What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?

Can the Cushite change his skin,
or a leopard his spots?
If so, you might be able to do what is good,
you who are instructed in evil.

This is your lot,
what I have decreed for you—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
because you have forgotten Me
and trusted in Falsehood.

This is what the Lord says concerning these people:

Truly they love to wander;
they never rest their feet.
So the Lord does not accept them.
Now He will remember their guilt
and punish their sins.

Then the Lord said to me, The prophets say false words in my name, and I gave them no orders, and I said nothing to them: what they say to you is a false vision and wonder-working words without substance, the deceit of their hearts.

“Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, though I did not send them, and who say, ‘There will never be sword or famine in this land.’ By sword and famine these prophets will meet their end.

‘If I go out into the field,
Then I gaze on those slaughtered with the sword!
And if I enter the city,
Then I gaze on [those tormented with] the diseases of famine!
For both prophet and priest [who should have guided the people]
Go about [bewildered and exiled] in a land (Babylon) that they do not know or understand.’”

If they ask you, ‘Where will we go?’ you must tell them: This is what the Lord says:

Those destined for death, to death;
those destined for the sword, to the sword.
Those destined for famine, to famine;
those destined for captivity, to captivity.

And I will make them a terror to all of the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, because of what he did in Jerusalem.

I did not spend my time in the company of other people, laughing and having a good time. I stayed to myself because I felt obligated to you and because I was filled with anger at what they had done.

Therefore thus says Yahweh, "If you turn back, then I will take you back. You will stand {before me}. And if you utter [what is] precious and not [what is] worthless, you will be as my mouth. They will turn back to you, and you will not turn back to them.

For this is what the Lord says concerning sons and daughters born in this place as well as concerning the mothers who bear them and the fathers who father them in this land:

“For this is what the Lord says: Don’t enter a house where a mourning feast is taking place. Don’t go to lament or sympathize with them, for I have removed My peace from these people”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“as well as My faithful love and compassion.

For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am about to eliminate from this place, before your very eyes and in your time, the sound of joy and gladness, the voice of the groom and the bride.

And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?

Can people make their own gods? No, what they make are not gods at all."

This is what the Lord says:

The man who trusts in mankind,
who makes human flesh his strength
and turns his heart from the Lord is cursed.

I, Yahweh, examine the mind,
I test the heart
to give to each according to his way,
according to what his actions deserve.

Listen to what they are saying to me. They are saying, "Where are the things the Lord threatens us with? Come on! Let's see them happen!"

As for me, I have not said; Let the day of trouble come to them quickly; and I have not been hoping for the death-giving day; you have knowledge of what came from my lips; it was open before you.

This is what the Lord said to me, “Go and stand at the People’s Gate, through which the kings of Judah enter and leave, as well as at all the gates of Jerusalem.

As you stand in those places announce, 'Listen, all you people who pass through these gates. Listen, all you kings of Judah, all you people of Judah and all you citizens of Jerusalem. Listen to what the Lord says.

This is what the Lord says: Watch yourselves; do not pick up a load and bring it in through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.

At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;

And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;

However, if it does what is evil in My sight by not listening to My voice, I will relent concerning the good I had said I would do to it.

So now, say to the men of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem: This is what the Lord says: I am about to bring harm to you and make plans against you. Turn now, each from your evil way, and correct your ways and your deeds.

But they will say, There is no hope: we will go on in our designs, and every one of us will do what he is moved by the pride of his evil heart to do.

Therefore, this is what the Lord says:

Ask among the nations,
Who has heard things like these?
Virgin Israel has done a most terrible thing.

Then they said, Come, let us make a design against Jeremiah; for teaching will never be cut off from the priest, or wisdom from the wise, or the word from the prophet. Come, let us make use of his words for an attack on him, and let us give attention with care to what he says.

Pay attention to me, O Lord [and intercede];
Listen to what my adversaries are saying [and are plotting against me]—

Shall, evil, be recompensed for good? For they have digged a pit for my life, - Remember how I stood before thee To speak in their behalf what was good! To turn back thine indignation from them.

This is what the Lord says: “Go, buy a potter’s clay jar. Take some of the elders of the people and some of the leading priests

Go out to the part of the Hinnom Valley which is near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Announce there what I tell you.

Say: Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will shudder

""This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "I'm about to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of all who hear about it tingle. For they have forsaken me and have treated this place as foreign. In it they have burned incense to other gods that neither they, their ancestors, nor the kings of Judah knew. They have also filled this place with the blood of innocent people.

and you are to proclaim to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I will shatter these people and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be mended. They will bury the dead in Topheth because there is no other place for burials.

This is what I will do to this place, says the Lord, and to its people, making this town like Topheth:

“This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to bring on this city—and on all its dependent villages—all the disaster that I spoke against it, for they have become obstinate, not obeying My words.’”

for this is what the Lord says, ‘I am about to make you a terror to both yourself and those you love. They will fall by the sword of their enemies before your very eyes. I will hand Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will deport them to Babylon and put them to the sword.

O Lord who rules over all, you test and prove the righteous. You see into people's hearts and minds. Pay them back for what they have done because I trust you to vindicate my cause.

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,

But Jeremiah answered, “This is what you are to say to Zedekiah:

‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will repel the weapons of war in your hands, those you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall, and I will bring them into the center of this city.

“But you must say to this people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, I am presenting to you the way of life and the way of death.

The Lord told me to say to the royal court of Judah, "Listen to what the Lord says,

House of David, this is what the Lord says:

Administer justice every morning,
and rescue the victim of robbery
from the hand of his oppressor,
or My anger will flare up like fire
and burn unquenchably
because of their evil deeds.

I will punish you according to what you have done—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
I will kindle a fire in its forest
that will consume everything around it.’”

This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and announce this word there.

Say: 'Listen, O king of Judah who follows in David's succession. You, your officials, and your subjects who pass through the gates of this palace must listen to what the Lord says.

This is what the Lord says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Don’t exploit or brutalize the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Don’t shed innocent blood in this place.

For this is what the Lord says concerning the house of the king of Judah:

You are like Gilead to Me,
or the summit of Lebanon,
but I will certainly turn you into a wilderness,
uninhabited cities.

And many nations have passed by this city, And they have said, each to his neighbour, For what hath Jehovah done thus to this great city?

For this is what the Lord says concerning Shallum son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in place of his father Josiah: “He has left this place—he will never return here again,

A curse is on him who is building his house by wrongdoing, and his rooms by doing what is not right; who makes use of his neighbour without payment, and gives him nothing for his work;

Does it make you any more of a king that you outstrip everyone else in building with cedar? Just think about your father. He was content that he had food and drink. He did what was just and right. So things went well with him.

“He defended the cause of the afflicted and needy;
Then all was well.
Is that not what it means to know Me?”
Says the Lord.

Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:

They will not mourn for him, saying,
“Woe, my brother!” or “Woe, my sister!”
They will not mourn for him, saying,
“Woe, lord! Woe, his majesty!”

They will do to him what they do to the dead body of an ass; his body will be pulled out and placed on the earth outside the doors of Jerusalem.

O land of Judah, land of Judah, land of Judah! Listen to what the Lord has to say!

This is what the Lord says:

Record this man as childless,
a man who will not be successful in his lifetime.
None of his descendants will succeed
in sitting on the throne of David
or ruling again in Judah.

“Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who shepherd My people: You have scattered My flock, banished them, and have not attended to them. I will attend to you because of your evil acts”—this is the Lord’s declaration.

See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will give to David a true Branch, and he will be ruling as king, acting wisely, doing what is right, and judging uprightly in the land.

In His days Judah will be saved,
and Israel will dwell securely.
This is what He will be named:
Yahweh Our Righteousness.

Here is what the Lord says concerning the false prophets: My heart and my mind are deeply disturbed. I tremble all over. I am like a drunk person, like a person who has had too much wine, because of the way the Lord and his holy word are being mistreated.

For the land is full of men who are untrue to their wives; because of the curse the land is full of grief; the green fields of the waste land have become dry; and they are quick to do evil, their strength is for what is not right.

Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says concerning the prophets:

I am about to feed them wormwood
and give them poisoned water to drink,
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has spread throughout the land.

This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are making you worthless. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the Lord’s mouth.

They continually say to those who reject what the Lord has said, 'Things will go well for you!' They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts, 'Nothing bad will happen to you!'

Yet which of them has ever stood in the Lord's inner circle so they could see and hear what he has to say? Which of them have ever paid attention or listened to what he has said?

The LORD's anger won't turn back until he has accomplished what he intended to do. In the future you will clearly understand it.

In what secret place may a man take cover without my seeing him? says the Lord. Is there any place in heaven or earth where I am not? says the Lord.

I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.

How long will they go on plotting to make my people forget who I am through the dreams they tell one another? That is just as bad as what their ancestors did when they forgot who I am by worshiping the god Baal.

The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.

And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD.

Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?

You must no longer say that the Lord's message is burdensome. For what is 'burdensome' really pertains to what a person himself says. You are misrepresenting the words of our God, the living God, the Lord who rules over all.

Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?

But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ then this is what the Lord says: Because you have said, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ and I specifically told you not to say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’

Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.

“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah I sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.

“But as for the bad figs, so bad they are inedible, this is what the Lord says: in this way I will deal with king Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem—those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt.

This is what Jeremiah the prophet told all the people of Judah and all the residents of Jerusalem:

"For the last twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon was ruling in Judah until now, the Lord has been speaking to me. I told you over and over again what he said. But you would not listen.

“Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘Because you have not obeyed My words,

Indeed many nations and great kings will make slaves even of them, and I'll repay them according to their deeds, according to what they have done.'"

This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and make all the nations I am sending you to, drink from it.

all the various people; all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the Philistines, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod;

“Then you are to say to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, as a result of the sword I am sending among you.

If they refuse to take the cup from you and drink, you are to say to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: You must drink!

“This is what the Lord of Hosts says:

Pay attention! Disaster spreads
from nation to nation.
A great storm is stirred up
from the ends of the earth.”

“This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple and speak all the words I have commanded you to speak to all Judah’s cities that are coming to worship there. Do not hold back a word.

You are to say to them: This is what the Lord says: If you do not listen to Me by living according to My instruction that I set before you

If you do not obey me, then I will do to this temple what I did to Shiloh. And I will make this city an example to be used in curses by people from all the nations on the earth.'"

However, some of the officials of Judah heard about what was happening and they rushed up to the Lord's temple from the royal palace. They set up court at the entrance of the New Gate of the Lord's temple.

But correct the way you have been living and do what is right. Obey the Lord your God. If you do, the Lord will forgo destroying you as he threatened he would.

But [as for] me, look, I [am] in your hand, do to me what [is] good and right in your eyes.

“Micah the Moreshite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and said to all the people of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord of Hosts says:

Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become ruins,
and the temple mount a forested hill.’

“Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put Micah to death? Did he not [reverently] fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord? And did not the Lord relent and reverse His decision concerning the misfortune which He had pronounced against them? But [here] we are [thinking of] committing a great evil against ourselves.”