Jeremiah 12–16

12 aRighteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: yet ||let me btalk with thee of thy judgments: cWherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they dhappy that edeal very treacherously? 2 Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: †they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: fthou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins. 3 But thou, O Lord, gknowest me: thou hast seen me, and htried mine heart †toward thee: ipull them out klike sheep for the slaughter, and lprepare them for mthe day of slaughter. 4 How long shall nthe land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, ofor the wickedness of them that dwell therein? pthe beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end.

5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou ppcontend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in qthe swelling of Jordan? 6 For even rthy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have edealt treacherously with thee; yea, ||they have called a multitude after thee: sbelieve them not, though they speak †fair words unto thee.

7 I have forsaken mine house, I have left tmine heritage; I have given †the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. 8 tMine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it ||†crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it. 9 Mine heritage is unto me as a ||speckled ubird, uthe birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, ||vcome to devour. 10 Many wpastors have destroyed xmy vineyard, ythey have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my †pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. 11 They have made it desolate, and being desolate nit mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man zlayeth it to heart. 12 The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the Lord shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace. 13 aThey have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: bthey have put themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and ||they shall be ashamed of cyour revenues dbecause of the fierce anger of the Lord.

14 Thus saith the Lord against all emine evil neighbours, fthat touch the inheritance gwhich I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. 15 And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out hI will return, and hhave compassion on them, and hiwill bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land. 16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, kto swear by my name, The Lord liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall lthey be built in the midst of my people. 17 But mif they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the Lord.

13 *Thus saith the Lord unto me, Go and get thee aa linen bgirdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water. 2 cSo I got a girdle according to the word of the Lord, and put it on my loins. 3 And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, 4 Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in da hole of the rock. 5 So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. 6 And it came to pass after many days, that the Lord said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there. 7 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle ewas marred, it fwas profitable for nothing. 8 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 9 Thus saith the Lord, gAfter this manner will I emar hthe pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which iwalk in the ||imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which fis good for nothing. 11 For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the Lord; kthat they might be unto me for a people, and lmnfor a name, and lnofor a praise, and lfor a glory: but they would not hear.

12 Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, pEvery bottle qshall be filled with wine: and rthey shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? 13 Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even sthe kings that sit upon David’s throne, and sthe priests, and sthe prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, twith drunkenness. 14 And uI will dash them †one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the Lord: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, †but destroy them.

15 Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken. 16 vGive glory to the Lord your God, before whe cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while xye look for light, he turn it into ythe shadow of death, and make it zgross darkness. 17 But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your apride; and bmine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the Lord’s flock is carried away captive. 18 Say unto cthe king and to cdthe queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your ||principalities shall come down, even ethe crown of your glory. 19 The cities of the south shall be fshut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive. 20 Lift up your eyes, and behold gthem that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock? 21 What wilt thou say when he shall †punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be hcaptains, and as ichief over thee: kshall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail? 22 And if thou say in thine heart, lWherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are mthy skirts discovered, and thy heels ||made bare. 23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or nthe leopard his spots? othen may ye also do good, that are †accustomed to do evil. 24 Therefore will I scatter them pas the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness. 25 qThis is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the Lord; because rthou hast forgotten me, and trusted in sfalsehood. 26 Therefore will I discover mtthy skirts upon thy face, that uthy shame may appear. 27 I have seen thine adulteries, and thy vneighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations won the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! xwilt thou not be made clean? †when shall it once be?

14 *The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah aconcerning †bthe dearth.

2  Judah mourneth, and cthe gates thereof dlanguish;

eThey are black unto the ground;

And fthe cry of Jerusalem gis gone up.

3  And their nobles have sent htheir little ones to the waters:

They came to the pits, and found no water;

They returned with their vessels empty;

iThey were ashamed and confounded, and kcovered their heads.

4  Because the ground is chapt,

For lthere was no rain in the earth,

The plowmen were ashamed, kthey covered their heads.

5  Yea, mthe hind also calved in the field, and forsook it,

Because there was no grass.

6  And nthe wild asses did stand in the high places,

nThey snuffed up the wind like odragons;

Their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.

7 O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it pfor thy name’s sake: for qour backslidings are many; rwe have sinned against thee. 8 sO the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as ta wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night? 9 Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man uthat cannot save? yet vthou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and †wwe are called by thy name; xleave us not. 10 Thus saith the Lord unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore ythe Lord doth not accept them; yzhe will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins. 11 Then said the Lord unto me, aPray not for this people bfor their good. 12 cWhen they fast, I will not hear their cry; and dwhen they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but eI will consume them by fthe sword, and by fthe famine, and by fthe pestilence.

13 gThen said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you †assured hpeace in this place. 14 Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets iprophesy lies in my name: jI sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and kdivination, and a thing of nought, and lthe deceit of their heart. 15 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and jI sent them not, myet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; nBy sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed. 16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and othey shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them. 17 Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them;

pLet mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and qlet them not cease:

For the virgin rdaughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very sgrievous blow.

18  If I go forth into tthe field, then behold the slain with the sword!

And if I enter tinto the city, then behold them that are sick with famine!

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