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

But if you do not obey these words, I swear by myself," {declares} Yahweh, "that this house will become a site of ruins." '"

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?'

Then they will answer, 'Because they abandoned the covenant of Yahweh their God, and bowed down in worship to other gods, and served them.'"

But in [the] place where they have deported him, there he will die, and he will not see this land again.

Woe [to the one who] builds his house without righteousness, and his upper rooms without justice. His fellow countryman, he works for nothing, and he does not give to him his wages.

Do you reign as king because you [are] competing in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink, and he did justice and righteousness, then it was well with him?

He judged [the] legal cause of [the] needy and [the] poor, [and] then it was well. {Is that not what it means to know me}?" {declares} Yahweh.

Go up [to] Lebanon and cry out, and in Bashan lift up your voice, and cry out from Abarim, for all your lovers are shattered.

I spoke to you {in the times you were secure}, [and] you said, 'I will not listen!' This [was] your way from your youth, for you have not obeyed my voice.

Inhabitants of Lebanon, nestled among the cedars, how you will groan when labor pains come to you, fear and pain as the [woman who] gives birth.

And I will throw you and your mother who gave birth to you to another country where you were not born, and there you will die.

As for the land to which they are {longing} to return, they will not return.

[Is] this man Coniah a despised, shattered vessel? Or a vessel [in which] there is no delight? Why are he and his offspring thrown far, and cast away to the land that they do not know?"

"Woe [to the] shepherds who destroy and scatter the flock of my pasture," {declares} Yahweh.

{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.

"Then I myself will gather together the remnant of my flock from all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their grazing place, and they will be fruitful, and they will become numerous.

"Look, days [are] coming," {declares} Yahweh, "when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he will reign [as] king, and he will achieve success, and he will do justice and righteousness in the land.

"{Therefore} their way will be to them like the slippery places, they will be pushed in the darkness, and they will fall into it, for I will bring disaster on them [in] the year of their punishment," {declares} Yahweh.

"Now in the prophets of Samaria I saw a disgusting thing. They prophesied by Baal and they caused my people Israel to err.

And in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible. They commit adultery, and they walk in lies, and they make strong [the] hands of evildoers, [so] that they have not turned back each from his wickedness. All of them have become to me like Sodom, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.

{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.'

For who has stood in the council of Yahweh, that he has seen and heard his word? Who has listened attentively [to] his word and heard [it]?

I have not sent the prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied

But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words [to] my people, and they would have caused them to turn from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.

Or can a person hide himself in secret places and I cannot see him?" {declares} Yahweh. "[Do] I not fill up the heaven and the earth?" {declares} Yahweh.

who plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell each one to his neighbor, just as their ancestors forgot my name through Baal?

The prophet who [has] with him a dream, let him tell [the] dream. But [the prophet] who [has] my word with him, let him speak my word faithfully. {What is straw compared to wheat}?" {declares} Yahweh.

Look, I [am] against those who prophesy dreams of lies," {declares} Yahweh, "and tell them, and they caused my people to err through their lies, and in their recklessness, when I myself have not sent them nor commanded them, so they profit not this people at all," {declares} Yahweh.

"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.

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

But you shall not mention the burden of Yahweh, for the burden is to each one his word, and so you twist the words of [the] living God, Yahweh of hosts, our God

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.'"

{Therefore} look, here I am, and I will surely lift you up and forsake you and the city that I gave to you and to your ancestors from {my presence},

Yahweh showed me, and look, there were two baskets of figs placed {before} the temple of Yahweh--after Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had deported Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, with the officials of Judah, and the craftsmen, and the smiths, from Jerusalem and had brought them [to] Babylon.

Then the word of Yahweh came to me, {saying},

"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.

For I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. And I will build them and not annihilate [them], and I will plant them and not uproot [them].

And I will give to them a heart to know me, that I [am] Yahweh, and {they will be my people}, and {I will be their God}, for they will return to me with the whole of their heart.

And I will make them as a terror, an evil to all the kingdoms of the earth, as a disgrace and a proverb, as a taunt and a curse, in all the places where I will drive them.

And I will send among them the sword, the famine, and the plague, until they perish from the land that I gave to them and their ancestors.'"

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, that [was] the first year of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon,

which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, {saying},

"From [the] thirteenth year of Josiah, the son of Amon, the king of Judah, even up to this day, these twenty-three years the word of Yahweh has come to me, and {I have spoken to you over and over again}, but you have not listened.

And [though] Yahweh has sent all his servants the prophets to you {over and over again} you have not listened, and you have not inclined your ear to hear,

{saying}, 'Turn back please, each one from his evil way, and from the evil of your deeds, and live on the land that Yahweh has given to you and to your ancestors from a long time back and until forever,

and you must not go after other gods to serve them, and to bow in worship to them, and you must not provoke me to anger with the work of your hands, then I will not do something bad to you.'

'Yet you have not listened to me,' {declares} Yahweh, 'so that you have provoked me to anger with the work of your hands for your own harm.'

look, I [am] going to send and take all [the] clans of [the] north,' {declares} Yahweh, 'and [I will send] to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations all around, and I will destroy them, and I will make them a horror, and [an object of] hissing, and {everlasting ruins}.

For many nations and great kings will let them work, even them, and I will repay them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.'"

For thus said Yahweh, the God of Israel, to me, "Take this cup of the wine [of] wrath from my hand, and you must give it [to] all the nations to whom I [am] sending you to drink.

So I took the cup from the hand of Yahweh and I gave [it] [to] all the nations to whom Yahweh sent me to drink:

Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, and its kings, [and] its officials, to make them a site of ruins, a horror, an [object of] hissing, and a curse, as [it is] this day;

and Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all those who are trimmed to [the] side;

and all the kings of the north, near and far, each one to his brother, and all the kingdoms of the world that [are] on the face of the earth; and the king of Sheshach, he will drink after them.

"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." '

And it will happen, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, "You must certainly drink!

For look, on the city that is called {by} my name I [am] beginning to inflict harm, and you indeed, will you go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I [am] summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth," {declares} Yahweh of hosts.'

And you yourself shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them: 'Yahweh will roar from [on] high, and from {his holy dwelling place} he will give his voice. He will roar mightily against his settlement, a jubilant shout like those who tread [grapes], he will answer against all the inhabitants of the earth.

[The] rage of battle will resound to the end of the earth, for [there is] a lawsuit of Yahweh against the nations. He [is] entering into judgment with all wicked flesh, he will give them to the sword,' {declares} Yahweh."

Thus says Yahweh of hosts, "Look, disaster [is] going out from nation to nation, and a great tempest is stirred up from the farthest parts of [the] earth.

And the slain [ones] of Yahweh will be on that day from [one] end of the earth to the [other] end of the earth, and they will not be mourned, and they will not be gathered, and they will not be buried. They will become like dung on the {surface} of the ground.

"Thus says Yahweh: 'Stand in the courtyard of the house of Yahweh, and you must speak to all the cities of Judah that come to bow in worship [in] the house of Yahweh all the words that I command you to speak to them. You must not omit a word.

Perhaps they will listen and turn back each from his evil way, and I will relent of the disaster that I [am] planning to do to them because of their evil deeds.

And you shall say to them, "Thus says Yahweh: 'If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set {before you},

to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I have sent to you, {over and over again}, though you have not listened,

{And then} as Jeremiah finished speaking all that Yahweh had commanded [him] to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, {saying}, "You will die!

When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the house of the king [to] the temple of Yahweh, and they sat in the entrance of the New Gate of Yahweh's [temple].

Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, {saying}, "{This man deserves the death sentence}, because he has prophesied against this city as that [which] you have heard with your ears."

Then Jeremiah said to all the officials and to all the people, {saying}, "Yahweh sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard.

But [as for] me, look, I [am] in your hand, do to me what [is] good and right in your eyes.

Only you must certainly know that if you put me to death, you will bring on yourselves innocent blood, and on this city and on its inhabitants, for {truly} Yahweh sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears."

Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets, "{This man does not deserve} a sentence of death, for in the name of Yahweh our God, he has spoken to us."

Then men from the elders of the land arose and said to all the assembly of the people, {saying},

"Micah the Morashtite was prophesying in the days of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and he said to all the people of Judah, {saying}: 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, "Zion will be plowed, and Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the {temple} as high places of wood." '

[Did] Hezekiah, the king of Judah, and all Judah actually put him to death? [Was he] not in fear of Yahweh? And he entreated the face of Yahweh, and Yahweh relented of the disaster that he had spoken against them. But we [are] about to do great disaster to ourselves."

And when King Jehoiakim, and all his warriors, and all the officials heard his words, then the king sought to put him to death. But Uriah heard, and he was afraid, and he fled and went [to] Egypt.

Then King Jehoiakim sent men [to] Egypt. Elnathan, the son of Achbor, and men with him [went] to Egypt.

And they brought out Uriah from Egypt and they brought him to King Jehoiakim, and he struck him down with the sword, and he threw his dead body into the burial sites of the sons of the people.

However, the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that he was not given into the hand of the people to put him to death.

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, {saying}--

thus said Yahweh to me--"Make for yourself fetters and yokes and put them on your neck,

and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the {Ammonites}, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon in [the] hand of [the] envoys who have come [to] Jerusalem, to Zedekiah, the king of Judah.

And you must command them for their masters, {saying}, 'Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, this you shall say to your masters:

"I have made the earth with humankind and animals that [are] on the face of the earth by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and I give it to whomever is right in my eyes.

And now I myself have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and also the animals of the field I have given to him to serve him.

And you, you must not listen to your prophets, and to your diviners, and to your dreamers, and to your interpreters of signs, and to your sorcerers who are {saying}, 'You will not serve the king of Babylon.'

For they [are] prophesying to you a lie, so that you [will be] removed from your land, and I will drive you away, and you will perish.

And I spoke words like these to Zedekiah, the king of Judah, {saying}, "Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.

Why should you die--you and your people--by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague, as Yahweh has spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

And you must not listen to the words of the prophets who are speaking to you, {saying}, 'You must not serve the king of Babylon,' for they [are] prophesying a lie to you.

For I have not sent them," {declares} Yahweh, "but they [are] prophesying in my name {falsely}, so that I will drive them away. And you will perish--you and the prophets who are prophesying to you."

Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, {saying}, "Thus says Yahweh, 'You must not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, {saying}, "Look, the vessels of the house of Yahweh [are] about to be quickly brought back from Babylon", for they [are] prophesying a lie to you.

And you must not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a site of ruins?

But if they [are] prophets, and if there is with them the word of Yahweh, let them please plead with Yahweh of hosts, that the vessels that are left over in the {temple} of Yahweh, and the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, must not go [to] Babylon.'

which Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, did not take when he deported Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, from Jerusalem [to] Babylon, {along with} all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem.