Jeremiah 1–50

The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, ^aof the priests that were in ^bAnathoth in the land of Benjamin: ²to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of ^cJosiah the son of Amon king of Judah, ^din the thirteenth year of his reign. ³It came also in the days of ^eJehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, ^funto the end of the eleventh year of ^gZedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, ^hunto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive ^hiin the fifth month.

⁴Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, ⁵Before I ^jformed thee in the belly ^kI knew thee; and ^lbefore thou camest forth out of the womb I ^msanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet ⁿunto the nations. ⁶Then said I, ^oAh, Lord God, behold, I cannot speak: for ^pI am a child. ⁷But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and ^qwhatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. ^8rsBe not afraid of their faces: for ^stuI am with thee ^tto deliver thee, saith the Lord. ⁹Then ^vthe Lord put forth his hand, and ^wtouched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, ^xI have put my words in thy mouth. ¹⁰See, I have this day set thee ⁿover the nations and over the kingdoms, ^yto root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

¹¹Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see ^za rod of an almond tree. ¹²Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for ^aI will hasten my word to perform it. ¹³And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see ^ba seething ^cpot; and the face thereof is towards ^dthe north. ¹⁴Then the Lord said unto me, ^dOut of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. ¹⁵For lo, I will call ^eall the families of the kingdoms ^dof the north, saith the Lord; and they shall come, and ^fthey shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah. ¹⁶And ^gI will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, ^hiwho have forsaken me, ^hand ^jhave burnt incense unto other gods, and ^kworshipped the works of their own hands. ¹⁷Thou therefore ^lgird up thy loins, and arise, and ^mspeak unto them all that I command thee: ⁿbe not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. ¹⁸For behold, I have ^omade thee this day ^pra defenced city, and ^qan iron pillar, and ^rbrasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land. ^19rAnd they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; ^rsfor I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.

II.Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; I remember thee, the kindness of ^athy youth, ^bthe love of thine espousals, ^cwhen thou wentest after me in the wilderness, ^din a land that was not sown. ^3eIsrael was holiness unto the Lord, and ^fthe firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him ^gshall offend; ^hevil shall come upon them, saith the Lord. ⁴Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: ⁵Thus saith the Lord, ⁱWhat iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and ^khave walked after ^lvanity, and ^kmare become vain? ⁶Neither said they, Where is the Lord ⁿthat brought us up out of the land of Egypt, ^othat led us through the wilderness, through ^pa land of deserts and of ^qpits, through ^pa land of ^rdrought, and of ^sthe shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt? ⁷And I brought you into ^ta plentiful country, to eat ^uthe fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye ^vdefiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination. ⁸The priests said not, Where is the Lord? and ^wthey that handle the law knew me not: ^xthe pastors also transgressed against me, and ^xxthe prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after ^ythings that do not profit. ⁹Wherefore I ^zwill yet plead with you, saith the Lord, and ^awith your children’s children will I plead. ^10aaFor pass over the isles of ^bChittim, and see; and send unto ^cKedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. ^11dHath a nation changed their gods, ^ewhich are yet no gods? but my people ^fhave changed their glory for ^gthat which doth not profit. ¹²Be astonished, ^hO ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. ¹³For my people have committed two evils; ^ikthey have forsaken me ^klthe fountain of ^mliving waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

¹⁴ⁿIs Israel a servant? is he ^oa homeborn slave? why is he spoiled? ^15pThe young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and ^qthey made his land waste: ^rhis cities are burnt ^qswithout inhabitant. ¹⁶Also the children of ^tNoph and ^uTahapanes have broken the crown of thy head. ^17wHast thou not procured this unto thyself, ⁱin that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, ^xwhen he led thee by the way? ¹⁸And now ^ywhat hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of ^zSihor? or ^awhat hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of ^bthe river? ^19cThine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy ^dbackslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and ^ebitter, ^fthat thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts. ²⁰For of old time ^gI have broken thy yoke, and ^gburst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when ^hiupon every high hill and under every green tree ^kthou wanderest, ^ilplaying the harlot. ²¹Yet ^mI had planted thee ⁿa noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into ^othe degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? ²²For though ^pthou wash thee with ^qnitre, and take thee much ^rsope, yet thine iniquity is ^smarked before me, saith the Lord God. ^23tHow canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way ^ttin the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art ^ua swift ^uudromedary traversing her ways; ^24vwa wild ass used to the wilderness, that ^vsnuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her ^xoccasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; ^yin her month they shall find her. ²⁵Withhold ^zthy foot from being unshod, and thy throat ^afrom thirst: ^bbut thou saidst, ^cThere is no hope: no; for I have loved ^dstrangers, and after them will I go. ²⁶As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, ^ddtheir kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, ²⁷saying to ^ea stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but ^eein the time of their ^ftrouble they will say, Arise, and save us. ²⁸But ^gwhere are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, ^hif they can save thee in the time of thy ^ftrouble: ⁱfor according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. ^29kWherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the Lord. ³⁰In vain ^lhave I smitten your children; they received no correction: ^myour own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

³¹ⁿO generation, see ye the word of the Lord. ^oHave I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, ^pWe are lords; we will come no more unto thee? ³²Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her ^qattire? yet ^rmy people have forgotten me days without number. ³³Why ^rrtrimmest thou thy way to seek love? ^stherefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways. ³⁴Also in thy skirts is found ^tthe blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these. ³⁵Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, ^uI will plead with thee, ^vbecause thou sayest, I have not sinned. ^36wWhy gaddest thou about so much to ^xchange thy way? ^ythou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, ^was thou wast ashamed of Assyria. ³⁷Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and ^zthine hands upon thine head: for the Lord hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.

III.They say, ^aIf a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, ^ashall he return unto her again? shall not that ^bland be greatly polluted? but thou hast ^cplayed the harlot with many lovers; yet ^dreturn again to me, saith the Lord. ²Lift up thine eyes unto ^ethe high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. ^fIn the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and ^bthou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. ³Therefore ^gthe showers have been withholden, and there hath been no ^hlatter rain; and thou hadst ⁱa whore’s forehead, ^kthou refusedst to be ashamed. ⁴Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art ^lthe guide of ^mmy youth? ⁵ⁿWill he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.

⁶The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which ^obacksliding Israel hath done? ^pshe is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath ^cplayed the harlot. ^7qAnd I said after she had done all these things, ^dTurn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her ^rtreacherous ^ssister Judah saw it. ⁸And I saw, ^twhen for all the causes whereby ^obacksliding Israel committed adultery ^uI had put her away, and given her ^va bill of divorce; ^tyet her ^rtreacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. ⁹And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that ^bshe defiled the land, and committed adultery with ^wstones and with stocks. ¹⁰And yet for all…