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

Then said the LORD, "Thou hast seen right, for I will watch diligently upon my word, to perform it."

For lo, I will call all the officers of the kingdoms of the north, sayeth the LORD. And they shall come, and every one shall set his seat in the gates of Jerusalem, and in all their walls round about and through all the cities of Judah.

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.

"I have ever broken thy yoke of old, and bursten thy bonds: yet sayest thou, 'I will no more serve.' But like a harlot thou runnest about upon all high hills,

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.

Thou keepest thy foot from nakedness, and thy throat from thirst, and thinkest thus in thyself, 'Tush: I will take no sorrow; I will love the strange gods, and hang upon them.'

Wherefore then will ye go to law with me, seeing ye all are sinners against me, sayeth the LORD?

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.

Wilt thou then put me away and cast me off for ever? Or wilt thou withdraw thyself clean from me?' Nevertheless, thou speakest such words, but thou art ever doing worse and worse."

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:

but on this condition, that thou know thy great blasphemy: Namely, that thou hast unfaithfully forsaken the LORD thy God, and hast made thyself partaker of strange gods under all green trees, but hast had no will to hear my voice, sayeth the LORD.

O ye shrinking children, turn again, sayeth the LORD: and I will be married with you. For I will take one out of the city, and two out of one generation from among you, and bring you out of Zion:

and I will give you herdsmen after mine own mind, which shall feed you with learning and wisdom.

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:

Preach in Judah and Jerusalem, cry out and speak, "Blow the trumpets in the land, cry that every man may hear, and say, 'Gather you together, and we will go into strong cities.

Set up the token in Zion, speed you, and make no tarrying: for I will bring a great plague, and a great destruction from the north.

After that shall there come unto me a strong wind, and then will I also give sentence upon them."

For thus hath the LORD said, "The whole land shall be desolate, yet will I not then have done.

And therefore let the earth mourn, and let the heaven be sorry above: for the things that I have purposed and taken upon me to do, shall not repent me, and I will not go from it."

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.

Therefore will I go unto their heads and rulers, and talk with them: if they know the way of the LORD, and the judgments of our God." But these, in like manner, have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds in sunder.

Wherefore thus sayeth the LORD God of Hosts, "Because ye speak such words, behold: The words that are in thy mouth will I turn to fire, and make the people to be wood, that it may consume them.

Lo, I will bring a people upon you from far, O house of Israel, sayeth the LORD; a mighty people, an old people, a people whose speech thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.

Nevertheless, I will not then have done with you, sayeth the LORD.

The Prophets teach falsely, and the priests follow them, and my people hath pleasure therein. What will come thereof at the last?

I will liken the daughter of Zion to a fair and tender woman, and to her shall come the shepherds with their flocks.

Thus sayeth the LORD, "Go into the streets, consider and make inquisition for the old way: and if it be the good and right way, then go therein, that ye may find rest for your souls. But they say, 'We will not walk therein.'

And I will set watchmen over you, and therefore take heed unto the voice of the trumpet. But they say, 'We will not take heed.'

Hear thou earth also: behold, I will cause a plague come upon this people, even the fruit of their own imaginations. For they have not been obedient unto my words and to my law, but abhorred them.

And therefore thus sayeth the LORD, 'Behold, I will make this people fall, and there shall fall from among them the father with the children; one neighbour shall perish with another.'"

Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel. Amend your ways and your counsels, and I will let you dwell in this place.

"For if ye will amend your ways and counsels, if ye will judge right betwixt a man and his neighbour;

If ye will not oppress the stranger, the fatherless and the widow; if ye will not shed innocent blood in this place; if ye will not cleave to strange gods to your own destruction;

then will I let you dwell in this place, yea in the land that I gave afore time unto your fathers forever.

And therefore even as I have done to Shiloh, so will I do to this house that my name is given unto, and that ye put your trust in: yea, unto the place that I have given to you and your fathers.

"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.

Yea, the dead bodies of this people shall be eaten up of the fowls of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.

And as for the voice of mirth and gladness of the cities of Judah and Jerusalem; the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride: I will make them cease, for the land shall be desolate."

Wherefore then is this people and Jerusalem gone so far back, that they turn not again? They are ever the longer, the more obstinate, and will not be converted.

For I have looked, and considered: but there is no man that speaketh a good word. There is no man that taketh repentance for his sin, that will so much as say, 'Wherefore have I done this?' But every man, as soon as he is turned back, runneth forth still, like a wild horse in a battle.

The Stork knoweth her appointed time; the Turtledove, the Swallow and the Crane consider the time of their travail: but my people will not know the time of the punishment of the LORD.

Wherefore, I will give their wives unto aliens, and their fields to destroyers. For from the lowest to the highest, they follow all filthy lucre: and from the Prophet unto the priest, they deal all with lies.

Moreover, I will gather them in, sayeth the LORD, so that there shall not be one grape upon the vine, neither one fig upon the fig tree, and the leaves shall be plucked off. And the thing that I have given to them shall be taken from them."

Moreover, I will send Cockatrices and serpents among you which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you," sayeth the LORD.

O Who will give my head water enough, and a well of tears for mine eyes, that I may weep night and day for the slaughter of my people?

They have set their stole in the midst of deceit, and for very dissembling falsity they will not know me, sayeth the LORD.

Therefore thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts, "Behold, I will melt them, and try them, for what should I else do to my people?

"Upon the mountains will I take up a lamentation and sorrowful cry, and a mourning upon the fair plains of the wilderness: Namely, how they are so burnt up, that no man goeth there any more. Yea, a man shall not hear one beast cry there. Birds and cattle are all gone from thence.

I will make Jerusalem also a heap of stones, and a den of venomous worms. And I will make the cities of Judah so waste, that no man shall dwell therein."

Therefore, thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, "Behold, I will feed this people with wormwood, and give them gall to drink.

I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword among them, to persecute them, until I bring them to naught."

But who so will rejoice, let him rejoice in this: that he understandeth, and knoweth me. For I am the LORD, which do mercy, equity and righteousness upon the earth. Therefore have I pleasure in such things, sayeth the LORD."

"Behold, the time cometh," sayeth the LORD, "that I will visit all them whose foreskin is uncircumcised.

For thus sayeth the LORD, "Behold, I will now thrust out the inhabiters of this land a great way off, and trouble them of such a fashion, that they shall no more be found."

which I commanded unto your fathers; what time as I brought them out of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Be obedient unto my voice, and do according to all that I commanded you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God,

and will keep my promise, that I have sworn unto your fathers: Namely, that I would give them a land which floweth with milk and honey, as ye see it is come to pass unto this day." Then answered I, and said, "Amen. It is even so, O LORD, as thou sayest."

"Therefore thus sayeth the LORD: Behold, I will send a plague among you, which ye shall not be able to escape: and though ye cry unto me, I will not hear you.

But pray not thou for this people; bid neither praise nor prayer for them. For though they cry unto me in their trouble, yet will I not hear them.

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.

But I, as a meek lamb, was carried away to be slain: not knowing, that they had devised such a counsel against me saying, "We will destroy his meat with wood, and drive him out of the land of the living: that his name shall never be thought upon."

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.

Thus, I say, spake the LORD of Hosts, "Behold, I will visit you. Your young men shall perish with the sword; your sons and your daughters shall utterly die of hunger,

so that none shall remain. For upon the citizens of Anathoth will I bring a plague, and the year of their visitation."

How long shall the land mourn, and all the herbs of the field perish, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? The cattle and the birds are gone, yet say they, "Tush, God will not destroy us utterly."

"Seeing thou art weary in running with the footmen, how wilt thou then run with the horses? In a peaceable sure land thou mayest be safe, but how wilt thou do in the furious pride of Jordan?

Thus sayeth the LORD upon all mine evil neighbours, that lay hand on mine heritage, which I have given my people of Israel, "Behold, I will pluck them, namely Israel, out of their land; and put out the house of Judah from among them.

And when I have rooted them out, I will be at one with them again, and will have mercy upon them: and bring them again, every man to his own heritage, and into his land.

And if they, namely that trouble my people, will learn the ways of them, to swear by my name, 'The LORD liveth' - like as they learned my people to swear by Baal - then shall they be reckoned among my people.

But if they will not obey, then will I root out the same folk, and destroy them, sayeth the LORD."

"Thus sayeth the LORD: Even so will I corrupt the pride of Judah, and the high mind of Jerusalem.

This people is a wicked people; they will not hear my word, they follow the wicked imaginations of their own heart, and hang upon strange gods, them have they served and worshiped: and therefore they shall be as this breech, that serveth for nothing.

And I will shoot them one against another; yea, the fathers against the sons, sayeth the LORD. I will not pardon them, I will not spare them, nor have pity upon them: but destroy them.'"

But if ye will not hear me, that give you secret warning, I will mourn from my whole heart for your stubbornness. Piteously will I weep, and the tears shall gush out of mine eyes. For the LORD's flock shall be carried away captive.

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?

Therefore will I scatter you, like as the stubble that is taken away with the south wind.

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?"

The wild Asses shall stand in the Moss, and draw in their wind like the Dragons, their eyes shall fail for want of grass."

For thou art the comfort and help of Israel in the time of trouble. Why wilt thou be as a stranger in the Land, and as one that goeth over the field, and cometh in only to remain for a night?

Why wilt thou make thyself a coward, and as it were a giant that yet may not help? For thou art ours, O LORD, and we bear thy name; therefore forsake us not."

Then spake the LORD, concerning this people that have pleasure to go so nimbly with their feet, and leave not off, and therefore displease the LORD; insomuch that he will now bring again to remembrance all their misdeeds, and punish all their sins.

For though they fast, I will not hear their prayers. And though they offer burnt offerings and sacrifices, yet will not I accept them. For I will destroy them with the sword, hunger, and pestilence."

and the people to whom they have preached shall be cast out of Jerusalem; die of hunger; and be slain with the sword. And there shall be no man to bury them, both they and their wives, their sons and their daughters. For thus will I pour their wickedness upon them.

For I will bring four plagues upon them, sayeth the LORD. The sword shall strangle them, the dogs shall devour them, the fowls of the air, and beasts of the earth shall eat them up, and destroy them.

I will scatter them about also in all kingdoms and lands to be plagued, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for the things that he did in Jerusalem.

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.

I will make their widows more in number than the sands of the sea. Upon the mothers of their children, I shall bring a destroyer in the noonday. Suddenly and unawares, shall I send a fear upon their cities.

She that hath born seven children, shall have none; her heart shall be full of sorrow. The Sun shall fail her in the clear day, when she shall be confounded and faint for very heaviness. As for those that remain, I will deliver them unto the sword of their enemies, sayeth the LORD."

As for your riches and treasure, I will give them out into a prey; not for any money, but because of all your sins, that ye have done in all your coasts.

And I will bring you with your enemies into a land that ye know not: for the fire that is kindled in my indignation, shall burn you up."

Shall my heaviness endure forever? Are my plagues then so great, that they may never be healed? Wilt thou be as a water that faileth, and cannot continue?"

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."

Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye and your fathers know not: and there shall ye serve strange gods day and night, there will I show you no favour.

But it shall be said, 'The LORD liveth, that brought the children of Israel from the North, and from all lands where I had scattered them.' For I will bring them again into the land that I gave unto their fathers.

Behold, sayeth the LORD, I will send out many fishers to take them, and after that will I send out many hunters to hunt them out, from all mountains and hills and out of the caves of stones.