Jeremiah 1:4–50:46

⁴Now the word of Yahweh came to me saying,

⁵“Before I ^aformed you in the ¹innermost parts I knew you,

And ^bbefore you came out from the womb I set you apart;

I have ^cgiven you as a prophet to the nations.”

⁶Then ^aI said, “Alas, Lord Yahweh!

Behold, I do not know how to speak

Because ^bI am a youth.”

⁷But Yahweh said to me,

“Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’

^aBecause everywhere I send you, you shall go,

And ^ball that I command you, you shall speak.

⁸“^aDo not be afraid of them,

For ^bI am with you to deliver you,” declares Yahweh.

⁹Then Yahweh sent forth His hand and ^atouched my mouth, and Yahweh said to me,

“Behold, I have ^bput My words in your mouth.

¹⁰“See, ^aI have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms,

^bTo uproot and to tear down,

To cause to perish and to pull down,

^cTo build and to plant.”

The Almond Rod and Boiling Pot

¹¹Now the word of Yahweh came to me saying, “What do you see, ^aJeremiah?” And I said, “I see a rod of an ¹almond tree.”

¹²Then Yahweh said to me, “You have seen well, for ^aI am ¹watching over My word to do it.”

¹³The word of Yahweh came to me a second time saying, “^aWhat do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling ^bpot, facing away from the north.”

¹⁴Then Yahweh said to me, “^aFrom the north the evil ¹will break open on all the inhabitants of the land.

¹⁵“For, behold, I am calling ^aall the families of the kingdoms of the north,” declares Yahweh; “and they will come, and each one of them will ^bput his throne at the opening of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls round about and against all the ^ccities of Judah.

¹⁶“I will speak My judgments on them concerning all their evil, whereby they have ^aforsaken Me and have ^bburned incense to other gods and worshiped the ^cworks of their own hands.

¹⁷“Now, ^agird up your loins and arise and speak to them all which I command you. ^bDo not be dismayed before them, lest I dismay you before them.

¹⁸“Now behold, I have given you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests, and to the people of the land.

¹⁹“And they will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for ^aI am with you to deliver you,” declares Yahweh.

CHAPTER 2

Judah Transgresses Against Yahweh

¹Now the word of Yahweh came to me saying,

²“Go and ^acall out in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh,

“I remember concerning you the ^blovingkindness of your youth,

The love of your betrothals,

^cYour walking after Me in the wilderness,

Through a land not sown.

³“Israel was ^aholy to Yahweh,

The ^bfirst of His produce.

^cAll who ate of it became guilty;

Evil came upon them,” declares Yahweh.’”

⁴Hear the word of Yahweh, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel.

⁵Thus says Yahweh,

“^aWhat injustice did your fathers find in Me,

That they went far from Me

And walked after ^bvanity and became vain?

⁶“They did not say, ‘Where is Yahweh

Who ^abrought us up out of the land of Egypt,

Who ^bled us through the wilderness,

Through a land of deserts and of pits,

Through a land of drought and of the shadow of death,

Through a land that no one crossed

And where no man inhabited?’

⁷“I brought you into the ^afruitful land

To eat its fruit and its good things.

But you came and ^bdefiled My land,

And My inheritance you made an abomination.

⁸“The ^apriests did not say, ‘Where is Yahweh?’

And those who handle the law ^bdid not know Me;

The ¹shepherds also transgressed against Me,

And the ^cprophets prophesied by Baal

And walked after ^dthings that did not profit.

⁹“Therefore I will yet ^acontend with you,” declares Yahweh,

“And with your sons’ sons I will contend.

¹⁰“For ^across to the coastlands of ¹Kittim and see,

And send to ^bKedar and perceive closely

And see if there has been such a thing as this!

¹¹“Has a nation changed gods

Though ^athey were not gods?

But My people have ^bchanged their glory

For that which does not profit.

¹²“Be appalled, ^aO heavens, at this,

And be horribly afraid, be very devastated,” declares Yahweh.

¹³“For My people have done two evils:

They have forsaken Me,

The ^afountain of living waters,

To hew for themselves ^bcisterns,

Broken cisterns

That can hold no water.

¹⁴“Is Israel ^aa slave? Or is he a homeborn slave?

Why has he become plunder?

¹⁵“The young ^alions have roared at him;

They have given forth their voice.

And they have ^bmade his land a desolation;

His cities have been turned into ruin, without inhabitant.

¹⁶“Also the ¹men of ^aMemphis and Tahpanhes

Have ²shaved the ^btop of your head.

¹⁷“Have you not ^adone this to yourself

By your forsaking Yahweh your God

When He ^bled you in the way?

¹⁸“But now what are you doing ^aon the road to Egypt,

To drink the waters of the ^1bNile?

Or what are you doing on the road to Assyria,

To drink the waters of the ²River?

¹⁹“^aYour own evil will chastise you,

And your ^bacts of faithlessness will reprove you;

Know therefore and see that it is evil and ^cbitter

For you to forsake Yahweh your God,

And ^dthe dread of Me is not in you,” declares Lord Yahweh of hosts.

²⁰“For long ago ^1aI broke your yoke

And tore off your bonds;

But you said, ‘I will not serve!’

For on every ^bhigh hill

And under every green tree

You have lain down as a harlot.

²¹“Yet I ^aplanted you a choice vine,

A completely true seed.

How then have you turned yourself before Me

Into the ^bdegenerate shoots of a foreign vine?

²²“Although you ^awash yourself with lye

And ¹use much soap,

The ^bstain of your iniquity is before Me,” declares Lord Yahweh.

²³“^aHow can you say, ‘I am not defiled;

I have not walked after the ^bBaals’?

Look at your way in the ^cvalley!

Know what you have done!

You are a swift young camel ^dentangling her ways,

²⁴A ^awild donkey accustomed to the wilderness,

That sniffs the wind in her passion.

In the time of her ¹heat who can turn her away?

All who seek her will not become weary;

In her month they will find her.

²⁵“Keep your feet from being barefoot

And your throat from thirst;

But you said, ‘^aIt is ¹hopeless!

No! For I have ^bloved strangers,

And after them I will walk.’

²⁶“As the ^athief is shamed when he is found,

So the house of Israel is shamed;

They, their kings, their princes,

And their priests and their prophets,

²⁷Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’

And to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’

For they have turned their ^aback to Me

And not their face;

But in the ^btime when their evil comes they will say,

‘Arise and save us.’

²⁸“But where are your ^agods

Which you made for yourself?

Let them arise, if they can ^bsave you

In the time when your evil comes;

For ^caccording to the number of your cities

Are your gods, O Judah.

²⁹“Why do you contend with Me?

You have ^aall transgressed against Me,” declares Yahweh.

³⁰“^aIn vain I have struck your sons;

They received no discipline.

Your ^bsword has devoured your prophets

Like a destroying lion.

³¹“O generation, ¹behold the word of Yahweh.

Have I been a wilderness to Israel

Or a ^aland of thick darkness?

Why do My people say, ‘^bWe are free to roam;

We will no longer come to You’?

³²“Can a virgin forget her ornaments,

Or a bride her attire?

Yet My people have ^aforgotten Me

Days without number.

³³“How well you prepare your way

To seek love!

Therefore even ¹the wicked women

You have taught your ways.

³⁴“Also on your skirts is found

The ^alifeblood of the innocent needy;

You did not find them ^bbreaking in.

But in spite of all these things,

³⁵Yet you said, ‘I am innocent;

Surely His anger is turned away from me.’

Behold, I will ^aenter into judgment with you

Because you ^bsay, ‘I have not sinned.’

³⁶“Why do you ^adespise Him so much

In changing your way?

Also, ^byou will be put to shame by Egypt

As you were put to shame by ^cAssyria.

³⁷“From this place also you will go out

With ^ayour hands on your head;

For Yahweh has rejected ^bthose in whom you trust,

And you will not succeed with them.”

CHAPTER 3

The Polluted Land

¹God ¹says, “^aIf a husband divorces his wife

And she goes from him

And belongs to another man,

Will he still return to her?

Will not that land be completely ²polluted?

But you ^bare a harlot with many ³lovers;

Yet you ^cturn to Me,” declares Yahweh.

²“Lift up your eyes to the ^abare heights and see;

Where have you not been ravished?

By the roads you have ^bsat for them

Like ¹an Arab in the wilderness,

And you have ^cpolluted a land

With your harlotry and with your evil.

³“Therefore the ^ashowers have been withheld,

And the ¹late rain has not ²come.

Yet you had a ^bharlot’s forehead;

You refused to feel dishonor.

⁴“Have you not just now called to Me,

‘^aMy Father, You are the ^1bclose companion of my ^cyouth?

⁵‘^aWill He be angry forever?

Will He keep it to the end?’

Behold, you have spoken

And have done evil things,

And you have ¹had your way.”

Faithless Israel Called to Repentance

⁶Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She ^awent up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there.

⁷“^aI said, ‘After she has done all these things, she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her ^btreacherous sister Judah saw it.

⁸“And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and ^agiven her a certificate of divorce, yet her ^btreacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also.

⁹“So it was, because of the lightness of her harlotry, that she ^apolluted the land and committed adultery with ^bstones and trees.

¹⁰“Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in ^alying,” declares Yahweh.

¹¹And Yahweh said to me, “^aFaithless Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.

¹²“Go and call out these words toward the north and say,

‘^1aReturn, faithless Israel,’ declares Yahweh;

‘^bI will not ²look upon you in anger.

For I am ^cOne of lovingkindness,’ declares Yahweh;

‘I will not be angry forever.

¹³‘Only ^1aacknowledge your iniquity,

That you have transgressed against Yahweh your God

And have ^bscattered your ways of harlotry to…