They will fight against you but never prevail over you, since I am with you to rescue you.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

When you multiply and increase in the land, in those days”—the Lord’s declaration—“no one will say any longer, ‘The ark of the Lord’s covenant.’ It will never come to mind, and no one will remember or miss it. It will never again be made.

I thought: How I long to make you My sons
and give you a desirable land,
the most beautiful inheritance of all the nations.
I thought: You will call Me, my Father,
and never turn away from Me.

They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom in order to burn their sons and daughters in the fire, a thing I did not command; I never entertained the thought.

This is what the Lord says concerning these people:

Truly they love to wander;
they never rest their feet.
So the Lord does not accept them.
Now He will remember their guilt
and punish their sins.

“Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, though I did not send them, and who say, ‘There will never be sword or famine in this land.’ By sword and famine these prophets will meet their end.

I never sat with the band of revelers,
and I did not celebrate with them.
Because Your hand was on me, I sat alone,
for You filled me with indignation.

Then certain ones said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah, for instruction will never be lost from the priest, or counsel from the wise, or an oracle from the prophet. Come, let’s denounce him and pay no attention to all his words.”

because they have abandoned Me and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in it to other gods that they, their fathers, and the kings of Judah have never known. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.

They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, something I have never commanded or mentioned; I never entertained the thought.

and you are to proclaim to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I will shatter these people and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be mended. They will bury the dead in Topheth because there is no other place for burials.

But the Lord is with me like a violent warrior.
Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly shamed,
an everlasting humiliation that will never be forgotten.

May the day I was born
be cursed.
May the day my mother bore me
never be blessed.

Do not weep for the dead;
do not mourn for him.
Weep bitterly for the one who has gone away,
for he will never return again
and see his native land.

For this is what the Lord says concerning Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in place of his father Josiah: “He has left this place—he will never return here again,

but he will die in the place where they deported him, never seeing this land again.”

I spoke to you when you were secure.
You said, “I will not listen.”
This has been your way since youth;
indeed, you have never listened to Me.

They will never return to the land they long to return to.”

I will bring on you everlasting shame and humiliation that will never be forgotten.”

“Then you are to say to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, as a result of the sword I am sending among you.

“On that day”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts—“I will break his yoke from your neck and tear off your chains so strangers will never again enslave him.

“In those days, it will never again be said:

The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.

No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “For I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sin.”

The whole valley—the corpses, the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Kidron Valley to the corner of the Horse Gate to the east—will be holy to the Lord. It will never be uprooted or demolished again.”

They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Molech—something I had not commanded them. I had never entertained the thought that they do this detestable act causing Judah to sin!

“I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put fear of Me in their hearts so they will never again turn away from Me.

“For this is what the Lord says: David will never fail to have a man sitting on the throne of the house of Israel.

The Levitical priests will never fail to have a man always before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices.”

But they replied, “We do not drink wine, for Jonadab, son of our ancestor Rechab, commanded: ‘You and your sons must never drink wine.

this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Jonadab son of Rechab will never fail to have a man to always stand before Me.’”

“For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as My anger and fury were poured out on Jerusalem’s residents, so will My fury pour out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing, scorn, execration, and disgrace, and you will never see this place again.’

“Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, all you Judeans who live in the land of Egypt: ‘I have sworn by My great name, says Yahweh, that My name will never again be invoked by anyone of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “As the Lord God lives.”

Why have I seen this?
They are terrified,
they are retreating,
their warriors are crushed,
they flee headlong,
they never look back,
terror is on every side!
This is the Lord’s declaration.

They will ask about Zion,
turning their faces to this road.
They will come and join themselves to the Lord
in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.

Therefore, desert creatures will live with hyenas,
and ostriches will also live in her.
It will never again be inhabited
or lived in through all generations.

While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast,
and I will make them drunk so that they revel.
Then they will fall asleep forever
and never wake up.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

I will make her princes and sages drunk,
along with her governors, officials, and warriors.
Then they will fall asleep forever
and never wake up.
This is the King’s declaration;
Yahweh of Hosts is His name.

Then say, ‘In the same way, Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the disaster I am bringing on her. They will grow weary.’”

The words of Jeremiah end here.