[8] And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thus saith the Lord, [9] Thus will I mar the pride of Juda, and the pride of Jerusalem; [10] even this great pride of the men that will not hearken to my words, and have gone after strange gods, to serve them, and to worship them: and they shall be as this girdle, which can be used for nothing. [11] For as a girdle cleaves about the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave to myself the house of Israel, and the whole house of Juda; that they might be to me a famous people, and a praise, and a glory: but they did not hearken to me.
[12] And thou shalt say to this people, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and it shall come to pass, if they shall say to thee, Shall we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? that thou shalt say to them, [13] Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will fill the inhabitants of this land, and their kings the sons of David that sit upon their throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and Juda and all the dwellers in Jerusalem, with strong drink. [14] And I will scatter them a man and his brother, and their fathers and their sons together: I will not have compassion, saith the Lord, and I will not spare, neither will I pity to save them from destruction.
[15] Hear ye, and give ear, and be not proud: for the Lord has spoken. [16] Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and ye shall wait for light, and behold the shadow of death, and they shall be brought into darkness. [17] But if ye will not hearken, your soul shall weep in secret because of pride, and your eyes shall pour down tears, because the Lord’s flock is sorely bruised.
[18] Say ye to the king and the princes, Humble yourselves, and sit down; for your crown of glory is removed from your head. [19] The cities toward the south were shut, and there was none to open them: Juda is removed into captivity,they have suffered a complete removal. [20] Lift up thine eyes, O Jerusalem, and behold them that come from the north; where is the flock that was given thee, the sheep of thy glory? [21] What wilt thou say when they shall visit thee, for thou didst teach them lessons for rule against thyself; shall not pangs seize thee as a woman in travail? [22] And if thou shouldest say in thine heart, Wherefore have these things happened to me? Because of the abundance of thine iniquity have thy skirts been discovered, that thine heels might be exposed.
[23] If the Ethiopian shall change his skin, or the leopardess her spots, then shall ye be able to do good, having learnt evil. [24] So I scattered them as sticks carried by the wind into the wilderness. [25] Thus is thy lot, and the reward of your disobedience to me, saith the Lord; as thou didst forget me, and trust in lies, [26] I also will expose thy skirts upon thy face, and thy shame shall be seen; [27] thine adultery also, and thy neighing, and the looseness of thy fornication: on the hills and in the fields I have seen thine abominations. Woe to thee, O Jerusalem, for thou hast not been purified so as to follow me; how long yet shall it be?
Chapter 14
[1] AND THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO JEREMIAS CONCERNING THE DROUGHT.
[2] Judea has mourned, and her gates are emptied, and are darkened upon the earth; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. [3] And her nobles have sent their little ones to the water: they came to the wells, and found no water: and brought back their vessels empty. [4] And the labours of the land failed, because there was no rain: the husbandmen were ashamed, they covered their heads. [5] And hinds calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass. [6] The wild asses stood by the forests, and snuffed up the wind; their eyes failed, because there was no grass.
[7] Our sins have risen up against us: O Lord, do thou for us for thine own sake; for our sins are many before thee; for we have sinned against thee. [8] O Lord, thou art the hope of Israel, and deliverest us in time of troubles; why art thou become as a sojourner upon the land, or as one born in the land, yet turning aside for a resting-place? [9] Wilt thou be as a man asleep, or as a strong man that cannot save? yet thou art among us, O Lord, and thy name is called upon us; forget us not.
[10] Thus saith the Lord to this people, They have loved to wander, and they have not spared, therefore God has not prospered them; now will he remember their iniquity. [11] And the Lord said to me, Pray not for this people for their good: [12] for though they fast, I will not hear their supplication; and though they offer whole-burnt-offerings and sacrifices, I will take no pleasure in them: for I will consume them with sword, and with famine, and with pestilence.
[13] And I said, O ever living Lord! behold, their prophets prophesy, and say, Ye shall not see a sword, nor shall famine be among you; for I will give truth and peace on the land, and in this place.
[14] Then the Lord said to me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, and I commanded them not, and I spoke not to them: for they prophesy to you false visions, and divinations, and auguries, and devices of their own heart. [15] Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that prophesy lies in my name, and I sent them not, who say, Sword and famine shall not be upon this land; they shall die by a grievous death, and the prophets shall be consumed by famine. [16] And the people to whom they prophesy, they also shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, because of the sword and famine; and there shall be none to bury them: their wives also, and their sons, and their daughters shall die thus; and I will pour out their wickedness upon them.
[17] And thou shalt speak this word to them; Let your eyes shed tears day and night, and let them not cease: for the daughter of my people has been sorely bruised, and her plague is very grievous. [18] If I go forth into the plain, then behold the slain by the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold the distress of famine! for priest and prophet have gone to a land which they knew not.
[19] Hast thou utterly rejected Juda? and has thy soul departed from Sion? wherefore has thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we waited for peace, but there was no prosperity; for a time of healing, and behold trouble! [20] We know, O Lord, our sins, and the iniquities of our fathers: for we have sinned before thee. [21] Refrain for thy name’s sake, destroy not the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us. [22] Is there any one among the idols of the Gentiles that can give rain? and will the sky yield his fulness at their bidding? Art not thou he? we will even wait on thee, O Lord: for thou hast made all these things.
Chapter 15
[1] And the Lord said to me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before my face, my soul could not be toward them: dismiss this people, and let them go forth. [2] And it shall be, if they say to thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord; As many as are for death, to death; and as many as are for famine, to famine; and as many as are for the sword, to the sword; and as many as are for captivity, to captivity. [3] And I will punish them with four kinds of death, saith the Lord, the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the wild beasts of the earth, and the birds of the sky to devour and destroy. [4] And I will deliver them up for distress to all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasses son of Ezekias king of Juda, for all that he did in Jerusalem.
[5] Who will spare thee, O Jerusalem? and who will fear for thee? or who will turn back to ask for thy welfare? [6] Thou hast turned away from me, saith the Lord, thou wilt go back: therefore I will stretch out my hand, and will destroy thee, and will no more spare them. [7] And I will completely scatter them; in the gates of my people they are bereaved of children: they have destroyed my people because of their iniquities.
[8] Their widows have been multiplied more than the sand of the sea: I have brought young men against the mother, even distress at noon-day: I have suddenly cast upon her trembling and anxiety. [9] She that bore seven is spent; her soul has fainted under trouble; her sun is gone down while it is yet noon; she is ashamed and disgraced: I will give the remnant of them to the sword before their enemies.
[10] Woe is me, my mother! thou hast born me as some man of strife, and at variance with the whole earth; I have not helped others, nor has any one helped me; my strength h
as failed among them that curse me. [11] Be it so, Lord, in their prosperity; surely I stood before thee in the time of their calamities, and in the time of their affliction, for their good against the enemy. [12] Will iron be known? whereas thy strength is a brazen covering. [13] Yea, I will give thy treasures for a spoil as a recompence, because of all thy sins and that in all thy borders. [14] And I will enslave thee to thine enemies round about, in a land which thou hast not known; for a fire has been kindled out of my wrath; it shall burn upon you.
[15] O Lord, remember me, and visit me, and vindicate me before them that persecute me; do not bear long with them; know how I have met with reproach for thy sake, from those who set at nought thy words; [16] consume them; and thy word shall be to me for the joy and gladness of my heart: for thy name has been called upon me, O Lord Almighty. [17] I have not sat in the assembly of them as they mocked, but I feared because of thy power: I sat alone, for I was filled with bitterness.
[18] Why do they that grieve me prevail against me? my wound is severe; whence shall I be healed? it is indeed become to me as deceitful water, that has no faithfulness.
[19] Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou wilt return, then will I restore thee, and thou shalt stand before my face: and if thou wilt bring forth the precious from the worthless, thou shalt be as my mouth: and they shall return to thee; but thou shalt not return to them. [20] And I will make thee to this people as a strong brazen wall; and they shall fight against thee, but they shall by no means prevail against thee; [21] for I am with thee to save thee, and to deliver thee out of the hand of wicked men; and I will ransom thee out of the hand of pestilent men.
Chapter 16
[1] And thou shalt not take a wife, saith the Lord God of Israel: [2] and there shall be no son born to thee, nor daughter in this place. [3] For thus saith the Lord concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that have born them, and concerning their fathers that have begotten them in this land; [4] They shall die of grievous death; they shall not be lamented, nor buried; they shall be for an example on the face of the earth; and they shall be for the wild beasts of the land, and for the birds of the sky: they shall fall by the sword, and shall be consumed with famine.
[5] Thus saith the Lord, Enter not into their mourning feast, and go not to lament, and mourn not for them: for I have removed my peace from this people. [6] They shall not bewail them, nor make cuttings for them, and they shall not shave themselves for them: [7] and there shall be no bread broken in mourning for them for consolation over the dead: they shall not give one to drink a cup for consolation over his father or his mother.
[8] Thou shalt not enter into the banquet-house, to sit with them to eat and to drink. [9] For thus saith the Lord God of Israel; Behold, I will make to cease out of this place before your eyes, and in your days, the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.
[10] And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt report to this people all these words, and they shall say to thee, Wherefore has the Lord pronounced against us all these evils? what is our unrighteousness? and what is our sin which we have sinned before the Lord our God? [11] Then thou shalt say to them, Because your fathers forsook me, saith the Lord, and went after strange gods and served them, and worshipped them, and forsook me, and kept not my law; [12] (and ye sinned worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the lusts of your own evil heart, so as not to hearken to me); [13] therefore I will cast you off from this good land into a land which neither ye nor your fathers have known; and ye shall serve their other gods, who shall have no mercy upon you.
[14] Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when they shall no more say, The Lord lives, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; [15] but, The Lord lives, who brought up the house of Israel from the land of the north, and from all countries whither they were thrust out: and I will restore them to their own land, which I gave to their fathers.
[16] Behold, I will send many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and afterward I will send many hunters, and they shall hunt them upon every mountain, and upon every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. [17] For mine eyes are upon all their ways; and their iniquities have not been hidden from mine eyes. [18] And I will recompense their mischiefs doubly, and their sins, whereby they have profaned my land with the carcases of their abominations, and with their iniquities, whereby they have trespassed against mine inheritance.
[19] O Lord, thou art my strength, and mine help, and my refuge in days of evil: to thee the Gentiles shall come from the end of the earth, and shall say, How vain were the idols which our fathers procured to themselves, and there is no help in them. [20] Will a man make gods for himself, whereas these are no gods? [21] Therefore, behold, I will at this time manifest my hand to them, and will make known to them my power; and they shall know that my name is the Lord.
Chapter 17
[1] 2 [3] 4 [5] Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and will lean his arm of flesh upon him, while his heart departs from the Lord. [6] And he shall be as the wild tamarisk in the desert: he shall not see when good comes; but he shall dwell in barren places, and in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. [7] But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord shall be. [8] And he shall be as a thriving tree by the waters, and he shall cast forth his root toward a moist place: he shall not fear when heat comes, and there shall be upon him shady branches: he shall not fear in a year of drought, and he shall not fail to bear fruit.
9 The heart is deep beyond all things, and it is the man, and who can know him? [10] I the Lord try the hearts, and prove the reins, to give to every one according to his ways, and according to the fruits of his devices.
[11] The partridge utters her voice, she gathers eggs which she did not lay; so is a man gaining his wealth unjustly; in the midst of his days his riches shall leave him, and at his latter end he will be a fool.
[12] An exalted throne of glory is our sanctuary. [13] O Lord, the hope of Israel, let all that have left thee be ashamed, let them that have revolted be written on the earth, because they have forsaken the fountain of life, the Lord.
[14] Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved; for thou art my boast.
[15] Behold, they say to me, Where is the word of the Lord? let it come. [16] But I have not been weary of following thee, nor have I desired the day of man; thou knowest; the words that proceed out of my lips are before thy face. [17] Be not to me a stranger, but spare me in the evil day. [18] Let them that persecute me bee ashamed, but let me not be ashamed: let them be alarmed, but let me not be alarmed: bring upon them the evil day, crush them with double destruction.
[19] Thus saith the Lord; Go and stand in the gates of the children of thy people, by which the kings of Juda enter, and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem: [20] and thou shalt say to them, Hear the word of the Lord, ye kings of Juda, and all Judea, and all Jerusalem, all who go in at these gates:
[21] thus saith the Lord; Take heed to your souls, and take up no burdens on the sabbath-day, and go not forth through the gates of Jerusalem; [22] and carry forth no burdens out of your houses on the sabbath-day, and ye shall do no work: sanctify the sabbath-day, as I commanded your fathers. [23] But they hearkened not, and inclined not their ear, but stiffened their neck more than their fathers did, so as not to hear me, and not to receive correction. [24] And it shall come to pass, if ye will hearken to me, saith the Lord, to carry in no burdens through the gates of this city on the sabbath-day, and to sanctify the sabbath-day, so as to do no work upon it, [25] that there shall enter through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, and riding on their chariots and horses, they, and their princes, the men of Juda, and the dwellers in Jerusalem: and this city shall be inhabited for ever. [26] And men shall come out of the cities of Juda, and from
round about Jerusalem, and out of the land of Benjamin, and out of the plain country, and from the hill country, and from the south country, bringing whole-burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, and incense, and manna, and frankincense, bringing praise to the house of the Lord.
[27] But it shall come to pass, if ye will not hearken to me to sanctify the sabbath-day, to bear no burdens, nor go in with them by the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath-day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the streets of Jerusalem, and shall not be quenched.
Chapter 18
[1] The word that came from the Lord to [2] Jeremiah, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there thou shalt hear my words. [3] So I went down to the potter’s house, and behold, he was making a vessel on the stones. [4] And the vessel which he was making with his hands fell: so he made it again another vessel, as it seemed good to him to make it. [5] And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
[6] Shall I not be able, O house of Israel, to do to you as this potter? behold, as the clay of the potter are ye in my hands. [7] If I shall pronounce a decree upon a nation, or upon a kingdom, to cut them off, and to destroy them; [8] and that nation turn from all their sins, then will I repent of the evils which I purposed to do to them. [9] And if I shall pronounce a decree upon a nation and kingdom, to rebuild and to plant it; [10] and they do evil before me, so as not to hearken to my voice, then will I repent of the good which I spoke of, to do it to them.
[11] And now say to the men of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Behold, I prepare evils against you, and devise a device against you: let every one turn now from his evil way, and amend your practices. [12] And they said, We will quit ourselves like men, for we will pursue our perverse ways, and we will perform each the lusts of his evil heart.
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