For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

And let not the man from a strange country, who has been joined to the Lord, say, The Lord will certainly put a division between me and his people: and let not the unsexed man say, See, I am a dry tree.

They are shameless dogs, that be never satisfied. The shepherds also in like manner have no understanding, but every man turneth his own way, everyone after his own covetousness, with all his power.

"Also the righteous are perishing, but no one takes it to heart; devout people are taken away, while no one understands that the righteous person is taken away from calamity.

that he himself might be in rest, lie quietly upon his bed, and live after his own pleasure.

But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.

Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and put out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood,

Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice.

Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it.

Thou wentest straight to kings with oil and divers ointments - that is, thou hast sent thy messengers far off, and yet art thou fallen into the pit thereby.

Thou wast wearied by the multitude of thy ways; but thou saidst not, It is of no avail. Thou didst find a quickening of thy strength; therefore thou wast not sick of it.

And whom didst thou fear? and wilt thou be afraid? for thou wilt lie, and thou didst not remember me; thou didst not put it upon thy heart; was not I being silent and from of old, and thou wilt not be afraid of me?

“I will declare your [hypocritical] righteousness and your deeds,
But they will not benefit you.

When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;

For the high and exalted One
He who inhabits eternity, Whose name is Holy says this,
“I dwell on the high and holy place,
But also with the contrite and humble in spirit
In order to revive the spirit of the humble
And to revive the heart of the contrite [overcome with sorrow for sin].

For I chide not ever, and am not wroth without end. But the blasting goeth from me, though I make the breath.

I was angry because of his sin of gain, and I struck him; I hid and I was angry, but he walked apostate, in the ways of his heart.

“I have seen his [willful] ways, but I will heal him;
I will lead him [also] and will restore comfort to him and to those who mourn for him,

But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

“Why have we fasted, but You have not seen?
We have denied ourselves, but You haven’t noticed!”
“Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast,
and oppress all your workers.

Is [the] fast I choose like this, a day for humankind to humiliate {himself}? To bow his head like a reed, and {make} his bed [on] sackcloth and ashes; you call this a fast and a day of pleasure to Yahweh?

Is it not to give your bread to those in need, and to let the poor who have no resting-place come into your house? to put a robe on the unclothed one when you see him, and not to keep your eyes shut for fear of seeing his flesh?

Then should the light break out as doth the dayspring, and then health should shortly bud out. And thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of the LORD would come upon thee.

Then the Lord will be your delight; and I will put you on the high places of the earth; and I will give you the heritage of Jacob your father: for the mouth of the Lord has said it.

But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

No one sues righteously [but for the sake of doing injury to others—to take some undue advantage], and no one pleads [his case] in truth; [but rather]
They trust in empty arguments and speak lies;
They conceive trouble and bring forth injustice.

They breed cockatrice eggs, and weave the spider's web. Whoso eateth of their eggs dieth. But if one treadeth upon them, there cometh up a serpent.

But the way of peace they know not. In their goings is no equity, their ways are so crooked that whosoever goeth therein, knoweth nothing of peace.

Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.

We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.

For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.

So they will fear the name of the Lord from the west
And His glory from the rising of the sun.
For He will come in like a narrow, rushing stream
Which the breath of the Lord drives [overwhelming the enemy].

But unto Zion there shall come a redeemer, and unto them in Jacob that turn from wickedness, sayeth the LORD.

As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

But what are these that flee here like clouds, and as the doves flying to their windows?

And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.

You were once abandoned and despised, with no one passing through, but I will make you a permanent source of pride and joy to coming generations.

Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.

The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.

And they will be building again the old broken walls, and will make new the old waste places, and will put up again the towns which have been waste for long generations.

But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

For I, the Lord, take pleasure in upright judging; I will not put up with the violent taking away of right; and I will certainly give them their reward, and I will make an eternal agreement with them.

I will be full of joy in the Lord, my soul will be glad in my God; for he has put on me the clothing of salvation, covering me with the robe of righteousness, as the husband puts on a fair head-dress, and the bride makes herself beautiful with jewels.

For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

The nations will see your righteousness and vindication [by God],
And all kings [will see] your glory;
And you will be called by a new name
Which the mouth of the Lord will designate.

Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.

I have set watchmen upon thy walls, Jerusalem; all the day and all the night they shall never hold their peace: ye that put Jehovah in remembrance, keep not silence,

But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the LORD; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness.

“I looked, but there was no one to help,
And I was amazed and appalled that there was no one to uphold [truth and right].
So My own arm brought salvation to Me,
And My wrath sustained Me.

And in my passion the peoples were crushed under my feet, and broken in my wrath, and I put down their strength to the earth.

It was no sent one or angel, but he himself who was their saviour: in his love and in his pity he took up their cause, and he took them in his arms, caring for them all through the years.

But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.

Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?

But you are our Father, even Abraham does not know us and Israel has not acknowledged us; you are he, O LORD, our Father, from long ago, "Our Redeemer' is your name.

The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.

We existed from ancient times, but you did not rule over them, they were not your subjects.

The ear has not had news of, or the eye seen, ... any God but you, working for the man who is waiting for him.

You welcome the one who joyfully does what is right;
they remember You in Your ways.
But we have sinned, and You were angry.
How can we be saved if we remain in our sins?

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

Be not too sore displeased, O LORD, and keep not our offenses too long in thy remembrance: but consider that we all are thy people.

Considering these [tragedies], will You restrain Yourself, O Lord [and not help us]?
Will You keep silent and humiliate and oppress us beyond measure?

For thus long have I ever holden out my hands to an unfaithful people, that go not the right way, but after their own imaginations:

Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom,

This is the word of the Lord: As the new wine is seen in the grapes, and they say, Do not send destruction on it, for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants, in order that I may not put an end to them all.

But I will take a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah, one to take possession of my hill. My chosen shall possess these things, and my servants shall dwell there.

But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number.

Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed:

Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit.

And ye have left your name For an oath for My chosen ones, And the Lord Jehovah hath put thee to death, And to His servants He giveth another name.

But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.

They shall not build, and another possess; they shall not plant, and another eat. But the life of my people shall be like a tree, and so shall the work of their hands.

And it shall be, that before they call, I shall answer them. While they are yet but thinking how to speak, I shall hear them.

[The] wolf and [the] lamb shall feed like one, and [the] lion shall eat straw like the ox, but dust [shall be] [the] serpent's food. They shall do no evil, and they shall not destroy on all {my holy mountain}," says Yahweh.

For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

“But he who kills an ox is like one who slays a man;
He who sacrifices a lamb is like the one who breaks a dog’s neck;
He who offers a grain offering is like one who offers swine’s blood;
He who burns incense is like the one who blesses an idol.
As they have chosen their own ways,
And their soul delights in their abominations,

I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.

Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.

When you see this, your heart will rejoice;
Your bones will flourish like new grass.
And the [powerful] hand of the Lord will be revealed to His servants,
But His indignation will be toward His enemies.

For with fire and sword will the Lord come, judging all the earth, and his sword will be on all flesh: and great numbers will be put to death by him.

"But as for me, I know their actions and their thoughts. Come and gather all nations and languages, and they will come and see my glory.

I will set up a [miraculous] sign among them, and from them I will send survivors to the nations: Tarshish, Pul (Put), Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant islands and coastlands that have not heard of My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare and proclaim My glory among the nations.

And they will go out to see the dead bodies of the men who have done evil against me: for their worm will ever be living, and their fire will never be put out, and they will be a thing of fear to all flesh.

But I protested, “Oh no, Lord, God! Look, I don’t know how to speak since I am only a youth.”

But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.

Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

See, this day I have put you over the nations and over the kingdoms, for uprooting and smashing down, for destruction and overturning, for building up and planting.

And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.

For, lo, I am calling for all families of the kingdoms of the north, -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- and they have come, and put each his throne at the opening of the gates of Jerusalem, and by its walls round about, and by all cities of Judah.

But you [Jeremiah], gird up your loins [in preparation]! Get up and tell them all which I command you. Do not be distraught and break down at the sight of their [hostile] faces, or I will bewilder you before them and allow you to be overcome.

And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.

This is what the Lord says: "What fault could your ancestors have possibly found in me that they strayed so far from me? They paid allegiance to worthless idols, and so became worthless to me.

And they said not, Where is Jehovah bringing us up out of the land of Egypt, causing us to go through the desert into a sterile land and a pit, through a land of drought and the shadow of death, through a land not a man passed through it, and not a man dwelt there?

And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.

For this reason, I will again put forward my cause against you, says the Lord, even against you and against your children's children.

Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.