because I'm about to summon all the families and kingdoms from the north," declares the LORD. "They'll come and each one will set up his seat at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all of its surrounding walls, and against all of the towns of Judah.

"I'll pronounce my judgments against them because of all their wickedness. They have forsaken me, they have burned incense to other gods, and they have bowed down in worship to the works of their own hands."

They'll fight against you, but they won't prevail against you, because I am with you," declares the LORD, "to deliver you."

This is what the LORD says: "What did your ancestors find wrong with me that they left me, and pursued worthless things, and so they became worthless?

"They didn't ask, "Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through the land of desert and pits, through the land of dryness and deep darkness, a land that people don't pass through, and where no one lives?'

"The priests didn't say, "Where is the LORD?' and those handling the Law didn't know me. The rulers transgressed against me, the prophets prophesied by Baal, and they followed that which does not profit.

Has a nation ever changed gods when they aren't even gods? But my people have exchanged their glory for that which does not profit.

"Indeed, my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that cannot hold water."

Young lions roar at him, they cry out loudly. They have made his land into a wasteland, and his cities are destroyed so they are without inhabitants.

a wild donkey accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind in her passion. When she's in heat, who can turn her away? None of the males who pursue her need to tire themselves out, for in her month they'll find her."

"As a thief is disgraced when he's caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets,

who say to a tree, "You are my father,' and to a stone, "You gave birth to me.' They have turned their back to me, but not their faces. In the time of their trouble, they'll say, "Rise up! Deliver us!'"

"But where are your gods that you made for yourselves? Let them rise up, if they can deliver you in the time of your trouble. You have as many gods as you have towns, Judah.

"I've punished your children with no results, they have accepted no discipline. Your sword has devoured your prophets like a destroying lion."

I'll give you shepherds after my own heart, and they'll shepherd you with knowledge and good sense."

"And in those days when you increase in numbers and multiply in the land," declares the LORD, "people will no longer say, "The Ark of the Covenant of the LORD,' and it won't come to mind, and they won't remember it or miss it, nor will it be made again.

At that time people will call Jerusalem, "The Throne of the LORD," and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem. They'll no longer stubbornly follow their own evil desires.

In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and together they'll come to the land that I gave your ancestors as an inheritance."

"A voice is heard on the barren heights, the weeping and pleading of the children of Israel because they have perverted their way. They have forgotten the LORD their God."

If you swear, "as surely as the LORD lives,' in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then nations will be blessed by him, and in him they will boast."

"Tell the nations, "Here they come!' Proclaim to Jerusalem, "The besieging forces are coming from a distant land. They cry out against the cities of Judah.

They have surrounded her like those guarding a field because they have rebelled against me,'" declares the LORD.

"For my people are foolish, they don't know me. They're stupid children, they have no understanding. They're skilled at doing evil, but how to do good, they don't know."

I looked at the mountains; they were quaking, and all the hills moved back and forth.

You are ruined! What are you doing dressing in scarlet, putting on golden ornaments, and highlighting your eyes with makeup? You are making yourself beautiful in vain. Your lovers reject you they're out to kill you.

Although they say, "As surely as the LORD lives,' still they are swearing falsely."

LORD, don't your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they didn't flinch. You brought them to an end, but they refused to receive discipline. They made their faces harder than stone, and they refused to repent.

Then I said, "These are only the poor, they're foolish, for they don't know the LORD's way, the requirement of their God.

Let me go to the leaders and speak to them. For they know the LORD's way, the requirement of their God." "But they, all together, have broken the yoke and torn off the restraints.

Why should I forgive you? Your sons have forsaken me, and you have sworn by those who aren't gods. When I gave them enough food to satisfy them, they committed adultery and marched to the prostitute's house.

They were well-fed, lusty stallions, each one neighing after his neighbor's wife.

"Go through her rows of vines and destroy them, but don't completely destroy them. Strip away her branches, because they aren't the LORD's.

"They have lied about the LORD by saying, "He wouldn't do that! Disaster won't come on us. We won't see sword and famine.

People of Israel, I'm now bringing a nation from far away to attack you," declares the LORD. "It is an enduring nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you don't know. And you won't understand what they say.

"They'll devour your harvest and your food. They'll devour your sons and your daughters. They'll devour your vines and your fig trees. With their swords they'll batter down your fortified cities in which you trust.

"Hear this, you foolish and stupid people: They have eyes, but don't see; they have ears, but don't hear.

"You don't fear me, do you?' declares the LORD. "You don't tremble before me, do you? I'm the one who put the sand as a boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot cross. Though the waves toss, they cannot prevail against it, though they roar, they cannot cross it.'

But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and have gone away.

They don't say to themselves, "Let's fear the LORD our God, who gives rain in its season, both the autumn and the spring rain. He sets aside for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.'

"Evil men are found among my people. They lie in wait like someone who traps birds. They set a trap, but they do so to catch people.

Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are filled with treachery. This is how they have become prominent and rich,

and have grown fat and sleek. There is no limit to their evil deeds. They don't argue the case of the orphan to secure justice. They don't defend the rights of the poor.

Shepherds and their flocks will come against her. They'll pitch their tents all around her, and every one will tend his flock in his own place.

This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Let them glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as they would the vine. Pass your hand over them like grape gatherers over the branches.

To whom will I speak and give a warning so they'll listen? Look, their ears are closed, and they cannot hear. Look, this message from the LORD is contemptible to them; they don't delight in it.

"Indeed, from the least important to the most important, they're all greedy for dishonest gain. From prophet to priest, they all act deceitfully.

They treated my people's wound superficially, telling them, "Peace, peace,' but there is no peace.

Were they ashamed because they did what was repugnant to God? They were not ashamed at all they don't even know how to blush! Therefore they'll fall with those who fall. When I punish them, they'll be brought down," says the LORD.

This is what the LORD says: "Stand beside the roads and watch. Ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is. Walk in it and find rest for yourselves. But they said, "We won't walk in it!'

I appointed watchmen over you. Listen for the sound of the trumpet. But they said, "We won't listen!'

Listen, earth! I'm about to bring calamity on this people, on the fruit of their plans, because they didn't listen to my words and they rejected my instruction.

They grab bow and spear; they're cruel and show no mercy. Their sound roars like the sea as they ride on horses, deployed like men ready for battle against you, daughter of Zion."

All of them are very rebellious, going around as slanderers. They're bronze and iron, and all of them are corrupt.

They're called reject silver, because the LORD has rejected them.

Don't you see what they're doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven, and they pour out liquid offerings to other gods in order to provoke me.

Are they provoking me?" asks the LORD. "Is it not themselves, and to their own shame?"

But they didn't listen, nor did they pay attention. They pursued their own plans, stubbornly following their own evil desires. They went backward and not forward.

But they didn't listen to me, and they didn't pay attention. They stiffened their necks, and they did more evil than their ancestors.

"You will tell them all these things, but they won't listen to you. You will call out to them, but they won't answer you.

"For the people of Judah have done evil in my eyes," declares the LORD. "They have put their detestable idols in the house that is called by my name in order to defile it.

They have built high places at Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire. I didn't command this, and it never entered my mind!

"Therefore, the time is near," declares the LORD, "when it will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. They'll bury in Topheth because there is no other place to do it.

They'll be spread out to the sun, the moon, and all the stars of the heavens, which they loved and served, and which they followed, consulted, and worshipped. Their bones won't be collected, nor will they be buried. They'll be like dung on the surface of the ground.

Why has this people turned away? Why does Jerusalem continue in apostasy? They hold on to deceit and refuse to repent.

I've listened and I've heard, and what they say is not right. No one repents of his evil and says, "What have I done?' "They all turn to their own course like a horse racing into battle.

The wise men will be put to shame. They'll be dismayed and taken captive. Look, they have rejected the message from the LORD! So what kind of wisdom do they have?

Therefore, I'll give their wives to others, and their fields to new owners. Indeed, from the least important to the most important, they're all greedy for dishonest gain. From prophet to priest, they all act deceitfully.

They have treated my people's wound superficially, telling them, "Peace, peace,' when there is no peace.

Are they ashamed because they have done what is repugnant to God? They weren't ashamed at all; they don't even know how to blush! Therefore they'll fall with those who fall. When I punish them, they'll be brought down," says the LORD.

"The snorting of their horses is heard from Dan. At the neighing of their stallions, the whole earth quakes. They're coming to devour the land and all it contains, the city and all who live in it.

Look, I'll send snakes among you, vipers that cannot be charmed, and they'll bite you."

Listen! My people cry from a distant land: "Is the LORD no longer in Zion? Is her king no longer there?" "Why did they provoke me to anger with their images, with their worthless foreign gods?"

They use their tongues like a bow. Lies rather than truth fly throughout the land. They progress from one evil to another, and they don't know me," declares the LORD.

People deceive their friends, and they don't tell the truth. They have taught their tongues to tell lies. They exhaust themselves practicing evil.

You yourself live in the midst of deception, and because they are deceived they do not know me," declares the LORD.

Therefore, this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Look, I'm about to refine and test them. Because they're my people, what else can I do?

I'll weep and mourn for the mountains, and lament for the desert pastures, because they are desolate and no one passes through them. They don't hear the lowing of the cattle. Both the birds of the sky and the animals have fled. They're gone!

The LORD said, "It is because they have forsaken my Law that I gave them. They didn't obey me and didn't live according to it.

Instead, they followed their rebellious hearts and the Baals, as their ancestors taught them."

I'll scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known, and I'll pursue them with the sword until I've finished them off."

They decorate it with silver and gold. They secure it with nails and hammers so it won't totter.

Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field. They can't speak! They must always be carried because they can't walk! Don't be afraid of them because they can do no harm, nor can they do any good."

Everyone is stupid and senseless. They follow worthless instruction from a piece of wood!

They're worthless, a work of mockery, and when the time of punishment comes, they'll perish.

For this is what the LORD says: "I'm going to throw out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I'll bring distress on them so they'll experience it."

My tent is destroyed, and all my tent cords are broken. My sons have gone away from me, they no longer live. There is no one to pitch my tent again and set up my curtains.

Because the shepherds are stupid and don't seek the LORD, therefore, they don't prosper, and their flock is scattered.

Pour out your anger on the nations that don't acknowledge you, and on the families that don't call on your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured and consumed him; they have devastated his habitation.

But they would not listen or turn their ear, and each of them stubbornly followed his own evil desires. So I brought on them all the consequences of this covenant that I commanded them to fulfill, but they did not.'"

They have turned back to the iniquities of their ancestors of old who refused to listen to my words. They followed other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah broke my covenant which I made with their ancestors."

Therefore, this is what the LORD says: "I'm about to bring disaster on them from which they won't be able to escape. They'll cry out to me, but I won't listen to them.

The towns of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they'll be no help at all to them in the time of their disaster.

"Jeremiah, don't pray for this people and don't cry or pray for them. I won't listen when they cry out to me because of their disaster.

I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I didn't know that they had devised schemes against me. They told themselves, "Let's destroy the tree with its fruit. Let's eliminate him from the land of the living, so his name won't be remembered again."

You plant them and they take root, they grow and bear fruit. "You are near to us," they say with their mouths, but the truth is that you're far from their hearts.

How long will the land mourn and the vegetation of every field dry up? Because of the wickedness of those who live in it, animals and birds are swept away. For they say, "He does not see our future."

Indeed, if you run with others on foot, and they tire you out, how can you compete with horses? You are secure in a land at peace, but how will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?

Indeed, even your brothers and your father's family conspire against you. Even they cry out after you loudly. Don't believe them, even though they speak friendly words to you.

Many shepherds will destroy my vineyard. They'll trample down my portion. They'll turn my pleasant portion into a desolate desert.