Can a woman forget her suckling, [refrain] from having compassion on the child of her womb? Indeed, these may forget, but I, I will not forget you!

Your children hasten; your destroyers and those who laid you waste depart from you.

Then you will say in your heart, "Who has borne me these?" And, "I [was] bereaved and barren, exiled and thrust away; so who raised these? Look at me! I was left alone; {where have these come from}?"

Can war-booty be taken from [the] mighty? or can a captive of a righteous [person] be rescued?

I gave my back to those who struck [me], and my cheeks to those who pulled out my {beard}; I did not hide my face from insults and spittle.

Look! All of you [are] kindlers of fire, who gird yourselves with flaming arrows. Walk in the light of your fire, and among [the] flaming arrows you have kindled! You shall have this from my hand: you shall lie down in a place of torment.

"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, who seek Yahweh. Look to [the] rock [from which] you were hewn, and to [the] excavation of [the] pit [from which] you were quarried.

"Listen attentively to me, my people, and my nation, listen to me! For a teaching will go out from me, and I will cause my justice to rest for a light to [the] peoples.

Rouse yourself! Rouse yourself! Stand up, Jerusalem, who have drunk from the hand of Yahweh the cup of his wrath; you have drunk the goblet, the cup of staggering; you have drained [it] out.

Therefore hear now this afflicted [one] and drunken [one] but not from wine.

Thus says your Lord, Yahweh, and your God pleads the cause [of] his people: "Look! I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering. You shall not {continue} to drink the goblet, the cup of my wrath, any longer.

Shake yourself free from [the] dust! Rise up; sit, Jerusalem! Free yourselves [from] the bonds of your neck, captive daughter of Zion!

Depart, depart, go out from there! You must not touch any unclean thing. Go out from the midst of it, keep clean, you who carry the vessels of Yahweh.

For he went up like shoot before him, and like root from dry ground. He had no form and no majesty that we should see him, and no appearance that we should take pleasure in him.

[He was] despised and rejected [by] men, a man of suffering, and acquainted with sickness, and like {one from whom others hide their faces}, [he was] despised, and we did not hold him in high regard.

He was taken by restraint of justice, and who concerned himself with his generation? For he was cut off from the land of [the] living; he [received a] blow because of the transgression of my people.

From the trouble of his life he will see; he will be satisfied. In his knowledge, [the] righteous [one], my servant, shall declare many righteous, and he is the one who will bear their iniquities.

I hid my face from you [for] a moment, in the flowing of anger, but I will have compassion on you with everlasting faithfulness" says your redeemer, Yahweh.

For the mountains may depart, and the hills may sway, but my faithfulness shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not sway," says Yahweh, who has compassion on you,

In righteousness you shall be established. Be far from oppression, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near you.

If indeed one attacks, [it is] not from me; whoever attacks you shall fall because of you.

Every weapon formed against you shall not succeed, and you shall declare guilty every tongue [that] rises against you for judgment. This [is] the inheritance of the servants of Yahweh, and their {legal right} from me," {declares} Yahweh.

For just as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and they do not return there except they have watered the earth thoroughly and cause it to bring forth and sprout, and give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

so shall be my word that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me without success, but shall accomplish what I desire and be successful [in the thing for] which I sent it.

Happy [is the] man [who] does this, and [the] son of humankind [who] keeps hold of it, who keeps [the] Sabbath {so as not to profane} it, and who keeps his hand from doing any evil."

And do not let the {foreigner} [who] joins himself to Yahweh say, "Surely Yahweh will separate me from his people." And do not let the eunuch say, "Look! I [am] a dry tree!"

The righteous [one] perishes, and there is no one who takes [it] to heart. And men of faithfulness [are] gathered, while there is no one who understands, for the righteous is gathered from the presence of wickedness.

And you have set your symbol behind the door and the doorpost; for you depart from me, and you go up; you make your bed wide, and you {make a deal with} them, you have loved their bed; you have seen [their] {genitals}.

And of whom were you afraid and feared, that you deceived and did not remember me? Did you not place [it] on your heart? [Have] I not been silent, even from long ago, and [so] you do not fear me?

And one shall say, "Build up, build up! Clear [the] way! Remove [the] obstacles from the way of my people!"

[Is it] not to break your bread for the hungry? You must bring {home} [the] poor, [the] homeless. When you see [the] naked, you must cover him, and you must not hide yourself from your {relatives}.

Then you shall call, and Yahweh himself will answer. You shall cry for help, and he will say, 'Here I [am]!' If you remove from among you [the] yoke, the {finger-pointing} and {evil speech},

And they shall rebuild ancient ruins from you; you shall erect [the] foundations of {many generations,} and {you shall be called} [the] bricklayer [of] [the] breach, [the] restorer of paths to live [in].

If you hold your foot back from [the] Sabbath, [from] doing your affairs on {my holy day}, if you call the Sabbath a pleasure, the holy [day] of Yahweh honorable, if you honor him {more than} doing your ways, than finding your affairs and speaking a word,

Rather, your iniquities have been {barriers} between you and your God, and your sins have hidden [his] face from you, from hearing.

Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We wait for light, but look! [there is] darkness; for brightness, [but] we walk in darkness.

We all groan like bears, and we coo mutteringly like doves. We wait for justice, but there is none; for salvation, [but] it is far from us.

transgressing and denying Yahweh, and turning {away from following} our God; speaking oppression and falsehood, conceiving and uttering words of deception from [the] heart.

and truth is missing, and he who turns aside from evil [is] plundered. And Yahweh saw, and it was displeasing in his eyes that there was no justice

So they shall fear the name of Yahweh from [the] west, and his glory from the sunrise, for he will come like narrow stream; the wind of Yahweh drives it on.

"And a redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn away from transgression," {declares} Yahweh.

"And as for me, this [is] my covenant with them, says Yahweh: my spirit that [is] upon you, and my words that I have placed in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your {children}, or from the mouths of {your children's children}," says Yahweh, "from now on and forever."

Lift up your eyes all around and see! All of them gather; they come to you. Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be looked after on [the] hip.

A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young male camels of Midian and Ephah. All those from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and frankincense, and they shall proclaim the praise of Yahweh.

Because [the] coastlands wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish [are] first to bring your children from afar, their silver and gold with them, for the name of Yahweh your God, and for the holy one of Israel, because he has glorified you.

Who [is] this, coming from Edom, from Bozrah [in] bright red garments? [Who is] this honored in his garment, lying down in his great strength? "[It is] I, speaking in justice, {mighty} to save!"

"I have trodden [the] winepress alone, and there was no man from [the] peoples with me. And I trod them in my anger, and I trampled them in my wrath, and spattered their juice on my garments, and stained all my clothing,

Then his people remembered the days of old, [of] Moses. Where [is] the one who led up them from [the] sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where [is] the one who puts {his Holy Spirit} inside him,

Look from heaven, and see from the lofty residence of your holiness and glory. Where [are] your zeal and strength? {Your compassion} and mercy to me hold themselves back.

For you [are] our father, although Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh [are] our father, Our Redeemer from [of] old [is] your name.

Why do you make us wander, Yahweh? You harden our heart from your ways {so that we do not fear} you. Turn back for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance.

as fire kindles brushwood, [the] fire causes water to boil, to make your name known to your adversaries, [that the] nations might tremble from your {presence}.

And there is no one who calls on your name, who pulls himself up to keep hold of you, for you have hidden your face from us, and melted us into the hand of our iniquity.

your iniquities and the iniquities of your ancestors together, says Yahweh, because they made smoke offerings on the mountains and they taunted me on the hills, I will measure their punishment [from the] beginning into the fold of their garment."

And I will bring descendant s out from Jacob, and a {people} from Judah to take possession of my mountain, and my chosen ones shall inherit it, and my servants shall settle there.

Whoever blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of trustworthiness, and the one who swears an oath in the land shall swear by the God of trustworthiness, because the former troubles are forgotten, and they are hidden from my eyes.

A voice, an uproar from [the] city! A voice from [the] temple! The voice of Yahweh {paying back} his enemies!

so that you may suck and be satisfied from her {consoling breast}, so that you may drink deeply and refresh yourselves from her {heavy breast}."

And I will set a sign among them, and I will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw [the] bow; Tubal and Javan, the faraway coastlands that have not heard [of] my fame, and have not seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations,

and bring all your countrymen from all the nations [as] an offering to Yahweh on horses and chariots and in litters and on mules and camels, to {my holy mountain}, Jerusalem," says Yahweh, "just as the sons of Israel bring [an] offering in a clean vessel [to] the house of Yahweh.

And this shall happen: From {new moon to new moon} and from {Sabbath to Sabbath} all flesh shall come to bow in worship before me," says Yahweh.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came out from [the] womb I consecrated you; I appointed you [as] a prophet to the nations."

And the word of Yahweh came to me a second [time], {saying}, "What [are] you seeing?" And I said, "I [am] seeing a {boiling} pot, and its face [is] from [the] face of [the] north."

Then Yahweh said to me, "From [the] north disaster will be unleashed on all the inhabitants of the land.

Thus says Yahweh: "What injustice did your ancestors find in me that they were far from me, and they went after the vanity, and they became vain?

And they did not say, 'Where [is] Yahweh, the one who brought us up from the land of Egypt, the one who led us in the desert, in a land of desert plains and gorges, in a land of dryness and deep darkness, in a land {that no one passes through}, and no human lives there?'

"For from long ago you have broken your yoke, you tore to pieces your bonds. And you said, 'I will not serve!' But on every high hill and under every leafy tree you [were] lying down [as] a prostitute.

Restrain your foot from [being] barefoot, and your throat from thirst. But you said, '[It is] hopeless. No! For I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.'

yet you say, 'But I am innocent, surely his anger has turned away from me.' Look, I [am] entering into judgment with you because of your saying, 'I have not sinned.'

Also from there you will come out with your hands on your head, for Yahweh has rejected {those in whom you trust}, and you will not prosper through them.

A {saying}: 'Look, [if] a man divorces his wife, and she goes from him {and she becomes another man's wife}, will he return to her again?' Will not that land be greatly defiled? And you have prostituted [yourself] [with] many lovers, [would] you now return to me?" {declares} Yahweh.

"Return, apostate children," {declares} Yahweh. "For {I am your master}, and I will take you one from a city and two from a clan, and I will bring you [to] Zion.

In those days the house of Judah will walk along with the house of Israel and they will come together from [the] land of [the] north to the land that I gave as an inheritance [to] your ancestors.

Then I thought, 'How I would set you among the children, and I would give you a land of desire, an inheritance of [the] glory of [the] hosts of nations.' And I thought, 'You would call me, "My father," and you would not turn back from {behind} me.'

However, as a wife departs treacherously from her lover, so you have dealt treacherously with me, house of Israel," {declares} Yahweh.

Surely, an illusion [comes] from [the] hills, [the] turmoil [on] the mountains. Surely, in Yahweh our God [is] the salvation of Israel.

But the shameful thing has devoured the labor of our ancestors from our youth, their flocks, and their cattle, their sons and their daughters.

Let us lie down in our shame, and let our disgrace cover us. For against Yahweh our God we have sinned, we and our ancestors, from our youth and until this day. and we have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh our God.'

If you return, Israel," {declares} Yahweh, "you return to me. And if you remove your abominations from my {presence}, and you do not wander,

Lift up a signal toward Zion, bring yourselves to safety; you must not remain standing, for I [am] bringing evil from [the] north, and a great destruction.

A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has gone out from his place to make your land as a horror, your cities will go to ruin {without} inhabitant.

Because of this gird yourselves [with] sackcloth, lament and wail, for {the burning anger} of Yahweh has not turned back from us.

At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, "{A hot wind from the barren heights} in the desert, {in the direction of} the daughter of my people, not to winnow and not to cleanse,

Cleanse your heart from wickedness, Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. {How long} will your thoughts of mischief dwell in your inner part?

For a voice [is] declaring from Dan, and [is] proclaiming disaster from the mountain of Ephraim.

"Report to the nations, 'Here they are!' Proclaim against Jerusalem, 'Besiegers [are] coming {from a distant land}, and they raise their voice against the cities of Judah.'

Like watchers of a field they were against her from all around, because she has rebelled against me," {declares} Yahweh.

I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, and all of the hills were jolted to and fro.

Because of this the earth will mourn, and the heavens above will become dark. Because I have spoken, I have planned, and I have not relented, and I will not turn back from it."

From the sound of a horseman and {an archer} every town flees, they enter in the thickets and among the rocks they climb. Every town [is] forsaken, and there is no person [who] lives in them.

Therefore a lion from [the] forest will kill them, A wolf [from the] desert plains will devastate them. A leopard [is] watching their cities, everyone [who] goes out from there will be torn, because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are numerous.

Look, I [am] about to bring on you a nation from afar, house of Israel," {declares} Yahweh. "It [is] an enduring nation, it [is] {an ancient nation}. A nation whose language you do not know, and you cannot understand what they speak.

Your iniquities have disturbed these, and your sins have kept away the good from you.

Flee for safety, children of Benjamin, from the midst of Jerusalem. And in Tekoa blow a horn, and on Beth-haccherem lift up a signal, for evil looks down from [the] north, and a great destruction.

Be warned, Jerusalem, lest I turn away from you in disgust, lest I make you a desolation, a land that is not inhabited."

"For from the smallest of them to the greatest of them, {everyone} makes profit for unlawful gain. And from the prophet to the priest, {everyone} practices deceit.

What [is] this to me? Frankincense comes from Sheba, and the precious spice reed from a distant land. Your burnt offerings [are] not {acceptable}, your sacrifices are not pleasing to me."

Thus says Yahweh: "Look, a people [is] coming from [the] land of [the] north, a great nation is woken up from [the] farthest part of [the] earth.

The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, {saying},

For I did not speak with your ancestors, nor did I command them in the day of bringing them out from the land of Egypt, concerning the matter of burnt offering and sacrifice.