- Jeremiah 19-36
- Chapter 19
- 1 Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients
of the people, and of the ancients of the priests;
2 And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east
gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee,
3 And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this
place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.
4 Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in
it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of
Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;
5 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt
offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
6 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be
called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.
7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause
them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their
lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, - and for the
beasts of the earth.
8 And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall
be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.
9 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters,
and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness,
wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.
10 Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee.
11 And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will I break this people
and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and
they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury.
12 Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and
even make this city as Tophet:
13 And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as
the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense
unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.
14 Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood
in the court of the LORD'S house; and said to all the people,
15 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city
and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have
hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.
- Chapter 20
- 1 Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of
the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.
2 Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high
gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.
3 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks.
Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magormissabib.
4 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy
friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold
it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, - and he shall carry
them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.
5 Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and
all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give
into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to
Babylon.
6 And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou
shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all
thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.
7 O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast
prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
8 For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD
was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.
9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his
word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with
forbearing, and I could not stay.
10 For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will
report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be
enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.
11 But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall
stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not
prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
12 But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let
me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.
13 Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from
the hand of evildoers.
14 Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be
blessed.
15 Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto
thee; making him very glad.
16 And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let
him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide;
17 Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and
her womb to be always great with me.
18 Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be
consumed with shame?
- Chapter 21
- 1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him
Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,
2 Inquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon maketh war
against us; if so be that the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous works,
that he may go up from us.
3 Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah:
4 Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are
in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans,
which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.
5 And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm,
even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.
6 And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a
great pestilence.
7 And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants,
and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and
from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, - and into the hand of
their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them
with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.
8 And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the
way of life, and the way of death.
9 He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the
pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall
live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey.
10 For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD: it
shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
11 And touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
12 O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him
that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn
that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
13 Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the
LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?
14 But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will
kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.
- Chapter 22
- 1 Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this
word,
2 And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of
David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:
3 Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out
of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the
fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.
4 For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house
kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his
servants, and his people.
5 But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house
shall become a desolation.
6 For thus saith the LORD unto the king's house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the
head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not
inhabited.
7 And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall
cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour,
Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?
9 Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God,
and worshipped other gods, and served them.
10 Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away:
for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.
11 For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned
instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return
thither any more:
12 But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this
land no more.
13 Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong;
that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;
14 That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out
windows; and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
15 Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and
drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to
know me? saith the LORD.
17 But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed
innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
18 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah;
They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament
for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!
19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of
Jerusalem.
20 Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages:
for all thy lovers are destroyed.
21 I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been
thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice.
22 The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely
then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.
23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be
when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!
24 As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the
signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;
25 And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of
them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and
into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye
were not born; and there shall ye die.
27 But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return.
28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure?
wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know
not?
29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
30 Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his
days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling
any more in Judah.
- Chapter 23
- 1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the
LORD.
2 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye
have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will
visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.
3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven
them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no
more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.
5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch,
and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name
whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD
liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
8 But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out
of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall
dwell in their own land.
9 Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a
drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of
the words of his holiness.
10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the
pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force
is not right.
11 For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their
wickedness, saith the LORD.
12 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be
driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their
visitation, saith the LORD.
13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused
my people Israel to err.
14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery,
and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from
his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, - and the inhabitants thereof as
Gomorrah.
15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed
them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of
Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.
16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy
unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the
mouth of the LORD.
17 They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and
they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall
come upon you.
18 For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word?
who hath marked his word, and heard it?
19 Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it
shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
20 The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have
performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.
21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they
prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then
they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
23 Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?
24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not
I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
25 I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have
dreamed, I have dreamed.
26 How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are
prophets of the deceit of their own heart;
27 Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every
man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.
28 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him
speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock
in pieces?
30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every
one from his neighbour.
31 Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He
saith.
32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them,
and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor
commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
33 And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the
burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you,
saith the LORD.
34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of
the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house.
35 Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath
the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
36 And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's word shall be his
burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.
37 Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath
the LORD spoken?
38 But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say
this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The
burden of the LORD;
39 Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the
city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:
40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall
not be forgotten.
- Chapter 24
- 1 The LORD showed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of
the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the
son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah,
- with the carpenters and smiths,
from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other
basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
3 Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs,
very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
4 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
5 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them
that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land
of the Chaldeans for their good.
6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land:
and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them
up.
7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my
people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
8 And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the
LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of
Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:
9 And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt,
to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive
them.
10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be
consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.
- Chapter 25
- 1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year
of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar
king of Babylon;
2 The which Jeremiah the prophet spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,
3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day,
that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have
spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.
4 And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending
them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.
5 They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your
doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for
ever and ever:
6 And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to
anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
7 Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger
with the works of your hands to your own hurt.
8 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words,
9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and
Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and
against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, - and will
utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual
desolations.
10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice
of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light
of the candle.
11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall
serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the
king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the
Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.
13 And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even
all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.
14 For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will
recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.
15 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my
hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
16 And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send
among them.
17 Then took I the cup at the LORD'S hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom
the LORD had sent me:
18 To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes
thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as it is
this day;
19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;
20 And all the mingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of
the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of
Ashdod,
21 Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon,
22 And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles
which are beyond the sea,
23 Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost corners,
24 And all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the
desert,
25 And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,
26 And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of
the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink
after them.
27 Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which
I will send among you.
28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou
say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
29 For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be
utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the
inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.
30 Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall
roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar
upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, - against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with
the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword,
saith the LORD.
32 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a
great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
33 And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the
other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they
shall be dung upon the ground.
34 Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the
flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye
shall fall like a pleasant vessel.
35 And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.
36 A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock,
shall be heard: for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture.
37 And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
38 He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the
fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.
- Chapter 26
- 1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this
word from the LORD, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD'S house, and speak unto all the
cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD'S house, all the words that I command
thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:
3 If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me
of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.
4 And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk
in my law, which I have set before you,
5 To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising
up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;
6 Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the
nations of the earth.
7 So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words
in the house of the LORD.
8 Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had
commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the
people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.
9 Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like
Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were
gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.
10 When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king's house
unto the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD'S house.
11 Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes and to all the people, saying,
This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with
your ears.
12 Then spake Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent
me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard.
13 Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God;
and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.
14 As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto you.
15 But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent
blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a
truth the LORD hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears.
16 Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man
is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.
17 Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the
people, saying,
18 Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all
the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a
field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, - and the mountain of the house as the high places
of a forest.
19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the
LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced
against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.
20 And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of
Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land
according to all the words of Jeremiah:
21 And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his
words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and
fled, and went into Egypt;
22 And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and
certain men with him into Egypt.
23 And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king;
who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.
24 Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should
not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.
- Chapter 27
- 1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this
word unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,
3 And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the
Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the
messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;
4 And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel; Thus shall ye say unto your masters;
5 I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power
and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me.
6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of
Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
7 And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of
his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
8 And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the
king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, - and with the
famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.
9 Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers,
nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not
serve the king of Babylon:
10 For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should
drive you out, and ye should perish.
11 But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve
him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith the LORD; and they shall till
it, and dwell therein.
12 I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your
necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.
13 Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the
pestilence, as the LORD hath spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of
Babylon?
14 Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye
shall not serve the king of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.
15 For I have not sent them, saith the LORD, yet they prophesy a lie in my name; that I
might drive you out, and that ye might perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto
you.
- 16 Also I spake to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the LORD;
Hearken not to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the
vessels of the LORD'S house shall now shortly be brought again
- from Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto you.
17 Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: wherefore should this city
be laid waste?
18 But if they be prophets, and if the word of the LORD be with them, let them now make
intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the
LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.
19 For thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and
concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that remain in this city,
20 Which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took not, when he carried away captive Jeconiah
the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah
and Jerusalem;
21 Yea, thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that
remain in the house of the LORD, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem;
22 They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day that I visit
them, saith the LORD; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.
- Chapter 28
- 1 And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of
Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the
prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the LORD,
- in the presence of
the priests and of all the people, saying,
2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of
the king of Babylon.
3 Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the LORD'S
house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to
Babylon:
4 And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with
all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the LORD: for I will break the
yoke of the king of Babylon.
5 Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests,
and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of the LORD,
6 Even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: the LORD do so: the LORD perform thy words which
thou hast prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the LORD'S house, and all that is
carried away captive, from Babylon into this place.
7 Nevertheless hear thou now this word that I speak in thine ears, and in the ears of all
the people;
8 The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied both against
many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence.
- 9 The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass,
then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD hath truly sent him.
10 Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake
it.
11 And Hananiah spake in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Even
so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations
within the space of two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way.
12 Then the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the prophet, after that Hananiah the
prophet had broken the yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
13 Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast broken the yokes of wood;
but thou shalt make for them yokes of iron.
14 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the
neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they
shall serve him: and I have given him the beasts of the field also.
15 Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD
hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie.
16 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth:
this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the LORD.
17 So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.
- Chapter 29
- 1 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem
unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and
to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had
- carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;
2 (After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and
Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;)
3 By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom
Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying,
4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away
captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;
5 Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your
daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased
there, and not diminished.
7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives,
and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your
diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which
ye cause to be dreamed.
9 For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.
10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will
visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and
not of evil, to give you an expected end.
12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto
you.
13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I
will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you,
saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused - you to be
carried away captive.
15 Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;
16 Know that thus saith the LORD of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of
all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth
with you into captivity;
17 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and
the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
18 And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and
will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an
astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, - among all the nations whither I have driven
them:
19 Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by
my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith
the LORD.
20 Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from
Jerusalem to Babylon:
21 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of
Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will
deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; - and he shall slay them
before your eyes;
22 And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in
Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon
roasted in the fire;
23 Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their
neighbours' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded
them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the LORD.
24 Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,
25 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent
letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,
26 The LORD hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be
officers in the house of the LORD, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a
prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks.
27 Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a
prophet to you?
28 For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build ye
houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
29 And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.
30 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
31 Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the LORD concerning Shemaiah the
Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he
caused you to trust in a lie:
32 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his
seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good
that I will do for my people, saith the LORD; - because he hath taught rebellion against the
LORD.
- Chapter 30
- 1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have
spoken unto thee in a book.
3 For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my
people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that
I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.
4 And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.
5 For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man
with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into
paleness?
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's
trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his
yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve
themselves of him:
9 But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto
them.
10 Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O
Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their
captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make
him afraid.
11 For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all
nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will
correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
12 For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.
13 There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing
medicines.
14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with
the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine
iniquity; because thy sins were increased.
15 Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of
thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.
16 Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every
one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all
that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.
17 For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the
LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh
after.
18 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and
have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the
palace shall remain after the manner thereof.
19 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I
will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall
not be small.
20 Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established
before me, and I will punish all that oppress them.
21 And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the
midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who
is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the LORD.
22 And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
23 Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it
shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.
24 The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have
performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.
- Chapter 31
- 1 At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel,
and they shall be my people.
2 Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the
wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an
everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
4 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again
be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
5 Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and
shall eat them as common things.
6 For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye,
and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God.
7 For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the
nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the
earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth
with child together: a great company shall return thither.
9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them
to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I
am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10 Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say,
He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
11 For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was
stronger than he.
12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to
the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the
flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; - and they shall not
sorrow any more at all.
13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will
turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their
sorrow.
14 And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be
satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.
15 Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel
weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
16 Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy
work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the
enemy.
17 And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to
their own border.
18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was
chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for
thou art the LORD my God.
19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote
upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my
youth.
20 Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do
earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have
mercy upon him, saith the LORD.
21 Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even
the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy
cities.
22 How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a
new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in
the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The
LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.
24 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together,
husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks.
25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.
26 Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.
27 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the
house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.
28 And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to
break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them,
to build, and to plant, saith the LORD.
29 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the
children's teeth are set on edge.
30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his
teeth shall be set on edge.
31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house
of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took
them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake,
although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those
days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their
hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother,
saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the
greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, - and I will remember
their sin no more.
35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the
moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof
roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
36 If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also
shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
37 Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth
searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have
done, saith the LORD.
38 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from
the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.
39 And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and
shall compass about to Goath.
40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the
brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the
LORD; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.
- Chapter 32
- 1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of
Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar.
2 For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was
shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house.
3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and
say, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of
Babylon, and he shall take it;
4 And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall
surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth
to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;
5 And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith
the LORD: though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper.
6 And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
7 Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee
my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it.
8 So Hanameel mine uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word
of the LORD, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in
the country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance is thine, - and the redemption is
thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.
9 And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him
the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.
10 And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the
money in the balances.
11 So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law
and custom, and that which was open:
12 And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of
Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses
that subscribed the book of the purchase, - before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.
13 And I charged Baruch before them, saying,
14 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of
the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an
earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.
15 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards
shall be possessed again in this land.
16 Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I
prayed unto the LORD, saying,
17 Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and
stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
18 Thou showest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the
fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD
of hosts, is his name,
19 Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the
sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his
doings:
20 Which hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in
Israel, and among other men; and hast made thee a name, as at this day;
21 And hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with
wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror;
22 And hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a
land flowing with milk and honey;
23 And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in
thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: therefore thou
hast caused all this evil to come upon them:
24 Behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into
the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine,
and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, - behold, thou seest it.
25 And thou hast said unto me, O Lord GOD, Buy thee the field for money, and take
witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
28 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the
Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:
29 And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city,
and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and
poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.
30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from
their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of
their hands, saith the LORD.
31 For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the
day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face,
32 Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which
they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests,
and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
33 And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising
up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.
34 But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.
35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom,
to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I
commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, - that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
36 And now therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof
ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by
the famine, and by the pestilence;
37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine
anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place,
and I will cause them to dwell safely:
38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:
39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the
good of them, and of their children after them:
40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them,
to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from
me.
41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land
assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
42 For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people,
so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.
43 And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or
beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
44 Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take
witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of
Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, - and in the
cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD.
- Chapter 33
- 1 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet
shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the
LORD is his name;
3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou
knowest not.
4 For thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and
concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by
the sword;
5 They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of
men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have
hid my face from this city.
6 Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them
the abundance of peace and truth.
7 And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will
build them, as at the first.
8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me;
and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have
transgressed against me.
9 And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of
the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and
tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.
10 Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be
desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of
Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,
11 The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice
of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is
good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the - sacrifice of
praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land,
as at the first, saith the LORD.
12 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and
without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing
their flocks to lie down.
13 In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the
south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities
of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the
LORD.
14 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have
promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.
15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up
unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.
16 In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the
name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.
17 For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the
house of Israel;
18 Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings,
and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.
19 And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,
20 Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the
night, and that there should not be day and night in their season;
21 Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a
son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.
22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will
I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
23 Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,
24 Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the
LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they
should be no more a nation before them.
25 Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not
appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
26 Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take
any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause
their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.
- Chapter 34
- 1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,
and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people,
fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell
him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of
Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:
3 And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into
his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak
with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.
4 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of thee,
Thou shalt not die by the sword:
5 But thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings
which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee,
saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD.
6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in
Jerusalem,
7 When the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of
Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defenced cities
remained of the cities of Judah.
8 This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had
made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto
them;
9 That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew
or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his
brother.
10 Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant,
heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free,
that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go.
11 But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let
go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.
12 Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
13 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day
that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,
14 At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been
sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from
thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
15 And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every
man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by
my name:
16 But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his
handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into
subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty,
every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for
you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; - and I will make
you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
18 And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed
the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain,
and passed between the parts thereof.
19 The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and
all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;
20 I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that
seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and
to the beasts of the earth.
21 And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies,
and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's
army, which are gone up from you.
22 Behold, I will command, saith the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they
shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of
Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.
- Chapter 35
- 1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of
Josiah king of Judah, saying,
2 Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house
of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.
3 Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and
all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;
4 And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan,
the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by he chamber of the princes, which was
above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:
5 And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups,
and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.
6 But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded
us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:
7 Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all
your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be
strangers.
8 Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he
hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our
daughters;
9 Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:
10 But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our
father commanded us.
11 But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we
said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear
of the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem.
12 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
13 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith
the LORD.
14 The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine,
are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment:
notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; - but ye hearkened not
unto me.
15 I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending
them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not
after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I - have given to you
and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.
16 Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their
father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me:
17 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring
upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced
against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; - and I have called
unto them, but they have not answered.
18 And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the
God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all
his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:
19 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab
shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.
- Chapter 36
- 1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah,
that this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee
against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto
thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.
3 It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto
them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity
and their sin.
4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of
Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.
5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the
LORD:
6 Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the
words of the LORD in the ears of the people in the LORD'S house upon the fasting day: and
also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities.
7 It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, and will return every
one from his evil way: for great is the anger and the fury that the LORD hath pronounced
against this people.
8 And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded
him, reading in the book the words of the LORD in the LORD'S house.
9 And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in
the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the LORD to all the people in
Jerusalem, and to all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem.
10 Then read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, in the
chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the entry of
the new gate of the LORD'S house, in the ears of all the people.
11 When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all
the words of the LORD,
12 Then he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's chamber: and, lo, all the
princes sat there, even Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan
the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, - and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and
all the princes.
13 Then Michaiah declared unto them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the
book in the ears of the people.
14 Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the
son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, Take in thine hand the roll wherein thou hast read in
the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took - the roll in his hand,
and came unto them.
15 And they said unto him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in
their ears.
16 Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were afraid both one and
other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words.
17 And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words at his
mouth?
18 Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I
wrote them with ink in the book.
19 Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man
know where ye be.
20 And they went in to the king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber
of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king.
21 So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe's
chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes
which stood beside the king.
22 Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the
hearth burning before him.
23 And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the
penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was
consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.
24 Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his
servants that heard all these words.
25 Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that
he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them.
26 But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel,
and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but
the LORD hid them.
27 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll,
and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
28 Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the
first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.
29 And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned
this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall
certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?
30 Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit
upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and
in the night to the frost.
31 And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will
bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the
evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not.
32 Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah;
who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim
king of Judah had burned in the fire: - and there were added besides unto them many like
words.
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