The Book of

JEREMIAH

Chapter 1

Jeremiah’s Call and Commission

1 The words of aJeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in bAnathoth in the land of Benjamin,

2 to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of aJosiah the son of bAmon, king of Judah, in the cthirteenth year of his reign.

3 It came also in the days of aJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of bZedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

4 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,

5 “Before I aformed you in the womb I knew you,

And bbefore you were born I consecrated you;

I have cappointed you a prophet to the nations.”

6 Then aI said, “Alas, Lord 1God!

Behold, I do not know how to speak,

Because bI am a youth.”

7 But the Lord 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 the Lord.

9 Then the Lord stretched out His hand and atouched my mouth, and the Lord 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 pluck up and to break down,

To destroy and to overthrow,

cTo build and to plant.”

The Almond Rod and Boiling Pot

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

12 Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for aI am 1watching over My word to perform it.”

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

14 Then the Lord said to me, “aOut of the north the evil 1will break forth on all the inhabitants of the land.

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

16 “I will 1pronounce My judgments on them concerning all their wickedness, whereby they have aforsaken Me and have 2boffered sacrifices 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, or I will dismay you before them.

18 “Now behold, I have made 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 “They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for aI am with you to deliver you,” declares the Lord.

Chapter 2

Judah’s Apostasy

1 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,

2 “Go and aproclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord,

“I remember concerning you the 1bdevotion of your youth,

The love of your betrothals,

cYour following after Me in the wilderness,

Through a land not sown.

3 “Israel was aholy to the Lord,

The bfirst of His harvest.

cAll who ate of it became guilty;

Evil came upon them,” declares the Lord.’ ”

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

5 Thus says the Lord,

“aWhat injustice did your fathers find in Me,

That they went far from Me

And walked after bemptiness and became empty?

6 “They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord

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 1deep darkness,

Through a land that no one crossed

And where no man dwelt?’

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 the Lord?’

And those who handle the law bdid not know Me;

The 1rulers 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 the Lord,

“And with your sons’ sons I will contend.

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

And send to bKedar and observe closely

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

11 “Has a nation changed gods

When 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 shudder, be very desolate,” declares the Lord.

13 “For My people have committed 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 servant?

Why has he become a prey?

15 “The young alions have roared at him,

They have 1roared loudly.

And they have bmade his land a waste;

His cities have been destroyed, without inhabitant.

16 “Also the 1men of aMemphis and Tahpanhes

Have 2shaved the bcrown of your head.

17 “Have you not adone this to yourself

By your forsaking the Lord your God

When He aled 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 2Euphrates?

19 “aYour own wickedness will correct you,

And your bapostasies will reprove you;

Know therefore and see that it is evil and cbitter

For you to forsake the Lord your God,

And dthe dread of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord 1God 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 faithful 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 the Lord 2God.

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

I have not gone after the bBaals’?

Look at your way in the cvalley!

Know what you have done!

You are a swift young camel dentangling her ways,

24 A 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 unshod

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 discovered,

So the house of Israel is shamed;

They, their kings, their princes

And their priests and their prophets,

27 Who 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 of their 1trouble 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 of your 1trouble;

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 the Lord.

30 “aIn vain I have struck your sons;

They accepted no chastening.

Your bsword has devoured your prophets

Like a destroying lion.

31 “O generation, heed the word of the Lord.

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 poor;

You did not find them bbreaking in.

But in spite of all these things,

35 Yet 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 ago around so much

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 the Lord has rejected bthose in whom you trust,

And you will not prosper with them.”

Chapter 3

The Polluted Land

1 God 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 the Lord.

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

Where have you not been violated?

By the roads you have bsat for them

Like an Arab in the desert,

And you have cpolluted a land

With your harlotry and with your wickedness.

3 “Therefore the ashowers have been withheld,

And there has been no spring rain.

Yet you had a bharlot’s forehead;

You refused to be ashamed.

4 “Have you not just now called to Me,

‘aMy Father, You are the 1bfriend of my cyouth?

5 ‘aWill He be angry forever?

Will He 1be indignant to the end?’

Behold, you have spoken

And have done evil things,

And you have 2had your way.”

Faithless Israel

6 Then the Lord 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 1thought, ‘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 writ of divorce, yet her btreacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also.

9 “Because of the lightness of her harlotry, 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 adeception,” declares the Lord.

God Invites…