Jeremiah 9; Jeremiah 10; Jeremiah 11; Jeremiah 12; Jeremiah 13; Jeremiah 14; Jeremiah 15; Jeremiah 16; Jeremiah 17; Jeremiah 18; Jeremiah 19; Jeremiah 20; Jeremiah 21; Jeremiah 22; Jeremiah 23; Jeremiah 24; Jeremiah 25; Jeremiah 26; Jeremiah 27; Jeremiah 28; Jeremiah 29; Jeremiah 30

Jeremiah 9

1 If only my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night for the wounds of my people.

2 If only I could flee for shelter in the desert, to leave my people and forget them— for they are all adulterers, a bunch of crooks.

3 They bend their tongues like bows to spew out lies; they are renowned in the land, but not for truth. They go from bad to worse. They don't know me! declares the LORD.

4 Be wary of your friends! Don't trust your sibling! Every sibling is a cheater, and every friend traffics in slander.

5 One cheats the other; no one tells the truth; they train themselves to lie; they wear themselves out by doing wrong.

6 You live in a world of deceit, and in their deceit they refuse to know me, declares the LORD.

7 Therefore, the LORD of heavenly forces proclaims: I'm going to refine and test them, for what else can I do with my people?

8 Their tongue is a lethal arrow; their words are deceitful. They wish their neighbors well, but in their hearts plot their ruin.

9 Shouldn't I punish them for this? declares the LORD; shouldn't I avenge such a nation?

10 I will weep and wail for the mountains, and lament for the grazing lands in the wilderness. They are dried up and deserted; no sound of the flocks is heard; no sign of birds or animals is seen; all have vanished.

11 I will reduce Jerusalem to ruins, a den for wild dogs. I will make the towns of Judah a wasteland, without inhabitant.

12 Who is wise enough to understand this? Who has been taught by the LORD and can therefore explain it? Why has the land been reduced to rubble and laid waste like a desert, with no one passing through?

13 The LORD says: It is because they have abandoned my Instruction that I gave them, and haven't obeyed or followed it.

14 Instead, they have followed their own willful hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.

15 Therefore, this is what the LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, says: I'm going to feed this people bitter food and give them poison to drink.

16 I will scatter them among nations about whom neither they nor their ancestors have ever heard. I will pursue them with the sword until all are gone.

17 The LORD of heavenly forces proclaims: Pay attention! Summon the women who mourn, let them come; send for those best trained, let them come.

18 Hurry! Let them weep for us so that our eyes fill up with tears and water streams down.

19 The sound of sobbing is heard from Zion: "We're devastated! We're so ashamed! We have to leave the land and abandon our homes!"

20 Women, hear the LORD's word. Listen closely to the word from his mouth: teach your daughters to mourn; teach each other to grieve.

21 Death has climbed through our windows; it has entered our fortresses to eliminate children from the streets, the youth from the squares.

22 Declare what the LORD says: Dead bodies will lie like dung on the fields, like bundles of grain after the harvest, with no one to pick them up.

23 The LORD proclaims: the learned should not boast of their knowledge, nor warriors boast of their might, nor the rich boast of their wealth.

24 No, those who boast should boast in this: that they understand and know me. I am the LORD who acts with kindness, justice, and righteousness in the world, and I delight in these things, declares the LORD.

25 The time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will deal with everyone who is physically circumcised:

26 whether they are Egyptians or Judeans, Edomites or Ammonites, Moabites or the desert dwellers who cut the hair on their foreheads. All these nations are really uncircumcised; even the people of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.

Jeremiah 10

1 Listen to the word that the LORD has spoken to you, people of Israel!

2 The LORD proclaims: Don't follow the ways of the nations or be troubled by signs in the sky, even though the nations are troubled by them.

3 The rituals of the nations are hollow: a tree from the forest is chopped down and shaped by the craftsman's tools.

4 It's overlaid with silver and gold, and fastened securely with hammer and nails so it won't fall over.

5 They are no different than a scarecrow in a cucumber patch: they can't speak; they must be carried because they can't walk. Don't be afraid of them, because they can't do harm or good.

6 LORD, no one is like you! You are great, and great is your mighty name.

7 Who wouldn't fear you, king of the nations? That is your due; among all the wise of the nations and in all their countries, there is no one like you!

8 But they are both foolish and silly; they offer nothing because they are mere wood.

9 Covered with silver from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, they are the work of a craftsman and the hands of a goldsmith. Clothed in blue and purple, all of them nothing more than the work of artisans.

10 But the LORD is the true God! He's the living God and the everlasting king! When he's angry, the earth quakes; the nations can't endure his rage.

11 Tell them this: The gods who didn't make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.

12 But God made the earth by his might; he shaped the world by his wisdom, crafted the skies by his knowledge.

13 At the sound of his voice, the heavenly waters roar. He raises the clouds from the ends of the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain, the wind from his treasuries.

14 Everyone is too foolish to understand; every goldsmith is dishonored by his idols, for their images are shams; they aren't alive.

15 They are a delusion, a charade; at the appointed time they will vanish!

16 Jacob's portion is utterly different because God has formed all things, including Israel, his very own people— the LORD of heavenly forces is his name!

17 Pack your bags and get ready to leave, you who live under siege.

18 The LORD proclaims: I'm going to eject those who live in the land at this time; I will badger them until they leave.

19 How terrible for me, due to my injury; my wound is terrible. Yet I said to myself: This is my sickness, and I must bear it.

20 But now my tent is destroyed; all its ropes are cut, and my children are gone for good. There's no one left to set up my tent frame and to attach the fabric.

21 The shepherd kings have lost their senses and don't seek answers from the LORD. That is why they have failed and their flock is scattered.

22 Listen! The sound is getting louder, a mighty uproar from the land of the north; it will reduce the towns of Judah to ruins, a den for wild dogs.

23 I know, LORD, that our lives are not our own, that we're not able to direct our paths.

24 So correct me, LORD, but with justice, not in your anger, or else you will reduce me to nothing.

25 Pour out your wrath on the nations that ignore you and on the people who don't call on you, since they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him completely and ruined his country.

Jeremiah 11

1 Jeremiah received the LORD's word:

2 Listen to the terms of this covenant and proclaim them to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem.

3 Say to them: This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Cursed are those who don't heed the terms of this covenant

4 that I commanded your ancestors when I bought them out of the land of Egypt, that iron crucible, saying, Obey me and observe all that I instruct you. Then you will be my people and I, even I, will be your God.

5 I will fulfill my solemn pledge that I made to your ancestors to give them a land full of milk and honey, as is the case today. And I replied, "As you say, LORD!"

6 The LORD said to me: Announce all these words in the towns of Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem: Obey the terms of this covenant and perform them.

7 I repeatedly and tirelessly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt to this very day, saying, Obey me.

8 But they didn't listen or pay attention; they followed their own willful ambitions. So I brought upon them all the punishments I prescribed for violating this covenant—for refusing to obey.

9 The LORD said to me: A conspiracy is taking place among the people of Judah and residents of Jerusalem.

10 They have returned to the sins of their ancestors who refused to obey my words. They too are following other gods and serving them. The people of Israel and the people of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their ancestors.

11 Therefore, the LORD proclaims: I will bring upon them a disaster from which they won't be able to escape. They will cry out to me, but I won't listen to them.

12 Then the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem will call upon the gods they worship, but they won't save them when disaster strikes.

13 You have as many gods as you have towns, Judah, and you have as many shameful altars for worshipping Baal as you have streets in Jerusalem.

14 As for you, don't pray for these people, don't cry out or plead for them, for I won't listen when they cry out to me on account of their distress.

15 What are my loved ones doing in my temple while working out their many evil schemes? Can sacred offerings cancel your sin so that you revel in your evil deeds?

16 The LORD named you, "A blossoming olive tree, fair and fruitful"; but with the blast of a powerful storm he will set it ablaze, until its branches are completely consumed.

17 The LORD of heavenly forces who planted you has announced disaster for you, because the people of Israel and Judah have done evil and made me angry by worshipping Baal.

18 The LORD informed me and I knew. Then he helped me see what they were up to.

19 I was like a young lamb led to the slaughter; I didn't realize that they were planning their schemes against me: "Let's destroy the tree with its fruit; let's cut him off from the land of the living so that even any knowledge of him will be wiped out."

20 LORD of heavenly forces, righteous judge, who tests the heart and mind, let me see your revenge upon them, because I have committed my case to you.

21 This is what the LORD says concerning the men from Anathoth who seek your life and say, "Don't prophesy in the LORD's name or else you will die at our hands."

22 Therefore, the LORD of heavenly forces proclaims, I'm going to punish them. Their young men will die in war, and their sons and daughters will die by famine.

23 No one will be left because I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth when their time comes.

Jeremiah 12

1 If I took you to court, LORD, you would win. But I still have questions about your justice. Why do guilty persons enjoy success? Why are evildoers so happy?

2 You plant them, and they take root; they flourish and bear fruit. You are always on their lips but far from their hearts.

3 Yet you, LORD, you know me. You see me. You can tell that I love you. So drag them away and butcher them like sheep. Prepare them for the slaughterhouse.

4 How long will the land mourn and the grass in the fields dry up? The animals and birds are swept away due to the evil of those in the land. The people say, "God doesn't see what we're up to!"

5 If you have raced with people and are worn out, how will you compete with horses? If you fall down in an open field, how will you survive in the forest along the Jordan?

6 Even your relatives, your very family, are planning to trap you. They are out to get you. So don't trust them, even if they appear to be on your side.

7 I have abandoned my house; I have deserted my inheritance. I have given the one I love into the power of her enemies.

8 My inheritance has turned against me like a lion in the forest; she growls at me; therefore, I have rejected her.

9 My inheritance has become like a bird of prey, surrounded and attacked. Go, gather all the wild animals for the feast.

10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard; they have trampled down my field; they have reduced my treasured field to a desolate wilderness.

11 They have devastated her; desolate, she cries out to me in distress: "The whole land is desolate, and no one seems to care."

12 Over all the desert roads destroyers march; for the sword of the LORD devours from one end of the land to the other; no one is safe.

13 They have sown wheat and reaped weeds; they have worn themselves out for nothing. They will be ashamed of their harvest on account of the LORD's fierce anger.

14 The LORD proclaims: The evil nations have seized the land that I gave my people Israel. I'm going to dig them up from their own lands, and I will dig up the people of Judah from among them.

15 And after I have dug them up, I will again have compassion on them and restore their inheritance and their land.

16 And then, if they will learn the ways of my people, to make a solemn pledge in my name, "As the LORD lives," just as they once taught my people to swear to Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people.

17 But if they don't listen, I will dig up that nation; yes, I will dig up and destroy, declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 13

1 The LORD proclaimed to me: Go and buy a linen undergarment. Wear it for a while without washing it.

2 So I bought a linen undergarment, as the LORD told me, and I put it on.

3 The LORD spoke to me again:

4 Take the undergarment that you are wearing and go at once to the Euphrates and put it under a rock.

5 So I went and buried it at the Euphrates, as the LORD instructed.

6 After a long time, the LORD said to me: Return to the Euphrates and dig up the undergarment that I commanded you to bury there.

7 So I went to the Euphrates and I dug up the linen undergarment from the place I had buried it. But it was ruined and good for nothing.

8 Then the LORD's word came to me:

9 The LORD proclaims: In the same way I will ruin the brazen pride of Judah and Jerusalem!

10 Instead of listening to me, this wicked people follow their own willful hearts and pursue other gods, worshipping and serving them. They will become like this linen garment—good for nothing!

11 Just as a linen undergarment clings to the body, so I created the people of Israel and Judah to cling to me, declares the LORD, to be my people for my honor, praise, and grandeur. But they wouldn't obey.

12 So deliver this word to them: The LORD the God of Israel proclaims: Every wine jug should be filled with wine. And they will answer you, "Don't we already know that? Obviously every wine jug should be filled with wine!"

13 Then you should say to them: The LORD proclaims: I'm going to fill everyone who lives in this country with wine that makes them drunk, including the kings on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all those living in Jerusalem.

14 And I will shatter every one of them, even parents and children, declares the LORD. I won't take pity; I won't have compassion; I will show no mercy when I destroy them.

15 Listen closely, don't be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken.

16 Honor the LORD your God, before it's too late, before you stumble on the mountain paths in the evening shadows. Then you will hope for light, only to find darkness and gloom.

17 If you are too proud to listen, I will go off alone and cry my eyes out. I will weep uncontrollably because the LORD's flock will be dragged off into exile.

18 Tell the king and the queen mother: Come down from your lofty place, because your glorious crowns will soon be removed from your heads.

19 The towns of the arid southern plain will be surrounded; no one will get in or out; all Judah will be taken into exile; everyone will be led away.

20 Lift up your eyes and see who is approaching from the north. Where is the flock entrusted to you, your beautiful flock?

21 What will you say when he appoints someone as head over you: your defenders, your trusted allies? Won't pain grip you like that of a woman in labor?

22 And when you ask yourself, Why have all these things happened to me? it is because of your many sins that you have been stripped and violated.

23 Can a Cushite change his skin or a leopard its spots? Neither can you do good when doing evil comes so naturally.

24 So I will scatter you like straw that is blown away by the desert winds.

25 This is the future that I have prepared for you, declares the LORD, because you have forgotten me and trusted in lies.

26 I myself will pull up your skirt over your face and expose your shame.

27 I have seen your adultery and lust, your disgusting idols and shameless prostitution on the hills and in the fields. How terrible for you, Jerusalem! How long will you remain dirty?

Jeremiah 14

1 The LORD's word to Jeremiah concerning the droughts:

2 Judah mourns; her gates wither away. The people fall to the ground in sorrow, as sobs of Jerusalem ascend.

3 The rich send their servants for water, but the wells run dry. They return with empty jars, ashamed, bewildered, and in despair.

4 Because the ground is cracked due to lack of rain, the farmers too are ashamed; they cover their heads.

5 Even the doe in the field abandons her newborn, for there's no grass.

6 The wild donkeys stand on the well-traveled paths, panting like thirsty dogs; they go blind since there's nothing to eat.

7 Even though our sins testify against us, help us, LORD, for your name's sake. We have turned away from you and sinned against you time and again.

8 You are the hope of Israel, its savior in times of trouble. Why are you like a stranger in the land, like a tourist spending only the night?

9 Why are you like one taken by surprise, like a warrior unable to act? Yet you are in our midst, LORD; we are called by your name. Don't give up on us.

10 This is what the LORD proclaims about this people: Since they have loved to wander off and haven't restrained themselves, I won't accept them. Now I will recall their wrongdoing and punish their sin.

11 The LORD said to me: Don't pray for the safety of these people.

12 When they fast, I won't pay attention to their pleas, and when they offer entirely burned offerings and grain offerings, I won't accept them. Instead, I will devour them with war, famine, and disease.

13 I replied, "LORD God, the prophets are telling them: ‘You won't see war or famine, for I will give you lasting peace in this place.'"

14 Then the LORD said to me: The prophets are telling lies in my name. I haven't sent them. I haven't commanded them. I haven't spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, worthless predictions, and deceit they have made up on their own.

15 Therefore, this is what the LORD proclaims concerning the prophets who are speaking in my name when I didn't send them, and who are telling you that war or famine will never come to this land: Those very prophets will die in war and by famine!

16 And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and war. There will be no one to bury them or their wives and children. I will pour out on them their own wickedness.

17 So deliver this word to them: My eyes well up with tears; I can't stop weeping—day and night, because my virgin daughter, my people, has suffered a crushing blow and is mortally wounded.

18 If I go into the fields, I see only the slain in battle. If I enter the city, I see only those suffering from famine. Even both prophet and priest wander about aimlessly in ignorance.

19 Have you completely rejected Judah? Do you hate Zion? Why then have you mortally wounded us? We look for peace, but nothing good comes of it; for a time of healing, only to be terrorized.

20 We acknowledge our sin, LORD, the wrongdoing of our ancestors, because we have sinned against you.

21 For your name's sake, don't reject us, don't scorn your glorious throne. Remember your covenant with us; don't break it.

22 Can any of the false gods of the nations make it rain? Can the sky by itself bring showers? Aren't you the LORD, our God? You are our hope, since only you can do such things.

Jeremiah 15

1 The LORD said to me: Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me, I wouldn't change my mind about these people. Send them away from me. Let them go!

2 And if they say, "Go where?" tell them, This is what the LORD proclaims: Those marked for death—to death, those marked for war—to war, those marked for famine—to famine, and those marked for exile—to exile.

3 I will appoint over them four agents of death, declares the LORD: soldiers to kill, dogs to drag off, and vultures and wild animals to devour and destroy.

4 Because of what Judah's King Manasseh, Hezekiah's son, has done in Jerusalem, I will make them an object of horror to all nations on earth.

5 Who will pity you, Jerusalem? Who will shed tears over you? Who will stop and ask how you're doing?

6 You have deserted me, declares the LORD. You have turned your back on me. So I will turn my hand against you and destroy you. I'm tired of holding back.

7 I will winnow them with a winnowing fork at the gates of their country. I will bereave and destroy my people because they haven't changed their ways.

8 Their widows will outnumber the sand on the shore. I will bring a destroyer in broad daylight against the mothers of young men. Suddenly I will bring distress and terror upon them.

9 The mother of seven will grow weak and gasp for air; her sun will set while it is yet day; she will be ashamed and disgraced. I will deliver the survivors to the sword, to the power of their enemies, declares the LORD.

10 I wish I had never been born! I have become a source of conflict and dissension in my own country. Even though I haven't lent or borrowed, still everyone curses me.

11 The LORD said: Haven't I taken care of you? Haven't I helped you with your enemies in time of trouble and distress?

12 Can a person shatter iron, iron from the north, or bronze?

13 Your wealth and belongings I will deliver as plunder, without a fee, because of all your sins throughout your territory.

14 I will make you serve your enemies in a land you don't know, for my anger blazes like a fire that won't go out.

15 You understand, LORD! Remember me and act on my behalf. Bring judgment on those who torment me. In your mercy, spare my life. Consider how I'm insulted on your account.

16 When your words turned up, I feasted on them; and they became my joy, the delight of my heart, because I belong to you, LORD God of heavenly forces.

17 I didn't join the festive occasions; I took no delight in them. I sat alone because your hand was upon me and you had filled me with curses.

18 Why am I always in pain? Why is my wound incurable, so far beyond healing? You have become for me as unreliable as a spring gone dry!

19 Therefore, the LORD proclaims: If you return to me, I will take you back and let you stand before me. If you utter what is worthwhile, not what is worthless, you will be my spokesman. They will turn to you, not you to them!

20 I will make you a sturdy bronze wall against these people. They will attack you, but they won't triumph, because I am with you to protect and rescue you, declares the LORD.

21 I will rescue you from the hand of the wicked; I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent.

Jeremiah 16

1 The LORD's word came to me:

2 Don't marry or have children in this place.

3 This is what the LORD proclaims concerning children who are born in this place and their mothers and fathers who give birth to them in this place:

4 They will die of horrible diseases. No one will mourn for them or bury them. They will be like refuse lying on the ground. They will die from the sword and by famine, and their corpses will be food for birds and wild animals.

5 This is what the LORD says: Don't enter a house where there is mourning; don't grieve or lament for them, for I have taken away my blessing, kindness, and mercy from this people, declares the LORD.

6 From the least to the greatest, all will die in this land, and there will be no funerals or time of mourning. No one will gash themselves in grief or shave their heads in sorrow.

7 No one will bring food for the mourner as comfort for the dead. No one will offer a cup of consolation for the loss of father or mother.

8 Don't enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink.

9 This is what the LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: Before your very eyes and in your own lifetime, I will silence in this place the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bridegroom and the bride.

10 When you proclaim all these things to the people, and they ask you, "Why has the LORD pronounced such massive devastation against us? What have we done wrong? How have we sinned against the LORD our God?"

11 then you should tell them: It's because your ancestors have deserted me and followed other gods, declares the LORD. They have served and worshipped them, while abandoning me and refusing to keep my Instruction.

12 And you, you have acted worse than your ancestors, each of you following your own willful, evil hearts and paying no attention to me.

13 So I will banish you from this land to a place that neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no mercy.

14 But the time is coming, declares the LORD, when no one will say, "As the LORD lives who brought up the Israelites from the land of Egypt";

15 instead, they will say, "As the LORD lives who brought up the Israelites from the land of the north and from all the lands where he has banished them." I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their ancestors.

16 I'm going to send hordes of fishermen to catch them, declares the LORD. Afterward I will send a party of hunters to hunt them down on every mountain, hill, and cave.

17 I am watching their every move; not one is hidden from me. Nor is their sin concealed from my sight.

18 I will initially pay them back double for their evil and sin, because they have corrupted my land with their disgusting, lifeless idols and have filled my inheritance with their detestable practices.

19 LORD, you are my strength and my stronghold; you are my refuge in time of trouble. The nations will flock to you from the ends of the earth, and they will say: "Our ancestors have inherited utter lies, things that are hollow and useless."

20 Can humans make their own gods? If so, they are not gods at all!

21 Therefore, I will teach them; this time I will teach them my power and my might. They will understand that I am the LORD.

Jeremiah 17

1 Judah's sin is engraved with an iron pen. It's etched with a diamond point on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.

2 Their children remember their altars and sacred poles by the lush trees and high hills.

3 Because you have committed such sins throughout your country, I will give to your enemies my mountain in the land, as well as your wealth and all that you treasure.

4 You will lose the inheritance that I gave you. I will make you slaves of your enemies in a land you don't know, for my anger blazes like a fire that won't go out.

5 The LORD proclaims: Cursed are those who trust in mere humans, who depend on human strength and turn their hearts from the LORD.

6 They will be like a desert shrub that doesn't know when relief comes. They will live in the parched places of the wilderness, in a barren land where no one survives.

7 Happy are those who trust in the LORD, who rely on the LORD.

8 They will be like trees planted by the streams, whose roots reach down to the water. They won't fear drought when it comes; their leaves will remain green. They won't be stressed in the time of drought or fail to bear fruit.

9 The most cunning heart— it's beyond help. Who can figure it out?

10 I, the LORD, probe the heart and discern hidden motives, to give everyone what they deserve, the consequences of their deeds.

11 Like a partridge gathering a brood that is not its own, so are those who acquire their wealth corruptly. By midlife it will be gone; afterward they will look like fools.

12 Splendid and exalted throne, the place of our sanctuary from the beginning!

13 LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will suffer disgrace; those who turn away from you in the land will be written off, for they have abandoned the LORD, the fountain of living water.

14 Heal me, LORD, and I'll be healed. Save me and I'll be saved, for you are my heart's desire.

15 See how they harass me: "Where's the LORD's word? Let it come now!"

16 Yet I didn't urge you to bring disaster; I didn't want the calamity to happen. You know what comes out of my mouth; it's always before you.

17 Don't terrorize me; you are my refuge in time of disaster.

18 Let my tormentors be disgraced, but not me; let them be terrorized, but not me. Bring on them the time of disaster, as they deserve; destroy them repeatedly.

19 The LORD proclaimed to me: Go and stand by the People's Gate where Judah's kings go in and out, and then by all the gates of Jerusalem,

20 and say to them: Listen to the LORD's word, you kings of Judah, all you people of Judah, and anyone living in Jerusalem who passes through these gates.

21 The LORD says: Be on guard not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or conduct business at the gates of Jerusalem.

22 Don't carry a load from your houses or do any kind of work on the Sabbath day. Rather, keep the Sabbath day holy as I commanded your ancestors,

23 although they didn't listen or pay attention. They were stubborn and wouldn't obey or accept correction.

24 If you are careful to obey me, declares the LORD, and don't conduct business at the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, if you keep the Sabbath day holy by not working,

25 then through the gates of this city will come kings who occupy the throne of David and their officers, all riding on chariots and horses. They will be accompanied by the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem. And this city will always be inhabited.

26 Others will come from the towns of Judah and Benjamin, from all around Jerusalem, and from the western foothills, the highlands, and the arid southern plain—they will come bringing entirely burned offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, incense, and thanksgiving offerings to the LORD's temple.

27 But if you don't obey me by keeping the Sabbath day holy, if you carry your loads and conduct your business at the gates of Jerusalem as usual, then I will set fire to those gates that will completely engulf the fortresses of Jerusalem; it will not be put out.

Jeremiah 18

1 Jeremiah received the LORD's word:

2 Go down to the potter's house, and I'll give you instructions about what to do there.

3 So I went down to the potter's house; he was working on the potter's wheel.

4 But the piece he was making was flawed while still in his hands, so the potter started on another, as seemed best to him.

5 Then the LORD's word came to me:

6 House of Israel, can't I deal with you like this potter, declares the LORD? Like clay in the potter's hand, so are you in mine, house of Israel!

7 At any time I may announce that I will dig up, pull down, and destroy a nation or kingdom;

8 but if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I'll relent and not carry out the harm I intended for it.

9 At the same time, I may announce that I will build and plant a nation or kingdom;

10 but if that nation displeases and disobeys me, then I'll relent and not carry out the good I intended for it.

11 Now say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem: This is what the LORD says: I am a potter preparing a disaster for you; I'm working out a plan against you. So each one of you, turn from your evil ways; reform your ways and your actions.

12 But they said, "What's the use! We will follow our own plans and act according to our own willful, evil hearts."

13 Therefore, the LORD proclaims: Ask among the nations: Have you ever heard anything like this? Virgin Israel has done the most horrible thing.

14 Does the snow on the mountains of Lebanon ever melt entirely off their rocky cliffs? Do the cool mountain streams ever dry up?

15 Yet my people have forgotten me; they have offered sacrifices to a lie. And so they have stumbled along the way, even along the ancient paths. They have taken side roads, not the main roads.

16 They have ruined their country and brought utter shame on it. All who pass by are shocked and shake their heads.

17 Like a strong east wind, I will scatter them before their enemy. When disaster strikes them, I will show them my back, not my face.

18 Then they said, "Come, let's unite against Jeremiah, for the priest's instruction won't fail, nor will the sage's counsel, nor the prophet's word. Come, let's silence him and pay no attention to his words."

19 Pay attention to me, LORD; listen to what my enemies are saying.

20 Should evil be returned for good? Yet they have set traps for me. Remember that I stood before you, begging you to be merciful and not to punish them.

21 Enough! Let their children starve; let them die by the sword. Let their wives be barren widows; let their men be slaughtered and their youth struck down in battle.

22 Let screams be heard from their homes when you suddenly bring armies against them. They have dug a pit to capture me, set traps for my feet.

23 But you, LORD, you know all their sinister plots to kill me. Don't overlook their wrongdoing; don't cleanse their sin from before you. May they stumble before you; when you become angry, do something about them.

Jeremiah 19

1 The LORD proclaims: Go buy a clay jar from a potter in the presence of the elders of the people and the priests.

2 Then go out to the Ben-hinnom Valley at the entrance of the gate called Broken Pots and proclaim there the words I will tell you.

3 Listen to the LORD's word, you kings of Judah and those of you living in Jerusalem: This is what the LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, says: I'm going to bring such disaster upon this place that it will shock all who hear of it.

4 They have deserted me and degraded this place into a shrine for other gods, which neither they nor their ancestors nor Judah's kings have ever known. And they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.

5 Yes, they have built shrines to Baal, to burn their sons and daughters in the fire, although I never commanded or ordered such a thing, nor did it ever cross my mind.

6 So now the time is coming, declares the LORD, when people will no longer call this place Topheth or Ben-hinnom Valley but Carnage Valley.

7 I will foil the plans of Judah and Jerusalem in this place and will have them fall in battle before their enemies, before those who seek their lives. I will give their corpses as food to the birds and the wild animals.

8 I will make this city something that sounds horrible; all who pass by it will be shocked at its pain.

9 And when their enemies lay siege to the city, seeking their lives, they will resort in desperation to eating the flesh of their sons and daughters, and to devouring the flesh of their neighbors.

10 Then you should shatter the clay jar in the sight of the people who are with you,

11 and you should say to them: This is what the LORD of heavenly forces says: Just as one smashes the potter's piece beyond repair, so I will smash this people and this city. And they will bury the dead in Topheth until there's no room left.

12 That is what I will do to this place and its residents, declares the LORD: I will make this city like Topheth.

13 The houses of Jerusalem and those of Judah's kings will become as foul as Topheth—all the houses on whose roofs they made offerings to the heavenly force and poured out drink offerings to other gods.

14 When Jeremiah returned from Topheth where the LORD had sent him to prophesy, he stood in the court of the LORD's temple and said to all the people:

15 The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: I am about to bring upon this city and its surrounding towns every disaster that I have pronounced against them, because they have been stubborn and wouldn't obey my words.

Jeremiah 20

1 When the priest Pashhur, Immer's son, the officer in charge of the LORD's temple, heard Jeremiah prophesying these words,

2 he beat the prophet and detained him in confinement at the upper Benjamin Gate in the LORD's temple.

3 The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from confinement, Jeremiah said to him, "The LORD has changed your name from Pashhur to Panic Lurks Everywhere.

4 The LORD proclaims: I'm going to strike panic into your heart and into the hearts of your friends. You will watch as they fall in battle to their enemies. I will hand over all Judah to the king of Babylon, who will exile some to Babylon and slaughter others.

5 I will hand over all the wealth of this city, all its goods and valuables, including the treasures of the kings of Judah, to their enemies, who will ransack and pillage and carry it all off to Babylon.

6 And you, Pashhur, and all those in your household, will go into captivity. You will be deported to Babylon where you will die. There you will be buried with all your friends to whom you prophesied falsely."

7 LORD, you enticed me, and I was taken in. You were too strong for me, and you prevailed. Now I'm laughed at all the time; everyone mocks me.

8 Every time I open my mouth, I cry out and say, "Violence and destruction!" The LORD's word has brought me nothing but insult and injury, constantly.

9 I thought, I'll forget him; I'll no longer speak in his name. But there's an intense fire in my heart, trapped in my bones. I'm drained trying to contain it; I'm unable to do it.

10 I hear many whispering— "Panic Lurks Everywhere!— proclaim, yes, let's proclaim it ourselves!" All my friends are waiting for me to stumble: "Perhaps he can be enticed. Then we'll prevail against him and get our revenge on him!"

11 But the LORD is with me like a strong defender. Therefore, my oppressors will stumble and not prevail. They will be disgraced by their own failures. Their dishonor will never be forgotten.

12 The LORD of heavenly forces tests the righteous and discerns the heart and the mind. Let me see your retribution upon them, for I have committed my case to you.

13 Sing to the LORD, praise the LORD, for he has rescued the needy from the clutches of evildoers.

14 Cursed be the day that I was born. May the day my mother gave birth to me not be blessed.

15 Cursed be the one who delivered the news to my father, "You have a son!"— filling him with joy.

16 May the bearer of that news be like the cities that the LORD destroyed without mercy. May he hear screams in the morning, and the battle cries at noon,

17 because he didn't kill me in the womb and let my mother become my grave, her womb pregnant forever.

18 Why was I ever born when all I see is suffering and misery, and my days are filled with shame?

Jeremiah 21

1 Jeremiah received the LORD's word when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur, Malchiah's son, and the priest Zephaniah, Maaseiah's son, to him with an appeal:

2 "Speak to the LORD on our behalf because Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar is attacking us. Perhaps the LORD will perform one of his mighty deeds and force him to withdraw from us."

3 Jeremiah answered them: This is what you should tell Zedekiah:

4 The LORD, the God of Israel, says: I'm going to turn your own weapons against you, yes, the weapons you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Babylonians who have surrounded you! I will round them up in the center of the city.

5 Then I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and strong arm in fierce anger and rage.

6 I will strike down those within this city—both people and animals—and they will die of a terrible plague.

7 Afterward, declares the LORD, I will deliver Judah's King Zedekiah, his servants, and those in this city who have survived plague, war, and famine to Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar and to their enemies who seek to do them harm. He will put them to the sword without pity, mercy, or compassion.

8 This is what you should tell this people: The LORD says: I'm setting before you the way of life and the way of death.

9 Whoever stays in the city will die by the sword, famine, and disease. But whoever leaves the city and surrenders to the Babylonians will live; yes, their lives will be spared.

10 I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good, declares the LORD; it will be delivered to the king of Babylon, who will set it on fire.

11 House of Judah! This is what the LORD says:

12 House of David! The LORD proclaims: Begin each morning by administering justice, rescue from their oppressor those who have been robbed, or else my anger will spread like a wildfire, with no one to put it out, because of your evil deeds.

13 I am against you, you who live in the valley, like a rock of the plain, declares the LORD, and who say, "Who will come down to attack us? Who will breach our fortresses?"

14 I will punish you based on what you have done, declares the LORD. I will set your forests on fire; the flames will engulf everything around you.

Jeremiah 22

1 The LORD proclaims: Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and declare this message:

2 Listen to the LORD's word, king of Judah, you who sit on David's throne—you and your attendants, and all those who go through these gates.

3 The LORD proclaims: Do what is just and right; rescue the oppressed from the power of the oppressor. Don't exploit or mistreat the refugee, the orphan, and the widow. Don't spill the blood of the innocent in this place.

4 If you obey this command, then through the gates of this palace will come kings who occupy the throne of David, riding on chariots and horses along with their entourage and subjects.

5 But if you ignore these words, I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that this palace will become a ruin.

6 The LORD proclaims concerning the palace of the king of Judah: Though you are like Gilead to me, like the summit of Lebanon, I will turn you into a desert—uninhabited cities.

7 I will summon destroyers against you, who will use their weapons to cut down your finest cedars and hurl them into the fire.

8 People from many nations will pass by this city and ask each other: "Why has the LORD treated that great city like this?"

9 And the answer will be, "Because they abandoned the covenant with the LORD their God and worshipped and served other gods."

10 Don't weep or lament for the dead king. Weep instead for the one who has gone away, for he will never return to see his native soil.

11 This is what the LORD says about Shallum son of Judah's King Josiah, who succeeded his father Josiah as king but who is now gone from this place: He will never return!

12 He will die where he's been exiled and never see this land again.

13 How terrible for Jehoiakim, who builds his house with corruption and his upper chambers with injustice, working his countrymen for nothing, refusing to give them their wages.

14 He says, "I'll build myself a grand palace, with huge upper chambers, ornate windows, cedar paneling, and rich red decor."

15 Is this what makes you a king, having more cedar than anyone else? Didn't your father eat and drink and still do what was just and right? Then it went well for him!

16 He defended the rights of the poor and needy; then it went well. Isn't that what it means to know me? declares the LORD.

17 But you set your eyes and heart on nothing but unjust gain; you spill the blood of the innocent; you practice cruelty; you oppress your subjects.

18 Therefore, this is what the LORD says to Jehoiakim son of Judah's King Josiah: They won't grieve for him, saying, "My brother, my sister!" They won't grieve for him, saying, "My master, my majesty!"

19 They will give him a donkey's burial, dragging him outside the gates of Jerusalem and dumping him there.

20 Go up to Lebanon and cry out, lift up your voice in Bashan, cry out from Abarim, because all your lovers have been ravished.

21 I spoke to you when you felt safe and secure, but you said, "I won't listen." You have been that way since your youth: not listening to a word I say.

22 Your shepherds will be tossed to the wind, your lovers taken off to exile. Then you will be embarrassed and humiliated by all your wickedness.

23 You who live in Lebanon, nestled in cedar, who will pity you when you are overcome in pain, like that of childbirth?

24 As surely as I live, declares the LORD, even if Coniah, King Jehoiakim's son from Judah were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still remove you from there.

25 I would hand you over to those who seek to kill you, those you dread, even Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar and his army.

26 I will banish you and your mother who bore you to a land far from your native soil, and there the two of you will die.

27 You will never return to the land you long to go back to.

28 Is this man Coniah merely a defiled and broken pottery jar that no one wants? Why then have he and his children been hurled out and cast into an unfamiliar land?

29 Land, land, land, hear the LORD's word:

30 The LORD proclaims: Mark this man as childless; he will not prosper during his lifetime. None of his children will sit on David's throne and rule again in Judah.

Jeremiah 23

1 Watch out, you shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, declares the LORD.

2 This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, proclaims about the shepherds who "tend to" my people: You are the ones who have scattered my flock and driven them away. You haven't attended to their needs, so I will take revenge on you for the terrible things you have done to them, declares the LORD.

3 I myself will gather the few remaining sheep from all the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply.

4 I will place over them shepherds who care for them. Then they will no longer be afraid or dread harm, nor will any be missing, declares the LORD.

5 The time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up a righteous descendant from David's line, and he will rule as a wise king. He will do what is just and right in the land.

6 During his lifetime, Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And his name will be The LORD Is Our Righteousness.

7 So the time is coming, declares the LORD, when no one will say, "As the LORD lives who brought up the Israelites from the land of Egypt."

8 Instead, they will say, "As the LORD lives who brought up the descendants of the people of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where he has banished them so that they can live in their own land."

9 As for the prophets: My heart inside me is broken; my body aches. I stagger like a drunk who has had too much wine to drink, because of the LORD and because of God's holy words.

10 Because the country teems with adulterers, because of them, yes, because their might isn't right and their way is evil, the land dries up, and the grazing areas in the wilderness wither.

11 Both prophet and priest are godless; I even find their evil in my temple, declares the LORD.

12 Therefore, they will find themselves on slippery ground and will be thrust into darkness, where they will collapse. I will bring disaster upon them, when their time comes, declares the LORD.

13 In the prophets of Samaria I saw something shocking: They prophesied by Baal and led astray my people Israel.

14 In the prophets of Jerusalem I saw something horrible: They commit adultery and tell lies. They encourage evildoers so that no one turns from their wickedness. In my eyes, they are no better than Sodom; its people are like Gomorrah.

15 Therefore, this is what the LORD of heavenly forces proclaims concerning the prophets: I'm going to feed them bitter food and give them poison to drink. Wickedness has spread from the prophets of Jerusalem throughout the land.

16 The LORD proclaims: Don't listen to the prophets who are speaking to you; they are deceiving you. Their visions come from their own hearts, not from the LORD's mouth.

17 They keep saying to those who scorn God's message, "All will go well for you," and to those who follow their own willful hearts, "Nothing bad will happen to you."

18 But who has stood in the LORD's council to listen to God's word? Who has paid attention to his word and announced it?

19 Look! The LORD's angry storm breaks out; it whirls around the heads of the wicked.

20 The LORD's fierce anger won't turn back until it accomplishes all that he has planned. In the days to come, you will understand what this means.

21 I didn't send the prophets, yet they ran anyway. I didn't speak to them, yet they prophesied anyway.

22 If they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to my people; they would have turned them from their evil ways and deeds.

23 The LORD declares, Am I a God who is only nearby and not far off?

24 Can people hide themselves in secret places so I might not see them? Don't I fill heaven and earth?

25 I have heard the prophets prophesying lies in my name. They claim, "I've had a dream; I've had a dream!"

26 How long will deceitful prophecies dominate the minds of the prophets? Those prophets are treacherous.

27 They scheme to make my people forget me by their dreams that people tell each other, just as their ancestors forgot me because of Baal.

28 Let the prophet who has a dream declare it, but let the one who has my word proclaim it faithfully. What a difference between straw and wheat! declares the LORD.

29 Isn't my word like fire and like a hammer that shatters rock? declares the LORD.

30 Therefore, I'm against the prophets who steal my words from each other, declares the LORD.

31 I'm against the prophets who carelessly deliver oracles, declares the LORD.

32 I'm against the prophets who dream up lies and then proclaim them, declares the LORD. With their reckless lies, they lead my people astray. I didn't send them; I didn't commission them. They are completely useless to these people, declares the LORD.

33 When these people or a prophet or a priest asks you, "What is the LORD's message?" say to them, "What message? I will cast you off, declares the LORD."

34 I will punish anyone, including prophet or priest, who says, "This is the LORD's message."

35 This is what you should ask each other: "What has the LORD said?""What has the LORD declared?"

36 But you are no longer to mention the LORD's message, because everyone thinks they have received a message from the LORD. You destroy the very word of the living God, the LORD of heavenly forces, our God.

37 So this is what you should say to the prophet: "What has the LORD said to you?""What has the LORD declared?"

38 But if you insist on saying, "This is the LORD's message," the LORD says to you: Because you have made this claim—this is the LORD's message—when I told you not to proclaim the LORD's message,

39 I will lift you up and cast you out of my presence, together with the city that I gave to your ancestors.

40 I will make you an object of disgrace and enduring shame that no one will ever forget.

Jeremiah 24

1 After Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar had deported Judah's King Jeconiah, King Jehoiakim's son, and the Judean officials, as well as the craftsmen and metalworkers from Jerusalem to Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs set in front of the LORD's temple.

2 One basket was filled with fresh and ripe figs; the other basket was filled with rotten figs—too rotten to eat.

3 And the LORD asked me: "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I replied: "Figs! Some good ones and others very bad—so bad that they can't be eaten."

4 Then the LORD said to me:

5 The LORD, the God of Israel, proclaims: Just as with these good figs, I will treat kindly the Judean exiles that I have sent from this place to Babylon.

6 I regard them as good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not pull them down; I will plant them and not dig them up.

7 I will give them a heart to know me, for I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

8 And just like the rotten figs that are so bad that they can't be eaten, the LORD says, I will do to Judah's King Zedekiah and his officials, as well as the remaining few in Jerusalem and those who are living in Egypt.

9 I will make them an object of horror and evil to all the kingdoms of the earth. Wherever I scatter them, they will be disgraced and insulted, mocked and cursed.

10 I will send the sword, famine, and disease against them until they vanish from the fertile land that I gave to their ancestors.

Jeremiah 25

1 Jeremiah received the LORD's word concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Judah's King Jehoiakim, Josiah's son. This was the first year of Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar.

2 The prophet Jeremiah addressed all the people of Judah and all those living in Jerusalem.

3 From the thirteenth year of Judah's King Josiah, Amon's son, to this very day—twenty-three years—the LORD's word has come to me. I have delivered it to you repeatedly, although you wouldn't listen.

4 In fact, the LORD has tirelessly sent you all his servants, the prophets, but you wouldn't listen or pay attention.

5 They said, "Each one of you, turn from your evil ways and deeds and live in the fertile land that the LORD gave you and your ancestors for all time.

6 Don't follow or worship other gods and don't anger me by what you make with your hands. Then I won't bring disaster upon you."

7 But you wouldn't listen to me, making me angry by what you do and bringing disaster upon yourselves, declares the LORD.

8 Therefore, this is what the LORD of heavenly forces says: Because you haven't listened to my words,

9 I am going to muster all the tribes of the north and my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, declares the LORD, and I will bring them against this country and its residents as well as against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and will make them an object of horror, shock, and ruins for all time.

10 I will silence the sounds of joy and laughter and the voices of the bride and the bridegroom. Yes, I will silence the millstones and snuff out the lamplight.

11 This whole country will be reduced to a wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

12 When the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation for their wrongdoing, declares the LORD. I will reduce the land of the Babylonians to a wasteland for all time.

13 I will unleash upon that land everything I decreed, all that is written in this scroll, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations.

14 Yes, many great nations and powerful kings will enslave them, and I will pay them back in full for what they have done and made with their hands.

15 This is what the LORD, God of Israel, said to me: Take this seething cup of wine from my hand and make all the nations gulp it down where I'm sending you.

16 They will drink and stagger about half-crazed because of the sword that I am sending against them.

17 So I took the cup from the LORD's hand, and I made all the nations drink from it where the LORD had sent me:

18 Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, its kings and officials. This was to make them a wasteland, an object of horror, shock, and cursing, as it is today;

19 Pharaoh, Egypt's king, his attendants and officials, and all his people,

20 including the foreigners living there; all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the land of the Philistines—Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what's left of Ashdod;

21 Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites;

22 all the kings of Tyre and Sidon, and the kings of the coastlands across the sea;

23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all those who cut the hair of their foreheads;

24 all the kings of Arabia and the nomadic tribes,

25 all the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media;

26 all the kings of the north, those nearby and those faraway, one after another, all the empires on the earth will drink from this cup. And after them the king of Sheshach will drink from it.

27 Then say to them: The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: Drink this seething cup of wine and get drunk. Vomit and collapse and don't get up again because of the sword that I'm thrusting into you.

28 If they refuse to take the cup in your hand and drink from it, tell them: This is what the LORD of heavenly forces says: You must drink!

29 Look! I'm bringing disaster upon the city that bears my name; how then will you escape unpunished? You will not! I'm summoning the sword against everyone on earth, declares the LORD of heavenly forces.

30 Now prophesy all these things and say to them: The LORD roars on high; from his holy place he thunders. He roars fiercely against his flock, like the shouting of those who tread on grapes, against everyone on earth.

31 The uproar is heard far and wide, because the LORD is bringing a lawsuit against the nations. He's entering into judgment with all people, sentencing the guilty to death, declares the LORD.

32 The LORD of heavenly forces proclaims: Look! Disaster travels from nation to nation. A terrible storm comes from the far ends of the earth.

33 At that time, those struck down by the LORD will fill the earth. And no one will mourn for them or prepare their bodies for burial. They will become like refuse lying on the ground.

34 Wail, you shepherds, cry out. Roll in the dust, you masters of the flock! The day of your slaughter has arrived. You will fall and shatter like a fragile vase.

35 The shepherds have no place to hide; the masters of the flock can't escape.

36 Hear the cry of the shepherds and the sobbing of the masters of the flock, because the LORD is ravaging their pasture.

37 There's an eerie silence in the peaceful meadows, because of the LORD's fierce anger.

38 The lion is on the prowl, and the land is reduced to nothing, because of the fierce sword, because of his fierce anger.

Jeremiah 26

1 Early in the rule of Judah's King Jehoiakim, Josiah's son, this word came from the LORD:

2 The LORD proclaims: Stand in the temple courtyard and speak to all the people of the towns of Judah who have come to the temple to worship. Tell them everything I command you; leave nothing out.

3 Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from their evil ways. If they do, I will relent and not carry out the harm I have in mind for them because of the wrong they have done.

4 So tell them, The LORD proclaims: If you don't listen to me or follow the Instruction I have set before you—

5 if you don't listen to the words of the prophets that I have sent to you time and again, though you haven't listened,

6 then I will make this temple a ruin like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse before all nations on earth.

7 The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah declare these words in the LORD's temple.

8 And when Jeremiah finished saying everything the LORD told him to say, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him and said, "You must die!

9 Why do you prophesy in the LORD's name that ‘this temple will become a ruin like Shiloh, and this city will be destroyed and left without inhabitant'?" Then all the people joined ranks against Jeremiah in the LORD's temple.

10 When the officials of Judah heard these things, they went up from the royal palace to the LORD's temple and took their places at the entrance of the New Gate of the LORD's temple.

11 The priests and the prophets said to the officials and all the people: "This man deserves to die for prophesying against this city as you have all heard firsthand."

12 Jeremiah said to all the officials and to all the people, "The LORD sent me to prophesy to this temple and this city everything you have heard.

13 So now transform your ways and actions. Obey the LORD your God, and the LORD may relent and not carry out the harm that he's pronounced against you.

14 But me? I'm in your hands. Do whatever you would like to me.

15 Only know for certain that if you sentence me to death, you and the people of this city will be guilty of killing an innocent man. The LORD has in fact sent me to speak everything I have said to you."

16 Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, "This man doesn't deserve to die, for he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God."

17 A few of the community elders got up and addressed the whole crowd:

18 "Micah of Moresheth, who prophesied during the rule of Judah's Hezekiah, said to all the people of Judah, ‘The LORD of heavenly forces proclaims: Zion will be plowed down like a field, Jerusalem will become piles of rubble, and the temple mount will become an overgrown mound.'

19 “Did King Hezekiah or anyone else in Judah execute him? Didn't he instead fear the LORD and plead for his mercy? Then the LORD relented of the harm that he had pronounced against them. We are about to commit a huge mistake that will cost us our lives."

20 There was another man who prophesied in the LORD's name: Uriah, Shemaiah's son from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied the same things that Jeremiah did about this city and against this land.

21 When King Jehoiakim and all his warriors and officials heard his words, the king sought to kill him. Uriah heard of this and fled in fear to Egypt.

22 But King Jehoiakim dispatched Elnathan, Achbor's son, and others to Egypt.

23 They brought Uriah back from Egypt to the king who had him killed, and his body was thrown into the common burial ground.

24 But Ahikam, Shaphan's son, protected Jeremiah and wouldn't let the people execute him.

Jeremiah 27

1 Early in the rule of Judah's King Zedekiah, Josiah's son, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

2 This is what the LORD said to me: Make a yoke of straps and bars and wear it on your neck.

3 Then send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through their representatives who have come to Jerusalem to Judah's King Zedekiah.

4 Tell them to say to their masters: The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: Say this to your masters:

5 By my great power and outstretched arm, I have made the earth and the people and animals that are on it. I can give it to anyone I please.

6 Now I hand over all these countries to my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I even give him the wild animals as subjects.

7 All nations will serve him, his son and grandson, until the time for his land arrives; then many nations and great kings will conquer him.

8 As for the nation or country that won't serve Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar and won't put its neck under his yoke, I will punish it with sword, famine, and disease until I have destroyed it by his hand, declares the LORD.

9 As for you, don't listen to your prophets, diviners, dreamers, mediums, or your sorcerers who say to you, "Don't serve the king of Babylon."

10 They are lying to you, and their lies will lead to banishment from your land. I will drive you out, and you will perish.

11 But any nation that puts its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him, I will let stay in its land to till it and live on it, declares the LORD.

12 I delivered the same message to Judah's King Zedekiah: If you want to live, put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people.

13 Why should you and your people die by sword, famine, and disease, as the LORD pronounced against any nation that won't serve the king of Babylon?

14 Pay no attention to the words of the prophets who encourage you not to serve the king of Babylon, for they are lying to you.

15 I haven't sent these prophets, declares the LORD; they are prophesying falsely in my name. If you listen to them, I will drive you out, and you will perish, both you and your prophets!

16 Then I spoke to the priests and all this people: This is what the LORD says: Don't listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you, "In a short while, the temple equipment will be brought back from Babylon." They are prophesying a lie to you.

17 Don't listen to them; serve the king of Babylon and live. Otherwise, this city will be reduced to ruin.

18 If they are really prophets and have the LORD's word, let them intercede with the LORD of heavenly forces not to let the equipment left in the LORD's temple and in the royal palace of Judah and Jerusalem be carted off to Babylon.

19 This is what the LORD of heavenly forces proclaims about the pillars, the Sea, the stands, and the rest of the equipment left in this city,

20 which Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar didn't plunder when he deported Jeconiah the son of Judah's King Jehoiakim from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the officials of Judah and Jerusalem.

21 Yes, this is what the LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims about the equipment that is left in the LORD's temple and in the royal palace in Judah, and in Jerusalem:

22 They will be carted off to Babylon where they will remain until the day I come looking for them, declares the LORD; then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.

Jeremiah 28

1 That same year, early in the rule of Judah's King Zedekiah, in the fifth month of his fourth year, the prophet Hananiah, Azzur's son from Gibeon, spoke to me in the LORD's temple before the priests and all the people.

2 He said: "The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

3 In two years I will restore to this place all of the temple equipment that Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar carted off to Babylon.

4 I will also restore to this place Judah's King Jeconiah, Jehoiakim's son, along with all the exiles from Judah who were deported to Babylon, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon, declares the LORD."

5 Then the prophet Jeremiah responded to Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the LORD's temple.

6 The prophet Jeremiah said: "Indeed. May the LORD do just as you have said! May the LORD fulfill the words that you have prophesied and bring back from Babylon the equipment of the LORD's temple and all the exiles to this place.

7 However, listen closely to what I have to say to you and all the people:

8 The prophets who came before you and me long ago prophesied war, disaster, and disease against many lands and great kingdoms.

9 So the prophet who prophesies peace is recognized as one who is actually sent by the LORD only when that prophet's message is fulfilled."

10 Then the prophet Hananiah took hold of the yoke that was on the prophet Jeremiah's neck and broke it.

11 He said before all the people, "This is what the LORD says: Just as this yoke has been broken, I will break the yoke of Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar from the neck of all the nations within two years." Then the prophet Jeremiah walked away.

12 Sometime after Hananiah had broken the yoke that was on Jeremiah's neck, the LORD told him:

13 Go, say to Hananiah, The LORD proclaims: You have broken a wooden yoke, but I will replace it with an iron one.

14 The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: I will put iron yokes on the necks of all these nations, and they will serve Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar; even the wild animals will be subject to him!

15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah: "Listen, Hananiah! The LORD hasn't sent you. All you are doing is persuading these people to believe a lie.

16 Therefore, the LORD proclaims: I'm going to send you somewhere—right off the face of the earth! Before the year ends, you will die since you have incited rebellion against the LORD."

17 The prophet Hananiah died in the seventh month of that year.

Jeremiah 29

1 The prophet Jeremiah sent a letter from Jerusalem to the few surviving elders among the exiles, to the priests and the prophets, and to all the people Nebuchadnezzar had taken to Babylon from Jerusalem.

2 The letter was sent after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the court officials, the government leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen and smiths had left Jerusalem.

3 It was delivered to Babylon by Elasah, Shaphan's son, and Gemariah, Hilkiah's son—two men dispatched to Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar by King Zedekiah.

4 The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims to all the exiles I have carried off from Jerusalem to Babylon:

5 Build houses and settle down; cultivate gardens and eat what they produce.

6 Get married and have children; then help your sons find wives and your daughters find husbands in order that they too may have children. Increase in number there so that you don't dwindle away.

7 Promote the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because your future depends on its welfare.

8 The LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: Don't let the prophets and diviners in your midst mislead you. Don't pay attention to your dreams.

9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I didn't send them, declares the LORD.

10 The LORD proclaims: When Babylon's seventy years are up, I will come and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place.

11 I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the LORD; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope.

12 When you call me and come and pray to me, I will listen to you.

13 When you search for me, yes, search for me with all your heart, you will find me.

14 I will be present for you, declares the LORD, and I will end your captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have scattered you, and I will bring you home after your long exile, declares the LORD.

15 Yet you say, The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon:

16 This is what the LORD proclaims concerning the king sitting on David's throne and all the people who live in this city, that is, those among you who didn't go into exile:

17 The LORD of heavenly forces proclaims: I'm going to send the sword, famine, and disease against them. I will make them like rotten figs that are too spoiled to eat.

18 I will pursue them with the sword, famine, and disease; and I will make them an object of horror to all nations on earth and an object of cursing, scorn, shock, and disgrace among all the countries where I have scattered them,

19 because they wouldn't listen to my words, declares the LORD, which I sent them time and again through my servants the prophets. They wouldn't listen, declares the LORD.

20 But now, all you exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon, listen to the LORD's word.

21 This is what the LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims concerning Ahab, Kolaiah's son, and Zedekiah, Maaseiah's son, who are prophesying lies to you in my name: I will hand them over to Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar, and he will slay them before your very eyes.

22 Because of them, all the Judean exiles in Babylon will use this curse: "The LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, who were burned alive by the king of Babylon."

23 They committed a horrible scandal in Israel—adultery with their neighbors' wives and deceit spoken in my name, with which I had nothing to do. Yet I'm still aware of it and am witness to it, declares the LORD.

24 Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite,

25 This is what the LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: You sent letters on your own accord to all the people in Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah, Maaseiah's son, and to the rest of the priests.

26 You said to Zephaniah: The LORD has appointed you priest in charge of the LORD's temple instead of Jehoiada. You are responsible for putting every madman who prophesies into stocks and neck irons.

27 So why haven't you threatened Jeremiah of Anathoth, who pretends to be a prophet among you?

28 He has sent a letter telling those of us in Babylon: "You are going to be there a long time, so build houses and settle down, plant gardens and eat what they produce."

29 The priest Zephaniah read this letter to the prophet Jeremiah.

30 Then the LORD's word came to Jeremiah:

31 Send word to all the exiles: The LORD proclaims concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah prophesied to you when I didn't send him, and because he convinced you to believe a lie,

32 I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants, declares the LORD. Not one member of this people will be around to see the good that I have in store for my people, declares the LORD, for he incited rebellion against me.

Jeremiah 30

1 Jeremiah received the LORD's word:

2 The LORD, the God of Israel, proclaims: Write down in a scroll all the words I have spoken to you.

3 The time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will bring back my people Israel and Judah from captivity, says the LORD. I will bring them home to the land that I gave to their ancestors, and they will possess it.

4 Here are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah:

5 The LORD proclaims: I hear screams of panic and terror; no one is safe.

6 Ask and see: Can men bear children? Then why do I see every man bent over in pain, as if he's in labor? Why have all turned pale?

7 That day is awful, beyond words. A time of unspeakable pain for my people Jacob. But they will be delivered from it.

8 At that time, I will break the yoke off their necks and remove their shackles. Foreigners will no longer enslave them, declares the LORD of heavenly forces.

9 They will serve the LORD their God and the king whom I will raise up for them from David's family.

10 So don't be afraid, my servant Jacob, declares the LORD, Don't lose hope, Israel. I will deliver you from faraway places and your children from the land of their exile. My people Jacob will again be safe and sound, with no one harassing them.

11 I am with you and will rescue you, declares the LORD. I will put an end to all the nations where I have scattered you. But I won't put an end to you. I won't let you remain unpunished: I will discipline you as you deserve.

12 This is what the LORD says: Your injury is incurable; your illness is grave.

13 No one comes to your aid; no one attends to your wound; your disease is incurable.

14 All your lovers disregard you; they write you off as a lost cause, because I have dealt harshly with you as an enemy would, because your guilt is great and your sins are many.

15 Why cry out for relief from your pain? Your wound is incurable. I have done these things to you, because your guilt is great and your sins are many.

16 Yet all who ravage you will be ravaged; all who oppress you will go into exile. Those who rob you will be robbed, and all who plunder you will be plundered.

17 I will restore your health, and I will heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because you were labeled an outcast, "Zion, the lost cause."

18 The LORD proclaims: I will restore Jacob's tents and have pity on their birthplace. Their city will be rebuilt on its ruins and the palace in its rightful place.

19 There will be laughter and songs of thanks. I will add to their numbers so they don't dwindle away. I will honor them so they aren't humiliated.

20 Their children will thrive as they did long ago, and their community will be established before me. I will punish their oppressors.

21 They will have their own leader; their ruler will come from among them. I will let him approach me, and he will draw near. Who would dare approach me unless I let them come? declares the LORD.

22 You will be my people, and I will be your God.

23 Look! The LORD's anger breaks out like a violent storm, a fierce wind that strikes the heads of the wicked.

24 The LORD's fierce anger won't turn back until God's purposes are entirely accomplished. In the days to come, you will understand what this means.