But Yahweh said to me, "You must not say, 'I [am] a youth,' for to {whomever} I send you, you will go, and {whatever} I command you, you will speak.

"Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, {saying}, 'Thus says Yahweh, "I remember [concerning] you the loyal love of your childhood, the love of your betrothal-time, your going after me in the desert, in [the] land not sown.

Thus says Yahweh: "What injustice did your ancestors find in me that they were far from me, and they went after the vanity, and they became vain?

And they did not say, 'Where [is] Yahweh, the one who brought us up from the land of Egypt, the one who led us in the desert, in a land of desert plains and gorges, in a land of dryness and deep darkness, in a land {that no one passes through}, and no human lives there?'

The priests did not say, 'Where [is] Yahweh?' and those who handle the law did not know me, and the shepherds have {rebelled against me}, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and they went after [things which] do not profit.

"How can you say, 'I have not defiled myself, I have not gone after the Baals?' Look at your way in the valley, know what you have done. [You are] a young she-camel, interweaving her ways.

[Those who] say to the tree, 'You [are] my father,' and to the stone, 'You gave birth [to] me.' For they have turned [their] {backs} to me, and not [their] faces. But in the time of their trouble they say, 'Arise and save us.'

O generation, you see the word of Yahweh. Have I been a desert to Israel? Or a land of great darkness? Why do my people say, 'We roam about freely, we will not come again to you'?

yet you say, 'But I am innocent, surely his anger has turned away from me.' Look, I [am] entering into judgment with you because of your saying, 'I have not sinned.'

Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, 'Return, apostate Israel,' {declares} Yahweh. 'I will not cause my {anger} to fall on you. For I [am] loyal,' {declares} Yahweh. 'I will not be angry {forever}.

And it will be when you have multiplied and become fruitful in the land in those days," {declares} Yahweh, "they will no longer say, 'The ark of the covenant of Yahweh.' And {it will not come to mind}, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss [it], nor will it be made again.

For thus says Yahweh to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, "Break up for yourselves prepared virgin soil, and you must not sow among thornbushes.

Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem and say, "Blow a horn through the land, {call with a loud voice} and say, 'Be gathered and let us go into the fortified cities.'

For thus says Yahweh, "All of the land will be a desolation, yet I will not make a complete desolation.

And though they say, '{As Yahweh lives},' {therefore} they swear falsely."

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, "Because you have spoken this word, look, I [am] making my words in your mouth like a fire, and this people wood, and it will devour them.

{And then}, when you [people] say, 'Why has Yahweh our God done all of these [things] to us?' Then you will say to them, 'As you have forsaken me and have served gods of a foreign land in your land, so will you serve strangers in {a land that does not belong to you}.'

And they do not say in their hearts, 'Let us fear please Yahweh our God, the [one who] gives [the] autumn rain and [the] spring rain in its season, {the set times of the harvest} he keeps for us.'

For thus says Yahweh of hosts, "Cut down trees and heap up a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This [is] the city that must be punished, its oppression [is] in its midst.

Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "They will thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine, turn back your hand over [the] branches like a grape-gatherer.

Have they acted ashamed, for they have committed a detestable thing? Not at all, nor were they ashamed; they did not know to feel humiliated. {Therefore} they will fall among [those who] fall at the time I punish them, they will stumble," says Yahweh.

Thus says Yahweh: "Stand at [the] roads and look, and ask for [the] ancient paths, where the way of the good [is], and walk in it, and find rest for your inner selves. But they said, 'We will not walk [in it].'

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh: "Look, I [am] about to put before this people stumbling blocks, and they will stumble against them, fathers and children together, neighbor and his friend will perish."

Thus says Yahweh: "Look, a people [is] coming from [the] land of [the] north, a great nation is woken up from [the] farthest part of [the] earth.

"Stand in the gate of the house of Yahweh and proclaim there this word, and say, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, all of Judah, [those who] enter through these gates to bow in worship to Yahweh.

Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Make your ways and your deeds good and let me dwell with you in this place.

And then you come and you stand {before} me in this house, which is called {by my name}, and you say, 'we are safe {to go on doing} all of these detestable things.'

{Therefore} thus says the Lord Yahweh, "Look, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on the humankind, and on the animal, and on the tree of the field, and on the fruit of the ground, and it will not be extinguished."

Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat [the] flesh.

"And you shall say to them, 'This [is] the nation that has not obeyed the voice of Yahweh their God, and they have not accepted discipline. The truth has perished, and it is cut off from their mouths.

"And you shall say to them, 'Thus asks Yahweh: "Do men fall and not stand up? If one turns away does he not return?

How can you say, 'We [are] wise and the law of Yahweh [is] with us'? Look, surely {the lying stylus of the scribes} has made it a lie.

Were they ashamed, for they had committed a detestable thing? What's worse, they were not ashamed at all, and they did not know to feel humiliated. {Therefore} they will fall among [those who] fall; at the time of their punishment they will stumble," says Yahweh.

Therefore, thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Look, I [am] about to refine them, and I will test them, for what else can I do, because of the {presence} of the daughter of my people?

Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Look, I [am] feeding this people wormwood, and providing drink for them, water of poison,

Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Consider closely, and call for the wailing women, so that they come, and for the skillful women, so that they come.

Thus says Yahweh, "[The] wise man must not boast in his wisdom, and the warrior must not boast in his might, [the] wealthy man must not boast in his wealth.

Thus says Yahweh: "You must not learn the way of the nations, and you must not be dismayed by the signs of the heavens, for the nations are dismayed by them.

"{Thus} you shall say to them, 'Gods who did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under these heavens.

For thus says Yahweh, "Look, I [am] about to sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I will bring distress to them, so that they may feel it."

and say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: "The man is cursed who does not obey the words of this covenant,

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh, "I [am] about to bring on them disaster from which they will not be able to escape. Though they cry out to me, yet I will not listen to them.

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh concerning the people of Anathoth who seek your life, {saying}, "You shall not prophesy in the name of Yahweh {or} you will die by our hand."

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh of hosts: "Look, I [am about to] punish them. The young men will die by the sword. Their sons and their daughters will die by the famine.

Thus says Yahweh concerning all of the evil neighbors who touch the inheritance that I gave as an inheritance [to] my people Israel: "Look, I [am] about to drive them out from their land, and the house of Judah I will drive out from among them.

"Thus says Yahweh: 'So I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

"Therefore, you shall say to them this word, 'Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: "Every jar must be filled with wine." ' And they will say to you, 'Do we not certainly know that every jar should be filled with wine?'

Then you shall say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh: "Look, I [am] about to fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings who sit on David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem [with] drunkenness.

"Say to the king and to the queen mother, '{Take a lower seat}, for {your beautiful crown} has come down from your head.'

What will you say when he sets over you-- and you have taught them--allies as head over you? Will not labor pains take hold of you, like a woman giving birth?

And if you say in your heart, 'Why have these [things] happened to me?' Because of the greatness of your iniquity your skirts are uncovered; your heels have endured violence.

Thus says Yahweh concerning this people: "They have loved so much to wander, they have not spared their feet. Therefore Yahweh is not favorable to them, now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins."

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who prophecy in my name though I have not sent them, yet they [are] saying, "Sword and famine will not be in this land." "By the sword and by the famine those prophets will perish.

"And you shall say to them this word, 'Let my eyes melt [with] tears night and day, and let them not cease, for [with] a great wound the virgin daughter of my people is broken, [with] a very incurable wound.

{And then} if they say to you, 'Where shall we go?' Then you shall say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh, "[Those] who [are destined] for the plague, to the plague, and [those] who [are destined] for the sword, to the sword, and [those] who [are destined] for the famine, to the famine, and [those] who [are destined] for the captivity, to the captivity." '

Therefore thus says Yahweh, "If you turn back, then I will take you back. You will stand {before me}. And if you utter [what is] precious and not [what is] worthless, you will be as my mouth. They will turn back to you, and you will not turn back to them.

For thus says Yahweh concerning the sons and concerning the daughters born in this place, and concerning their mothers who gave birth to them, and concerning their fathers who fathered them in this land:

For thus says Yahweh, "You must not enter [the] house of [the] funeral meal, and you must not go to lament, and you must not show sympathy for them, for I have taken away my peace from this people," {declares} Yahweh, "the loyal love and the compassion.

For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Look, I [am] about to cause to disappear from this place, before your eyes and in your days, [the] voice of jubilation, and [the] voice of joy, and [the] voice of [the] bridegroom, and [the] voice of [the] bride.

Then you shall say to them, '{Because} your ancestors have forsaken me,' {declares} Yahweh, 'and they have gone after other gods, and they have served them, and they have bowed down in worship to them, and they have forsaken me, and they have not kept my laws.

Yahweh, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in [the] day of distress, to you [the] nations will come from the ends of [the] earth, and they will say, "Our ancestors have inherited only lies, vanity, and there is no profit in them.

Thus says Yahweh, "Cursed [is] the person who trusts in humankind and makes flesh his {strength}, and turns aside his heart from Yahweh.

And you must say to them, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem who enter through these gates.

Thus says Yahweh, "Be on your guard for the sake of yourselves, that you must not carry a burden on the day of the Sabbath, and you must [not] bring [it] through the gates of Jerusalem.

"So now then, say, please, to the {people} of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, {saying}, 'Thus says Yahweh, "Look, I [am] preparing evil against you, and [I am] planning a plan against you. Please turn back, each one from his evil way, and walk rightly [in] your ways and your deeds." '

But they will say, '[It is] hopeless, for we will go after our [own] plans, and each one of us will act [according to] the stubbornness of his evil heart.'

"Therefore thus says Yahweh, 'Please ask among the nations, "Who has heard {the like of this}?" The virgin of Israel has done something very horrible.

And you shall say, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: "Look, I [am] about to bring disaster upon this place so that {everyone who hears it}, his ears will ring.

And you shall say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts: "So I will break this people and this city as one breaks the vessel of the potter, [so] that it is not able to be repaired again. And in Topheth they will bury {until there is no room to bury}.

"Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Look, I [am] about to bring to this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their neck to not hear my words.'"

For thus says Yahweh, 'Look, I [am] making you a terror to yourself and to all your friends, and they will fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes [will be] seeing [it]. And all Judah I will give into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will deport them [to] Babylon, and he will strike them with the sword.

But [if] I say, "I will not mention him and I will no longer speak in his name," then it becomes in my heart like a fire burning, locked up in my bones, and I struggle to contain [it], and I am not able.

Then Jeremiah said to them, "Thus you shall say to Zedekiah:

'Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: "Look, I [am] about to turn back the weapons of war that [are] in your hands, [with] which you [are] fighting against them, the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are laying siege to you from outside the wall, and I will gather them into the center of this city.

"And to this people you shall say, 'Thus says Yahweh, "Look, I [am] setting {before you} the way of life and the way of death.

O house of David, thus says Yahweh, "Execute judgment in the morning, justice, and deliver [the] one who has been seized from [the] hand of [the] oppressor, lest my wrath goes forth like the fire and it burns, and there is no [one who] quenches [it] because of the evil of your deeds.

Look, I [am] against you, O inhabitants of the valley, O rock of the plain," {declares} Yahweh; "you who say, 'Who can descend against us, or who can enter into our hiding place?'

Thus says Yahweh: "Go down [to] the house of the king of Judah and you must speak this word there.

And you must say, 'Hear the word of Yahweh, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter through these gates.

Thus says Yahweh, "Act [with] justice and righteousness, and deliver [the] one who has been seized from the hand of [the] oppressor. And you must not oppress [the] immigrant, [the] orphan, and [the] widow. And you must not shed innocent blood in this place.

For thus says Yahweh concerning the house of the king of Judah, "You [are like] Gilead to me, [like] the head of the Lebanon. {Surely} I will make you a desert, [like] cities [that] are not inhabited.

And many nations will pass by this city and they will say each one to his neighbor, '{Why} has Yahweh done in this manner to this great city?'

For thus says Yahweh concerning Shallum, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, who reigned as king in place of Josiah his father, who went out from this place: "He will not return here again.

Who says 'I will build for myself a spacious house with large upper rooms,' and he cuts windows for it, and [it is] paneled with cedar, and he paints [it] with vermilion.

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh concerning Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah: "They will not lament for him, 'Alas, my brother,' or 'Alas, sister.' They will not lament for him, 'Alas, lord,' or 'alas, his majesty.'

Thus says Yahweh: "Record this man [as] childless, a man [who] will not succeed in his days, for no man from his offspring will succeed [him], sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah."

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people, "You yourselves have scattered my flock, and you have driven them away, and you do not attend to them. Look, I [will] punish you [for] the evil of your deeds," {declares} Yahweh.

"{Therefore} look, days [are] coming," {declares} Yahweh, "when they will no longer say, '{As Yahweh lives}, who led up the {Israelites} from the land of Egypt,'

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets, "Look, I [am] going to let them eat wormwood and I will give them water of poison to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem went out ungodliness to all the land."

Thus says Yahweh of hosts, "You must not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They [are] deluding you [with] visions of their {mind}, They do not speak from the mouth of Yahweh.

[They are] continually saying to those who disregard the word of Yahweh, 'Peace it will be to you,' and [to] {each one} who walks in the stubbornness of his heart they say, 'Calamity will not come upon you.'

"Now when this people, or a prophet, or a priest, ask you, {saying}, 'What [is] the burden of Yahweh?' then you shall say to them, '{You are the burden}, and I will forsake you,'" {declares} Yahweh.

"And the prophet, and the priest, and the people who say, 'The burden of Yahweh,' I will punish that man and his house.

Thus you shall say, each one to his neighbor and each one to his brother: 'What has Yahweh answered?' or, 'What has Yahweh spoken?'

Thus you shall say to that prophet, 'What has Yahweh answered you?' or, 'What has Yahweh spoken?'

But if you say, 'The burden of Yahweh,' {therefore} thus says Yahweh, 'because of your saying these words, "The burden of Yahweh," then I will send to you, {saying}, "You shall not say, 'The burden of Yahweh.'"

"Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, 'Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles of Judah whom I have sent away from this place [to the] land of [the] Chaldeans.

But like the bad figs that cannot be eaten because of [their] bad quality--for thus says Yahweh--so I will treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who live in the land of Egypt.

{Therefore} thus says Yahweh of hosts, 'Because you have not obeyed my words,

"And you shall say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Drink and become drunk, and vomit, and fall, and you must not rise because of the {presence} of the sword that I [am] sending among you." '