Jeremiah 21–52

21^*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; ^t†Execute 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.

22^*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 man to his neighbour, ^qWherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city? ^9rThen they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, ^rand worshipped other gods, and served them.

^10sWeep ye not for ^tthe dead, neither bemoan him:

But weep sore for ^uhim that goeth away:

For he shall return no more,

Nor see his native country.

¹¹For thus saith the Lord touching ^vShallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, ^uwwhich went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more: ¹²But he shall die ^win the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.

^13xWoe unto ^yhim that buildeth his house by unrighteousness,

And his ^zchambers by wrong;

^aThat useth his neighbour’s service ^bwithout wages,

And giveth him not for his work;

¹⁴That saith, I will build me a wide house and ^†large ^zchambers,

And cutteth him out ^||windows;

And it is ^ccieled with cedar, and painted ^dwith vermilion.

¹⁵Shalt thou reign, because thou ^eclosest thyself in cedar?

Did not thy father eat and drink,

And ^fdo judgment and justice,

And then ^git was well with him?

¹⁶He judged ^hthe cause of the poor and needy; then ^git was well with him:

Was not this ⁱto know me? saith the Lord.

^17jBut thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy ^kcovetousness,

And ^jfor to shed innocent blood,

And ^jlfor oppression, and for ^||violence, to do it.

¹⁸Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning ^mJehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah;

^n*They shall not lament for him, saying, ^oAh my brother! or, Ah sister!

They shall not lament for him, saying, ^pAh lord! or, Ah his glory!

¹⁹He shall be buried with the burial of an ass,

^qDrawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

^20*Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan,

And cry from ^rthe passages:

For all ^sthy lovers are destroyed.

²¹I spake unto thee in thy ^†prosperity;

But thou saidst, I will not hear.

This hath been thy manner ^tfrom thy youth,

^uThat thou obeyedst not my voice.

²²The wind shall eat up all ^vthy pastors,

And ^sthy lovers shall go into captivity:

Surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.

²³O ^†inhabitant of ^wLebanon, ^xthat makest thy nest in the cedars,

How gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee,

^yThe pain as of a woman in travail!

^24zAs I live, saith the Lord, though ^aConiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were ^bthe signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence; ²⁵And ^cI will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them ^dwhose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. ^26eAnd ^fI will cast thee out, and ^gthy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die. ²⁷But to the land whereunto they ^†desire to return, ^hthither shall they not return. ²⁸Is this man ^aConiah a despised broken idol? is he ⁱa vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they ^kcast out, he and his seed, and are ^ecast into ^la land which they know not? ^29mO earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. ³⁰Thus saith the Lord, Write ye this man ⁿchildless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, ^ositting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

23Woe be unto ^athe pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord. ²Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against ^athe pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, ^bI will visit upon you ^cthe evil of your doings, saith the Lord. ³And ^dI will gather the remnant of my flock ^eout of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and ^fthey shall be fruitful and increase. ⁴And I will set up ^gshepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord.

^5hBehold, ⁱthe days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous ^kBranch, and ^la King shall reign and ^mprosper, and shall execute ⁿjudgment and justice in the earth. ⁶In his days Judah shall be saved, and ^oIsrael shall dwell ^psafely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, ^†qTHE LORD ^rOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. ^7sTherefore, behold, ⁱthe days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; ⁸But, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and ^efrom all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.

^9ssMine heart within me is broken because of the prophets;

^tAll my bones shake;

I am like a drunken man,

And like a man whom wine hath overcome,

^tBecause of the Lord, and because of the words of his holiness.

¹⁰For ^uthe land is full of adulterers;

For ^vbecause of ^||swearing ^wthe land mourneth;

^xThe pleasant places of the wilderness ^yare dried up,

And their ^||course is evil, and their force is not right.

¹¹For ^zboth prophet and priest are profane;

Yea, ^ain my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord.

¹²Wherefore ^btheir way shall be unto them as slippery ways ^cin the darkness:

They shall be driven on, and fall therein:

^dFor I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord.

¹³And I have seen ^||†efolly in the prophets of ^fSamaria;

^gThey prophesied in Baal,

And ^hcaused my people Israel to err.

¹⁴I have seen also in ⁱthe prophets of Jerusalem ^||an horrible thing:

^kThey commit adultery, and ^lwalk in lies:

They ^mstrengthen also the hands of evildoers,

That none doth return from his wickedness:

They are all of them unto me ⁿas Sodom,

And ⁿthe inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.

¹⁵Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning ⁱthe prophets; ^oBehold, I will feed them with ^pwormwood, ^oand make them drink ^qthe water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is ^||profaneness gone forth into all the land. ¹⁶Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy…