a people who without ceasing provoke Me to anger to My face; who sacrifice in gardens, and burn incense on the bricks;

who say, Keep to yourself, do not come near me; for I am holier than you. These are a smoke in My nose, a fire that burns all the day.

So says Jehovah, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, Do not destroy it, for a blessing is in it; so I will do to My servants, that I may not destroy them all.

But you are those who forsake Jehovah, who forget My holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune, and who furnish the drink offering to Fate.

Therefore I will number you to the sword; and you will all bow down to the slaughter; because I called and you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not hear and did evil before My eyes, and chose that in which I did not delight.

And you will leave your name for a curse to My elect; for the Lord Jehovah will kill you, and call His servants by another name.

For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. And the things before will not be remembered, nor come to mind.

There will not be an infant, nor an old man that has not filled his days. For the child will die a hundred years old; but the sinner who is a hundred years old will be despised.

For all those My hand has made, and all those exist, says Jehovah. But to this one I will look, to the afflicted and contrite spirit, and the one who trembles at My Word.

Hear the Word of Jehovah, you who tremble at His Word; your brothers who hated you, who cast you out for My name's sake, said, Let Jehovah be glorified. But He will appear to your joy, and they will be ashamed.

Who has heard a thing like this? Who has seen things like these? Will the earth be brought forth in one day? Or will a nation be born at once? For Zion travailed and also brought forth her sons.

Will I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth, says Jehovah? Surely I will cause birth and restrain, says your God.

For so says Jehovah, Behold, I will hold out peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like a flowing stream. Then you will suck, you will be carried on her sides and be dandled upon her knees.

For, behold, Jehovah will come with fire, and with His chariots like a tempest, to refresh His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire.

Those who sanctify themselves, and purify themselves to go into the gardens, behind one tree in the middle, eating swine's flesh, and the hateful thing, and the mouse, will be cut off together, says Jehovah.

For I know their works and their thoughts; it comes to gather all the nations and the tongues; and they will come and see My glory.

And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those who escape from them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, drawers of the bow; to Tubal, and Javan, to the far away coasts that have not heard My fame, nor have seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations.

And they will bring all your brothers for an offering to Jehovah out of all nations on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem, says Jehovah, as the sons of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of Jehovah.

And it will be, from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, all flesh will come to worship before Me, says Jehovah.

And they will go out and see the dead bodies of the men who have sinned against Me; for their worm will not die, nor will their fire be put out; and they will be an object of disgust to all flesh.

to whom the Word of Jehovah came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

It also came in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the exiling of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

And it happened, the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I consecrated you, and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.

Then I said, Alas, Lord Jehovah! Behold, I do not know to speak; for I am a boy.

But Jehovah said to me, Do not say, I am a boy; for you shall go to all that I shall send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.

Do not be afraid of their faces; for I am with you to deliver you, says Jehovah.

And Jehovah put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And Jehovah said to me, Behold, I have put My Words in your mouth.

Behold! I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

And the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.

And Jehovah said to me, You have seen well; for I will watch over My Word to perform it.

And the Word of Jehovah came to me the second time, saying, What do you see? And I said, I see a boiling pot; and its face is from the face of the north.

And Jehovah said to me, Out of the north an evil will be set loose on all the inhabitants of the land.

And I will pronounce My judgments against them regarding all their evil, those who have forsaken Me, and burned incense to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands.

And you must gird up your loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be terrified at their faces, lest I prostrate you before them.

For, behold, I have made you a fortified city this day, and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against its rulers, against its priests, and against the people of the land.

And they shall fight against you; but they shall not overcome you. For I am with you, says Jehovah, to deliver you.

And the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Israel was holiness to Jehovah, and the firstfruits of His increase. All that devour him shall offend; evil shall come on them, says Jehovah.

And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat its fruit and its goodness; but when you entered, you defiled My land and made My inheritance an abomination.

For pass over the coasts of Kittim, and see; and send to Kedar, and carefully consider, and see if there is such a thing.

For My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, to hew out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

And now what is for you toward the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? Or what for you toward Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?

Yet I planted you a noble vine, wholly a true seed. How then have you turned into the degenerate shoots of an alien vine to Me?

a wild ass used to the wilderness; in the desire of her passion she snuffs at the wind; in her time who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not tire themselves; in her month they will find her.

saying to a tree, You are my father; and to a stone, You gave me birth. For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise and save us!

But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble; for according to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah.

O generation, see the Word of Jehovah. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of darkness? Why do My people say, We roam freely; we will come no more to You?

Why did you trim your way to seek love? Therefore you have also taught the evil women your ways.

Why do you go about so much to change your way? You also shall be ashamed of Egypt, as you were ashamed of Assyria.

They say, If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him and will be for another man, will he return to her again? Would not that land be greatly defiled? But you play the harlot with many lovers; yet come back to Me, says Jehovah.

Lift up your eyes to the high places, and see. Where have you not been lain with? By the highways you have sat for them, like the Arabian in the wilderness; and you have defiled the land with your fornications and with your wickedness.

Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain; and you had a harlot's forehead, you refused to be ashamed.

Will you not from this time cry to Me, My father, You are the guide of my youth?

Will He keep His anger forever? Will He keep it to the end? Behold, you have spoken and done all the evil things you could do.

Jehovah also said to me in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and has fornicated there.

And I said after she had done all these things, Turn to Me! But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.

And I saw, when for all the causes for which backsliding Israel committed adultery, I sent her away and gave a bill of divorce to her, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she went and whored, she also.

And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but with falsehood, says Jehovah.

And Jehovah said to me, The backsliding Israel has justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

Go and cry these words toward the north, and say, Return, O backsliding Israel, says Jehovah; and I will not cause My anger to fall on you; for I am merciful, says Jehovah, and I will not keep anger forever.

Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have sinned against Jehovah your God and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice, says Jehovah.

Turn, O backsliding sons, says Jehovah; for I am married to you; and I will take you one from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.

And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

And it will be when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says Jehovah, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of Jehovah! Nor shall it come to mind; nor shall they remember it; nor shall they visit it; nor shall it be made any more.

At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah; and all nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem. Nor shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.

In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance to your fathers.

Return, O backsliding sons, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come to You; for You are Jehovah our God.

We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covers us; for we have sinned against Jehovah our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God.

If you will return, O Israel, says Jehovah, return to Me. And if you will put away your abominations out of your sight, then you shall not be moved.

For so says Jehovah to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns.

Circumcise yourselves to Jehovah, and take away the foreskins of your heart, men of Judah and people of Jerusalem; lest My fury come forth like fire, and burn so that none can put it out; because of the evil of your doings.

Set up the banner toward Zion; flee for safety and do not wait; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great ruin.

The lion has come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the nations has set out; he has left his place to make your land a waste. Your cities will fall into ruins without inhabitant.

And it shall be at that day, says Jehovah, the king's heart will perish, and the heart of the rulers; and the priests will be amazed, and the prophets will be astounded.

Then I said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, You shall have peace; but the sword reaches to the soul.

At that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind from the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people, not to sift nor to cleanse.

Behold, he shall come up like clouds, and his chariots like a tempest. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are plundered!

Tell it to the nations: Behold! proclaim against Jerusalem! Besiegers are going to come from a distant land; and they will set their voice against the cities of Judah.

Your way and your doings have brought these things on you; this is your evil, because it is bitter, because it reaches to your heart.

For My people are foolish; they have not known Me; they are stupid sons, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

And you, O desolate one, what will you do? Though you dress with crimson, though you put on ornaments of gold, though you make your eyes large with paint, you shall make yourself beautiful in vain; your lovers will despise you; they will seek your life.

For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labor, the anguish as one bearing her first child, the voice of Zion's daughter, gasping and spreading her hands, saying, Woe to me now! For my soul faints because of murderers.

Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in her open places, if you can find a man, if there is one who does justice, who seeks the truth; and I will pardon her.

O Jehovah, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, but they have not grieved; You have destroyed them, but they have refused to receive correction; they have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return.

So I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish; for they do not know the way of Jehovah, nor the judgment of their God.

I will go up for myself to the great men, and will speak to them; for they have known the way of Jehovah and the judgment of their God. But these have broken the yoke together and have torn off the bonds!

Go up on her vine-rows and destroy; but do not make a full end; take away her branches, for they are not Jehovah's.

And the prophets shall become wind, and the Word is not in them; so it shall be done to them.

Lo, I will bring a nation on you from afar, O house of Israel, says Jehovah. It is an enduring nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor understand what they say.

And it will be, when you shall say, Why does Jehovah our God do all these things to us? Then You shall answer them, Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

Do you not fear Me? says Jehovah. Will you not tremble at My presence, I who have placed the sand for the boundary of the sea by a never-ending decree, so that it cannot pass it? And though they toss themselves, yet they cannot prevail; though its waves roar, yet they cannot pass over it?

And they do not say in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, who gives both the former and the latter rain in its season; He reserves to us the appointed weeks of the harvest.

They have become fat, they shine. Yes, they go past the deeds of the wicked; they do not judge the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may get rich; and they do not judge the right of the needy.

The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so, and what will you do at the end of it?

The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her; they shall pitch tents on her all around; they shall feed each one in his hand.

Prepare war against her; arise and let us go up at noon. Woe to us! For the day goes away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.

For so has Jehovah of Hosts said, Cut down trees and cast a mound against Jerusalem! She is the city to be visited; there is nothing but oppression in her midst.

To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are not circumcised, and they cannot listen. Behold, the Word of Jehovah is to them a reproach; they have no delight in it.

And their houses shall be turned to others, together with their fields and wives; for I will stretch out My hand on the people of the land, says Jehovah.