The priests themselves said not once, 'Where is the LORD?' They that have the law in their hands, know me not: The shepherds offend against me. The Prophets do service unto Baal, and follow such things as shall bring them no profit.

For my people hath done two evils: They have forsaken me, the well of the water of life; and digged them pits, yea, vile and broken pits, that hold no water.

Why do they roar and cry then upon him, as a lion? They have made his land waste, his cities are so burnt up, that there is no man dwelling in them.

Yea, the children of Noph and Tahpenes have defiled thy neck.

"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,

Say not now, 'I am not unclean, and I have not followed Baal.' Look upon thy own ways in the woods, valleys and dens: so shalt thou know, what thou hast done. Thou art like a swift Dromedary that goeth easily his way:

For they say to a stock, 'Thou art my father,' and to a stone, 'Thou hast begotten me.' Yea, they have turned their back upon me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble, when they say, 'Stand up and help us!'

Doth a maiden forget her raiment, or a bride her stomacher? But as for my people, they have forgotten me for days innumerable.

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.'

Then those that be of the house of Judah shall go into the house of Israel: and they shall come together out of the North, into the same land that I have given your fathers.

"'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.

And therefore the voice of the children of Israel was heard on every side, weeping and wailing: for they have defiled their way, and forgotten God their LORD.

So do we also sleep in our confusion, and shame covereth us: for we and our fathers from our youth up unto this day have sinned against the LORD our God, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God."

Then said I, "O LORD God, hast thou then deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, 'Ye shall have peace,' and now the sword goeth through their lives?"

They shall give them warning in every place, like as the watchmen in the field. For they have provoked me to wrath, sayeth the LORD.

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

"Ah, my belly! Ah, my belly!" shalt thou cry, "how is my heart so sore?" My heart panteth within me, I cannot be still, for I have heard the crying of the trumpets, and peals of war.

"Nevertheless this shall come upon them because my people is become foolish, and hath utterly no understanding. They are the children of foolishness, and without any discretion. To do evil, they have wit enough: but to do well, they have no wisdom."

I have looked upon the earth, and see, it is waste and void. I looked toward heaven, and it had no shine.

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.

"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.

They have denied the LORD, and said, 'It is not he. Tush, there shall no misfortune come upon us; we shall see neither sword nor hunger.'

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

But if they say, 'Wherefore doth the LORD our God all this unto us?' Then answer them, 'Because, that like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your own land, even so shall ye serve other gods also in a strange land!'"

"Hear this, thou foolish and indiscreet people: ye have eyes, but ye see not; ears have ye, but ye hear not.

"Nevertheless, your misdeeds have turned these from you, and your sins have robbed you hereof.

And like as a net is full of birds, so are their houses full of that which they have gotten with falsity and deceit. Hereof cometh their great substance and riches,

But unto whom shall I speak, whom shall I warn, that he may take heed? Their ears are so uncircumcised, that they may not hear. Behold, they take the word of God but for a scorn, and have no lust thereto.

Therefore they must be ashamed, for they have committed abomination. But how should they be ashamed, when they know nothing, neither of shame nor good nurture? And therefore they shall fall among the slain; and in the hour when I shall visit them, they shall be brought down," sayeth the LORD.

Hear therefore ye Gentiles; and thou, congregation, shalt know what I have devised for them.

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.

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

For when ye have stolen, murdered, committed adultery and penury; When ye have offered unto Baal, following strange and unknown gods;

Then come ye, and stand before me in this house, which hath my name given unto it, and say 'Tush, we are absolved quite, though we have done all these abominations.'

And now, though ye have done all these deeds, sayeth the LORD, and I myself rose up ever betimes to warn you and to commune with you, yet would ye not hear me: I called, ye would not answer.

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.

And I shall thrust you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren the whole seed of Ephraim.

but this I commanded them, saying, 'Hearken and obey my voice, and I shall be your God, and ye shall be my people: so that ye walk in all the ways, which I have commanded you, that ye may prosper.'

And this have they done, from the time that your fathers came out of Egypt, unto this day. Nevertheless, I sent unto them my servants, all the prophets. I rose up early and sent them word,

For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, sayeth the LORD. They have set up their abominations, in the house that hath my name, and have defiled it.

They have also builded an altar at Tophet, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom: that they might burn their sons and daughters - which I never commanded them, neither came it ever in my thought.

And therefore behold, the days shall come, sayeth the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, or the valley of the children of Hinnom, but the valley of the slain - for in Tophet they shall be buried, because they shall else have no room.

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.

"How dare ye say then, 'We are wise, we have the law of the LORD among us'? Behold, the deceitful pen of the scribes, setteth forth lies:

therefore shall the wise be confounded. They shall be afraid and taken, for lo, they have cast out the word of the LORD: what wisdom can then be among them?

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."

Why prolong we the time? Let us gather ourselves together, and go into the strong city; there shall we be in rest. For the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water mixed with gall to drink: because we have sinned against him.

for lo, the voice of the crying of my people is heard from a far country: "Is not the LORD in Zion? Is not the king in her?" "Wherefore then have they grieved me," shall the LORD say, "with their images and foolish strange fashions?"

Yea, one dissesembleth with another, and they deal with no truth. They have practiced their tongues to lie, and taken great pains to do mischief.

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

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."

My tabernacle is destroyed, and all my cords are broken. My children are gone from me, and can nowhere be found. Now have I none to spread out my tent, or to set up my hangings.

For the herdsmen have done foolishly, that they have not sought the LORD. Therefore have they dealt unwisely with their cattle, and all are scattered abroad.

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.

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."

For I have diligently exhorted your fathers, ever since the time that I brought them out of the Land of Egypt unto this day. I gave them warning betimes, saying, Hearken unto my voice.

Nevertheless, they would not obey me, nor inclined their ears unto me, but followed the wicked imaginations of their own hearts. And therefore have I accused them as transgressors of all the words of this covenant, that I gave them to keep, which they, not with understanding, have not kept."

They have turned themselves to the blasphemies of their forefathers, which had no lust to hear my word. Even likewise have these also followed strange gods, and worshiped them. The houses of Israel and Judah have broken my covenant, which I made with their fathers.

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.

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.

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.

As for me, say I, I have forsaken mine own dwelling place, and left mine heritage. My life also that I love so well, have I given into the hands of mine enemies.

Mine heritage is become unto me, as a Lion in the wood. It cried out upon me, therefore have I forsaken it.

Divers herdsmen have broken down my vineyard, and trodden upon my portion. Of my pleasant portion, they have made a wilderness and desert.

They have laid it waste: and now that it is waste, it sigheth unto me. Yea, the whole land lieth waste, and no man regardeth it.

The destroyers come over the heath every way, for the sword of the LORD shall consume from the one end of the land to the other, and no flesh shall have rest.

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.

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.

For as straightly as a breech lieth upon a man's loins, so straightly did I bind the whole house of Israel, and the whole house of Judah unto me, sayeth the LORD: that they might be my people; that they might have a glorious name; that they might be in honour. But they would not obey me.

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.'"

This shall be your portion, and the portion of your measure, wherewith ye shall be rewarded of me, sayeth the LORD: because ye have forgotten me, and put your trust in deceitful things.

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?"

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.

And the LORD said unto me, "The prophets preach lies unto them in my name. I have not spoken with them, neither gave I them any charge, neither did I send them. Yet they preach unto you false visions, charming vanity, and deceitfulness of their own heart.

Therefore, thus sayeth the LORD: As for those prophets that preach in my name, whom I nevertheless have not sent, and that say, 'Tush, there shall neither battle, nor hunger be in this land': With sword and with hunger shall those prophets perish,

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.

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

Then spake the LORD unto me, and said, "Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet have I no heart to this people. Drive them away, that they may go out of my sight.

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,

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.

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.

When I had found thy words, I ate them up greedily: they have made my heart joyful and glad, for I call upon thy name, O LORD God of Hosts.

For of the children that are born in this place, of their mothers that have borne them, and of their fathers that have begotten them in this land, thus sayeth the LORD:

Again, thus sayeth the LORD: Go not unto them that come together for to mourn and weep: for I have taken my peace from this people, sayeth the LORD; yea, my favour and my mercy.

"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?'

Then make thou them this answer: Because your fathers have forsaken me, sayeth the LORD, and have cleaved unto strange gods, whom they have honored and worshiped: but me have they forsaken, and have not kept my law.

And ye, with your shameful blasphemies, have exceeded the wickedness of your fathers. For every one of you followeth the froward and evil imagination of his own heart, and is not obedient unto me.

But first will I sufficiently reward their shameful blasphemies and sins, wherewith they have defiled my land: Namely, with their stinking Idols and abominations, wherewith they have filled mine heritage."

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.

Wherefore, I will make all your substance and treasure be spoiled, for the great sin that ye have done upon your high places throughout all the coasts of your land.

Ye shall be cast out also from the heritage, that I gave you. And I will subdue you under the heavy bondage of your enemies, in a land that ye know not. For ye have ministered fire to my indignation, which shall burn evermore."

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.