were very naughty figs, which might not be eaten they were so evil.

Then said the LORD unto me, "What seest thou Jeremiah?" I said, "Figs, whereof some be very good, and some so evil that no man may eat them."

"Thus sayeth the LORD the God of Israel: like as thou knowest the good figs, so shall I know the men led away, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for their profit:

And I will give them a heart, to know how that I am the LORD. They shall be my people, and I will be their God, for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

"For thus hath the LORD God of Israel spoken unto me, 'Take this wine cup of indignation from my hand, that thou mayest cause all the people, to whom I send thee, for to drink of it:

'And say thou unto them: This is the commandment of the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: Drink and be drunken, spew and fall, that ye never rise: and that through the sword which I will send among you.

For lo, I begin to plague the city that my name is given unto: think ye then, that I will leave you unpunished? Ye shall not go quit. For why? I call for a sword upon all the inhabiters of the earth, sayeth the LORD of Hosts.

Therefore amend your ways, and your advisements, and be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God: so shall the LORD repent of the plague, that he had devised against you.

Now as for me: I am in your hands. Do with me, as ye think expedient and good.

Then said the rulers and the people unto the priests and prophets, "This man may not be condemned to death, for he hath preached unto us in the name of the LORD our God."

and bid them say unto their masters, 'Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel, speak thus unto your masters:

Yea thus hath the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel spoken, as touching the residue of the ornaments of the LORD's house of the king of Judah's house, and of Jerusalem:

"Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon,

either of peace, upon many nations and great kingdoms - were proved by this, if God had sent them in very deed: when the thing came to pass, which that prophet told before."

For thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: I will put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all this people, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, yea and so shall they do. And I will give him the beasts in the field.'"

"Thus hath the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, spoken unto all the prisoners, that were led from Jerusalem unto Babylon:

take you wives, to bear you sons and daughters; provide wives for your sons, and husbands for your daughters, that they may get sons and daughters, and that ye may multiply there. Labour not to be few,

but seek after peace and prosperity of the city wherein ye be prisoners, and pray unto God for it. For in the peace thereof, shall your peace be.

"For thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Let not those prophets and soothsayers that be among you deceive you: and believe not your own dreams.

"But whereas ye say that God hath raised you up prophets at Babylon:

Thus hath the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel spoken, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy lies unto you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, that he may slay them before your eyes.

And all the prisoners of Judah that are in Babylon, shall take upon them this term of cursing, and say, 'Now God do unto thee, as he did unto Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;

Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: Because thou hast sealed letters under thy name unto all the people that is at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, yea and sent them to all the priests: wherein thou writest thus unto him: