The cities toward the south shall be shut up, and no man shall open them. All Judah shall be carried away captive, so that none shall remain.

"Lift up your eyes, and behold them, that come from the North: Like a fat flock shall they fall upon thee.

For like as the man of Ethiopia may change his skin, and the cat of the mountains her spots: so may ye that be exercised in evil, do good.

Therefore will I scatter you, like as the stubble that is taken away with the south wind.

Therefore shall I turn thy clothes over thy head, and uncover thy thighs, that thy privates may be seen:

The Hind shall forsake the young fawn that she bringeth forth in the field because there shall be no grass.

For thou art the comfort and help of Israel in the time of trouble. Why wilt thou be as a stranger in the Land, and as one that goeth over the field, and cometh in only to remain for a night?

Why wilt thou make thyself a coward, and as it were a giant that yet may not help? For thou art ours, O LORD, and we bear thy name; therefore forsake us not."

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.

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,

"Hast thou then utterly forsaken Judah?" said I, "Doest thou so abhor Zion? Or hast thou so plagued us, that we can be healed no more? We looked for peace, and there cometh no good: for the time of health, and lo, here is nothing but trouble.

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

Be not displeased, O LORD, for thy name's sake, forget not thy loving-kindness: Remember the throne of thine honour, break not the covenant that thou hast made with us.

Are there any among the gods of the Gentiles, that send rain or give the showers of heaven? Dost not thou it, O LORD our God, in whom we trust? Yea LORD, thou dost all these things."

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.

I will scatter them about also in all kingdoms and lands to be plagued, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for the things that he did in Jerusalem.

I will make their widows more in number than the sands of the sea. Upon the mothers of their children, I shall bring a destroyer in the noonday. Suddenly and unawares, shall I send a fear upon their cities.

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."

O mother, alas that ever thou didst bear me, an enemy and hated of the whole land: Though I never lent nor received upon usury, yet all men speak evil upon me.

Doth one iron hurt another, or one metal that cometh from the North, another?

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.

And I will bring you with your enemies into a land that ye know not: for the fire that is kindled in my indignation, shall burn you up."

"O LORD," said I then, "thou knowest all things. Therefore remember me, and visit me, deliver me from my persecutors: Receive not my cause in thy long wrath; yet thou knowest, that for thy sake I suffer rebuke.

Shall my heaviness endure forever? Are my plagues then so great, that they may never be healed? Wilt thou be as a water that faileth, and cannot continue?"

Upon these words, thus said the LORD unto me, "If thou wilt turn again, I shall set thee in my service: and if thou wilt take out the thing that is precious from the vile, thou shalt be even as mine own mouth. They shall convert unto thee, but turn not thou unto them:

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.

For thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I shall take away out of this place, the voice of mirth and gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride: yea and that in your days, that ye may see it.

"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?'

Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye and your fathers know not: and there shall ye serve strange gods day and night, there will I show you no favour.

"Behold therefore, sayeth the LORD, the days are come that it shall no more be said, 'The LORD liveth, which brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.'

But it shall be said, 'The LORD liveth, that brought the children of Israel from the North, and from all lands where I had scattered them.' For I will bring them again into the land that I gave unto their fathers.

Behold, sayeth the LORD, I will send out many fishers to take them, and after that will I send out many hunters to hunt them out, from all mountains and hills and out of the caves of stones.

"And therefore I will once teach them, sayeth the LORD, I will show them my hand and my power, that they may know, that my name is the LORD."

that your children also may think upon your altars, woods, thick trees, high hills, mountains and fields.

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."

Thus sayeth the LORD, "Cursed be the man that putteth his trust in man, and that taketh flesh for his arm: and he, whose heart departeth from the LORD.

He shall be like the heath that groweth in the wilderness. As for the good thing that is for to come, he shall not see it: but dwell in a dry place of the wilderness, in a salt and unoccupied land."

O Blessed is the man that putteth his trust in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is himself.

For he shall be as a tree, that is planted by the waterside: which spreadeth out the root unto moistness, whom the heat cannot harm, when it cometh, but his leaves are green. And though there grow but little fruit because of drought yet is he not careful, but he never leaveth off to bring forth fruit.

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.

Heal me LORD, and I shall be whole; save me LORD, and I shall be safe, for thou art he that I praise.

And I enforced not to be a shepherd that should not follow thee: and the day of destruction have I not desired, thou knowest. And that proceeded out of my mouth was right in thy sight.

Let them that persecute me be confounded, and let not me be confounded. Let their hearts fail them, and not mine heart fail. Bring upon them an evil day, and bruise them again and again.

and say unto them, 'Hear the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all thou people of Judah, and all ye citizens of Jerusalem, that go through this gate!

Thus the LORD commandeth: Take heed for your lives, that ye carry no burden upon you in the Sabbath, to bring it through the gates of Jerusalem:

Nevertheless, if ye will hear me, sayeth the LORD, and bear no burden into the city through this gate upon the Sabbath; If ye will hallow the Sabbath, so that ye do no work therein;

then shall there go through the gates of this city, kings and princes, that shall sit upon the stool of David: They shall be carried upon chariots, and ride upon horses, both they and their princes. Yea, whole Judah and all the citizens of Jerusalem shall go herethrough, and this city shall ever be the more and more inhabited.

But if ye will not be obedient unto me, to hallow the Sabbath: so that ye will bear your burdens through the gates of Jerusalem upon the Sabbath: Then shall I set fire upon the gates of Jerusalem, and it shall burn up the houses of Jerusalem, and no man shall be able to quench it."

This is another communication that God had with Jeremiah, saying,

The vessel that the Potter made of clay, brake among his hands: So he began anew, and made another vessel, according to his mind.

if that people against whom I have thus devised convert from their wickedness: Immediately, I repent of the plague, that I devised to bring upon them.

if the same people do evil before me, and hear not my voice: Immediately, I repent of the good, that I devised to do for them.

"Speak now therefore unto whole Judah, and to them that dwell at Jerusalem. Thus sayeth the LORD: Behold, I am devising a plague for you, and am taking a thing in hand against you. Therefore let every man turn from his evil way, take upon you the thing that is good, and do right.

Shall not the snow that melteth upon the stony rocks of Lebanon moisten the fields? Or may the springs of waters be so graven away, that they run no more, give moistness, nor make fruitful?

But my people hath so forgotten me, that they have made sacrifice unto vain gods. And while they followed their own ways they are come out of the high street, and gone into a foot way not used to be trodden.

Wherethrough they have brought their land into an everlasting wilderness and scorn: So that whosoever traveleth thereby, shall be abashed, and wag their heads.

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."

Do they not recompense evil for good, when they dig a pit for my soul? Remember, how that I stood before thee, to speak for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.

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.

into the valley of the children of Hinnom, which lieth before the port that is made of brick, and show them there the words, that I shall tell thee,

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,

Behold therefore, the time cometh, sayeth the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the children of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter.

For in this place will I slay the Senators of Judah and Jerusalem, and kill them down with the sword in the sight of their enemies, and of them that seek their lives. And their dead carcasses will I give to be meat for the fowls of the air, and beasts of the field.

And I will make this city so desolate, and despised: that whoso goeth thereby, shall be abashed and jest upon her, because of all her plagues.

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.'

"And the pitcher shalt thou break, in the sight of the men, that shall be with thee, and say unto them,

'Thus sayeth the LORD of Hosts: Even so will I destroy this people and city: as a Potter breaketh a vessel, that cannot be made whole again. In Tophet shall they be buried, for they shall have none other place.

Thus will I do unto this place also, sayeth the LORD, and to them that dwell therein: yea I will do to this city as unto Tophet.

"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."

he smote Jeremiah, and put him in the stocks, that are by the high gate of Benjamin, in the house of the LORD.

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.

For thus sayeth the LORD: behold, I will make thee afraid, thee thyself and all that favour thee: which shall perish with the sword of their enemies, even before thy face. And I will give whole Judah under the power of the king of Babylon, which shall carry some unto Babylon, prisoners, and slay some with the sword.

For why? I heard so many derisions and blasphemies, yea even of my own companions, and such as were conversant with me: which went about, to make me afraid, saying, "Upon him; let us go upon him, to fear him, and make him hold his tongue: that we may overcome him, and be avenged of him."

Cursed be the man, that brought my father the tidings, to make him glad, saying, "Thou hast gotten a son."

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,

'Thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel: behold, I will turn back the weapons, that ye have in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans, which besiege you round about the walls, and I will bring them together into the midst of this city,

and will smite them, that dwell in this city, yea both man and cattle shall die of the pestilence.

And after this, sayeth the LORD, I shall deliver Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his servants, his people - and such as are escaped in the city, from the pestilence, sword, and hunger - into the power of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon: yea into the hands of their enemies; into the hands of those that follow upon their lives, which shall smite them with the sword. They shall not pity them, they shall not spare them, they shall have no mercy upon them.'

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.

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.

Behold, sayeth the LORD, I will come upon you that dwell in the valleys, rocks and fields, and say: Tush, who will make us afraid? Or, who will come into our houses?

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.

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?

And all the people that go by this city, shall speak one to another: Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this noble city?

Mourn not over the dead, and be not woe for them, but be sorry for him that departeth away: for he cometh not again, and seeth his native country no more.

Woe worth him, that buildeth his house with unrighteousness, and his parlors with the good that he hath gotten by violence: which never recompenceth his neighbour's labour, nor payeth him his hire.

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?

And therefore, thus sayeth the LORD against Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah king of Judah, "They shall not mourn for him as they used to do, 'Alas brother, alas sister.' Neither shall they say unto him, 'Alas sir, alas for that noble prince.'

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.

thou that dwellest upon Lebanon, and makest thy nest in the Cedar's trees. O how great shall thy mourning be, when thy sorrows come upon thee, as a woman travailing with child?

And I will give thee into the power of them that seek to slay thee, and into the power of them that thou fearest: into the power of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and into the power of the Chaldeans.

Moreover, I will send thee, and thy mother that bare thee, into a strange land where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.

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.