Then I said, Alas, Lord Jehovah! Behold, I do not know to speak; for I am a boy.

But Jehovah said to me, Do not say, I am a boy; for you shall go to all that I shall send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.

And Jehovah put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And Jehovah said to me, Behold, I have put My Words in your mouth.

And the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.

And Jehovah said to me, You have seen well; for I will watch over My Word to perform it.

And the Word of Jehovah came to me the second time, saying, What do you see? And I said, I see a boiling pot; and its face is from the face of the north.

And Jehovah said to me, Out of the north an evil will be set loose on all the inhabitants of the land.

For long ago you broke your yoke and tore up your bonds; and you said, I will not transgress, when on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down like a harlot.

Withhold your foot from being bare, and your throat from thirst. But you said, There is no hope; no; for I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.

Jehovah also said to me in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and has fornicated there.

And I said after she had done all these things, Turn to Me! But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

And Jehovah said to me, The backsliding Israel has justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

But I said, How shall I put you among the sons, and give you a pleasant land, a beautiful inheritance among the hosts of nations? And I said, You shall call Me, My Father, and shall not turn away from Me.

Then I said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, You shall have peace; but the sword reaches to the soul.

At that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind from the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people, not to sift nor to cleanse.

For so Jehovah has said, The whole land shall be desolate, yet I will not make a full end.

So I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish; for they do not know the way of Jehovah, nor the judgment of their God.

They have lied against Jehovah and said, It is not He; neither shall evil come on us; nor shall we see sword nor famine.

For so has Jehovah of Hosts said, Cut down trees and cast a mound against Jerusalem! She is the city to be visited; there is nothing but oppression in her midst.

So says Jehovah, Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths where the good way is, and walk in it, and you shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk in it.

Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Listen to the sound of the ram's horn. But they said, We will not listen.

Woe to me for my breaking! My wound is grievous; but I said, Truly this is a malady, and I must bear it.

so that I may fulfil the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then I answered and said, Amen, O Jehovah.

Then Jehovah said to me, Declare all these Words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear the Words of this covenant, and do them.

And Jehovah said to me, A plot is found among the men of Judah, and among the people of Jerusalem.

How long shall the land mourn, and the grass of every field wither from the evil of those who dwell in it? The beasts and the birds have been destroyed, because they said, He shall not see our last end.

And it happened at the end of many days Jehovah said to me, Arise, go to Euphrates and take the girdle from there, which I commanded you to hide there.

Then Jehovah said to me, Do not pray for this people for good.

Then I said, Ah, O Lord Jehovah! Behold, the prophets are saying to them, You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine; but I will give you true peace in this place.

And Jehovah said to me, The prophets prophesy lies in My name; I did not send them, nor have I commanded them, nor did I speak to them. They prophesy to you a false vision and a worthless divination, and a thing of no value, and the deceit of their heart.

Then Jehovah said to me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My soul could not be toward this people. Send them out of My sight, and let them go out.

Jehovah said, Truly I will free you for good. Truly I will cause the enemy to entreat you in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.

So, behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that it shall no more be said, As Jehovah lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

So Jehovah said to me: Go and stand in the gates of the sons of the people, by which the kings of Judah come in, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem.

if it does evil in My sight, not to obey My voice, then I will repent of the good with which I said I would do them good.

And they said, There is no hope; but we will walk after our own ways, and we will each one do according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.

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.

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,

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.

Then Jeremiah said to them, You shall say this to Zedekiah,

I spoke to you in your prosperity; but you said, I will not hear. This has been your way from your youth, for you have not obeyed My voice.

They still say to those who despise Me, Jehovah has said, You shall have peace! And they say to everyone who walks after the stubbornness of his own heart, No evil shall come on you!

I have heard what the prophets said, who prophesy lies in My name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.

Then Jehovah said to me, What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs are very good, and the bad are very bad, so that they cannot be eaten, they are so bad.

They said, Turn again now, each one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that Jehovah has given to you and to your fathers forever and ever.

Then the rulers and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets, There is not a sentence of death for this man; for he has spoken to us in the name of Jehovah our God.

Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of Jehovah,

even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen. May Jehovah do so. May Jehovah confirm your words which you have prophesied, to bring again the vessels of Jehovah's house, and all that is exiled from Babylon into this place.

Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah. Jehovah has not sent you, but you make this people to trust in a lie.

Because you have said, Jehovah has raised us up prophets in Babylon;

And Jeremiah said, The Word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

So Hanameel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison according to the Word of Jehovah and said to me, Please buy my field in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the right to redeem is yours. Buy it for yourself. Then I knew that this was the Word of Jehovah.

And You have said to me, O Lord Jehovah, Buy the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.

And I set pots full of wine, and cups, before the sons of the house of the Rechabites. And I said to them, Drink wine!

But they said, We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, You shall drink no wine, you nor your sons forever.

But it happened when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, we said, Come and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the Chaldean army, and for fear of the Syrian army. So we are living at Jerusalem.

And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father, and have kept all his precepts, and have done according to all that he has commanded you;

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

And it happened when they had heard all the words, they turned to one another in fear and said to Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words.

And the rulers said to Baruch, Go hide yourselves, you and Jeremiah; and let no man know where you are.

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 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 Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, What have I offended against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison?

And the rulers said to the king, Please let this man be put to death. For in this way he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the good of this people, but the hurt.

Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand. For the king cannot do a thing against you.

And Ebed-melech, the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Now put the worn out clothes and rags under your armpits, under the ropes. And Jeremiah did so.

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 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.

Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, So says Jehovah, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel: If you will surely go forth to the king of Babylon's rulers, then your soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire. And you shall live, and your house.

And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews who have fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and lest they hurt me.

But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver you. I beg you, obey the voice of Jehovah which I speak to you; so it shall be well to you, and your soul shall live.

Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and you shall not die.

But if the rulers hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say to you, Declare to us now what you have said to the king; do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death; also what the king said to you;

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

And Jehovah has brought it, and has done according as He has said, Because you have sinned against Jehovah and have not obeyed His voice, therefore this thing has come on you.

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.

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.

But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, You shall not do this thing. For you speak falsely of Ishmael.

And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he walked. And it happened as he met them, he said to them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.

But ten men were found among them who said to Ishmael, Do not kill us, for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he held back and did not kill them among their brothers.

And they said to Jeremiah the prophet, Please let our cry be pleasing to you, and pray for us to Jehovah your God, even for all this remnant, (for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes behold us),

And Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have heard. Behold, I will pray to Jehovah your God according to your words; and it shall be, all the word Jehovah shall answer, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you.

And they said to Jeremiah, Let Jehovah be a true and faithful witness between us if we do not do even according to all things for which Jehovah your God shall send you to us.

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

Jehovah has said concerning you, O remnant of Judah, Do not go into Egypt. Know certainly that I have warned you this day.

And all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great multitude, even all the people who lived in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah. And they said,

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:

And Jeremiah said to all the people, and to all the women, Hear the Word of Jehovah, all Judah that is in the land of Egypt.

You said, Woe is me now, for Jehovah has added grief to my sorrow. I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest.

He made many fall; yea, one fell on another. And they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people and to the land of our birth, away from the oppressing sword.

All who have found them have devoured them. And their enemies said, We do not offend, because they have sinned against Jehovah, the habitation of righteousness, even Jehovah, the hope of their fathers.

And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When you come to Babylon, and shall see and shall read all these words,