Jeremiah 19–22

Thus saith the Lord, ^aGo and get ^ba potter’s earthen ^cbottle, and take of ^dthe ancients of the people, and of ^dthe ancients of the priests; ²and go forth unto ^ethe valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee, ³and say, ^eeHear ye the word of the Lord, ^fO kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, ^ghis ears shall tingle. ⁴Because ^hthey have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and ^hhave burnt incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with ⁱthe blood of innocents; ^5kthey have built also the high places of Baal, ^lto burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, ^klmwhich I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind: ⁶ⁿtherefore behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called ^yTophet, nor ^eThe valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter. ⁷And I will ^domake void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and ^pI will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and ^qtheir carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. ⁸And ^rI will make this city desolate, and a hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof. ⁹And ^sI will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend ^tin the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them. ¹⁰Then ^ushalt thou break ^cthe bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee. ^11uAnd shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Even so ^vwill I break this people and this city, ^was one breaketh a potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and ^xthey shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury. ¹²Thus will I do unto this place, saith the Lord, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city ^yas Tophet: ¹³And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled ^yas the place of Tophet, because of all the houses ^zupon whose ^aroofs they have burnt incense unto ^ball the host of heaven, and ^chave poured out drink offerings unto other gods.

¹⁴Then came Jeremiah ^yfrom Tophet, whither the Lord had sent him to prophesy; and ^dhe stood in the court of the Lord’s house; and said to all the people, ¹⁵Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because ^ethey have hardened their necks, ^fthat they might not hear my words.

XX.Now ^aPashur the son of ^abImmer the priest, who was also ^cchief governor in the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. ²Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in ^dthe stocks that were in the high ^egate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord. ³And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of ^dthe stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The Lord hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magor-missabib. ⁴For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will make thee ^eea terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it; and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword. ⁵Moreover ^fI will deliver all ^gthe strength of this city, and all ^hthe labours thereof, and all ⁱthe precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and ^fcarry them to Babylon. ⁶And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, ^jto whom thou hast prophesied lies.

⁷O Lord, thou hast ^kdeceived me, and I was ^kdeceived:

^lThou art stronger than I, and ^mhast prevailed:

I ⁿam in derision daily,

Every one mocketh me.

⁸For since I spake, I cried out,

I cried ^oviolence and spoil;

Because ^pthe word of the Lord was made ^qa reproach unto me,

And ^qa derision, daily.

⁹Then I said, I will not make mention of him,

Nor speak any more in his name.

But ^lhis word was in ^rmine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones,

And ^sI was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

^10tFor I heard the defaming of many, ^ufear on every side.

^vReport, ^wsay they, and we will report it.

^xAll my familiars ^ywatched for ^zmy halting, ^wsaying,

Peradventure he will be enticed, and ^mwe shall prevail against him,

And we shall take our revenge on him.

¹¹But ^athe Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one:

Therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and ^bthey shall not prevail:

^cThey shall be greatly ashamed: for they shall not prosper:

Their ^deverlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.

¹²But, O Lord of hosts, ^ethat triest the righteous,

And ^eseest the reins and the heart,

^efLet me see thy vengeance on them:

^eFor unto thee have I opened my cause.

^13gSing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord:

^gFor he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.

^14hCursed be the day wherein I was born:

Let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.

¹⁵Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying,

A man child is born unto thee;

Making him very glad.

¹⁶And let that man be as ⁱthe cities which the Lord overthrew, and repented not:

And ^klet him hear the cry in the morning, and ^lthe shouting at noontide;

^17mBecause he slew me not from the womb;

Or that my mother might have been my grave,

And her womb to be always great with me.

^18hmnWherefore came I forth out of the womb

^oTo see labour and sorrow,

That my days should be consumed with shame?

XXI.The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, when king Zedekiah sent unto him ^aPashur the son of Melchiah, and ^bZephaniah the son of ^cMaaseiah the priest, saying, ^2dInquire, I pray thee, of the Lord for us; for ^eNebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the Lord will deal with us according to all ^fhis wondrous works, that he may go up from us. ³Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah: ⁴Thus saith the Lord God of Israel; Behold, ^ffI will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, ^ewhich besiege you without the walls, and ^gI will assemble them into the midst of this city. ⁵And I myself will fight against you ^hwith an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even ⁱin anger, and in fury, and in great wrath. ⁶And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence. ⁷And afterward, saith the Lord, ^jI will deliver Zedekiah ^kking of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; ^lhe shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.

⁸And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, ^mI set before you the way of life, and the way of death. ⁹ⁿHe that abideth in this city shall die ^mmby the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: ⁿbut he that goeth out, and ⁿⁿfalleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and ^nohis life shall be unto him for a prey. ¹⁰For I have ^pset my face against this city for evil, and not ^qfor good, saith the Lord: ^rit shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and ^she shall burn it with fire. ¹¹And touching the house of the king of Judah, ^sssay, Hear ye the word of the Lord. ¹²O house of David, thus saith the Lord; ^tExecute judgment ^uin the morning, ^tand deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, ^vlest my fury go out like fire, ^vand burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. ¹³Behold, ^wI am against thee, O inhabitant of ^xthe valley, and rock of the plain, saith the Lord; which say, ^yWho shall ^zcome down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations? ¹⁴But I will punish you according to ^athe fruit of your doings, saith the Lord: and ^bI will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, ^band ^sit shall devour all things round about it.

XXII.Thus saith the Lord; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, ²and say, ^aHear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, ^bthat sittest upon the throne of David, ^cthou, and thy servants, and thy people ^athat enter in by these gates: ³Thus saith the Lord; ^dExecute ye judgment and righteousness, ^dand deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor; and ^edo no wrong, do no violence, ^efto the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither ^fgshed innocent blood in this place. ⁴For if ye do this thing indeed, ^hthen shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings ⁱsitting upon the throne of David, ^hriding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. ⁵But if ye will not hear these words, ^jI swear by myself, saith the Lord, that this house ^kshall become a desolation. ⁶For thus saith the Lord unto the king’s house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of ^lLebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness and ^mcities which are not inhabited. ⁷And I will ⁿprepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down ^othy choice cedars, and ^pcast them into the fire. ⁸And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every…