Israel was holiness to Jehovah, and the firstfruits of His increase. All that devour him shall offend; evil shall come on them, says Jehovah.

The young lions roared against him; they gave their voice. And they made his land a waste; his cities are burned without inhabitant.

They say, If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him and will be for another man, will he return to her again? Would not that land be greatly defiled? But you play the harlot with many lovers; yet come back to Me, says Jehovah.

And you shall swear, Jehovah lives, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him they shall glory.

but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am Jehovah, doing kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth; for in these I delight, says Jehovah.

Pour out Your fury on the nations who do not know You, and on the families who do not call on Your name; for they have eaten up Jacob and have devoured him, and have destroyed him, and have made his dwelling desolate.

But I was like a docile lamb being brought to the slaughter. And I did not know that they had plotted evils 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 may be remembered no more.

Then they said, Come and let us plot schemes against Jeremiah. For the Law shall not perish from the priest, nor wisdom from the wise, nor the Word from the prophet. Come and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.

And say, Hear the Word of Jehovah, O kings of Judah, and people of Jerusalem. So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil on this place, which shall cause the ears of him who hears it to tingle.

Then Jeremiah came from Tophet, where Jehovah had sent him to prophesy. And he stood in the court of Jehovah's house, and said to all the people,

then Pashur struck Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate, which was by the house of Jehovah.

And it happened on the next day, Pashur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, Jehovah has not called your name Pashur, but Terror from All Around.

Then I said, I will not mention Him, nor speak in His name any more. But His Word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with holding in, and I could not stop.

For I heard the slanders of many, Terror is all around! Expose! Yea, let us expose him! Every man of my peace is watching for my fall, saying, Perhaps he will be lured away, and we shall prevail over him, and we shall take our revenge on him.

Cursed is the man who brought news to my father, saying, A man child is born to you; making him very glad.

And let that man be as the cities which Jehovah overthrew, and repented not; and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;

The Word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,

O house of David, so says Jehovah: Do judgment in the morning, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest My fury go out like fire, and burn so that none can put it out, because of the evil of your doings.

So says Jehovah, Do judgment and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the oppressors's hand. And do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.

Weep not for the dead, nor moan for him; but weep bitterly for him who goes away. For he shall return no more, nor see his native country.

But he shall die in the place where they have exiled him and shall see this land no more.

Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness and his upper rooms without justice; his neighbor serves without pay, and he does not give him for his work;

Do you reign, because you lust to excel in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink, and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him.

He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him. Was this not to know Me? says Jehovah.

Therefore so says Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, They shall not mourn for him, saying, Ah, my brother! or, Ah, sister! They shall not mourn for him, saying, Ah, lord! or, Ah, his glory!

Can anyone hide himself in secret places so that I shall not see him? says Jehovah. Do I not fill the heavens and earth? says Jehovah.

The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream. And he who has My Word, let him speak My Word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? says Jehovah.

And it happened when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that Jehovah had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, You shall surely die!

Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah indeed put him to death? Did he not fear Jehovah, and pray to Jehovah, and Jehovah repented of the evil which He had spoken against them? So we are doing great evil against our souls.

And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the rulers, heard his words, the king tried to put him to death. But when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled and went into Egypt.

And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt; Elnathan the son of Achbor, and men with him into Egypt.

And they brought Urijah out of Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword and threw his dead body into the graves of the common people.

But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant. And I have also given him the beast of the field to serve him.

And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his own land comes. And then many nations and great kings shall enslave him.

But the nations who bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those I will leave on their own land, says Jehovah. And they shall work it and dwell in it.

I also spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.

As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then the prophet shall be known, that Jehovah has truly sent him.

For so says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And they shall serve him. And I have given him the beasts of the field also.

Jehovah has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to be officers in the house of Jehovah, over every madman who prophesies, that you should put him into the stocks and into the collar.

Send to all the exiles, saying, So says Jehovah concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I did not send him, and he caused you to trust in a lie,

For it shall be in that day, says Jehovah of Hosts, I will break his yoke from your neck and will burst your bonds. And strangers shall no longer enslave him,

And you, O My servant Jacob, do not fear, says Jehovah. Do not be terrified, O Israel. For lo, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity. And Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.

And their rulers shall be of themselves, and their governor shall come from among them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach Me. For who is this who pledged his heart to come near to Me? says Jehovah.

So says Jehovah, The people who were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I will go to give him rest.

Hear the Word of Jehovah, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands afar off. And say, He who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him, as a shepherd keeps his flock.

For Jehovah has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of the one stronger than he.

Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a delightful child? For as often as I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still. Therefore My heart is troubled for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says Jehovah.

For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Why do you prophesy and say, So says Jehovah, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it,

and Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes,

and he shall lead Zedekiah into Babylon, and there he shall be until I visit him, says Jehovah; though you fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not be blessed.

And I bought the field in Anathoth, of Hanameel my uncle's son, and weighed him the silver, seventeen shekels of silver.

In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him who tallies, says Jehovah.

So says Jehovah, the God of Israel: Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, So says Jehovah, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.

At the end of seven years each man should let go his brother, a Hebrew, and who has been sold to him. And when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you. But your fathers did not listen to me, nor bow down their ears.

Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah. And Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the Words of Jehovah, which He had spoken to him, on a roll of a book.

And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book, the Words of Jehovah in Jehovah's house.

And they said to him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears.

And the king sat in the winter house in the ninth month; also with the burning fire-pan before him.

And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity. And I will bring on them, and on the people of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the evils that I have spoken against them; but they did not listen.

And Jeremiah came in and went out among the people, for they had not put him into prison.

Then Jeremiah said, A lie! I am not falling away to the Chaldeans. But he did not listen to him; so Irijah took Jeremiah and brought him to the rulers.

And the rulers were angry with Jeremiah, and struck him, and put him in prison, the house of Jonathan the scribe. For they had made that the prison.

And Zedekiah the king sent and took him out. And the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any Word from Jehovah? And Jeremiah said, There is. For, He said, you shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.

And Zedekiah the king commanded that they should put Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that they should give him a piece of bread out of the bakers' street daily, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

And they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, which was in the court of the prison. And they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And there was no water in the pit, only mud. So Jeremiah sank into the mud.

So they drew up Jeremiah with ropes and took him up out of the pit. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

And Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah the prophet to him, into the third gate in the house of Jehovah. And the king said to Jeremiah, I will ask you a thing. Do not hide anything from me.

Then all the rulers came to Jeremiah and asked him. And he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they quit speaking with him; for the matter was not known.

But the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And they took him, and made him go up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment on him.

And he blinded Zedekiah's eyes and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.

Then Nebuzaradan the chief of the executioners exiled to Babylon the rest of the people who remained in the city, and those who fell away, who fell to him with the rest of the people that remained.

Take him, and set your eyes on him, and do him no evil. But do with him even as he shall say to you.

even they sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and entrusted him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, to take him to the house. So he lived among the people.

This is the Word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, after Nebuzaradan the chief of the executioners had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him, being bound in chains, among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were being exiled to Babylon.

And the chief of the executioners took Jeremiah and said to him, Jehovah your God has spoken this evil against this place.

And while he had not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and live with him among the people. Or go wherever it seems right to you to go. So the chief of the executioners gave him food and a reward, and let him go.

Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam at Mizpah. And he lived with him among the people who were left in the land.

And when all the commanders of the forces who were in the fields, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had entrusted to him men, and women, and children, and many of the poor of the land, of those who were not exiled to Babylon;

And they said to him, You certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to kill you. But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them.

And it happened in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, and the rulers of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah. And there they ate bread together in Mizpah.

Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah arose, and the ten men who were with him, and struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and killed him whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with him, with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

And it happened when they came into the middle of the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah killed them, he and the men with him, and they threw them into the middle of the pit.

But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,

then they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah. And they found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.

And it happened when all the people with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces with him, then they were glad.

Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces with him took all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after he had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. They took mighty men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought again from Gibeon.

And he called Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest.

And he said to them, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your cry before Him:

Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not be afraid of him, says Jehovah. For I am with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand.

And it happened when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking to all the people all the Words of Jehovah their God, for which Jehovah their God had sent him to them, all these Words,

And Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and to the women, and to all the people who had given him that answer:

So you shall say to him, Jehovah says this: Behold, what I have built I will break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, even all the land itself to Me.

Why is your mighty one swept away? They did not stand, because Jehovah thrust him down.

Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods and their kings; even Pharaoh and all who trust in him;

But you do not fear, O My servant Jacob, and be not afraid, O Israel. For, behold, I will save you from afar off, and your seed from the land of their captivity. And Jacob shall return and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.

Moab has been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile. Therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.

Therefore behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that I will send pourers to him, who shall pour him off, and his vessels shall empty, and shatter their jars.

All you who are around him, mourn him. And all you who know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod!