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."

Let the noise be heard out of their houses, when the murderer cometh suddenly upon them: For they have digged a pit to take me, and laid snares for my feet.

Yet LORD, thou knowest all their counsel that they have devised, to slay me. And therefore forgive them not their wickedness, and let not their sin be put out of thy sight: but let them be judged before thee as the guilty: This shalt thou do unto them in the time of thy indignation.

and say thus unto them: 'Hear the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and ye citizens of Jerusalem! Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring such a plague upon this place, that the ears of all that hear it, shall glow.

And that because they have forsaken me, and unhallowed this place, and have offered in it unto strange gods: whom neither they, their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known. They have filled this place also with the blood of innocents,

I will feed them also with the flesh of their sons and their daughters. Yea every one shall eat up another in the besieging and straightness, wherewith their enemies, that seek their lives, shall keep them in.'

For the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah are defiled, like as Tophet, because of all the houses; in whose parlors they did sacrifice unto all the host of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto strange gods.'"

"Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon every town about it, all the plagues that I have devised against them: for they have been obstinate, and would not obey my warnings."

The next day following, Pashhur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks again. Then said Jeremiah unto him, "The LORD shall call thee no more Pashhur, that is, excellent and increasing; but Magormissabib, that is, fearful and afraid everywhere.

Let it happen unto that man, as to the cities which the LORD turned upside down, when he had long heard the wicked rumor of them;

because he slew me not, as soon as I came out of my mother's womb, and because my mother was not my grave herself, that the birth might not have come out, but remained still in her.

These are the words that the LORD spake unto Jeremiah, what time as king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashhur the son of Malchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, priest, saying,

"Ask counsel at the LORD, we Pray thee, of our behalf, for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon beseigeth us: if the LORD peradventure will deal with us, according to his marvelous power, and take him from us."

Whoso abideth in this city shall perish: either with the sword, with hunger, or with pestilence. But whoso goeth out to hold on the Chaldeans part that besiege it, he shall save his life, and shall win his soul for a prey.

For I have set my face against this city, sayeth the LORD, to plague it, and to do it no good. It must be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and be burnt with fire.'

O house of David, for thus sayeth the LORD: Minister righteousness, and that soon. Deliver the oppressed from violent power: before my terrible wrath break out like a fire, and burn so that no man may quench it, because of the wickedness of your imaginations.

For I will visit you, sayeth the LORD, because of the wickedness of your inventions, and will kindle such a fire in your wood, as shall consume all that is about you.'"

and say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, thou king of Judah that sittest in the kingly seat of David: thou, and thy servants, and thy people, that go in and out at this gate.

Thus the LORD commandeth: Keep equity and righteousness, deliver the oppressed from the power of the violent: do not grieve nor oppress the stranger, the fatherless nor the widow, and shed no innocent blood in this place.

And if ye keep these things faithfully, then shall there come in at the door of this house, kings, to sit upon David's seat: they shall be carried in Chariots and ride upon horses, both they and their servants, and their people.

For thus hath the LORD spoken upon the king's house of Judah: Thou art the head, as Gilead is in Lebanon: What wilt thou lay of it, if I make thee and thy cities also not so waste that no man shall dwell therein?

Then shall it be answered: Because they have broken the covenant of the LORD their God, and have worshipped and served strange gods.'"

For thus sayeth the LORD, as touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned after his father, and is carried out of this place, "He shall never come hither again,

He thinketh in himself, 'I will build me a wide house, and gorgeous parlors.' He causeth windows to be hewn therein, and the ceilings and joists maketh he of Cedar, and painteth them with Sinoper.

Thinkest thou to reign, now that thou provokest me to wrath with thy Cedar trees? Did not thy father eat and drink, and prosper well, as long as he dealt with equity and righteousness?

I gave thee warning, while thou wast yet in prosperity. But thou saidst, 'I will not hear.' And this manner hast thou used from thy youth, that thou wouldest never hear my voice.

As truly as I live, sayeth the LORD, Though Jechoniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet of my right hand, yet will I pluck him off:

But as for the land that ye will desire to return unto, ye shall never come at it again.

This man Jechoniah shall be like an image robbed and torn in pieces, which pleaseth no man, for all his apparel. Wherefore both he and his seed shall be sent away, and cast out into a land, that they know not.

Wherefore, this is the commandment of the LORD God of Israel, unto the shepherds that feed my people, "Ye scatter and thrust out my flock, and look not upon them. Therefore now will I visit the wickedness of your imaginations, sayeth the LORD:

And therefore behold, the time cometh, sayeth the LORD, that it shall no more be said, 'The LORD liveth, which brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt':

But, 'The LORD liveth, which brought forth, and led the seed of the house of Israel, out of the North land, and from all countries where I had scattered them.' And they shall dwell in their own land again."

Because the land is full of adulterers, wherethrough it is destroyed and mourneth, and the pleasant pastures of the desert are dried up. Yea the way that men take is wicked, and their governance is nothing like the holy word of the LORD.

And therefore the LORD of Hosts giveth you this warning, "Hear not the words of the prophets, that preach unto you, and deceive you: for they speak the meaning of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.

They say unto them, that despise me: The LORD hath spoken it, 'Tush, ye shall prosper right well.' And unto all them that walk after the lusts of their own heart, they say, 'Tush, there shall no misfortune happen you.'

For who hath sitten in the council of the LORD, that he hath heard and understood what he is about to do? Who hath marked his device, and heard it?

"I have not sent these Prophets, sayeth the LORD, "and yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, and yet they preached.

Am I then God that seeth but the thing, which is nigh at hand, and not that is afar off? sayeth the LORD.

I have heard well enough what the prophets say, that preach lies in my name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed.'

The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell it: and he that understandeth my word, let him show it faithfully. For what hath chaff and wheat to do together, sayeth the LORD?

Behold, here am I, sayeth the LORD, against the prophets that take upon their tongues to speak: The LORD hath said it.

If this people, either any prophet or priest ask thee, and say, 'What is the burden of the LORD?' Thou shalt say unto them, 'What burden? I will cast you from me, sayeth the LORD, because ye yourselves are a burden.'

But thus shall ye say, every one to another: What answer hath the LORD given? Or what is the LORD's commandment?

And as for 'the burden of the LORD,' ye shall speak no more of it: for every man's own word is his burden, because ye have altered the words of the living God the LORD of Hosts our God.

Thus shall every man say to the Prophets, 'What answer hath the LORD given thee?' Or, 'What sayeth the LORD?'

Behold therefore, I will repute you as a burden, and will cast you out of my presence: yea and the city also, that I gave you and your fathers.

Then said the LORD unto me, "What seest thou Jeremiah?" I said, "Figs, whereof some be very good, and some so evil that no man may eat them."

"Thus sayeth the LORD the God of Israel: like as thou knowest the good figs, so shall I know the men led away, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for their profit:

and I will set mine eyes upon them for the best, for I will bring them again in to this land. I will build them up, and not break them down. I will plant them, and not root them out.

I will send the sword, hunger and pestilence among them, until I have clean consumed them out of the land, that I gave unto them and their fathers."

Though the LORD hath sent his servants, all the prophets, unto you in season: Yet would ye not obey. Ye would not incline your ears to hear.

Lo, I will send out, and call for all the people that dwell in the North, sayeth the LORD, and will prepare Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon my servant, and will bring them upon this land, and upon all that dwell therein, and upon all the people that are about them, and will utterly root them out. I will make of them a wilderness, a mockage, and a continual desert.

When the seventy years are expired, I will visit also the wickedness of the king of Babylon and his people sayeth the LORD: yea, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it a perpetual wilderness,

and will fulfill all my words upon that land which I have devised against it - yea, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied of all people -

"For thus hath the LORD God of Israel spoken unto me, 'Take this wine cup of indignation from my hand, that thou mayest cause all the people, to whom I send thee, for to drink of it:

that when they have drunken thereof, they may be mad, and out of their wits, when the sword cometh that I will send among them.'

But first the city of Jerusalem, and all the cities of Judah, their kings and princes: to make them desolate, waste, despised and cursed according as it is come to pass this day.

But if they will no receive the cup of thy hand, and drink it, then tell them: Thus doth the LORD of Hosts threaten you: drink it ye shall, and that shortly.

"Thus sayeth the LORD: Stand in the court of the LORD's house, and speak unto all them which, out of the cities of Judah, come to do worship in the LORD's house, all the words that I command thee to say. Look that thou keep not one word back,

Now when he had spoken out all the words that the LORD commanded him to preach unto all the people, then the priests, the prophets and all the people took hold upon him, and said, "Thou shalt die.

How darest thou be so bold, as to say in the name of the LORD, 'It shall happen to this house as it did unto Shiloh? And this city shall be so waste, that no man shall dwell therein?'"

And when all the people were gathered about Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, the princes of Judah heard of this rumor, and they came soon out of the king's Palace into the house of the LORD, and sat them down before the new door of the LORD.

"Micah the Morasthite, which was a prophet under Hezekiah king of Judah, spake to all the people of Judah, 'Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts: Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall be a heap of stones, and the hill of the LORD's house shall be turned to a high wood.'

Which fetched Uriah out of Egypt, and brought him unto king Jehoiakim that slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the common people's grave.

I am he that made the earth, the men, and the cattle that are upon the ground, with my great power and outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it pleased me.

For they preach you lies, to bring you far from your land, and that I might cast you out, and destroy you.

But the people that put their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those I will let remain still in their own land, sayeth the LORD, and they shall occupy it, and dwell therein.'"

neither have I sent them, sayeth the LORD: howbeit they are bold, falsely for to prophesy in my name: that I might the sooner drive you out, and that ye might perish with your preachers.'"

But if they be true Prophets in very deed, and if the word of the LORD be committed unto them, then let them pray the LORD of Hosts that the remnant of the ornaments, which are in the house of the LORD, and remain yet in the house of the king of Judah and at Jerusalem, be not carried to Babylon also.

For thus hath the LORD of Hosts spoken concerning the pillars, the laver, the seat and the residue of the ornaments that yet remain in this city,

And this was done in the same year: even in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah. But in the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth Month, it happened, that Hananiah the son of Azzur, the prophet of Gibeon, spake to me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, and said,

Nevertheless, hearken thou also what I will say, that thou and all the people may hear.

And Hananiah the prophet took the chain from the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it;

Now after that Hananiah the prophet had taken the chain from the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and broken it, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Jeremiah saying,

"Go, and tell Hananiah these words, 'Thus sayeth the LORD: Thou hast broken the chain of wood, but instead of wood thou shalt make chains of iron.

And therefore thus sayeth the LORD: behold, I will send thee out of the land, and within a year thou shalt die because thou hast falsely spoken against the LORD."

but seek after peace and prosperity of the city wherein ye be prisoners, and pray unto God for it. For in the peace thereof, shall your peace be.

But thus sayeth the LORD: When ye have fulfilled seventy years at Babylon, I will bring you home, and of mine own goodness I will carry you hither again to this place.

For I know what I have devised for you sayeth the LORD. My thoughts are to give you peace, and not trouble, which I give you already; and that ye might have hope again.

I will be found of you, sayeth the LORD. And will deliver you out of prison, and gather you together again out of all places, wherein I have scattered you, sayeth the LORD: and will bring you again to the same place, from whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

"But whereas ye say that God hath raised you up prophets at Babylon:

Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: Because thou hast sealed letters under thy name unto all the people that is at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, yea and sent them to all the priests: wherein thou writest thus unto him:

How happeneth it then, that thou hast not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which never leaveth of his prophesying?

Which letter Zephaniah the priest did read, and let Jeremiah the prophet hear it.

For lo, the time cometh, sayeth the LORD, that I will bring again the prisoners of my people of Israel and Judah, sayeth the LORD: For I will restore them unto the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall have it in possession."

For what else doth this signify, that I see? Namely, that all strong men smite every man his hand upon his loins, as a woman in the pain of her travail. Who ever saw a man travail with child? Enquire thereafter, and see. Yea, all their faces are marvelous pale.

Alas for this day, which is so dreadful, that none may be likened unto it: and alas for the time of Jacob's trouble, from the which he shall yet be delivered.

For I am with thee, to help thee, sayeth the LORD. And though I shall destroy all the people among whom I have scattered thee, yet will I not destroy thee, but correct thee, and that with discretion. For I know, that thou art in no wise without fault.

And out of them shall go thanksgiving, and the voice of joy. I will multiply them, and they shall not diminish: I shall endue them with honour, and no man shall subdue them.

A captain also shall come of them, and a prince shall spring out from the midst of them: him will I challenge to myself, and he shall come unto me. For what is he, that giveth over his heart to come unto me, sayeth the LORD?

Behold, on the other side shall the wrath of the LORD break out as a stormy water, as a mighty whirlwind: and shall fall upon the heads of the ungodly.

At the same time, sayeth the LORD, shall I be the God of all the generations of Israel, and they shall be my people."

And when it is time, the watchmen upon the mount of Ephraim shall cry, 'Arise, let us go up unto Zion to our LORD God.'"

For thus sayeth the LORD, "Rejoice with gladness because of Jacob, cry unto the head of the Gentiles: speak out, sing, and say, 'The LORD shall deliver his people, the remnant of Israel, and make them whole.'

Behold, I will bring them again from out of the north land, and gather them from the ends of the world, with the blind and lame that are among them, with the women that be great with child, and such as be also delivered: and the company of them that come again, shall be great.

And they shall come, and rejoice upon the hill of Zion, and shall have plenteousness of goods, which the LORD shall give them: Namely, wheat, wine, oil, young sheep and calves. And their conscience shall be as a well-watered garden, for they shall no more be hungry.

But now sayeth the LORD, "Leave off from weeping, and crying, withhold thine eyes from tears, for thy labour shall be rewarded, sayeth the LORD. And they shall come again out of the land of their enemies:

For thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts the God of Israel: It will come thereto, that when I have brought Judah out of captivity, these words shall be heard in the land and in his cities, 'The LORD, which is the fair bridegroom of righteousness, make thee fruitful O thou holy hill!'

When I heard this, I came again to myself, and mused, like as I had been waked out of a sweet sleep.

Yea it shall come thereto, that like as I have gone about in times past to root them out, to scatter them, to break them down, to destroy them and chasten them: Even so will I also go diligently about, to build them up again, and to plant them, sayeth the LORD.