Behold! I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

For, behold, I have made you a fortified city this day, and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against its rulers, against its priests, and against the people of the land.

Be amazed, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; be completely desolated, says Jehovah.

Have you not brought this on yourself, in that you have forsaken Jehovah your God, when He led you by the way?

Yes, you shall go out from this place, and your hands on your head. For Jehovah has rejected those in whom you trust, and you will not prosper by them.

Will you not from this time cry to Me, My father, You are the guide of my youth?

And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but with falsehood, says Jehovah.

We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covers us; for we have sinned against Jehovah our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God.

Put on sackcloth for this, wail and howl; for the fierce anger of Jehovah is not turned back from us.

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.

Your way and your doings have brought these things on you; this is your evil, because it is bitter, because it reaches to your heart.

The earth shall mourn for this, and the heavens above shall be black, because I have spoken, I have purposed, and will not repent, nor will I turn back from it.

Why shall I pardon you for this? Your sons have forsaken Me, and have sworn by No-gods. When I adjured them, then they committed adultery, and gathered themselves by troops in a harlot's house.

Shall I not judge for these things? says Jehovah. And shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Therefore so says Jehovah, the God of Hosts, Because you spoke this word, behold, I will make My Words in your mouth fire, and these people wood, and it shall devour them.

Declare this in the house of Jacob, and cry it in Judah, saying,

Now hear this, O foolish people and without heart; who have eyes and see not; who have ears and hear not;

But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart; they have revolted and are gone.

Shall I not visit for these things? says Jehovah. Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Hear, O earth; behold, I will bring evil on this people, the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to My Words, nor to My Law, but have rejected it.

Therefore so says Jehovah, Behold, I will lay stumbling-blocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall on them; the neighbor and his friend shall perish.

Stand in the gate of Jehovah's house, and declare there this Word, and say, Hear the Word of Jehovah, all Judah, who enter in at these gates to worship Jehovah.

So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, Make your ways and your doings good, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.

if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your hurt;

then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever.

and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?

Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I also have seen, says Jehovah.

therefore I will do to this house, which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.

Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up cry nor prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you.

Therefore so says the Jehovah God; Behold, My anger and My fury shall be poured out on this place, on man, and on animal, and on the trees of the field, and on the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be put out.

But I commanded them this thing, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people; and walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, so that it may be well with you.

Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day I have even sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending.

But you shall say to them, This is a nation which does not obey the voice of Jehovah their God, nor receives instruction; truth has perished, and is cut off from their mouth.

And the bodies of this people shall be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall frighten them away.

And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the rest of those who remain of this evil family, who remain in all the places where I have driven them, says Jehovah of Hosts.

Why has this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a never-ending backsliding? They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to return.

Shall I not visit them for these things? says Jehovah; shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Who is the wise man who may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of Jehovah has spoken, that he may declare it? Why does the land perish and burn up like a wilderness, so that none passes through?

Therefore so says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and make them drink poisonous water.

but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am Jehovah, doing kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth; for in these I delight, says Jehovah.

For so says Jehovah, Behold, I will sling out the people of the land at this time, and will distress them, so that they may find Me.

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

Hear the Words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the people of Jerusalem.

And say to them, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, Cursed is the man who does not obey the Words of this covenant,

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.

For I earnestly testified to your fathers in the day I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, rising early and testifying, saying, Obey My voice.

Yet they did not obey nor bow down their ear, but walked each one in the stubbornness of his evil heart. So I will bring on them all the Words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do; but they did not do them.

So Jehovah says this: Behold, I will bring evil on them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry to Me, I will not listen to them.

And you, do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them. For I will not hear them in the time they cry to Me for their trouble.

So says Jehovah, In this way I will spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

This evil people, who refuse to hear My Words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart and walk after other gods to serve them and to worship them, shall even be like this girdle, which is good for nothing.

So you will speak to them this Word: So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, Every skin shall be filled with wine. And they shall say to you, Do we not surely know that every skin shall be filled with wine?

Then you shall say to them, So says Jehovah, Behold, I will fill all the people of this land, even the kings that sit on David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.

This is your lot, the share I have measured to you, says Jehovah, because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood.

So says Jehovah to this people; So they have loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet; therefore Jehovah does not accept them. He will now remember their iniquity and visit their sins.

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.

So Jehovah says this concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, and I did not send them; yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; by sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed.

And you shall speak this word to them: Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and do not let them cease. For the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great break, with a very grievous blow.

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.

And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; and they shall fight against you, but they shall not overcome you; for I am with you to save you and to deliver you, says Jehovah.

You shall not take a wife for yourself, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place.

For so says Jehovah concerning the sons and concerning the daughters who are born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bore them, and concerning their fathers who fathered them in this land:

For so says Jehovah, Do not enter into the house of mourning; do not go to weep nor moan over them. For I have taken away My peace from this people, says Jehovah, even loving-kindness and mercies.

Both the great and the small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried, nor shall men mourn for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them.

For so says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will cause the voice of mirth to cease out of this place before your eyes, and in your days, and the voice of gladness, and the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.

And it shall be, when you declare to this people all these words, and they shall say to you, Why has Jehovah pronounced all this great evil against us? Or what is our iniquity, or what is our sin that we have committed against Jehovah our God?

even I will cast you out of this land into a land that you do not know, neither you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve other gods day and night; where I will not grant you favor.

Therefore, behold, I will make them know; this time I will cause them to know My hand and My might; and they shall know that My name is Jehovah.

And it shall be, if you carefully listen to Me, says Jehovah, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy, to do no work in it;

then kings and rulers sitting on the throne of David shall enter into the gates of this city, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their rulers, the men of Judah, and the people of Jerusalem. And this city shall remain forever.

O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter? says Jehovah. Behold, As the clay in the potter's hands, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.

Therefore so says Jehovah, Ask now among the nations; who has heard the like of this? The virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing.

And say, Hear the Word of Jehovah, O kings of Judah, and people of Jerusalem. So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil on this place, which shall cause the ears of him who hears it to tingle.

Because they have forsaken Me, and have made this place famous and have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents.

Therefore, behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but, The Valley of Slaughter.

And I will make the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem come to nothing in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of those who seek their lives. And I will give their dead bodies to be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the animals of the earth.

And I will make this city a waste and a hissing. Everyone who passes by shall be amazed and shall hiss because of all its plagues.

and shall say to them, So says Jehovah of Hosts, Even so I will break this people of this city, as one breaks a potter's vessel that cannot be made whole again. And they shall bury them in Tophet until there is no place left to bury.

I will do this to this place, says Jehovah, and to its people, and make this city as Tophet.

So says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring on this city and on all its towns all the evil that I have spoken against it, because they have hardened their necks so that they might not hear My Words.

And I will give all the wealth of this city, and its produce, and all its precious things, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah, even I will give into the hand of their enemies; who will strip them and take them, and bring them to Babylon.

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

So says the Jehovah, the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the walls. And I will gather them together in the middle of this city.

And I will strike the people of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great plague.

And afterward, says Jehovah, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and those who are left in this city from the plague, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. And he shall strike them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, nor have pity, nor have mercy.

And to this people you shall say, So says Jehovah, Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.

He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague. But he who goes out and falls to the Chaldeans who are all around you, he shall live, and his life shall be his prize.

For I have set My face against this city for evil, and not for good, says Jehovah. It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.

So says Jehovah: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak this Word there.

So says Jehovah, Do judgment and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the oppressors's hand. And do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.

For if you do this thing indeed, then there shall enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.

But if you will not hear these Words, I swear by Myself, says Jehovah, that this house shall become a ruin.

And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say each one to his neighbor, Why has Jehovah done this to this great city?

For so says Jehovah concerning Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, who reigned in the place of Josiah his father, who went forth out of this place: he shall not return there any more.

But he shall die in the place where they have exiled him and shall see this land no more.

He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him. Was this not to know Me? says Jehovah.

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.