Book of Jeremiah
Chapter 1
1; The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who resided in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,
2; to whom the Word of YAHWEH came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
3; 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 exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month.
4; Then the Word of YAHWEH was to me, saying,
5; I knew you before I formed you in the belly; and before you came out of the womb, I sanctified you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.
6; Then I said, Ah, Adonai YAHWEH! Behold, I do not know how to speak for I am a boy.
7; But YAHWEH 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.
8; Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you, says YAHWEH
9; Then YAHWEH put out His hand and touched my mouth. And YAHWEH said to me, Behold, I have put My Words in your mouth.
10; Behold, I have today appointed you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to tear down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
11; And the Word of YAHWEH was to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see an almond rod.
12; Then YAHWEH said to me, You have seen well; for I will watch over My Word to perform it.
13; And the Word of YAHWEH 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.
14; And YAHWEH said to me, Out of the north, evil will be set loose on all those living in the land.
15; For, behold, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, declares YAHWEH. And they shall come, and they will give to each his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against its walls all around, and against the cities of Judah.
16; And I will speak My judgments against them regarding all their evil, those who have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods, and have worshiped the works of their hands.
17; And you must gird up your loins, and rise up and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be terrified before their faces, that I not prostrate you before them.
18; For, behold, today I have made you a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against her princes, against her priests, and to the people of the land.
19; And they shall fight against you; but they shall not overcome you. For I am with you to deliver you, declares YAHWEH.
Chapter 2
1; And was the Word of YAHWEH to me, saying,
2; Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, So says YAHWEH, I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your espousals, your going after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.
3; Israel was Set-Apart to YAHWEH, the first-fruits of His increase. All that devour him become guilty; evil shall come on them, declares YAHWEH.
4; Hear the Word of YAHWEH, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel.
5; So says YAHWEH, What iniquity have your fathers found in Me, that they went far from Me and have walked after vanity, and have become vain?
6; Nor did they say, Where is YAHWEH who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and of pits, in a dry land and deep darkness, in a land that no man has passed through, and not a man has lived there?
7; And I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruit and its goodness. But when you went in, you defiled My land and made My inheritance an abomination.
8; The priests did not say, Where is YAHWEH? And they who handle the Torah did not know Me. And the shepherds rebelled against Me; and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things not profitable.
9; Therefore, I will contend with you, says YAHWEH, and I will contend with your sons' sons.
10; For go to the isles of Kittim and see, and send to Kedar, and carefully consider and see if there is any like this.
11; Has a nation changed its Elohim, and they were not Elohim? But My people have changed their Glory without profiting.
12; Be amazed at this, O heavens, and be horrified; be completely desolated, declares YAHWEH.
13; For My people have done two evils: they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, to hew out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
14; Is Israel a servant? Or is he a servant of the house? Why has he become a prey?
15; The young lions roared against him; they gave their voice. And they made his land a waste; his cities are ruined, without inhabitant.
16; Also the sons of Noph and Tahpanhes have fed on your crown.
17; Have you not done this to yourself by your forsaking YAHWEH your Elohim when He led you by the way?
18; 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 Euphrates?
19; Your own wickedness shall correct you, and your apostasies shall reprove you. Know, then, and see that your forsaking YAHWEH your Elohim is evil and bitter; and My fear is not in you, declares Adonai YAHWEH of Hosts.
20; For long ago you broke your yoke and tore up your bonds. And you said, I will not transgress, when on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down like a harlot.
21; Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly a true seed. How then have you turned into the deteriorating shoots of a foreign vine to Me?
22; Though you wash yourself with potash, and multiply soap for yourself, your iniquity is stained before Me, declares Adonai YAHWEH.
23; How can you say, I am not defiled; I have not gone after Baals? See your way in the valley; know what you have done! You are a swift camel crisscrossing her ways;
24; a wild donkey used to the wilderness. In the passion of her desire she snuffs up 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.
25; Withhold your foot from being bare and your throat from thirst. But you said, It is hopeless! For I love strangers, and after them I will go.
26; As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed. They, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets are
27; saying to a tree, You are my father; and to a stone, You gave us birth. For they turned their back to Me, and not the face. But in the time of their evil, they will say, Arise, and save us!
28; But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your evil; for according to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah.
29; Why do you contend with Me? All of you, you have rebelled against Me, says YAHWEH.
30; In vain I have stricken your sons; they received no correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
31; O generation, see the Word of YAHWEH. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of darkness? Why do My people say, We roam; we will come no more to You.
32; Can a virgin forget her ornaments, a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number.
33; What? Do you trim your ways to seek love? For this reason you have even taught the evil women your ways.
34; Also on your skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents; I did not find them by breaking in, but on all these.
35; Yet you say, Because I am innocent, surely His anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will judge with you, because you say, I have not sinned.
36; Why do you go about so much to change your way? You also shall be ashamed of Egypt, as you were ashamed of Assyria.
37; Yes, you shall go out from this place, and your hands on your head. For YAHWEH has rejected those in whom you trust, and you will not prosper by them.
Chapter 3
1; They say, If a man lets go 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 would you come back to Me, says YAHWEH.
2; Lift up your eyes on the bare heights and see. Where have you not been lain with? By the highways you have sat for them, like an Arab in the desert. And you have defiled the land with your fornications and with your evil.
3; And the showers are withheld, and there has been no latter rain. And the forehead of a woman, a harlot, was to you; you refused to be ashamed.
4; Have you not just now called to Me, saying, My father, You are the friend of my youth?
5; Will He keep His anger forever? Or will He guard it to the end? Behold, you have spoken, and you have done all the evil things that you could.
6; YAHWEH also said to me in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen what the apostate Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every green tree, and has fornicated there.
7; And after she had done all these, I said, She will return to Me; but she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
8; And I watched. When for all the causes for which the apostate Israel committed adultery, I sent her away and I gave the writ of her divorce to her. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she also went and fornicated.
9; And it happened, from the wantonness of her harlotry she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with pieces of wood.
10; And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but with falsehood, says YAHWEH.
11; And YAHWEH said to me, The apostate Israel has justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
12; Go and cry these words toward the north, and say, Return, O apostate Israel, says YAHWEH. I will not cause My face to fall on you, for I am merciful, says YAHWEH; I will not keep anger forever.
13; Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have rebelled against YAHWEH your Elohim and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice, says YAHWEH.
14; Return, O apostate sons, declares YAHWEH; for I am Adonai over you. And I will take you, one from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
15; And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16; And it will be, when you multiply and increase in the land in those days, says YAHWEH, they will no longer say, The ark of the covenant of YAHWEH! Nor shall it come to the heart, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they miss it, nor shall it be made any more.
17; At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of YAHWEH. And all nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of YAHWEH, to Jerusalem. And they shall not walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.
18; 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.
19; But I said, How gladly would I put you among the sons, and give you a pleasant land, a beautiful inheritance among the multitudes of nations! And I said, You shall call Me, My Father; and you shall not turn away from Me.
20; Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her lover, so you have dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel, declares YAHWEH.
21; A voice was heard weeping on the bare heights, pleadings of the sons of Israel; for they have perverted their way; they have forgotten YAHWEH their Elohim.
22; Return, O apostate sons; I will heal your apostasies. Behold, we come to You, for You are YAHWEH our Elohim.
23; Truly, for delusion comes from the hills, tumult on the mountains. Truly, in YAHWEH our Elohim is the salvation of Israel.
24; For the shameful thing has eaten up the labor of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
25; We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covers us. For we have sinned against YAHWEH our Elohim, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. And we have not obeyed the voice of YAHWEH our Elohim.
Chapter 4
1; If you will return, O Israel, says YAHWEH, return to Me. And if you will turn away from your hateful idols out of My face and will not waver,
2; and you will swear, As YAHWEH lives, in truth, in justice, and in righteousness; even the nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him they will glory.
3; For so says YAHWEH to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow to the thorns.
4; Circumcise yourselves to YAHWEH, and take away the foreskin of your heart, O men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, that My fury not go forth like fire and burn, so that no one can put it out; because of the evil of your doings.
5; Declare in Judah, and make it heard in Jerusalem, and say, Blow the ram's horn in the land. Cry, the end and say, Assemble yourselves and go into the cities of defense.
6; Lift up a banner toward Zion. Flee for safety and do not wait. For I will bring evil from the north and a great ruin.
7; The lion has come up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place to make your land a waste. Your cities will fall into ruins without one living in them.
8; Clothe yourselves with sackcloth for this, wail and howl. For the fierce anger of YAHWEH has not turned back from us.
9; And it will be on that day, says YAHWEH, the king's heart and the heart of the rulers shall perish. And the priests shall be amazed; and the prophets shall be astounded.
10; Then I said, Ah, Adonai YAHWEH! Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, You shall have peace, but the sword reaches to the soul.
11; At that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A hot wind from the bare hills in the desert toward the daughter of My people, not to sift nor to cleanse!
12; A wind more full than these shall come for Me. Now I also will speak judgments against them.
13; Behold, he shall come up like clouds, and his chariots like a windstorm. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are devastated!
14; O Jerusalem, cleanse your heart from evil so that you may be saved. Until when will your vain thoughts lodge within you?
15; For a voice announces from Dan, and proclaims evil from Mount Ephraim.
16; Tell it to the nations: Behold, proclaim against Jerusalem, Besiegers are coming from a distant land and will set their voice against the cities of Judah.
17; Like the ones watching a field, they are against her all around because she has rebelled against Me, says YAHWEH.
18; Your way and your doings have done these things to you; this is your evil, because it is bitter, because it reaches to your heart.
19; My bowels! My bowels! I convulse in pain. O walls of my heart! My heart is restless within me. I cannot be silent, for I have heard, O my soul, the sound of the ram's horn, the alarm of war!
20; Call Out, Ruin upon ruin; for the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are laid waste, my curtains in a moment.
21; How long must I see the banner and hear the sound of the ram's horn?
22; For My people are foolish. They do not know Me. They are stupid children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but they do not know to do good.
23; I looked on the earth, and, behold! It was without form and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light.
24; I looked on the mountains, and, behold! They quaked, and all the hills were shaken.
25; I looked, and, behold! There was no man, and all the birds of the skies had fled.
26; I looked, and, behold! The fruitful place was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down before the face of YAHWEH, before His glowing anger.
27; For so YAHWEH has said, The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.
28; The earth shall mourn for this, and the heavens above shall grow black, because I have seen, I have purposed and I will not repent, nor will I turn back from it.
29; Every city shall flee from the noise of the horsemen and shooters of the bow. They shall go into thickets and go up in the rocks. Every city shall be forsaken, and not a man shall live in them.
30; And you, O desolate one, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson, though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, though you make large your eyes with paint, you beautify yourself in vain. Lovers despise you; they will seek your life.
31; For I have heard a voice as of a sick woman, the anguish as one bearing her first child, the voice of Zion's daughter gasping and spreading her hands, saying, Woe is to me now, for my soul faints because of murderers.
Chapter 5
1; Roam around in Jerusalem's streets and see now, and know, and seek in her plazas if you can find a man, if there is one who does justice, who seeks truth; and I will pardon her.
2; And though they say, As YAHWEH lives, surely they swear falsely.
3; O YAHWEH, are not Your eyes for the truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You consumed them, yet they refused to take correction. They made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return.
4; So I said, Surely they are poor; they are foolish, for they do not know the way of YAHWEH, the judgment of their Elohim.
5; I will go up for myself to the great men and will speak to them. For they have known the way of YAHWEH, the ordinances of their Elohim. Surely these have joined in breaking the yoke; they have torn off the bonds.
6; On account of this a lion out of the forest shall strike them; a wolf of the desert shall destroy them; a leopard is watching over their cities. Everyone who goes out from them shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many; their rebellions are multiplied.
7; Why should I pardon you for this? Your sons have forsaken Me and have sworn by ones who are Not Elohim. When I fed them to the full, they then committed adultery and gathered themselves by troops in a harlot's house.
8; They were like lusty, well fed stallions in the morning, everyone neighing after the wife of his neighbor.
9; Shall I not judge for these things, says YAHWEH? And shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10; Go up on her vine rows and destroy, but do not make a full end. Take away her branches, for they are not of YAHWEH.
11; For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been very devious with Me, declares YAHWEH.
12; They have lied against YAHWEH and said, It is not He; and, No evil shall come on us; and, We shall not see sword or famine.
13; And the prophets shall become wind, and the Word is not in them; so it shall be done to them.
14; Therefore YAHWEH Elohim of Hosts says this: Because you spoke this word, behold! I will make My Words fire in your mouth, and these people wood; and it shall consume them.
15; Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far away, O house of Israel, declares YAHWEH. It is an enduring nation; it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor understand what they say.
16; Their quiver is as an open grave; they are all mighty men.
17; And they will eat up your harvest and your food, and they will devour your sons and your daughters. They will eat up your flocks and your herds; they will eat up your vines and your fig trees. One shall beat down your fortified cities with the sword, those in which you trust.
18; Yet even in those days, declares YAHWEH, I will not make a full end with you.
19; And it will be when you shall say, Why does YAHWEH our Elohim do all these things to us? Then you shall answer them, Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign Elohim in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours.
20; Declare this in the house of Jacob and cry it in Judah, saying,
21; Now hear this, O foolish people, even you without heart, who have eyes and do not see, who have ears and do not hear.
22; Do you not fear Me, declares YAHWEH? Will you not tremble before My face, that I have placed the sand as the limit for the sea by an eternal decree, so that it cannot cross over it? And though they toss themselves, yet they cannot prevail; though its waves roar, yet they cannot cross over it.
23; But to this people there is a revolting and a rebellious heart; they have turned and are gone.
24; And they do not say in their heart, Let us now revere YAHWEH our Elohim who gives both the former and the latter rain in its season; He keeps for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
25; Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you.
26; For among My people are found wicked ones. They lie in wait, as one who sets snares. They set a trap, they catch men.
27; Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are full of treachery. On account of this they have become great and grown rich.
28; They have become fat; they shine. Yes, they pass over the deeds of the evil; they do not judge the cause of the orphan, that they may prosper. And they do not vindicate the right of the needy.
29; Shall I not visit for these things, declares YAHWEH? Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
30; There is an appalling and horrible thing that has happened in the land.
31; The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their hands; and My people love it so. And what will you do at the end of it?
Chapter 6
1; O sons of Benjamin take refuge to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem. And blow the ram's horn in Tekoa; and set up a signal over Beth-Haccerem. For evil appears out of the north, and great destruction.
2; I will destroy the daughter of Zion, the beautiful and tender one.
3; The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her; they shall pitch tents on her all around. They shall each one feed in his hand.
4; Consecrate war against her. Rise up and let us go up at noon. Woe to us, for the day wanes! For the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
5; Rise up and let us go up by night and destroy her palaces.
6; For so YAHWEH of Hosts has said, Cut down her trees and pour out a mound against Jerusalem. She is the city to be visited. In her midst is oppression, all of her.
7; As a cistern keeps fresh its waters, so she keeps fresh her evil. Violence and destruction are heard in her. Sickness and wounds are continually before My face.
8; O Jerusalem, take advice, that My soul not be alienated from you; that I not make you a ruin, a land with not one living in it.
9; So says YAHWEH of Hosts, They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel like a vine. Turn back your hand as a grape gatherer over the tendrils.
10; 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 YAHWEH is a reproach to them. They have no delight in it.
11; And I am full of the fury of YAHWEH; I am weary with holding in. Pour it out on the child in the street and on the circle of the young men together. For even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the elder with fullness of days.
12; And their houses shall be turned to others, fields and wives together. For I will stretch out My hand on those living in the land, declares YAHWEH.
13; For everyone from the least of them even to the greatest of them cuts off a profit. And from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely.
14; They have also healed the break of My people slightly, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace.
15; Were they ashamed when they made an abomination? They were not at all ashamed, nor did they know to blush. So they shall fall among those who fall. At the time I visit them, they shall be cast down, says YAHWEH.
16; So says YAHWEH, Stand by 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.
17; Also I raised watchmen over you, saying, Listen to the sound of the ram's horn. But they said, We will not listen.
18; So hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, that which is coming on them.
19; Hear, O earth, behold! I will bring evil on this people, the fruit of their thoughts. For they have not listened to My Words, and My Torah; they also rejected it.
20; Why is this to Me? Frankincense comes from Sheba, and the good cane from a far land? Your burnt offerings
are not for acceptance, nor are your sacrifices sweet to Me.
21; So YAHWEH says this, Behold! I am giving stumbling blocks to this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall stumble on them; a neighbor and his friend shall perish.
22; So says YAHWEH, Behold! A people comes from the north country; and a great nation shall be stirred from the sides of the earth.
23; They shall lay hold on bow and javelin; they are cruel and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, arrayed like a man for the battle against you, O daughter of Zion.
24; We have heard the rumor of it. Our hands have dropped down; anguish has seized us, pain like one giving birth.
25; Do not go out into the field or walk by the way, because of the sword of the enemy and terror from every side.
26; O daughter of My people, put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Make mourning for yourself, as for an only son, most bitter mourning; for the ravager shall suddenly come on us.
27; I have given you as a tower, a fortress among My people, that you may know and examine their way.
28; They are all rebellious revolters, walkers in slander. All of them are as bronze and iron; they are corrupters.
29; The bellows blow, the lead is consumed from the fire, the refiner refines in vain; for the evil is not separated.
30; Men will call them reprobate silver, for YAHWEH has rejected them.