1) These are the words of Jeremiah* the son of Hil·kiʹah, one of the priests in Anʹa·thoth+ in the land of Benjamin. 2 The word of Jehovah came to him in the days of Jo·siʹah+ the son of Aʹmon,+ the king of Judah, in the 13th year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Je·hoiʹa·kim+ the son of Jo·siʹah, the king of Judah, until the completion of the 11th year of Zed·e·kiʹah+ the son of Jo·siʹah, the king of Judah, until Jerusalem went into exile in the fifth month.+
4 The word of Jehovah came to me, saying:
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew* you,+
And before you were born* I sanctified you.*+
I made you a prophet to the nations.”
6 But I said: “Alas, O Sovereign Lord Jehovah!
I do not know how to speak,+ for I am just a boy.”*+
7 Jehovah then said to me:
“Do not say, ‘I am just a boy.’
For you must go to all those to whom I send you,
And you should say everything that I command you.+
8 Do not be afraid because of their appearance,+
For ‘I am with you to save you,’+ declares Jehovah.”
9 Then Jehovah stretched out his hand and touched my mouth.+ And Jehovah said to me: “I have put my words in your mouth.+ 10 See, I have commissioned you this day to be over the nations and over the kingdoms, to uproot and to pull down, to destroy and to tear down, to build and to plant.”+
11 The word of Jehovah again came to me, saying: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” So I said: “I see the branch of an almond tree.”*
12 Jehovah said to me: “You have seen correctly, for I am wide awake concerning my word to carry it out.”
13 The word of Jehovah came to me a second time, saying: “What do you see?” So I said: “I see a boiling* pot,* and its mouth is tilted away from the north.” 14 Then Jehovah said to me:
“Out of the north the calamity will break loose
Against all the inhabitants of the land.+
15 For ‘I am summoning all the families of the kingdoms of the north,’ declares Jehovah,+
‘And they will come; each one will set up his throne
At the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem,+
Against her walls all around
And against all the cities of Judah.+
16 And I will declare my judgments against them over all their wickedness,
Because they have abandoned me,+
And they are making sacrificial smoke to other gods+
And bowing down to the works of their own hands.’+
17 But you should prepare for action,*
And you must stand up and tell them everything that I command you.
Do not be terrified of them,+
So that I do not terrify you before them.
18 For today I have made you a fortified city,
An iron pillar, and copper walls against all the land,+
Toward the kings of Judah and her princes,
Toward her priests and the people of the land.+
19 And they will certainly fight against you,
But they will not prevail against you,*
For ‘I am with you,’+ declares Jehovah, ‘to save you.’”
2) The word of Jehovah came to me, saying: 2 “Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, ‘This is what Jehovah says:
“I well remember the devotion* of your youth,+
The love you showed when you were engaged to marry,+
How you followed me in the wilderness,
In a land not sown with seed.+
3 Israel was holy to Jehovah,+ the firstfruits of his harvest.”’
‘Anyone devouring him would become guilty.
Disaster would come upon them,’ declares Jehovah.”+
4 Hear the word of Jehovah, O house of Jacob,
And all you families of the house of Israel.
5 This is what Jehovah says:
“What fault did your forefathers find in me,+
So that they strayed so far from me,
And they walked after worthless idols+ and became worthless themselves?+
6 They did not ask, ‘Where is Jehovah,
The One who brought us out of the land of Egypt,+
Who led us through the wilderness,
Through a land of deserts+ and pits,
Through a land of drought+ and of deep shadow,
Through a land where no man travels
And where no humans dwell?’
7 I then brought you to a land of orchards,
To eat its fruitage and its good things.+
But you came in and defiled my land;
You made my inheritance something detestable.+
8 The priests did not ask, ‘Where is Jehovah?’+
Those handling the Law did not know me,
The shepherds rebelled against me,+
The prophets prophesied by Baʹal,+
And they followed those who could bring no benefit.
9 ‘So I will contend further with you,’+ declares Jehovah,
‘And I will contend with the sons of your sons.’
10 ‘But cross over to the coastlands* of the Kitʹtim+ and see.
Yes, send to Keʹdar+ and consider carefully;
See whether anything like this has happened.
11 Has a nation ever changed its gods for those that are not gods?
But my own people have exchanged my glory for what is useless.+
12 Stare in amazement at this, you heavens;
Shudder in absolute horror,’ declares Jehovah,
13 ‘Because my people have done two bad things:
They have abandoned me, the source of living water,+
And dug* for themselves cisterns,
Broken cisterns, that cannot hold water.’
14 ‘Is Israel a servant or a slave born in the household?
Then why has he been given over to plunder?
15 Against him young lions* roar;+
They have raised their voice.
They made his land an object of horror.
His cities have been set on fire, so that there is no inhabitant.
16 The people of Noph*+ and Tahʹpan·es+ feed on the crown of your head.
17 Have you not brought this on yourself
By abandoning Jehovah your God+
While he was leading you in the way?
18 Now why do you wish for the way to Egypt+
To drink the waters of Shiʹhor?*
Why do you wish for the way to As·syrʹi·a+
To drink the waters of the River?*
19 Your wickedness should correct you,
And your own unfaithfulness should reprove you.
Know and realize how bad and bitter it is+
To abandon Jehovah your God;
You have shown no fear of me,’+ declares the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies.
20 ‘For long ago I smashed your yoke+
And tore off your shackles.
But you said: “I am not going to serve,”
For on every high hill and under every luxuriant tree+
You were lying sprawled out, prostituting yourself.+
21 I planted you as a choice red vine,+ all of it pure seed;
So how have you turned into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine before me?’+
22 ‘Though you should wash with soda* and use much lye,*
Your guilt would still be a stain before me,’+ declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.
23 How can you say, ‘I have not defiled myself.
I have not followed the Baʹals’?
Look at your way in the valley.
Consider what you have done.
You are like a swift, young she-camel,
Aimlessly running back and forth in her ways,
24 A wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness,
Sniffing the wind in her lust.*
Who can restrain her when she is in heat?
None of those looking for her will need to weary themselves.
In her season* they will find her.
25 Keep your feet from going bare
And your throat from thirst.
But you said, ‘It is hopeless!+
No! I have fallen in love with strangers,*+
And I will follow them.’+
26 Like the shame of a thief when he is caught,
So the house of Israel has been put to shame,
They, their kings and their princes,
Their priests and their prophets.+
27 They say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’+
And to a stone, ‘You gave birth to me.’
But to me they turn their back and not their face.+
And in the time of their calamity they will say,
‘Rise up and save us!’+
28 Now where are your gods that you made for yourself?+
Let them rise up if they can save you in your time of calamity,
For your gods have become as numerous as your cities, O Judah.+
29 ‘Why do you keep contending against me?
Why have all of you rebelled against me?’+ declares Jehovah.
30 I have struck your sons in vain.+
They would accept no discipline;+
Your own sword devoured your prophets,+
Like a marauding lion.
31 O generation, consider for yourselves the word of Jehovah.
Have I become like a wilderness to Israel
Or a land of oppressive darkness?
Why have these, my people, said, ‘We roam freely.
We will come to you no more’?+
32 Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
A bride her breastbands?*
And yet my own people have forgotten me for countless days.+
33 How skillfully, O woman, you set your course to seek love!
You have trained yourself in the ways of wickedness.+
34 Even your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor ones,*+
Though I did not find them in the act of breaking in;
It is on all your skirts.+
35 But you say, ‘I am innocent.
Surely his anger has turned back from me.’
Now I am bringing judgment against you
Because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
36 Why do you treat so lightly your unstable course?
You will become ashamed of Egypt too,+
Just as you became ashamed of As·syrʹi·a.+
37 For this reason also you will go out with your hands on your head,+
For Jehovah has rejected those in whom you put confidence;
They will not bring you success.”
3) People ask: “If a man sends his wife away and she leaves him and becomes another man’s, should he return to her anymore?”
Has that land not been utterly polluted?+
“You have committed prostitution with many companions,+
And should you now return to me?” declares Jehovah.
2 “Raise your eyes to the bare hills and see.
Where have you not been raped?
You sat along the roadways for them,
Like a nomad* in the wilderness.
You keep polluting the land
With your prostitution and your wickedness.+
3 So showers of rain are withheld,+
And there is no rain in the spring.
You have the brazen look* of a wife who commits prostitution;
You refuse to feel shame.+
4 But now you call out to me,
‘My Father, you are the companion of my youth!+
5 Should one stay resentful forever,
Or always hold a grudge?’
This is what you say,
But you keep doing all the evil you are capable of doing.”+
6 In the days of King Jo·siʹah,+ Jehovah said to me: “‘Have you seen what unfaithful Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and underneath every luxuriant tree to commit prostitution.+ 7 Even after she did all these things, I kept telling her to return to me,+ but she did not return; and Judah kept watching her treacherous sister.+ 8 When I saw that, I sent unfaithful Israel away with a full certificate of divorce+ because of her adultery.+ But her treacherous sister Judah did not become afraid; she too went out and committed prostitution.+ 9 She took her prostitution lightly, and she kept polluting the land and committing adultery with stones and with trees.+ 10 Despite all this, her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, only in pretense,’ declares Jehovah.”
11 Jehovah then said to me: “Unfaithful Israel has shown herself* to be more righteous than treacherous Judah.+ 12 Go and proclaim these words to the north:+
“‘“Return, O renegade Israel,” declares Jehovah.’+ ‘“I will not look down angrily* on you,+ for I am loyal,” declares Jehovah.’ ‘“I will not stay resentful forever. 13 Only acknowledge your guilt, for you have rebelled against Jehovah your God. You continued scattering your favors* to strangers* under every luxuriant tree, but you would not obey my voice,” declares Jehovah.’”
14 “Return, you renegade sons,” declares Jehovah. “For I have become your true master;* and I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.+ 15 And I will give you shepherds after my own heart,+ and they will feed you with knowledge and insight. 16 You will become many and will bear fruit in the land in those days,” declares Jehovah.+ “No more will they say, ‘The ark of the covenant of Jehovah!’ It will not come up into the heart, nor will they remember it or miss it, and it will not be made again. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah;+ and all the nations will be brought together to the name of Jehovah at Jerusalem,+ and they will no longer stubbornly follow their own wicked heart.”
18 “In those days they will walk together, the house of Judah alongside the house of Israel,+ and together they will come from the land of the north into the land that I gave to your forefathers as an inheritance.+ 19 And I thought, ‘How I placed you among the sons and gave you the desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance among the nations!’*+ I also thought that you would call me, ‘My Father!’ and that you would not turn away from following me. 20 ‘Truly as a wife treacherously leaves her husband,* so also you, O house of Israel, have dealt treacherously with me,’+ declares Jehovah.”
21 On the bare hills a sound is heard,
The weeping and the pleading of the people of Israel,
For they have distorted their way;
They have forgotten Jehovah their God.+
22 “Return, you renegade sons.
I will heal your renegade condition.”+
“Here we are! We have come to you,
For you, O Jehovah, are our God.+
23 Truly the hills and the turmoil on the mountains are a delusion.+
Truly in Jehovah our God is the salvation of Israel.+
24 But the shameful thing* has consumed the toil of our forefathers since our youth,+
Their flocks and their herds,
Their sons and their daughters.
25 Let us lie down in our shame,
And let our disgrace cover us,
For we have sinned against Jehovah our God,+
We and our fathers since our youth until this day,+
And we have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God.”
4) “If you will return, O Israel,” declares Jehovah,
“If you will return to me
And if you will remove your disgusting idols from before me,
Then you will not be a fugitive.+
2 And if you swear,
‘As surely as Jehovah is alive!’ in truth, justice, and righteousness,
Then the nations will obtain a blessing for themselves by him,
And in him they will boast.”+
3 For this is what Jehovah says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem:
“Plow for yourselves arable land,
And do not keep sowing among thorns.+
4 Circumcise yourselves to Jehovah,
And remove the foreskins of your hearts,+
You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
So that my wrath may not blaze up like a fire
And burn with no one to extinguish it,
Because of your evil deeds.”+
5 Declare it in Judah, and proclaim it in Jerusalem.
Shout and blow a horn throughout the land.+
Call out loudly and say: “Gather together,
And let us flee into the fortified cities.+
6 Raise a signal* toward Zion.
Seek shelter, and do not stand still,”
For I am bringing in calamity from the north,+ a great crash.
7 He has emerged like a lion from his thicket;+
The destroyer of nations has set out.+
He has gone out from his place to make your land an object of horror.
Your cities will be reduced to ruins, without an inhabitant.+
8 Therefore, put on sackcloth,+
Mourn* and wail,
Because the burning anger of Jehovah has not turned away from us.
9 “In that day,” declares Jehovah, “the heart* of the king will fail him,+
Also the heart* of the princes;
The priests will be horrified, and the prophets will be amazed.”+
10 Then I said: “Alas, O Sovereign Lord Jehovah! Truly you have utterly deceived this people+ and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace,’+ when the sword is at our throats.”*
11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem:
“A scorching wind from the barren hills of the desert
Will sweep down on the daughter of* my people;
It is not coming to winnow or to cleanse.
12 The full wind comes from these places at my bidding.
Now I will pronounce judgments against them.
13 Look! He will come like rain clouds,
And his chariots are like a storm wind.+
His horses are swifter than eagles.+
Woe to us, for we are ruined!
14 Wash your heart clean of wickedness, O Jerusalem, in order to be saved.+
How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?
15 For a voice tells the news from Dan,+
And it proclaims disaster from the mountains of Eʹphra·im.
16 Report it, yes, to the nations;
Proclaim it against Jerusalem.”
“Sentinels* are coming from a distant land,
And they will raise their voices against the cities of Judah.
17 They come against her on all sides like guards of the open field,+
Because she has rebelled against me,”+ declares Jehovah.
18 “Your own ways and your actions will be brought upon you.+
How bitter is your disaster,
For it reaches clear to your heart!”
19 O my anguish,* my anguish!
I feel great pain in my very heart.*
My heart pounds within me.
I cannot keep silent,
For I have* heard the sound of the horn,
The alarm signal of war.*+
20 Disaster after disaster has been reported,
For the whole land has been destroyed.
Suddenly my own tents are destroyed,
In a moment my tent cloths.+
21 How long will I keep seeing the signal,*
Keep hearing the sound of the horn?+
22 “For my people are foolish;+
They take no note of me.
They are stupid sons, with no understanding.
They are clever* enough when it comes to doing bad,
But they do not know how to do good.”
23 I saw the land, and look! it was empty and desolate.+
I looked at the heavens, and their light was no more.+
24 I saw the mountains, and look! they were quaking,
And the hills were shaking.+
25 I saw, and look! there was no man,
And the birds of the heavens had all fled.+
26 I saw, and look! the orchard had become a wilderness,
And its cities had all been torn down.+
It was because of Jehovah,
Because of his burning anger.
27 For this is what Jehovah says: “The whole land will become desolate,+
But I will not carry out a complete extermination.
28 For this reason the land will mourn,+
And the heavens above will become dark.+
It is because I have spoken, I have decided,
And I will not change my mind,* nor will I turn back from it.+
29 At the sound of the horsemen and the archers,
The entire city flees.+
They enter into the thickets,
And they climb the rocks.+
Every city is abandoned,
And no man dwells in them.”
30 Now that you are devastated, what will you do?
You used to clothe yourself with scarlet,
To deck yourself with gold ornaments,
And to enlarge your eyes with black paint.*
But it is in vain that you beautified yourself,+
For those lusting after you have rejected you;
They are now seeking to take your life.*+
31 For I have heard the sound like that of a sick woman,
The distress like that of a woman giving birth to her first child,
The voice of the daughter of Zion who keeps gasping for breath.
She says as she spreads out her palms:+
“Woe to me, for I am* exhausted because of the killers!”
5) Roam the streets of Jerusalem.
Look around and take note.
Search her public squares to see
Whether you can find a man who acts with justice,+
One who seeks to be faithful,
And I will forgive her.
2 Even if they say: “As surely as Jehovah is alive!”
They would still swear to what is false.+
3 O Jehovah, do your eyes not look for faithfulness?+
You struck them, but it made no impact on them.*
You exterminated them, but they refused to accept discipline.+
They made their faces harder than a rock,+
And they refused to turn around.+
4 But I said to myself: “Surely these must be the lowly.
They act foolishly, for they do not know the way of Jehovah,
The judgment of their God.
5 I will go to the prominent men and speak with them,
For they must have taken note of the way of Jehovah,
The judgment of their God.+
But they had all broken the yoke
And torn apart the restraints.”*
6 That is why a lion of the forest attacks them,
A wolf of the desert plains keeps ravaging them,
A leopard lies awake at their cities.
Everyone going out from them is torn to pieces.
For their transgressions are many;
Their acts of unfaithfulness are numerous.+
7 How can I forgive you for this?
Your sons have abandoned me,
And they swear by what is no God.+
I satisfied their needs,
But they kept committing adultery,
And they flocked to the house of a prostitute.
8 They are like eager, lustful horses,
Each neighing after another man’s wife.+
9 “Should I not call them to account for these things?” declares Jehovah.
“Should I* not avenge myself on such a nation?”+
10 “Come up against her vineyard terraces and bring ruin,
But do not make a complete extermination.+
Take away her spreading shoots,
For they do not belong to Jehovah.
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
Have been utterly treacherous with me,” declares Jehovah.+
12 “They have denied Jehovah, and they keep saying,
‘He will do nothing.*+
No calamity will come upon us;
We will not see sword or famine.’+
13 The prophets are full of wind,
And the word* is not in them.
Let this happen to them!”
14 Therefore this is what Jehovah, the God of armies, says:
“Because these men are saying this,
Here I am making my words a fire in your mouth,+
And this people is the wood,
And it will consume them.”+
15 “Here I am bringing in on you a nation from far away, O house of Israel,”+ declares Jehovah.
“It is an enduring nation.
It is an ancient nation,
A nation whose language you do not know,
And whose speech you cannot understand.+
16 Their quiver is like an open grave;
All of them are warriors.
17 They will devour your harvest and your bread.+
They will devour your sons and your daughters.
They will devour your flocks and your herds.
They will devour your vines and your fig trees.
They will destroy with the sword your fortified cities in which you trust.”
18 “But even in those days,” declares Jehovah, “I will not carry out a complete extermination of you.+ 19 And when they ask, ‘Why has Jehovah our God done all these things to us?’ you should answer them, ‘Just as you abandoned me to serve a foreign god in your land, so you will serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’”+
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob,
And proclaim it in Judah, saying:
21 “Hear this, you foolish and senseless people:*+
They have eyes but cannot see;+
They have ears but cannot hear.+
22 ‘Do you not fear me?’ declares Jehovah,
‘Should you not tremble before me?
It is I who placed the sand as the boundary for the sea,
A permanent regulation that it cannot pass over.
Although its waves toss, they cannot prevail;
Although they roar, they still cannot pass beyond it.+
23 But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
They have turned aside and gone their own way.+
24 And they do not say in their heart:
“Let us now fear Jehovah our God,
The One who gives the rain in its season,
Both the autumn rain and the spring rain,
The One who guards for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.”+
25 Your own errors have prevented these things from coming;
Your own sins have deprived you of what is good.+
26 For among my people there are wicked men.
They keep peering, as when birdcatchers crouch down.
They set a deadly trap.
It is men whom they catch.
27 Like a cage full of birds,
So their houses are full of deception.+
That is why they have become powerful and rich.
28 They have grown fat and smooth;
They overflow with evil.
They do not plead the legal case of the fatherless,+
That they may gain success;
And they deny justice to the poor.’”+
29 “Should I not call them to account for these things?” declares Jehovah.
“Should I* not avenge myself on such a nation?
30 Something appalling and horrible has occurred in the land:
31 The prophets prophesy lies,+
And the priests dominate by their own authority.
And my own people love it that way.+
But what will you do when the end comes?”
