And when I had brought you into a pleasant well builded land, that ye might enjoy the fruits and all the commodities of the same: ye went forth and defiled my land, and brought mine heritage to abomination.

Why do they roar and cry then upon him, as a lion? They have made his land waste, his cities are so burnt up, that there is no man dwelling in them.

I shall answer them: Where are now thy gods, that thou hast made thee? Bid them stand up, and help thee in the time of need! For look how many cities thou hast, O Judah: so many gods hast thou also.

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.

Moreover, when ye be increased and multiplied in the land, then, sayeth the LORD, there shall no more boast be made of the ark of the LORD's Covenant: No man shall think upon it, neither shall any man make mention of it: for from thenceforth it shall neither be visited, nor honored with gifts.

Where as thou, O LORD, lookest only upon faith and truth. Thou hast scourged them, but they took no repentance: thou hast corrected them for amendment, but they refused thy correction. They made their faces harder than stone, and would not amend.

This people shall eat up thy fruit and thy meat; yea, they shall devour thy sons and thy daughters, thy sheep and thy bullocks. They shall eat up thy grapes and figs. As for thy strong and well-fenced cities, wherein thou didst trust, they shall destroy them with the sword.

They have also builded an altar at Tophet, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom: that they might burn their sons and daughters - which I never commanded them, neither came it ever in my thought.

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.

namely, wood; silver, which is brought out of Tarshish, and beaten to plates; and gold from Ophir, a work that is made with the hand of the craftsman and the caster, clothed with yellow silk and scarlet: even so is the work of their wise men altogether.

As for their gods, it may well be said of them, "They are gods, that made neither heaven nor earth: therefore shall they perish from the earth, and from all things under heaven."

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.

The vain craftsmen with their works, that they in their vanity hath made, shall perish one with another in the time of visitation.

Nevertheless, Jacob's portion is not such: but it is he that hath made all things, and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of Hosts is his name.

They have turned themselves to the blasphemies of their forefathers, which had no lust to hear my word. Even likewise have these also followed strange gods, and worshiped them. The houses of Israel and Judah have broken my covenant, which I made with their fathers.

Then shall the towns of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem go, and call upon their gods, unto whom they made their oblations: but they are not able to help them in time of their trouble.

O thou beloved, why doest thou so shameful great blasphemies in my house? Even as though that holy flesh might absolve thee, specially when thou hast made thy boast of thy wickedness.

But I, as a meek lamb, was carried away to be slain: not knowing, that they had devised such a counsel against me saying, "We will destroy his meat with wood, and drive him out of the land of the living: that his name shall never be thought upon."

Divers herdsmen have broken down my vineyard, and trodden upon my portion. Of my pleasant portion, they have made a wilderness and desert.

For as straightly as a breech lieth upon a man's loins, so straightly did I bind the whole house of Israel, and the whole house of Judah unto me, sayeth the LORD: that they might be my people; that they might have a glorious name; that they might be in honour. But they would not obey me.

To whom will thou make thy moan, when they come upon thee? For thou hast taught them thyself, and made them masters over thee. Shall not sorrow come upon thee, as on a woman travailing with child?

Be not displeased, O LORD, for thy name's sake, forget not thy loving-kindness: Remember the throne of thine honour, break not the covenant that thou hast made with us.

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.

They shall die a horrible death: and no man shall mourn for them, nor bury them, but they shall lie as dung upon the earth. They shall perish through the sword, and hunger, and their bodies shall be meat for the fowls of the air, and beasts of the earth.

The vessel that the Potter made of clay, brake among his hands: So he began anew, and made another vessel, according to his mind.

But my people hath so forgotten me, that they have made sacrifice unto vain gods. And while they followed their own ways they are come out of the high street, and gone into a foot way not used to be trodden.

into the valley of the children of Hinnom, which lieth before the port that is made of brick, and show them there the words, that I shall tell thee,

For in this place will I slay the Senators of Judah and Jerusalem, and kill them down with the sword in the sight of their enemies, and of them that seek their lives. And their dead carcasses will I give to be meat for the fowls of the air, and beasts of the field.

'Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts: Even so will I destroy this people and city: as a Potter breaketh a vessel, that cannot be made whole again. In Tophet shall they be buried, for they shall have none other place.

Wherefore, I thought from henceforth not to speak of him, nor to preach anymore in his name. But the word of the LORD was a very burning fire in my heart and in my bones, which when I would have stopped, I might not.

because he slew me not, as soon as I came out of my mother's womb, and because my mother was not my grave herself, that the birth might not have come out, but remained still in her.

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.

Which sermon Jeremiah the prophet made unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabiters of Jerusalem, on this manner.

that when they have drunken thereof, they may be mad, and out of their wits, when the sword cometh that I will send among them.'

Then took I the cup from the LORD's hand, and made all the people drink thereof, unto whom the LORD had sent me.

And the same day shall the LORD himself slay them, from one end of the earth to another. There shall no moan be made for any of them, none gathered up, none buried: but shall lie as dung upon the ground.

Mourn, O ye shepherds, and cry: sprinkle yourselves with ashes, O ye rams of the flock! For the time of your slaughter is fulfilled, and ye shall fall like vessels cunningly made for pleasure.

Did Hezekiah king of Judah and the people of Judah put him to death for this? No verily, but rather feared the LORD, and made their prayer unto him. For the which cause also the LORD repented of the plague, that he had devised against them. Should we then do such a shameful deed against our souls?"

I am he that made the earth, the men, and the cattle that are upon the ground, with my great power and outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it pleased me.

For they preach you lies, to bring you far from your land, and that I might cast you out, and destroy you.

neither have I sent them, sayeth the LORD: howbeit they are bold, falsely for to prophesy in my name: that I might the sooner drive you out, and that ye might perish with your preachers.'"

and with that said Hananiah, that all the people might hear, "Thus hath the LORD spoken: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, from the neck of all nations; yea, and that within this two years." And so the prophet Jeremiah went his way.

For I know what I have devised for you sayeth the LORD. My thoughts are to give you peace, and not trouble, which I give you already; and that ye might have hope again.

And beside all this, he hath sent us word unto Babylon, and told us plainly, that our captivity shall long endure: that we should build us houses to dwell therein, and to plant us gardens, that we might enjoy the fruit thereof.'

Then shall the maid rejoice in the dance, yea both young and old folks. For I will turn their sorrow into gladness, and will comfort them and make them joyful, even from their hearts.

not after the covenant that I made with their fathers, when I took them by the hand, and led them out of the land of Egypt: which covenant they brake, wherefore I punished them sore, sayeth the LORD:

'O LORD God: It is thou that hast made heaven and earth with thy great power and high arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.

Behold, there are bulwarks made now against the city, to take it: and it shall be won of the Chaldeans that besiege it with sword, with hunger and death. And look, what thou hast spoken, that same shall come upon them. For lo, all things are present unto thee:

For the Chaldeans shall come, and win this city, and set fire upon it, and burn it: with the gorgeous houses in whose parlors they have made sacrifice unto Baal, and poured drink offerings unto strange gods, to provoke me unto wrath.

Yea, land shall be bought for money, and evidences made thereupon and sealed before witnesses in the country of Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem: in the cities of Judah; in the cities that are upon the mountains; and in them that lie beneath; yea, and in the cities that are in the desert. For I will bring their prisoners hither again, sayeth the LORD.'"

neither shall the priests and Levites want one to offer always before me burnt offerings, to kindle the meat offerings, and to prepare the sacrifices."

"Thus sayeth the LORD: May the covenant which I have made with day and night be broken, that there should not be day and night in due season?

Then may my covenant also be broken, which I made with David my servant, and so he not to have a son to reign in his Throne. So shall also the priests and Levites never fail, but serve me.

Therefore thus sayeth the LORD: If I have made no covenant with day and night, and given no statute unto heaven and earth;

But afterward they repented, and took again the servants and the hand maidens, whom they had let go free, and so made them bond again.

"Thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers, when I brought them out of Egypt, that they should no more be bondmen: saying,

As for you, ye were now turned, and did right before me, in that ye proclaimed, every man to let his neighbour go free, and in that ye made a covenant before me, in the temple that beareth my name.

Yea, those men that have broken my covenant, and not kept the words of the covenant which they made before me - when they hewed the calf in two, and when there went through the two halves thereof -

Those men will I give into the power of their enemies, and into the hands of them that follow upon their lives. And their dead bodies shall be meat for the fowls of the air, and beasts of the field.

Then read Baruch the words of Jeremiah out of the book within the house of the LORD, out of the treasury of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the Scribe, which is beside the higher loft of the new door of the LORD's house: that all the people might hear.

And they said unto him, "Sit down, and read the book that we may hear also." So Baruch read, that they might hear.

And they went in to the king to the court. but they kept the book in the chamber of Elishama the Scribe, and told the king all the words that he might hear.

So the king sent Jehudi to fetch him the book, which he brought out of Elishama the Scribe's chamber. And Jehudi read it, that the king and all the princes, which were about him might hear.

Jedekiah the son of Josiah, which was made king through Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, reigned in the land of Judah, in the stead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim.

So the king swore an oath secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, "As truly as the LORD liveth, that made us these souls, I will not slay thee, nor give thee in to the hands of them that seek after thy life."

And made Zedekiah's eyes to be put out, and bound him with chains, and sent him to Babylon.

If thou canst not be content to dwell alone, then remain with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan: whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people, or remain wheresoever it pleaseth thee." So the chief Captain of the guard gave him his expenses with a reward, and let him go.

Now when the captains of the Host of Judah, which with their fellows were scattered abroad on every side in the land, understood that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and that man, wife and child, yea and the poor men in the land that were not led captive to Babylon should be under his Jurisdiction:

Yea all the Jews also that dwelt in Moab, under the Ammonites, in Idumaea and in all the countries, when they heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan governor upon them that were left in Judah:

Then said Johanan the son of Kareah unto Gedaliah in Mizphah these words, secretly, "Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, so that nobody shall know it. Wherefore will he kill thee? That all the Jews which resort unto thee, might be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?"

And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, with those ten men that were sworn to him, start up, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword; and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor of the land.

there came certain men from Shechem, from Shiloh and Samaria, to the number of eighty, which had shaven their beards, rent their clothes, and were all heavy, bringing meat offerings, and incense in their hands, to offer it in the house of the LORD.

And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth of Mizphah weeping, to meet them. Now when he met them, he said, "Go your way to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam."

Now the pit wherein Ishmael did cast the dead bodies of the men whom he slew because of Gedaliah, had king Asa caused to be made, for fear of Baasha the king of Israel, and the same pit did Ishmael fill with slain men.

As for the remnant of the people, the king's daughters and all the people that were yet left at Mizphah, upon whom Nebuzaradan the chief Captain had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor: Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away prisoners toward the Ammonites.

And went from thence, and sat them down at Geruth Chimham, which lieth beside Bethlehem, that they might go into Egypt for fear of the Chaldeans:

of whom they were afraid, because that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah Ahikam's son, whom the king of Babylon had made governor in the land.

But Baruch the son of Neriah provoketh thee against us, that he might bring us into the captivity of the Chaldeans: that they might slay us, and carry us away prisoners unto Babylon."

Wherefore mine indignation and wrath was kindled, and it burnt up the cities of Judah, the fields with the streets of Jerusalem, so that they were made waste and desolate, as it is come to pass this day.

because ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your own hands: when ye offer unto strange gods in the land of Egypt whereas ye be gone to dwell: That ye might utterly perish, and that ye might be reviled and shamefully intreated of all nations.

Insomuch that the LORD might no longer suffer the wickedness of your inventions, and the abominable things which ye did? Is not your land desolate and void; yea, and abhorred, so that no man dwelleth therein any more, as it is come to pass this day?

Did not all this happen unto you, because ye made such sacrifice, and sinned against the LORD? Ye have not followed his voice, to walk in his law, in his ordinances and statutes. Yea, this is the cause that all misfortune happened unto you, as it is come to pass this day."

is Moab made desolate!' And this cry shall be heard in all her cities.

Make a token unto Moab, that she get her away speedily: for her cities shall be made so desolate, that no man shall dwell therein.

Therefore shall their mourning be made for Moab, and every man shall cry for Moab's sake: a lamentation shall be made to the men that stand upon the wall.

Moreover, I will make Moab cease, sayeth the LORD, from the offerings and censing that she hath made unto her gods in high places.

And Moab shall be made so desolate, that she shall no more be a people, because she hath set up herself against the LORD.

My people hath been a lost flock. My shepherds have deceived them, and have made them go astray upon the hills. They have gone from the mountains to the little hill, and forgotten their fold.

All they that came upon them, have devoured them: and their enemies said, 'We have made no fault against them, for they have displeased the LORD, yea even the LORD which is the beauty of their righteousness, and that defended their fathers.'

'We would have made Babylon whole,' say they, 'but she is not recovered. Therefore will we let her alone, and go every man into his own country. For her judgment is come in to heaven, and is gone up to the clouds.'

Yea even the LORD of Hosts, that with his power made the earth, with his wisdom prepared the round world, and with his discretion spied out the heavens.

"Nevertheless, the portion of Jacob is none such: but he that made all things, whose name is the LORD of Hosts, he is the rod of his inheritance.

One pursuant shall meet another; yea, one post shall come by another; to bring the king of Babylon tidings that his city is taken in on every side:

'Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured and destroyed me, he hath made me an empty vessel. He swallowed me up like a dragon, and filled his belly with my delicates: he hath cast me out.

when the LORD destroyeth them, and when he driveth out the high stomach and proud boasting, wherewith they have been as furious as the waves of great water floods, and made great crakes with their words.

Zedekiah was twenty one years old, when he was made king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal, Jeremiah's daughter of Libnah.

But in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth Month, the tenth day of the Month, it happened that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, with all his Host, came before Jerusalem: and besieged it, and made them bulwarks round about it.

The chief Captain took also the two pillars, the laver, and the twelve brazen bullocks that stood under the seat, which king Solomon made in the house of the LORD: and all the vessel contained so much metal, that it might not be weighed.