Jeremiah 13:23–31:40

23 Can an Ethiopianb change his skin

or a leopard its spots?

Neither can you do good

who are accustomed to doing evil.f

24 “I will scatter you like chaffg

driven by the desert wind.h

25 This is your lot,

the portioni I have decreed for you,”

declares the Lord,

“because you have forgottenj me

and trusted in false gods.k

26 I will pull up your skirts over your face

that your shame may be seenl—

27 your adulteries and lustful neighings,

your shameless prostitution!m

I have seen your detestable acts

on the hills and in the fields.n

Woe to you, Jerusalem!

How long will you be unclean?”o

Drought, Famine, Sword

14 This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:p

2 “Judah mourns,q

her cities languish;

they wail for the land,

and a cry goes up from Jerusalem.

3 The nobles send their servants for water;

they go to the cisterns

but find no water.r

They return with their jars unfilled;

dismayed and despairing,

they cover their heads.s

4 The ground is cracked

because there is no rain in the land;t

the farmers are dismayed

and cover their heads.

5 Even the doe in the field

deserts her newborn fawn

because there is no grass.u

6 Wild donkeys stand on the barren heightsv

and pant like jackals;

their eyes fail

for lack of food.”w

7 Although our sins testifyx against us,

do something, Lord, for the sake of your name.y

For we have often rebelled;z

we have sinneda against you.

8 You who are the hopeb of Israel,

its Saviorc in times of distress,d

why are you like a stranger in the land,

like a traveler who stays only a night?

9 Why are you like a man taken by surprise,

like a warrior powerless to save?e

You are amongf us, Lord,

and we bear your name;g

do not forsakeh us!

10 This is what the Lord says about this people:

“They greatly love to wander;

they do not restrain their feet.i

So the Lord does not acceptj them;

he will now rememberk their wickedness

and punish them for their sins.”l

11 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not praym for the well-being of this people. 12 Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry;n though they offer burnt offeringso and grain offerings,p I will not acceptq them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword,r famines and plague.”t

13 But I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! The prophetsu keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine.v Indeed, I will give you lasting peacew in this place.’ ”

14 Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying liesx in my name. I have not senty them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions,z divinations,a idolatriesa and the delusions of their own minds. 15 Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will perishb by sword and famine.c 16 And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to buryd them, their wives, their sons and their daughters.e I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.f

17 “Speak this word to them:

“ ‘Let my eyes overflow with tearsg

night and day without ceasing;

for the Virginh Daughter, my people,

has suffered a grievous wound,

a crushing blow.i

18 If I go into the country,

I see those slain by the sword;

if I go into the city,

I see the ravages of famine.j

Both prophet and priest

have gone to a land they know not.k’ ”

19 Have you rejected Judah completely?l

Do you despise Zion?

Why have you afflicted us

so that we cannot be healed?m

We hoped for peace

but no good has come,

for a time of healing

but there is only terror.n

20 We acknowledgeo our wickedness, Lord,

and the guilt of our ancestors;p

we have indeed sinnedq against you.

21 For the sake of your namer do not despise us;

do not dishonor your glorious throne.s

Remember your covenantt with us

and do not break it.

22 Do any of the worthless idolsu of the nations bring rain?v

Do the skies themselves send down showers?

No, it is you, Lord our God.

Therefore our hope is in you,

for you are the one who does all this.w

15 Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Mosesx and Samuely were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people.z Send them away from my presence!a Let them go! 2 And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says:

“ ‘Those destined for death, to death;

those for the sword, to the sword;b

those for starvation, to starvation;c

those for captivity, to captivity.’d

3 “I will send four kinds of destroyerse against them,” declares the Lord, “the swordf to kill and the dogsg to drag away and the birdsh and the wild animals to devour and destroy.i 4 I will make them abhorrentj to all the kingdoms of the earthk because of what Manassehl son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.

5 “Who will have pitym on you, Jerusalem?

Who will mourn for you?

Who will stop to ask how you are?

6 You have rejectedn me,” declares the Lord.

“You keep on backsliding.

So I will reach outo and destroy you;

I am tired of holding back.p

7 I will winnowq them with a winnowing fork

at the city gates of the land.

I will bring bereavementr and destruction on my people,s

for they have not changed their ways.t

8 I will make their widowsu more numerous

than the sand of the sea.

At midday I will bring a destroyerv

against the mothers of their young men;

suddenly I will bring down on them

anguish and terror.w

9 The mother of seven will grow faintx

and breathe her last.y

Her sun will set while it is still day;

she will be disgracedz and humiliated.

I will put the survivors to the sworda

before their enemies,”b

declares the Lord.

10 Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth,c

a man with whom the whole land strives and contends!d

I have neither lente nor borrowed,

yet everyone cursesf me.

11 The Lord said,

“Surely I will deliver youg for a good purpose;

surely I will make your enemies pleadh with you

in times of disaster and times of distress.

12 “Can a man break iron—

iron from the northi—or bronze?

13 “Your wealthj and your treasures

I will give as plunder,k without charge,l

because of all your sins

throughout your country.m

14 I will enslave you to your enemies

ina a land you do not know,n

for my anger will kindle a fireo

that will burn against you.”

15 Lord, you understand;

remember me and care for me.

Avenge me on my persecutors.p

You are long-sufferingq—do not take me away;

think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.r

16 When your words came, I ates them;

they were my joy and my heart’s delight,t

for I bear your name,u

Lord God Almighty.

17 I never satv in the company of revelers,

never made merry with them;

I sat alone because your handw was on me

and you had filled me with indignation.

18 Why is my pain unending

and my wound grievous and incurable?x

You are to me like a deceptive brook,

like a spring that fails.y

19 Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“If you repent, I will restore you

that you may servez me;

if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,

you will be my spokesman.a

Let this people turn to you,

but you must not turn to them.

20 I will make you a wallb to this people,

a fortified wall of bronze;

they will fight against you

but will not overcomec you,

for I am with you

to rescue and save you,”d

declares the Lord.

21 “I will savee you from the hands of the wickedf

and deliverg you from the grasp of the cruel.”h

Day of Disaster

16 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “You must not marryi and have sons or daughters in this place.” 3 For this is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers:j 4 “They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buriedk but will be like dung lying on the ground.l They will perish by sword and famine,m and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.”n

5 For this is what the Lord says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pityo from this people,” declares the Lord. 6 “Both high and low will die in this land.p They will not be buried or mourned,q and no one will cutr themselves or shaves their head for the dead. 7 No one will offer foodt to comfort those who mournu for the dead—not even for a father or a mother—nor will anyone give them a drink to consolev them.

8 “And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink.w 9 For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the soundsx of joy and gladness and to the voices of bridey and bridegroom in this place.z

10 “When you tell these people all this and they ask you, ‘Why has the Lord decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?’a 11 then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshipedb them. They forsook me and did not keep my law.c 12 But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors.d See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil heartse instead of obeying me. 13 So I will throw you out of this landf into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known,g and there you will serve other godsh day and night, for I will show you no favor.’i

14 “However, the days are coming,”j declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’k 15 but it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the northl and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’m For I will restoren them to the land I gave their ancestors.o

16 “But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them.p After that I will send for many …