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.

As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their rulers, and their priests, and their prophets;

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

Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so you have dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, says Jehovah.

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.

And though they say, As Jehovah lives; surely they swear falsely.

Shall I not judge for these things? says Jehovah. And shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Their quiver is as an open grave; they are all mighty men.

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.

For among My people are found wicked ones; they lie in wait, as one who sets snares; they set a trap, they catch men.

Shall I not visit for these things? says Jehovah. Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

As a fountain keeps fresh her waters, so she keeps fresh her evil; violence and spoil is heard in her; always before Me are grief and wounds.

So says Jehovah of Hosts, They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel like a vine; turn back your hand as a grape gatherer into the baskets.

So says Jehovah, Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths where the good way is, and walk in it, and you shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk in it.

O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth, and wallow in ashes; make mourning for yourself, as for an only son, most bitter weeping; for the ravager shall suddenly come on us.

therefore I will do to this house, which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.

And I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, the whole seed of Ephraim.

And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of the heavens, whom they have loved and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshiped. They shall not be gathered nor buried; they shall be as dung on the face of the earth.

I listened and heard, but they did not speak right; no man repented of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Everyone turned in their own courses, as the horse rushes into the battle.

Shall I not visit them for these things? says Jehovah; shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Speak, So says Jehovah, Even the bodies of men shall fall as dung on the open field, and as the fallen grain after the reaper; and none shall gather them.

so that I may fulfil the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then I answered and said, Amen, O Jehovah.

My inheritance is to Me as a lion in the forest; it cries out against Me; therefore I have hated it.

And it will be if they will carefully learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, As Jehovah lives; as they taught the people to swear by Baal; then they shall be built in the midst of My people.

So I went and hid it by Euphrates, as Jehovah commanded me.

For as the girdle holds fast to the loins of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me, says Jehovah; so that they might be to Me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory; but they would not hear.

And I will scatter them as the stubble that passes away by the wind of the wilderness.

O the Hope of Israel, its Savior in time of trouble, why should You be as a stranger in the land, and as a traveler turning in to lodge?

Why should You be as a man stunned, as one mighty, yet who cannot save? Yet You, O Jehovah, are in our midst, and we are called by Your name. Do not leave us!

For who shall have pity on you, O Jerusalem? Or who shall weep over you? Or who shall turn aside to ask your welfare?

Therefore so says Jehovah, If you turn back, then I will bring you again; you shall stand before Me. And if you take the precious from the worthless, you shall be as My mouth. Let them turn back to you, but do not return to them.

They shall die from deaths of diseases; they shall not be mourned, nor shall they be buried. But they shall be as dung on the face of the earth. And they shall be destroyed by the sword and by famine; and their bodies shall be food for the birds of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth.

So, behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that it shall no more be said, As Jehovah lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

but, As Jehovah lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands where He had driven them. And I will bring them again into their lands that I gave to their fathers.

Nor carry out a burden from your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers.

And the vessel that he made in clay was ruined in the hand of the potter; so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter? says Jehovah. Behold, As the clay in the potter's hands, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.

Therefore so says Jehovah, Ask now among the nations; who has heard the like of this? The virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing.

I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

and shall say to them, So says Jehovah of Hosts, Even so I will break this people of this city, as one breaks a potter's vessel that cannot be made whole again. And they shall bury them in Tophet until there is no place left to bury.

I will do this to this place, says Jehovah, and to its people, and make this city as Tophet.

And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be as defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the host of the heavens, and have poured out drink offerings to other gods.

And let that man be as the cities which Jehovah overthrew, and repented not; and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;

He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

O dweller in Lebanon, nested in the cedars, how you will groan when pangs come to you, the pain as one giving birth?

As I live, says Jehovah, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet on My right hand, yet I would pull you out of there!

So says Jehovah, Write this man down as childless, a man who will not be blessed in his days. For no man of his seed shall be blessed, sitting on the throne of David and ruling any more in Judah.

So their way shall be to them as slippery ways in the darkness; they shall be driven on, and fall in them; for I will bring evil on them, even the year of their judgment, says Jehovah.

who plot to cause My people to forget My name by their dreams which they tell, each one to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten My name for Baal.

And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask you, saying, What is the burden of Jehovah? You shall then say to them, What burden? I will even forsake you, says Jehovah.

And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, who shall say, The burden of Jehovah, I will even punish that man and his house.

Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings of them, and their rulers, to make them a ruin, a horror, a hissing, and a curse, as it is today,

And the slain of Jehovah shall be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; they shall not be mourned, nor gathered, nor buried. They shall be as dung on the ground.

And the priests and the prophets spoke to the rulers and to all the people, saying, Let a death sentence be for this man, for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.

As for me, behold, I am in your hand. Do with me as seems good and right to you.

As for you, do not listen to your prophets, nor to your fortune tellers, nor to your dreamers, nor to your conjurers, nor to your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, You shall not serve the king of Babylon.

Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague, as Jehovah has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then the prophet shall be known, that Jehovah has truly sent him.

Ask now, and see whether a man is giving birth? Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, like a woman in labor, and all faces are turned into paleness?

Also their sons shall be as they were before, and their congregation shall be established before Me, and I will punish all who ill-treat them.

You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.

Hear the Word of Jehovah, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands afar off. And say, He who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him, as a shepherd keeps his flock.

Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of Jehovah, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the sons of the flock and the herd. And their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not pine away any more at all.

I have surely heard Ephraim mourning to himself, saying, You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bull not broken in; turn me, and I shall be turned. For You are Jehovah my God.

Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a delightful child? For as often as I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still. Therefore My heart is troubled for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says Jehovah.

And it shall be, as I have watched over them to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so I will watch over them to build, and to plant, says Jehovah.

For You have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, until this day, and in Israel, and among men; and have made You a name, as at this day;

For this city has been to Me as a cause of My anger and of My fury from the day that they built it even to this day; that I should remove it from before My face;

For so says Jehovah: As I have brought all this great evil on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them.

And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.

the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who shall say, Praise Jehovah of Hosts, for Jehovah is good, for His mercy endures forever; and the voice of those who shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of Jehovah. For I will cause the captivity of the land to return, as at the first, says Jehovah.

As the host of the heavens cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so I will multiply the seed of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.

You shall die in peace; and as the burnings of spices for your fathers, the former kings which were before you, so they shall burn spices for you. And they will mourn you, saying, Ah, lord! For I have spoken the Word, says Jehovah.

But you turned and defiled My name, and each man caused his slave, and each man caused his slave woman, whom you had set free to do as they pleased, to return. And you brought them into service to be slaves and slave women to you.

So says Jehovah, He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague. But he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life as a prize, and shall live.

And Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah the prophet to him, into the third gate in the house of Jehovah. And the king said to Jeremiah, I will ask you a thing. Do not hide anything from me.

Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, As Jehovah lives, who made us this soul, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.

Take him, and set your eyes on him, and do him no evil. But do with him even as he shall say to you.

For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but your life shall be as a prize to you, because you have put your trust in Me, says Jehovah.

And Jehovah has brought it, and has done according as He has said, Because you have sinned against Jehovah and have not obeyed His voice, therefore this thing has come on you.

As for me, behold, I will live at Mizpah to serve the Chaldeans, who have come to us. But you go gather wine, and summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and live in your cities that you have taken.

And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he walked. And it happened as he met them, he said to them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.

And the pit in which Ishmael had thrown all the dead bodies of the men, whom he had killed because of Gedaliah, was the one which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.

And they said to Jeremiah the prophet, Please let our cry be pleasing to you, and pray for us to Jehovah your God, even for all this remnant, (for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes behold us),

For so says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: As My anger and My fury has been poured forth on the people of Jerusalem, so shall My fury be poured forth on you when you shall enter into Egypt. And you shall be a curse, and a wonder, and a shame, and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more.

Therefore My fury and My anger was poured out, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. And they are wasted, deserted as at this day.

For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague,

As for the Word that you have spoken to us in the name of Jehovah, we will not listen to you.

But we will certainly do whatever thing goes forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our rulers, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.

Yea, so that Jehovah could no longer hold back because of the evil of your doings, because of the abominations which you have committed! So your land is a waste, and a wonder, and a curse, without anyone in it, as it is today.

Because you have burned incense, and because you have sinned against Jehovah, and have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah, nor walked in His Law, nor in His statutes, nor did you walk in His testimonies, therefore this evil has happened to you, as at this day.

So says Jehovah, Behold, I am giving Pharaoh-hophra, king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy that sought his life.

And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I will bring evil on all flesh, says Jehovah. But I will give your life to you as a prize, in all places where you go.

As I live, says the King whose name is Jehovah of Hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so he shall come.

and I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. And afterward it will be inhabited, as in the days of old, says Jehovah.

And the robber shall come on every city, and no city shall escape. Also the valley shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as Jehovah has spoken.

And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their hope.

O dweller of Aroer, stand by the way and watch. Ask him who flees and her who escapes; say, What is happening?

Your dreadfulness has deceived you, and the pride of your heart, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill. Though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there, says Jehovah.

As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbor, says Jehovah, no man shall remain there, nor shall a son of man live in it.