No one will take any food to those who mourn for the dead to comfort them. No one will give them any wine to drink to console them for the loss of their father or mother.

For I, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all, tell you what will happen. I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, to the glad celebration of brides and grooms in this land. You and the rest of the people will live to see this happen.'"

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.

Therefore, behold, days are coming, saith Jehovah, that it shall no more be said, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

but, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them. For I will bring them again into their land, which I gave unto their fathers.

But for now I, the Lord, say: "I will send many enemies who will catch these people like fishermen. After that I will send others who will hunt them out like hunters from all the mountains, all the hills, and the crevices in the rocks.

O Yahweh, my strength, and my refuge, and my place to fly to, in the day of distress, - Unto thee, shall nations come in, out of the ends of the earth, that they may say - Surely! Falsehood, did our fathers inherit, Vanity, among whom is none that can profit:

Thus said Jehovah: Cursed is the man who doth trust in man, And hath made flesh his arm, And from Jehovah whose heart turneth.

Blessed is the man who trusteth in Jehovah, And whose confidence hath been Jehovah.

For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, who spreads out its roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat comes, but its leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

I am the LORD who searches the heart, who tests the inner depths to give to each person according to what he deserves, according to the fruit of his deeds.

“Like the partridge that hatches eggs which she has not laid,
So is he who makes a fortune in ways that are unjust.
It will be lost to him before his days are over,
And in the end he will be [nothing but] a fool.”

O Lord, the hope of Israel,
All who abandon You will be shamed.
Those who turn away on earth will be written down,
Because they have abandoned the Lord, the fountain of living waters.

Lord, grant me relief from my suffering so that I may have some relief. Rescue me from those who persecute me so that I may be rescued.

But I, I have not run away from being a shepherd {who follows you}, and I have not desired the disastrous day. You, you know the pronouncement of my lips, it was before your face.

Let those who persecute me be shamed, but as for me, protect me from shame;
Let them lose courage, but let me be undaunted.
Bring on them a day of tragedy,
And destroy them with double destruction!

and thou hast said unto them: Hear a word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem, who are coming in by these gates,

then kings and princes who will sit on the throne of David will enter through the gates of this city, riding in chariots and on horses—the kings and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city will be inhabited and endure throughout the ages.

If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.

Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.

Making their land a desolation and a horror,
A thing to be hissed at perpetually;
Everyone who passes by will be astounded
And shake his head [in scorn].

Then said they, "Come, let us imagine something against this Jeremiah." Yea, this did even the priests, to whom the law was committed: the Senators, that were the wisest: and the prophets, which wanted not the word of God. "Come," said they, "let us cut out his tongue, and let us not regard his words."

Give heed to me, Yahweh, and listen to the voice of those who contend with me.

and hast said, Hear a word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: 'Lo, I am bringing in evil on this place, at which the ears of every one who is hearing it do tingle,

Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto 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;

I will pour out and nullify the counsel (plans) of [the men of] Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will make their people fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their lives; and I will give their dead bodies as food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.

I will make this city a desolation and an object of hissing; everyone who passes by it will be amazed and will hiss [in scorn] because of all its plagues and disasters.

And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and each one will eat one another’s flesh during the siege and distress brought by their enemies and those who seek their lives.”’

'And thou hast broken the bottle before the eyes of the men who are going with thee,

Tell them the Lord who rules over all says, 'I will do just as Jeremiah has done. I will smash this nation and this city as though it were a potter's vessel which is broken beyond repair. The dead will be buried here in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.'

"The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, 'I will soon bring on this city and all the towns surrounding it all the disaster I threatened to do to it. I will do so because they have stubbornly refused to pay any attention to what I have said!'"

Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.

For, Thus, saith Yahweh - Behold me! making thee a terror to thyself and to all who love thee, and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, thine own eyes also, beholding, And all Judah, will I deliver into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them captive to Babylon and smite them with the sword.

Moreover, I will hand over all the riches of this city, all the result of its labor, all its precious things; even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will hand over to their enemies, and they will plunder them, and take them away and carry them to Babylon.

And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.

For I have heard the whispering and defaming words of many,
“Terror on every side!
Denounce him! Let us denounce him!”
All my familiar and trusted friends,
[Those who are] watching for my fall, say,
“Perhaps he will be persuaded and deceived; then we will overcome him,
And take our revenge on him.”

Butthe LORD is with me like a fearsome warrior. Therefore, those who pursue me will stumble and won't prevail. They'll be put to great shame, when they don't succeed. Their everlasting disgrace won't be forgotten.

And thou, Jehovah of hosts, who triest the righteous, who seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them; for unto thee have I revealed my cause.

Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad.

Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans who besiege you, outside the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.

Then afterward,” says the Lord, “I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the virulent disease, the sword, and the famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemy, into the hand of those who seek their lives. And he will strike them with the edge of the sword; he will not spare them nor have mercy and compassion on them.”’

Whoso is abiding in this city -- dieth, By sword, and by famine, and by pestilence, And whoso is going forth, And hath fallen unto the Chaldeans, Who are laying siege against you -- liveth, And his life hath been to him for a spoil.

For I have turned against this city to bring disaster and not good’”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “‘It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, who will burn it down.’

O house of David, thus says the Lord:

“Administer justice in the morning,
And rescue the one who has been robbed from the hand of his oppressor,
That My wrath will not roar up like fire
And burn so [hotly] that none can extinguish it,
Because of the evil of their deeds.

Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?

and say, Hear the word of Jehovah, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people who enter in through these gates.

Thus says the Lord, “Execute justice and righteousness, and rescue the one who has been robbed from the hand of his oppressor. And do no wrong; do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.

And if you indeed obey this word, then kings who sit for David on his throne will enter through the gates of this house, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.

And I will make ready those who will send destruction on you, everyone armed for war: by them your best cedar-trees will be cut down and put in the fire.

Do not weep for the dead or mourn for him;
But weep bitterly for the one who goes away [into exile],
For he will never return
And see his native country [again].

For thus saith Jehovah touching Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went forth out of this place: He shall not return thither any more.

Woe to him who is building his house by unrighteousness, And his upper chambers by injustice, On his neighbour he layeth service for nought, And his wage he doth not give to him.

Who is saying, 'I build for myself a large house, And airy upper chambers,' And he hath cut out for himself its windows, Ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.

But your eyes and your heart are fixed only on profit for yourself, on causing the death of him who has done no wrong, and on violent and cruel acts.

“O inhabitant of [Jerusalem, whose palaces are made from the cedars of] Lebanon,
You who nest in the cedars,
How you will groan and how miserable you will be when pains come on you,
Pain like a woman in childbirth!

and I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them of whom thou art afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

And I have cast thee, And thy mother who bore thee, unto another country, Where ye were not born, and there do ye die.

Thus says the Lord,

‘Write this man [Coniah] down as childless,
A man who will not prosper (succeed) in his lifetime;
For not one of his descendants will succeed
In sitting on the throne of David
Or ruling again in Judah.’”

“Woe to the shepherds (civil leaders, rulers) who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord.

Therefore, thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Against the shepherds who feed My people, Ye have scattered My flock, and drive them away, And have not inspected them, Lo, I am charging on you the evil of your doings, An affirmation of Jehovah.

Then I myself will regather those of my people who are still alive from all the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their homeland. They will greatly increase in number.

And I will set up shepherds over them, who shall feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be lacking, saith Jehovah.

Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, when I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, who shall reign as king, and act wisely, and shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that they shall no more say, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

but, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries whither I had driven them. And they shall dwell in their own land.

Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.

For the land is full of men who are untrue to their wives; because of the curse the land is full of grief; the green fields of the waste land have become dry; and they are quick to do evil, their strength is for what is not right.

Among the prophets of Jerusalem I saw a horrible thing, for they commit adultery and live a lie. They strengthen the hands of those who do evil, so that no one repents of his evil. All of them are like Sodom to me, and her residents like Gomorrah."

So then I, the Lord who rules over all, have something to say concerning the prophets of Jerusalem: 'I will make these prophets eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment. For the prophets of Jerusalem are the reason that ungodliness has spread throughout the land.'"

Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Ye do not hearken unto the words Of the prophets who are prophesying to you, They are making you vain things, A vision of their own heart they speak, Not from the mouth of Jehovah.

“They are continually saying to those who despise Me [and My word],
‘The Lord has said, “You will have peace”’;
And they say to everyone who walks after the stubbornness of his own heart,
‘No evil will come on you.’

For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?

But just watch! The wrath of the Lord will come like a storm! Like a raging storm it will rage down on the heads of those who are wicked.

“Am I a God who is only near”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and not a God who is far away?

I have heard what the prophets say, who prophesy falsehood in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.

How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, and who are prophets of the deceit of their own heart?

who think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour: as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.

The prophet with whom is a dream, Let him recount the dream, And he with whom is My word, Let him truly speak My word. What -- to the straw with the corn? An affirmation of Jehovah.

Therefore behold (hear this), I am against the [counterfeit] prophets,” says the Lord, “[I am descending on them with punishment, these prophets] who steal My words from one another [imitating the words of the true prophets].

Lo, I am against the prophets, An affirmation of Jehovah, Who are making smooth their tongue, And they affirm -- an affirmation.

Hear this, I am against those who have prophesied false and made-up dreams,” says the Lord, “and have told them and have made My people err and go astray by their lies and by their reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them nor do they benefit and enhance [the life of] these people in the slightest way,” says the Lord.

"And the prophet, and the priest, and the people who say, 'The burden of Yahweh,' I will punish that man and his house.

But you are to no longer mention the oracle of the LORD, because the oracle is only for the person to whom the LORD gives his message, and you have overturned the words of the living God, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, our God.

Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.

And like the bad figs, that are not eaten for badness, Surely thus said Jehovah: So do I make Zedekiah king of Judah, And his heads, and the remnant of Jerusalem, Who are left in this land, And who are dwelling in the land of Egypt,

So the prophet Jeremiah spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the people who were living in Jerusalem.

"Therefore, the Lord who rules over all says, 'You have not listened to what I said.

(For many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even the Chaldeans [who enslaved other nations]; and I will repay [all of] them according to their deeds and according to the work of their [own] hands.)’”

For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.

Then took I the cup at the LORD'S hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:

the foreigners living in Egypt; all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the land of the Philistines, the people of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, the people who had been left alive from Ashdod;

Dedan, Tema, Buz [the neighboring tribes north of Arabia], and all who clip off the side-growth of their hair;

And all the kings of Arabia, And all the kings of the mixed people, Who are dwelling in the wilderness,

Then the Lord said to me, "Tell them that the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, 'Drink this cup until you get drunk and vomit. Drink until you fall down and can't get up. For I will send wars sweeping through you.'

If they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink it, tell them that the Lord who rules over all says 'You most certainly must drink it!

Look, I'm beginning to bring disaster on the city that is called by my name, and do you actually think you will avoid punishment? You won't avoid punishment because I'm summoning the sword against all those who live in the land," declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.'"

“Therefore prophesy all these words against them and say to them:

‘The Lord will roar from on high
And utter His voice from His holy dwelling;
He will roar mightily against His fold and pasture.
He will jubilantly shout like those who tread the grapes [in the wine press],
Against all the inhabitants of the earth.

A noise shall come to the ends of the earth; for Jehovah has a controversy with the nations; He will enter into judgment with all flesh. He will give those who are wicked to the sword, says Jehovah.

The Lord who rules over all says, 'Disaster will soon come on one nation after another. A mighty storm of military destruction is rising up from the distant parts of the earth.'