to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison.

Therefore he poured the fierceness of his anger on him, and the strength of battle; and it set him on fire all around, but he did not know; and it burned him, but he did not take it to heart."

Since you have been precious and honored in my sight, and I have loved you; therefore I will give people in your place, and nations instead of your life.

Do not be afraid; for I am with you. I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the west.

the people which I formed for myself, that they might set forth my praise.

You have bought me no sweet cane with money, nor have you filled me with the fat of your sacrifices; but you have burdened me with your sins. You have wearied me with your iniquities.

Put me in remembrance. Let us plead together. Set forth your case, that you may be justified.

For I will pour water upon the thirsty, and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit on your seed, and my blessing on your offspring:

Who is like me? Who will call, and will declare it, and set it in order for me, since I established the ancient people? Let them declare the things that are coming, and that will happen.

I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness. I did not say to the seed of Jacob, 'Seek me in vain.' I, the LORD, speak righteousness. I declare things that are right.

Only in the LORD, it is said of me, is righteousness and strength; even to him shall men come; and all those who were incensed against him shall be disappointed.

In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.

They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it, and set it in its place, and it stands, from its place it shall not move: yes, one may cry to it, yet it can not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.

"Come down, and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans: for you shall no more be called tender and delicate.

"Sit in silence, and go into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms.

You said, 'I shall be a mistress forever;' so that you did not lay these things to your heart, nor did you remember the latter end of it.

"Now therefore hear this, you who are given to pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, 'I am, and there is no other besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:'

For you have trusted in your wickedness; you have said, No one sees me; your wisdom and your knowledge, it has perverted you, and you have said in your heart, 'I am, and there is no other besides me.'

Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: it shall not be a coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit before.

(for they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel; the LORD of hosts is his name):

your seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of your body like its grains: his name would not be cut off nor destroyed from before me.

and he said to me, "You are my servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified."

But I said, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely the justice due to me is with the LORD, and my reward with my God."

But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me."

Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and set up my banner to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunk with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."

For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore I have not been confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be disappointed.

and I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, who have said to your soul, 'Bow down, that we may walk over you;' and you have laid your back as the ground, and as the street, to those who walk over."

Shake yourself from the dust. Arise, sit up, Jerusalem. Release yourself from the bonds of your neck, captive daughter of Zion.

For you shall spread out on the right hand and on the left; and your seed shall possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

"You afflicted, tossed with storms, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in beautiful colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires.

For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn't return there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

"But draw near here, you sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the prostitute.

Against whom do you sport yourselves? Against whom do you make a wide mouth, and stick out your tongue? Aren't you children of disobedience, a seed of falsehood,

On a high and lofty mountain you have set your bed; there also you went up to offer sacrifice.

Behind the doors and the posts you have set up your memorial: for you have uncovered to someone besides me, and have gone up; you have enlarged your bed, and made you a covenant with them: you loved their bed where you saw it.

"As for me, this is my covenant with them," says the LORD. "My Spirit who is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your seed, nor out of the mouth of your seed's seed," says the LORD, "from henceforth and forever."

Their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD has blessed."

I have set watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they shall never be silent, day or night. You who call on the LORD, take no rest,

For he said, "Surely, they are my people, children who will not deal falsely:" so he was their Savior.

"I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me. I was near to those who did not seek me. I said, 'Here I am. Here I am.' to a nation that did not call on my name.

who sit among the graves, and lodge in the secret places; who eat pig's flesh, and the broth of abominable things is in their vessels;

They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.

Hear the word of the LORD, you who tremble at his word: "Your brothers who hate you, who cast you out for my name's sake, have said, 'Let the LORD be glorified, that we may see your joy;' but it is those who shall be disappointed.

For thus says the LORD, "Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream: and you will nurse. You will be carried on her side, and will be dandled on her knees.

"I will set a sign among them, and I will send such as escape of them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the islands afar off, who have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations.

"For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me," says the LORD, "so your seed and your name shall remain.

Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD. Behold, I do not know how to speak; for I am a child."

But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am a child;' for to whoever I shall send you, you shall go, and whatever I shall command you, you shall speak.

Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.

Behold, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."

Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Jeremiah, what do you see?" I said, "I see a branch of an almond tree."

Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well; for I watch over my word to perform it."

The word of the LORD came to me the second time, saying, "What do you see?" I said, "I see a boiling caldron; and it is tipping away from the north."

Then the LORD said to me, "Out of the north evil will break out on all the inhabitants of the land.

For, behold, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north," says the LORD; "and they shall come, and they shall each set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls all around, and against all the cities of Judah.

"For of old time I have broken your yoke, and burst your bonds; and you said, 'I will not serve;' for on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed yourself, playing the prostitute.

Yet I had planted you a noble vine, wholly a right seed. How then have you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me?

"Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst. But you said, 'It is in vain. No, for I have loved strangers, and I will go after them.'

"Yet you said, 'I am innocent. Surely his anger has turned away from me.' "Behold, I will judge you, because you say, 'I have not sinned.'

"Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see. Where have you not been lain with? You have sat for them by the ways, as an Arabian in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and with your wickedness.

Moreover, the LORD said to me in the days of Josiah the king, "Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there has played the prostitute.

I said after she had done all these things, 'She will return to me;' but she did not return; and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

The LORD said to me, "Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.

"But I said, 'How I would put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the armies of the nations.' and I said, 'You shall call me "My Father," and shall not turn away from following me.'

"If you will return, Israel," says the LORD, "if you will return to me, and if you will put away your abominations out of my sight; then you shall not be removed;

Set up a standard toward Zion. Flee for safety. Do not wait; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction."

Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD. Surely you have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, 'You shall have peace;' whereas the sword reaches to the heart."

At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, "A hot wind from the bare heights in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow, nor to cleanse;

Then I said, "Surely these are poor. They are foolish; for they do not know the way of the LORD, nor the law of their God.

They have denied the LORD, and said, "It is not he; neither shall evil come on us; neither shall we see sword nor famine.

For among my people are found wicked men. They watch, as fowlers lie in wait. They set a trap. They catch men.

For the LORD of hosts said, "Cut down trees, and cast up a mound against Jerusalem. She is the city to be punished; she is full of oppression in the midst of her.

Thus says the LORD, "Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, 'Where is the good way?' and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." But they said, "We will not walk in it."

"I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet.'" But they said, "We will not listen."

To what purpose comes there to me frankincense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.'

They take hold of bow and spear. They are cruel, and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, everyone set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, daughter of Zion.'"

Do not go forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and terror, are on every side."

I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, even the whole seed of Ephraim.

"For the children of Judah have done that which is evil in my sight," says the LORD: "they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.

"Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us be silent there; for the LORD our God has put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.

The LORD says, "Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein,

Woe is me because of my hurt. My wound is grievous: but I said, 'Truly this is my grief, and I must bear it.'

My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth from me, and they are no more: there is none to spread my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.

that I may establish the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey," as at this day.'" Then I answered, and said, "Amen, LORD."

The LORD said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, 'Hear the words of this covenant, and do them.

The LORD said to me, "A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

For according to the number of your cities are your gods, Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have you set up altars to the shameful thing, even altars to burn incense to Baal.'

How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of the whole country wither? For the wickedness of those who dwell therein, the animals are consumed, and the birds; because they said, "He shall not see our latter end."

It happened after many days, that the LORD said to me, "Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the belt from there, which I commanded you to hide there."

Then you shall tell them, 'Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings who sit on David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.

"Say to the king and to the queen mother, 'Humble yourselves, sit down; for your headdresses have come down, even the crown of your glory.

What will you say, when he shall set over you as head those whom you have yourself taught to be friends to you? Shall not sorrows take hold of you, as of a woman in travail?

"Judah mourns, and its gates languish, they sit in black on the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.

You hope of Israel, its Savior in the time of trouble, why should you be as a foreigner in the land, and as a wayfaring man who turns aside to stay for a night?

The LORD said to me, "Do not pray for this people for their good.

Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD. Behold, the prophets tell them, 'You shall not see the sword, neither shall you have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.'"

Then the LORD said to me, "The prophets prophesy lies in my name; I did not send them, neither have I commanded them, neither spoke I to them: they prophesy to you a lying vision, and divination, and a thing of nothing, and the deceit of their own heart.

Then the LORD said to me, "Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.

The LORD said, "Most certainly I will strengthen you for good; most certainly I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you in the time of evil and in the time of distress.