to whom the word of the 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 of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

For, behold, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north," says the LORD; "and they shall come, and they shall each set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls all around, and against all the cities of Judah.

For, behold, I have made you this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against its officials, against its priests, and against the people of the land.

"But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble: for according to the number of your cities are your gods, Judah.

I said after she had done all these things, 'She will return to me;' but she did not return; and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce, yet treacherous Judah, her sister, did not fear; but she also went and played the prostitute.

Yet for all this her treacherous sister, Judah, has not returned to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense," says the LORD.

The LORD said to me, "Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.

In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance to your fathers.

For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, "Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns.

Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

Declare in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, 'Blow the trumpet in the land.' Cry aloud and say, 'Assemble yourselves. Let us go into the fortified cities.'

"Tell the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, 'Watchers come from a far country, and raise their voice against the cities of Judah.

For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me," says the LORD.

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

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

Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

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

Then will I 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."

"At that time," says the LORD, "they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his officials, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves;

"I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."

Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that have the corners of their hair cut off, who dwell in the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart."

The voice of news, behold, it comes, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling place of jackals.

"Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

The LORD said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, 'Hear the words of this covenant, and do them.

The LORD said to me, "A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words; and they are gone after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.

Then shall the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem go and cry to the gods to which they offer incense: but they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble.

For according to the number of your cities are your gods, Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have you set up altars to the shameful thing, even altars to burn incense to Baal.'

For the LORD of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you, because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have worked for themselves in provoking me to anger by offering incense to Baal."

Thus says the LORD against all my evil neighbors, who touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit: 'behold, I will pluck them up from off their land, and will pluck up the house of Judah from among them.

"Thus says the LORD, 'In this way I will mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.

For as the belt clings to the waist of a man, so have I caused to cling to me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah,' says the LORD; 'that they might be my people, for a name, for praise, and for glory. But they would not listen.

The cities toward the Negev are shut, and there is no one to open them: Judah is carried away into exile, all of it; it is wholly carried away into exile.'"

"Judah mourns, and its gates languish, they sit in black on the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.

"Have you utterly rejected Judah? Has your soul loathed Zion? Why have you struck us, and there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of healing, and behold, dismay.

I will cause them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.

"The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of your altars;

Thus said the LORD to me: "Go, and stand in the gate of the children of the people, through which the kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;

and tell them, 'Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates:

then shall there enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their officials, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever.

They shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places around Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowland, and from the hill country, and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meal offerings, and frankincense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving, to the house of the LORD.

Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus says the LORD: Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return now everyone from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.'

and say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Behold, I will bring evil on this place, which whoever hears, his ears shall tingle.

Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it to other gods, that they did not know, they and their fathers and the kings of Judah; and have filled this place with the blood of innocents,

I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life: and their dead bodies will I give to be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth.

and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings to other gods."'"

For thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself, and to all your friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes shall see it; and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall kill them with the sword.

Moreover I will give all the riches of this city, and all its gains, and all the precious things of it, yes, all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies; and they shall make them a prey, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.

Afterward," says the LORD, "I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, even such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life: and he shall strike them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy."'

Touching the house of the king of Judah, hear the word of the LORD:

Thus said the LORD: "Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,

Say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter in by these gates.

For thus says the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah: "You are Gilead to me, the head of Lebanon. Yet surely I will make you a wilderness, cities which are not inhabited.

For thus says the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went forth out of this place: "He shall not return there any more.

Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: "they shall not lament for him, saying, 'Ah my brother. or, Ah sister.' They shall not lament for him, saying, 'Ah lord.' or, 'Ah his glory.'

As I live," says the LORD, "though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet on my right hand, yet would I pluck you there;

Thus says the LORD, "Write this man childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days; for no more shall a man of his seed prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling in Judah.

In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name by which he shall be called: 'The LORD our righteousness.'

The LORD showed me, and behold, two baskets of figs set before the LORD's temple, after that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the officials of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.

"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'Like these good figs, so will I regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for good.

As the bad figs, which can't be eaten, they are so bad, surely thus says the LORD, 'So will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem, who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt,

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (the same was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),

which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying:

"From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty-three years, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; but you have not listened.

Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and its kings, and its officials, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day;

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word from the LORD, saying,

"Thus says the LORD: Stand in the court of the LORD's house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD's house, all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not diminish a word.

When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king's house to the house of the LORD; and they sat in the entry of the new gate of the LORD's house.

"Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest."'

Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the LORD, and entreat the favor of the LORD, and the LORD relented of the disaster which he had pronounced against them? Thus should we commit great evil against our own souls.

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah;

I 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.

But if they be prophets, and if the word of the LORD be with them, let them now make intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, do not go to Babylon.

which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;

yes, thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem:

It happened the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet, who was of Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,

and I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, who went to Babylon,' says the LORD; 'for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.'"

(after that Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, had departed from Jerusalem),

by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), saying,

and of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captives of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, "The LORD make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire";

For, behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will turn again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah,' says the LORD; 'and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.'"

These are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah.

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I shall bring again their captivity: 'The LORD bless you, habitation of righteousness, mountain of holiness.'

Judah and all its cities shall dwell therein together, the farmers, and those who go about with flocks.

"Behold, the days come," says the LORD, "that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of animal.

Behold, the days come," says the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

Now at that time the king of Babylon's army was besieging Jerusalem; and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah's house.

For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, "Why do you prophesy, and say, 'Thus says the LORD, "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 see his eyes;

For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only that which was evil in my sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, says the LORD.

because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

They built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through fire to Molech; which I did not command them, neither did it come into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.'

Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe the deeds, and seal them, and call witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the hill country, and in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the Negev: for I will cause their captivity to return,' says the LORD."

For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down to make a defense against the mounds and against the sword;

I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.

"Thus says the LORD: 'Yet again there shall be heard in this place, about which you say, "It is waste, without man and without animal," even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without animal,