"Before I fashioned thee in thy mother's womb, I did know thee: And before thou wast born, I sanctified thee and ordained thee, to be a Prophet unto the people."

And the LORD answered me thus, "Say not so, 'I am too young': For thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee unto, and whatsoever I command thee, that shalt thou speak.

Be not afraid of their faces, for I will be with thee, to deliver thee, sayeth the LORD."

and this day do I set thee over the people and kingdoms: that thou mayest root out, break off, destroy, and make waste; and that thou mayest build up and plant."

And therefore gird up thy loins, arise, and tell them all that I give thee in commandment. Fear them not; I will not have thee to be afraid of them.

For behold, this day do I make thee a strong fenced town, an iron pillar, and a wall of steel against the whole land; against the kings and mighty men of Judah; against the priests and people of the land.

They shall fight against thee, but they shall not be able to overcome thee: for I am with thee, to deliver thee, sayeth the LORD."

"Go thy way, cry in the ears of Jerusalem, and say, 'Thus sayeth the LORD: I remember thee for the kindness of thy youth, and because of thy steadfast love: in that thou followedst me through the wilderness, in an untilled land.

Cometh not this unto thee, because thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, ever since he led thee by the way?

Thine own wickedness shall reprove thee, and thy turning away shall condemn thee: that thou mayest know and understand, how evil and hurtful a thing it is, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and not feared him, sayeth the LORD God of Hosts.

and among all green trees. Whereas I planted thee out of noble grapes and good roots. How art thou turned then into a bitter, unfruitful, and strange grape?

Yea, and that so sore, that though thou washest thee with Nitre and makest thyself to savour with that sweet smelling herb of Borith: yet in my sight thou art stained with thy wickedness, sayeth the LORD thy God.

and thy wantonness is like a wild Ass, that useth the wilderness, and that snuffeth and bloweth at his will. Who can tame thee? All they that seek thee, shall not fail, but find thee in thy own uncleanness.

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.

If ye be the people of the LORD, then hearken unto his word: Am I then become a wilderness unto the people of Israel? Or a land that hath no light? Wherefore sayeth my people then, 'We are lords; and we will come no more unto thee'?

Yet darest thou say, 'I am guiltless: Tush, his wrath cannot come upon me.' Behold, I will reason with thee because thou darest say, 'I have not offended.'

O how evil will it be for thee to abide it, when it shall be known how oft thou hast gone backward? For thou shalt be confounded as well of Egypt, as thou wast of the Assyrians.

Commonly, when a man putteth away his wife, and she goeth from him, and marrieth with another, then the question is: should he resort unto her any more after that? Is not this field then defiled and unclean? But as for thee, thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet turn again to me, sayeth the LORD.

This is the cause that the rain and evening dew hath ceased. Thou hast gotten thee a whore's forehead, and canst not be ashamed.

and therefore go preach these words toward the north, and say, 'Thou shrinking Israel, turn again, sayeth the LORD; and I will not turn my face from you, for I am merciful, sayeth the LORD. And I will not always bear displeasure against thee:

"'I have showed also, how I took thee up being but a child, and gave thee a pleasant land for thine heritage; yea, and a goodly Host of the Heathen: and how I commanded thee, that thou shouldest call me Father only, and not to shrink from me.

O Israel, if thou wilt turn thee, then turn unto me, sayeth the LORD. And if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, thou shalt not be moved:

O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be helped. How long shall thy noisesome thoughts remain with thee?

Thy ways and thy thoughts have brought thee unto this. This is thy own wickedness and disobedience, that hath possessed thine heart.

What wilt thou now do, thou being destroyed? For though thou clothest thyself with scarlet, and deckest thee with gold. Though thou paintest thy face with colors, yet shalt thou trim thyself in vain. For those that hitherto have been thy great favorers, shall abhor thee, and go about to slay thee.

"Should I then, for all this, have mercy upon thee? Thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods. And albeit they were bound to me in marriage, yet they fell to adultery, and hunted harlots' houses.

Amend thee, O Jerusalem, lest I withdraw my heart from thee, and make thee desolate: and thy land also, that no man dwell in it."

with bows and with darts shall they be weaponed. It is a rough and fierce people, an unmerciful people: their voice roareth like the sea, they ride upon horses well appointed to the battle against thee, O daughter Zion!"

Wherefore, gird a sackcloth about thee, O daughter of my people; sprinkle thyself with ashes, mourn and weep bitterly, as upon the only beloved son: for the destroyer shall suddenly fall upon us.

"Thee have I set for a prover of my hard people, to seek out and to try their ways.

"Therefore thou shalt not pray for this people; thou shalt neither give thanks, nor bid prayer for them: thou shalt make no intercession to me for them for in no wise will I hear thee.

"And thou shalt now speak all these words unto them, but they shall not hear thee: thou shalt cry upon them, but they shall not answer thee.

Hear the word of the LORD, that he speaketh unto thee, O thou house of Israel.

But there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and great is the name of thy power.

Who would not fear thee? Or what King of the Gentiles would not obey thee? For among all the wise men of the Gentiles, and in all their kingdoms, there is none that may be likened unto thee.

Pour out thine indignation rather upon the Gentiles, that know thee not, and upon the people that call not on thy name: And that because they have consumed, devoured and destroyed Jacob, and have rooted out his glory.

For as many cities as thou hast, O Judah, so many gods hast thou also: And look how many streets there be in thee, O Jerusalem: so many shameful altars have ye set up, to offer upon them unto Baal.

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.

The LORD called thee a green olive tree, a fair one, a fruitful one, a goodly one: but now that there is a contrary report of thee abroad, he will burn thee up, and destroy thy branches.

For the LORD of Hosts that planted thee hath devised a plague for thee, O thou houses of Israel and Judah, for the evil that ye have done to provoke him to wrath, in that ye did service unto Baal."

This, O LORD, have I learned of thee, and understand it, for thou hast showed me their imaginations.

Therefore I will beseech thee now, O LORD of Hosts, thou righteous judge, thou that tryest the reins and the hearts: let me see the avenged of them, for unto thee have I committed my cause.

O LORD, thou art more righteous than that I should dispute with thee: Nevertheless, let me talk with thee in things reasonable. How happeneth it, that the way of the ungodly is so prosperous? And that it goeth so well with them, which without any shame offend and live in wickedness?

Thou plantest them, they take root, they grow, and bring forth fruit. They boast much of thee, yet doest thou not punish them.

For thy brethren and thy kindred have altogether despised thee, and cried out upon thee in thine absence. Believe them not, though they speak fair words to thee.

Moreover, thus said the LORD unto me, "Go thy way, and get thee a linen breech, and gird it about thy loins, and let it not be wet."

"Take the breech that thou hast prepared and put it about thee, and get thee up, and go unto Euphrates, and hide it in a hole of the rock."

And it happened, long after this, that the LORD spake unto me, "Up, and get thee to Euphrates, and fetch the breech from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there."

"Lift up your eyes, and behold them, that come from the North: Like a fat flock shall they fall upon thee.

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?

thy adultery, thy deadly malice, thy beastliness, and thy shameful whoredom. For upon the fields and hills I have seen thy abominations. Woe be unto thee, O Jerusalem. When wilt thou ever be cleansed any more?"

We knowledge, O LORD, all our misdeeds, and the sins of our fathers, that we have offended thee.

And if they say unto thee, 'Whither shall we go?' Then tell them, 'The LORD giveth you this answer: Some unto death, some to the sword, some to hunger, some into captivity.'

Who shall then have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? Who shall be sorry for thee? Or who shall make intercession, to obtain peace for thee,

seeing thou goest from me and turnest backward? Sayeth the LORD: Therefore I will stretch out mine hand against thee, to destroy thee, and I will not be entreated.

I will scatter thee abroad with the fan on every side of the land: I will waste my people and destroy them, for they have had no lust to turn from their own ways.

And the LORD answered me, "Lead not I thee then unto good? Come not I to thee, when thou art in trouble? And help thee, when thine enemy oppresseth thee?

Upon these words, thus said the LORD unto me, "If thou wilt turn again, I shall set thee in my service: and if thou wilt take out the thing that is precious from the vile, thou shalt be even as mine own mouth. They shall convert unto thee, but turn not thou unto them:

and so shall I make thee a strong wall of steel against this people. They shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail. For I myself will be with thee, to help thee, and deliver thee, sayeth the LORD.

And I will rid thee out of the hands of the wicked, and deliver thee out of the hand of Tyrants."

"Thou shalt take thee no wife, nor beget children in this place.

"Now when thou showest this people all these words, and they say unto thee, 'Wherefore hath the LORD devised all this great plague for us?' Or, 'What is the offense and sin that we have done against the LORD our God?'

O LORD, my strength, my power, and refuge in time of trouble! The Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the world, and say, "Verily our fathers have cleaved unto lies, their Idols are but vain and unprofitable.

Thou art the comfort of Israel. All that forsake thee, shall be ashamed. And they that depart from thee shall be written in the earth. For they have lost the LORD that is the fountain of the water of life.

And I enforced not to be a shepherd that should not follow thee: and the day of destruction have I not desired, thou knowest. And that proceeded out of my mouth was right in thy sight.

"Arise, and go down into the Potter's house, and there shall I tell thee more of my mind."

Do they not recompense evil for good, when they dig a pit for my soul? Remember, how that I stood before thee, to speak for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.

Yet LORD, thou knowest all their counsel that they have devised, to slay me. And therefore forgive them not their wickedness, and let not their sin be put out of thy sight: but let them be judged before thee as the guilty: This shalt thou do unto them in the time of thy indignation.

Moreover, thus said the LORD unto Jeremiah, "Go thy way, and buy thee an earthen pitcher, and bring forth the Senators, and the chief priests

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,

"And the pitcher shalt thou break, in the sight of the men, that shall be with thee, and say unto them,

The next day following, Pashhur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks again. Then said Jeremiah unto him, "The LORD shall call thee no more Pashhur, that is, excellent and increasing; but Magormissabib, that is, fearful and afraid everywhere.

For thus sayeth the LORD: behold, I will make thee afraid, thee thyself and all that favour thee: which shall perish with the sword of their enemies, even before thy face. And I will give whole Judah under the power of the king of Babylon, which shall carry some unto Babylon, prisoners, and slay some with the sword.

But as for thee, O Pashhur, thou shalt be carried unto Babylon with all thine household, and to Babylon shalt thou come, where thou shalt die, and be buried: thou and all thy favorers, to whom thou hast preached lies."

And now, O LORD of Hosts, thou righteous searcher which knowest the reins and the very hearts: let me see them punished, for unto thee I commit my cause.

"Ask counsel at the LORD, we Pray thee, of our behalf, for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon beseigeth us: if the LORD peradventure will deal with us, according to his marvelous power, and take him from us."

For thus hath the LORD spoken upon the king's house of Judah: Thou art the head, as Gilead is in Lebanon: What wilt thou lay of it, if I make thee and thy cities also not so waste that no man shall dwell therein?

I will prepare a destroyer with his weapons for thee, to hew down thy special Cedar trees, and to cast them in the fire.

I gave thee warning, while thou wast yet in prosperity. But thou saidst, 'I will not hear.' And this manner hast thou used from thy youth, that thou wouldest never hear my voice.

thou that dwellest upon Lebanon, and makest thy nest in the Cedar's trees. O how great shall thy mourning be, when thy sorrows come upon thee, as a woman travailing with child?

And I will give thee into the power of them that seek to slay thee, and into the power of them that thou fearest: into the power of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and into the power of the Chaldeans.

Moreover, I will send thee, and thy mother that bare thee, into a strange land where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.

If this people, either any prophet or priest ask thee, and say, 'What is the burden of the LORD?' Thou shalt say unto them, 'What burden? I will cast you from me, sayeth the LORD, because ye yourselves are a burden.'

Thus shall every man say to the Prophets, 'What answer hath the LORD given thee?' Or, 'What sayeth the LORD?'

"For thus hath the LORD God of Israel spoken unto me, 'Take this wine cup of indignation from my hand, that thou mayest cause all the people, to whom I send thee, for to drink of it:

"Thus sayeth the LORD: Stand in the court of the LORD's house, and speak unto all them which, out of the cities of Judah, come to do worship in the LORD's house, all the words that I command thee to say. Look that thou keep not one word back,

"Make thee bonds and chains, and put them about thy neck,

Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto the prophet Hananiah, "Hear me, I pray thee, Hananiah: The LORD hath not sent thee, but thou bringest this people into a false belief.

And therefore thus sayeth the LORD: behold, I will send thee out of the land, and within a year thou shalt die because thou hast falsely spoken against the LORD."

And all the prisoners of Judah that are in Babylon, shall take upon them this term of cursing, and say, 'Now God do unto thee, as he did unto Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;

'The LORD hath ordained thee to be priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, that thou shouldest be the chief in the house of the LORD above all prophets, and preachers, and that thou mightest put them in prison, or in the stocks.

"Thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel: Write up diligently all the words, that I have spoken unto thee, in a book.

"And as for thee, O my servant Jacob, fear not, sayeth the LORD; and be not afraid, O Israel. For lo, I will help thee also from far, and thy seed from the land of their captivity. And Jacob shall turn again, he shall be in rest, and have a prosperous life, and no man shall make him afraid.

For I am with thee, to help thee, sayeth the LORD. And though I shall destroy all the people among whom I have scattered thee, yet will I not destroy thee, but correct thee, and that with discretion. For I know, that thou art in no wise without fault.

Therefore thus sayeth the LORD: Thy bruisings are perilous, and thy wounds ready to cast thee into sickness.

There is no man to meddle with thy cause, or to bind up thy wounds: there may no man help thee.

All thy lovers have forgotten thee, and care nothing for thee. For I have given thee a cruel stroke, and chastened thee roughly: and that for the multitude of thy misdeeds, for thy sins have had the overhand.

Why makest thou moan for thy harm? I myself have pity of thy sorrow; but for the multitude of thy misdeeds and sins I have done this unto thee.

And therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured, and all thine enemies shall be led into captivity. All they that make thee waste, shall be wasted themselves: and all those that rob thee, will I make also to be robbed.

For I will give thee thy health again and make thy wounds whole, sayeth the LORD: because they reviled thee, as one cast away and despised, O Zion.