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1 I wish my head were like a spring of water and my eyes like a fountain of tears! Then I could cry day and night for my people who have been killed.

2 I wish I had a place in the desert -- a house where travelers spend the night -- so I could leave my people. I could go away from them, because they are all unfaithful to God; they are all turning against him.

3 "They use their tongues like a bow, shooting lies from their mouths like arrows. Lies, not truth, have grown strong in the land. They go from one evil thing to another. They do not know who I am," says the Lord.

4 "Watch out for your friends, and don't trust your own relatives, because every relative is a cheater, and every friend tells lies about you.

5 Everyone lies to his friend, and no one speaks the truth. tongues to lie. They have become tired from sinning.

6 Jeremiah, you live in the middle of lies. With their lies the people refuse to know me," says the Lord.

7 So this is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "I will test the people of Judah as a person tests metal in a fire. I have no other choice, because my people have sinned.

8 Their tongues are like sharp arrows. Their mouths speak lies. Everyone speaks nicely to his neighbor, but he is secretly planning to attack him.

9 Shouldn't I punish the people for doing this?" says the Lord. "Shouldn't I give a nation like this the punishment it deserves?"

10 I, Jeremiah, will cry loudly for the mountains and sing a funeral song for the empty fields. They are empty, and no one passes through. The mooing of cattle cannot be heard. The birds have flown away, and the animals are gone.

11 "I, the Lord, will make the city of Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a home for wild dogs. so no one can live there."

12 What person is wise enough to understand these things? Is there someone who has been taught by the Lord who can explain them? Why was the land ruined? Why has it been made like an empty desert where no one goes?

13 The Lord answered, "It is because Judah quit following my teachings that I gave them. They have not obeyed me or done what I told them to do.

14 Instead, they were stubborn and followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them to do.

15 So this is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: "I will soon make the people of Judah eat bitter food and drink poisoned water.

16 I will scatter them through other nations that they and their ancestors never knew about. I will chase the people of Judah with the sword until they are all killed."

17 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "Now, think about these things! Call for the women who cry at funerals to come. Send for those women who are good at that job.

18 Let them come quickly and cry loudly for us. Then our eyes will fill with tears, and streams of water will flow from our eyelids.

19 The sound of loud crying is heard from Jerusalem: 'We are truly ruined! We are truly ashamed! We must leave our land, because our houses are in ruins.'"

20 Now, women of Judah, listen to the word of the Lord; open your ears to hear the words of his mouth. Teach your daughters how to cry loudly. Teach one another a funeral song.

21 Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our strong cities. Death has taken away our children who play in the streets and the young men who meet in the city squares.

22 Say, "This is what the Lord says: 'The dead bodies of people will lie in the open field like dung. They will lie like grain a farmer has cut, but there will be no one to gather them.'"

23 This is what the Lord says: "The wise must not brag about their wisdom. The strong must not brag about their strength. The rich must not brag about their money.

24 But if someone wants to brag, let him brag that he understands and knows me. Let him brag that I am the Lord, and that I am kind and fair, and that I do things that are right on earth. This kind of bragging pleases me," says the Lord.

25 The Lord says, "The time is coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh:

26 the people of Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and the desert people who cut their hair short. The men in all those countries are not circumcised. And the whole family of Israel does not give itself to serving me."

1 Family of Israel, listen to what the Lord says to you.

2 This is what he says: "Don't live like the people from other nations, and don't be afraid of special signs in the sky, even though the other nations are afraid of them.

3 The customs of other people are worth nothing. Their idols are just wood cut from the forest, shaped by a worker with his chisel.

4 They decorate their idols with silver and gold. With hammers and nails they fasten them down so they won't fall over.

5 Their idols are like scarecrows in melon fields; they cannot talk. Since they cannot walk, they must be carried. Do not be afraid of those idols, because they can't hurt you, and they can't help you either."

6 Lord, there is no one like you. You are great, and your name is great and powerful.

7 Everyone should respect you, King of the nations; you deserve respect. Of all the wise people among the nations and in all the kingdoms, none of them is as wise as you.

8 Those wise people are stupid and foolish. Their teachings come from worthless wooden idols.

9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, so the idols are made by craftsmen and goldsmiths. They put blue and purple clothes on the idols. All these things are made by skilled workers.

10 But the Lord is the only true God. He is the only living God, the King forever. The earth shakes when he is angry, and the nations cannot stand up to his anger.

11 "Tell them this message: 'These gods did not make heaven and earth; they will be destroyed and disappear from heaven and earth.'"

12 God made the earth by his power. He used his wisdom to build the world and his understanding to stretch out the skies.

13 When he thunders, the waters in the skies roar. He makes clouds rise in the sky all over the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

14 People are so stupid and know so little. Goldsmiths are made ashamed by their idols, because those statues are only false gods. They have no breath in them.

15 They are worth nothing; people make fun of them. When they are judged, they will be destroyed.

16 But God, who is Jacob's Portion, is not like the idols. He made everything, and he chose Israel to be his special people. The Lord All-Powerful is his name.

17 Get everything you own and prepare to leave, you people who are trapped by your enemies.

18 This is what the Lord says: "At this time I will throw out the people who live in this land. I will bring trouble to them so that they may be captured."

19 How terrible it will be for me because of my injury. My wound cannot be healed. Yet I told myself, "This is my sickness; I must suffer through it."

20 My tent is ruined, and all its ropes are broken. My children have gone away and left me. No one is left to put up my tent again or to set up a shelter for me.

21 The shepherds are stupid and don't ask the Lord for advice. So they do not have success, and all their flocks are scattered and lost.

22 Listen! The news is coming. A loud noise comes from the north to make the towns of Judah an empty desert and a home for wild dogs!

23 Lord, I know that a person's life doesn't really belong to him. No one can control his own life.

24 Lord, correct me, but be fair. Don't punish me in your anger, or you will destroy me.

25 Pour out your anger on other nations that do not know you and do not pray to you. Those nations have destroyed Jacob's family. They have eaten him up completely and destroyed his homeland.

1 These are the words that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah:

2 "Listen to the words of this agreement and tell them to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem.

3 Tell them this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'Cursed is the person who does not obey the words of this agreement

4 that I made with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt. Egypt was like a furnace for melting iron!' I told them, 'Obey me and do everything I command you. Then you will be my people, and I will be your God.

5 Then I will keep the promise I made to your ancestors to give them a fertile land.' And you are living in that country today." I answered, "Amen, Lord."

6 The Lord said to me, "Announce this message in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: 'Listen to the words of this agreement and obey them.

7 I warned your ancestors to obey me when I brought them out of Egypt. I have warned them again and again to this very day: "Obey me!"

8 But your ancestors did not listen to me. They were stubborn and did what their own evil hearts wanted. So I made all the curses of this agreement come upon them. I commanded them to obey the agreement, but they did not.'"

9 Then the Lord said to me, "I know the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem have made secret plans.

10 They have gone back to the same sins their ancestors did. Their ancestors refused to listen to my message and followed and worshiped other gods instead. The families of Israel and Judah have broken the agreement I made with their ancestors.

11 So this is what the Lord says: 'I will soon bring a disaster on the people of Judah which they will not be able to escape. They will cry to me for help, but I will not listen to them.

12 The people living in the towns of Judah and the city of Jerusalem will pray to their idols to whom they burn incense. But those idols will not be able to help when disaster comes.

13 Look, people of Judah, you have as many idols as there are towns in Judah. You have built as many altars to burn incense to that shameful god Baal as there are streets in Jerusalem.'

14 "As for you, Jeremiah, don't pray for these people or cry out for them or ask anything for them. I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble.

15 "What is my beloved Judah doing in my Temple when she makes many evil plans? Do you think animal sacrifices will stop your punishment? When you do your evil, then you are happy."

16 The Lord called you "a leafy olive tree, with beautiful fruit and shape." But with the roar of a strong storm he will set that tree on fire, and its branches will be burned up.

17 The Lord All-Powerful, who planted you, has announced that disaster will come to you. This is because the families of Israel and Judah have done evil and have made him angry by burning incense to Baal.

18 The Lord showed me that men were making plans against me. Because he showed me what they were doing, I knew they were against me.

19 Before this, I was like a gentle lamb waiting to be butchered. I did not know they had made plans against me, saying: "Let us destroy the tree and its fruit. Let's kill him so people will forget him."

20 But, Lord All-Powerful, you are a fair judge. You know how to test peoples' hearts and minds. I have told you what I have against them. So let me see you give them the punishment they deserve.

21 So the Lord speaks about the men from Anathoth who plan to kill Jeremiah and say, "Don't prophesy in the name of the Lord, or we will kill you!"

22 So this is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "I will soon punish the men from Anathoth. Their young men will die in war. Their sons and daughters will die from hunger.

23 No one from the city of Anathoth will be left alive, because I will cause a disaster to happen to them that year."

1 Lord, when I bring my case to you, you are always right. But I want to ask you about the justice you give. Why are evil people successful? Why do dishonest people have such easy lives?

2 You have put the evil people here like plants with strong roots. They grow and produce fruit. With their mouths they speak well of you, but their hearts are really far away from you.

3 But you know my heart, Lord. You see me and test my thoughts about you. Drag the evil people away like sheep to be butchered. Set them aside for the day of killing.

4 How much longer will the land stay dried up and the grass in every field be dead? The animals and birds in the land have died, because the people are evil. Yes, they are even saying, "God does not see what happens to us."

5 "If you get tired while racing against people, how can you race against horses? If you stumble in a country that is safe, what will you do in the thick thornbushes along the Jordan River?

6 Even your own brothers and members of your own family are making plans against you. They are crying out against you. Don't trust them, even when they say nice things to you!

7 "I have left Israel; I have left my people. I have given the people I love over to their enemies.

8 My people have become to me like a lion in the forest. They roar at me, so I hate them.

9 My people have become to me like a speckled bird attacked on all sides by hawks. Go, gather the wild animals. Bring them to get something to eat.

10 Many shepherds have ruined my vineyards and trampled the plants in my field. They have turned my beautiful field into an empty desert.

11 They have turned my field into a desert that is wilted and dead. The whole country is an empty desert, because no one who lives there cares.

12 Many soldiers have marched over those barren hills. from one end to the other. No one is safe.

13 The people have planted wheat, but they have harvested only thorns. They have worked hard until they were very tired, but they have nothing for all their work. They are ashamed of their poor harvest, because the Lord's terrible anger has caused this."

14 This is what the Lord said to me: "Here is what I will do to all my wicked neighbors who take the land I gave my people Israel. I will pull them up and throw them out of their land. And I will pull up the people of Judah from among them.

15 But after I pull them up, I will feel sorry for them again. I will bring each person back to his own property and to his own land.

16 I want them to learn their lessons well. In the past they taught my people to swear by Baal's name. But if they will now learn to swear by my name, saying 'As surely as the Lord lives . . .' I will allow them to rebuild among my people.

17 But if a nation will not listen to my message, I will pull it up completely and destroy it," says the Lord.

1 This is what the Lord said to me: "Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist. Don't let the belt get wet."

2 So I bought a linen belt, just as the Lord told me, and put it around my waist.

3 Then the Lord spoke his word to me a second time:

4 "Take the belt you bought and are wearing, and go to Perath. Hide the belt there in a crack in the rocks."

5 So I went to Perath and hid the belt there, just as the Lord told me.

6 Many days later the Lord said to me, "Now go to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there."

7 So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from where I had hidden it. But now it was ruined; it was good for nothing.

8 Then the Lord spoke his word to me.

9 This is what the Lord said: "In the same way I will ruin the pride of the people of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

10 These evil people refuse to listen to my warnings. They stubbornly do only what they want to do, and they follow other gods to serve and worship them. So they will become like this linen belt -- good for nothing.

11 As a belt is wrapped tightly around a person's waist, I wrapped the families of Israel and Judah around me," says the Lord. "I did that so they would be my people and bring fame, praise, and honor to me. But my people would not listen.

12 "Say to them: 'This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: All leather bags for holding wine should be filled with wine.' People will say to you: 'Of course, we know all wine bags should be filled with wine.'

13 Then you will say to them, 'This is what the Lord says: I will make everyone in this land like a drunken person -- the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests and the prophets, and all the people who live in Jerusalem.

14 I will make them smash against one another, fathers and sons alike, says the Lord. I will not feel sorry or have pity on them or show mercy that would stop me from destroying them.'"

15 Listen and pay attention. Don't be too proud, because the Lord has spoken to you.

16 Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings darkness and before you slip and fall on the dark hills. You hope for light, but he will turn it into thick darkness; he will change it into deep gloom.

17 If you don't listen to him, I will cry secretly because of your pride. I will cry painfully, and my eyes will overflow with tears, because the Lord's people will be captured.

18 Tell this to the king and the queen mother: "Come down from your thrones, because your beautiful crowns have fallen from your heads."

19 The cities of southern Judah are locked up, and no one can open them. foreign land; they will be carried away completely.

20 Jerusalem, look up and see the people coming from the north. Where is the flock God gave you to care for, the flock you bragged about?

21 What will you say when they appoint as your heads those you had thought were your friends? Won't you have much pain and trouble, like a woman giving birth to a baby?

22 You might ask yourself, "Why has this happened to me?" It happened because of your many sins. Because of your sins, your skirt was torn off and your body has been treated badly.

23 Can a person from Cush change the color of his skin? Can a leopard change his spots? In the same way, Jerusalem, you cannot change and do good, because you are accustomed to doing evil.

24 "I will scatter you like chaff that is blown away by the desert wind.

25 This is what will happen to you; this is your part in my plans," says the Lord. "Because you forgot me and trusted in false gods,

26 I will pull your skirts up over your face so everyone will see your shame.

27 I have seen the terrible things you have done: your acts of adultery and your snorting, your prostitution, your hateful acts on the hills and in the fields. How terrible it will be for you, Jerusalem. How long will you continue being unclean?"

1 These are the words that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah about the time when there was no rain:

2 "The nation of Judah cries as if someone has died, and her cities are very sad. They are distressed over the land. A cry goes up to God from Jerusalem.

3 The important men send their servants to get water. They go to the wells, but they find no water. So they return with empty jars. They are ashamed and embarrassed and cover their heads in shame.

4 The ground is dry and cracked open, because no rain falls on the land. The farmers are upset and sad, so they cover their heads in shame.

5 Even the mother deer in the field leaves her newborn fawn to die, because there is no grass.

6 Wild donkeys stand on the bare hills and sniff the wind like wild dogs. But their eyes go blind, because there is no food."

7 We know that we suffer because of our sins. Lord, do something to help us for the good of your name. We have left you many times; we have sinned against you.

8 God, the Hope of Israel, you have saved Israel in times of trouble. Why are you like a stranger in the land, or like a traveler who only stays one night?

9 Why are you like someone who has been attacked by surprise, like a warrior who is not able to save anyone? But you are among us, Lord, and we are called by your name so don't leave us without help!

10 This is what the Lord says about the people of Judah: "They really love to wander from me; they don't stop themselves from leaving me. So now the Lord will not accept them. He will now remember the evil they do and will punish them for their sins."

11 Then the Lord said, "Don't pray for good things to happen to the people of Judah.

12 Even if they give up eating, I will not listen to their prayers. Even if they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings to me, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy the people of Judah with war, hunger, and terrible diseases."

13 But I said, "Oh, Lord God, the prophets keep telling the people, 'You will not suffer from an enemy's sword or from hunger. I, the Lord, will give you peace in this land.'"

14 Then the Lord said to me, "Those prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They have been prophesying false visions, idolatries, worthless magic, and their own wishful thinking.

15 So this is what I say about the prophets who are prophesying in my name. I did not send them. They say, 'No enemy will attack this country with swords. There will never be hunger in this land.' So those prophets will die from hunger and from an enemy's sword.

16 And the people to whom the prophets speak will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem. There they will die from hunger and from an enemy's sword. And no one will be there to bury them, or their wives, or their sons, or their daughters. I will punish them.

17 "Jeremiah, speak this message to the people of Judah: 'Let my eyes be filled with tears night and day, without stopping. My people have received a terrible blow; they have been hurt badly.

18 If I go into the country, I see people killed by swords. If I go into the city, I see much sickness, because the people have no food. Both the priests and the prophets have been taken to a foreign land.'"

19 Lord, have you completely rejected the nation of Judah? Why have you hurt us so badly that we cannot be made well again? We hoped for peace, but nothing good has come. We looked for a time of healing, but only terror came.

20 Lord, we admit that we are wicked and that our ancestors did evil things. We have sinned against you.

21 For your sake, do not hate us. Do not take away the honor from your glorious throne. Remember your agreement with us, and do not break it.

22 Do foreign idols have the power to bring rain? Does the sky itself have the power to send down showers? No, it is you, Lord our God. You are our only hope, because you are the one who made all these things.

1 Then the Lord said to me: "I would not feel sorry for the people of Judah even if Moses and Samuel prayed for them. Send them away from me! Tell them to go!

2 When they ask you, 'Where will we go?' tell them: 'This is what the Lord says: Those who are meant to die will die. Those who are meant to die in war will die in war. Those who are meant to die from hunger will die from hunger. Those who are meant to be taken captive will be taken captive.'

3 "I will send four kinds of destroyers against them," says the Lord. "I will send war to kill, dogs to drag the bodies away, and the birds of the air and wild animals to eat and destroy the bodies.

4 I will make the people of Judah hated by everyone on earth because of what Manasseh did in Jerusalem. (Manasseh son of Hezekiah was king of the nation of Judah.)

5 "Who will feel sorry for you, Jerusalem? Who will be sad and cry for you? Who will go out of his way to ask how you are?

6 Jerusalem, you have left me," says the Lord. "You keep going farther and farther away, so I have taken hold of you and destroyed you. I was tired of holding back my anger.

7 I have separated the people of Judah with my pitchfork and scattered them at the city gates of the land. My people haven't changed their ways. So I have destroyed them and taken away their children.

8 There are more widows than grains of sand in the sea. I brought a destroyer at noontime against the mothers of the young men of Judah. I suddenly brought pain and fear on the people of Judah.

9 When the enemy attacked, a woman with seven sons felt faint because they would all die. She became weak and unable to breathe. Her bright day became dark from sadness. She felt shame and disgrace. I will hand over to the enemies, too!" says the Lord.

10 Mother, I am sorry that you gave birth to me since I must accuse and criticize the whole land. I have not loaned or borrowed anything, but everyone curses me.

11 The Lord said, "I have saved you for a good reason. I have made your enemies beg you in times of disaster and trouble.

12 No one can smash a piece of iron or bronze that comes from the north.

13 Your wealth and treasures I will give to others free of charge, because the people of Judah have sinned throughout the country.

14 I will make you slaves to your enemies in a land you have never known. My anger is like a hot fire, and it will burn against you."

15 Lord, you understand. Remember me and take care of me. Punish for me those who are hurting me. Don't destroy me while you remain patient with them. Think about the shame I suffer for you.

16 Your words came to me, and I listened carefully to them. Your words made me very happy, because I am called by your name, Lord God All-Powerful.

17 I never sat with the crowd as they laughed and had fun. I sat by myself, because you were there, and you filled me with anger at the evil around me.

18 I don't understand why my pain has no end. I don't understand why my injury is not cured or healed. Will you be like a brook that goes dry? Will you be like a spring that stops flowing?

19 So this is what the Lord says: "If you change your heart and return to me, I will take you back. Then you may serve me. And if you speak things that have worth, not useless words, then you may speak for me. Let the people of Judah turn to you, but you must not change and be like them.

20 I will make you as strong as a wall to this people, as strong as a wall of bronze. They will fight against you, but they will not defeat you, because I am with you. I will rescue you and save you," says the Lord.

21 "I will save you from these wicked people and rescue you from these cruel people."

1 Then the Lord spoke his word to me:

2 "You must not get married or have sons or daughters in this place."

3 The Lord says this about the sons and daughters born in this land and their mothers and fathers:

4 "They will die of terrible diseases, and no one will cry for them or bury them. Their bodies will lie on the ground like dung. They will die in war, or they will starve to death. Their bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals."

5 So this is what the Lord says: "Jeremiah, do not go into a house where there is a funeral meal. Do not go there to cry for the dead or to show your sorrow for them, because I have taken back my blessing, my love, and my pity from these people," says the Lord.

6 "Important people and common people will die in the land of Judah. No one will bury them or cry for them or cut himself or shave his head to show sorrow for them.

7 No one will bring food to comfort those who are crying for the dead. No one will offer a drink to comfort someone whose mother or father has died.

8 "Do not go into a house where the people are having a feast to sit down to eat and drink,

9 because this is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: I will soon stop the sounds of joy and gladness and the happy sounds of brides and bridegrooms in this place. This will happen during your lifetime.

10 "When you tell the people of Judah these things, they will ask you, 'Why has the Lord said these terrible things to us? What have we done wrong? What sin have we done against the Lord our God?'

11 "Then say to them: 'This is because your ancestors quit following me,' says the Lord. 'And they followed other gods and served and worshiped them. Your ancestors left me and quit obeying my teaching.

12 But you have done even more evil than your ancestors. You are very stubborn and do only what you want to do; you have not obeyed me.

13 So I will throw you out of this country and send you into a land that you and your ancestors never knew. There you can serve other gods day and night, because I will not help you or show you any favors.'

14 "People say, 'As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the people of Israel out of Egypt . . .' But the time is coming," says the Lord, "when people will not say this anymore.

15 They will say instead, 'As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites from the northern land and from all the countries where he had sent them . . .' And I will bring them back to the land I gave to their ancestors.

16 "I will soon send for many fishermen to come to this land," says the Lord. "And they will catch the people of Judah. After that, I will send for many hunters to come to this land. And they will hunt the people of Judah on every mountain and hill and in the cracks of the rocks.

17 I see everything they do. They cannot hide from me the things they do; their sin is not hidden from my eyes.

18 I will pay back the people of Judah twice for every one of their sins, because they have made my land unclean. They have filled my country with their hateful idols."

19 Lord, you are my strength and my protection, my safe place in times of trouble. The nations will come to you from all over the world and say, "Our ancestors had only false gods, useless idols that didn't help them.

20 Can people make gods for themselves? They will not really be gods!"

21 The Lord says, "So I will teach those who make idols. This time I will teach them about my power and my strength. Then they will know that my name is the Lord.

1 "The sin of the people of Judah is written with an iron tool. Their sins were cut with a hard point into the stone that is their hearts. Their sins were cut into the corners of their altars.

2 Even their children remember their altars to idols and their Asherah idols beside the green trees and on the high hills.

3 My mountain in the open country and your wealth and treasures I will give away to other people. I will give away the places of worship in your country, because you sinned by worshiping there.

4 You will lose the land I gave you, and it is your own fault. I will let your enemies take you as their slaves to a land you have never known. This is because you have made my anger burn like a hot fire, and it will burn forever."

5 This is what the Lord says: "A curse is placed on those who trust other people, who depend on humans for strength, who have stopped trusting the Lord.

6 They are like a bush in a desert that grows in a land where no one lives, a hot and dry land with bad soil. They don't know about the good things God can give.

7 "But the person who trusts in the Lord will be blessed. The Lord will show him that he can be trusted.

8 He will be strong, like a tree planted near water that sends its roots by a stream. It is not afraid when the days are hot; its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year when no rain comes; it always produces fruit.

9 "More than anything else, a person's mind is evil and cannot be healed. No one truly understands it.

10 But I, the Lord, look into a person's heart and test the mind. So I can decide what each one deserves; I can give each one the right payment for what he does."

11 Like a bird hatching an egg it did not lay, so are the people who get rich by cheating. When their lives are half finished, they will lose their riches. At the end of their lives, it will be clear they were fools.

12 From the beginning, our Temple has been honored as a glorious throne for God.

13 Lord, hope of Israel, those who leave you will be shamed. People who quit following the Lord will be like a name written in the dust, because they have left the Lord, the spring of living water.

14 Lord, heal me, and I will truly be healed. Save me, and I will truly be saved. You are the one I praise.

15 The people of Judah keep asking me, "Where is the word from the Lord? Let's see that message come true!"

16 Lord, I didn't run away from being the shepherd you wanted. I didn't want the terrible day to come. You know everything I have said; you see all that is happening.

17 Don't be a terror to me. I run to you for safety in times of trouble.

18 Make those who are hurting me be ashamed, but don't bring shame to me. Let them be terrified, but keep me from terror. Bring the day of disaster on my enemies. Destroy them, and destroy them again.

19 This is what the Lord said to me: "Go and stand at the People's Gate of Jerusalem, where the kings of Judah go in and out. And then go to all the other gates of Jerusalem.

20 Say to them there: 'Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah, all you people of Judah, and all who live in Jerusalem, who come through these gates into the city.

21 This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem.

22 Don't take a load out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work on that day. But keep the Sabbath as a holy day, as I commanded your ancestors.

23 But your ancestors did not listen or pay attention to me. They were very stubborn and did not listen. I punished them, but it didn't do any good.

24 But you must be careful to obey me, says the Lord. You must not bring a load through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath, but you must keep the Sabbath as a holy day and not do any work on that day.

25 "'If you obey this command, kings who sit on David's throne will come through the gates of Jerusalem with their officers. They will come riding in chariots and on horses, along with the people of Judah and Jerusalem. And the city of Jerusalem will have people living in it forever.

26 People will come to Jerusalem from the villages around it, from the towns of Judah, from the land of Benjamin, from the western hills, from the mountains, and from southern Judah. They will all bring to the Temple of the Lord burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings, incense, and offerings to show thanks to God.

27 But you must obey me and keep the Sabbath day as a holy day. You must not carry any loads into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. If you don't obey me, I will start a fire at the gates of Jerusalem, and it will burn until it burns even the strong towers. And it will not be put out.'"

1 This is the word the Lord spoke to Jeremiah:

2 "Go down to the potter's house, and I will give you my message there."

3 So I went down to the potter's house and saw him working at the potter's wheel.

4 He was using his hands to make a pot from clay, but something went wrong with it. So he used that clay to make another pot the way he wanted it to be.

5 Then the Lord spoke his word to me:

6 "Family of Israel, can't I do the same thing with you?" says the Lord. "You are in my hands like the clay in the potter's hands.

7 There may come a time when I will speak about a nation or a kingdom that I will pull up by its roots or that I will pull down to destroy it.

8 But if the people of that nation stop doing the evil they have done, I will change my mind and not carry out my plans to bring disaster to them.

9 There may come another time when I will speak about a nation that I will build up and plant.

10 But if I see it doing evil by not obeying me, I will change my mind and not carry out my plans to do good for them.

11 "So, say this to the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem: 'This is what the Lord says: I am preparing disaster for you and making plans against you. So stop doing evil. Change your ways and do what is right.'

12 But the people of Judah will answer, 'It won't do any good to try! We will continue to do what we want. Each of us will do what his stubborn, evil heart wants!'"

13 So this is what the Lord says: "Ask the people in other nations this question: 'Have you ever heard anything like this?' The people of Israel have done a horrible thing.

14 The snow on the mountains of Lebanon never melts from the rocks. Its cool, flowing streams do not dry up.

15 But my people have forgotten me. They burn incense to worthless idols and have stumbled in what they do and in the old ways of their ancestors. They walk along back roads and on poor highways.

16 So Judah's country will become an empty desert. People will not stop making fun of it. They will shake their heads as they pass by; they will be shocked at how the country was destroyed.

17 Like a strong east wind, I will scatter them before their enemies. At that awful time they will not see me coming to help them; they will see me leaving."

18 Then the people said, "Come, let's make plans against Jeremiah. Surely the teaching of the law by the priest will not be lost. We will still have the advice from the wise men and the words of the prophets. So let's ruin him by telling lies about him. We won't pay attention to anything he says."

19 Lord, listen to me. Listen to what my accusers are saying!

20 Good should not be paid back with evil, but they have dug a pit in order to kill me. Remember that I stood before you and asked you to do good things for these people and to turn your anger away from them.

21 So now, let their children starve, and let their enemies kill them with swords. Let their wives lose their children and husbands. and the young men be killed with swords in battle.

22 Let them cry out in their houses when you bring an enemy against them suddenly. Let all this happen, because my enemies have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden traps for my feet.

23 Lord, you know about all their plans to kill me. Don't forgive their crimes or erase their sins from your mind. Make them fall from their places; punish them while you are angry.

1 This is what the Lord said to me: "Go and buy a clay jar from a potter.

2 Take some of the older leaders of the people and the priests, and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, near the front of the Potsherd Gate. There speak the words I tell you.

3 Say, 'Kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem, listen to this message from the Lord. This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: I will soon bring a disaster on this place that will amaze and frighten everyone who hears about it.

4 The people of Judah have quit following me. They have made this a place for foreign gods. They have burned sacrifices to other gods that neither they, nor their ancestors, nor the kings of Judah had ever known before. They filled this place with the blood of innocent people.

5 They have built places on hilltops to worship Baal, where they burn their children in the fire to Baal. That is something I did not command or speak about; it never even entered my mind.

6 Now people call this place the Valley of Ben Hinnom or Topheth, but the days are coming, says the Lord, when people will call it the Valley of Killing.

7 "'At this place I will ruin the plans of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. The enemy will chase them, and I will have them killed with swords. I will make their dead bodies food for the birds and wild animals.

8 I will completely destroy this city. People will make fun of it and shake their heads when they pass by. They will be shocked when they see how the city was destroyed.

9 An enemy army will surround the city and will not let anyone go out to get food. I will make the people so hungry that they will eat the bodies of their own sons and daughters, and then they will begin to eat each other.'

10 "While the people with you are watching, break that jar.

11 Then say this: 'The Lord All-Powerful says: I will break this nation and this city just as someone breaks a clay jar that cannot be put back together again. The dead people will be buried here in Topheth, because there is no other place for them.

12 This is what I will do to these people and to this place, says the Lord. I will make this city like Topheth.

13 The houses in Jerusalem and the king's palaces will become as unclean as this place, Topheth, because the people worshiped gods on the roofsn of their houses. They worshiped the stars and burned incense to honor them and gave drink offerings to gods.'"

14 When Jeremiah left Topheth where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, he went to the Lord's Temple, stood in the courtyard, and said to all the people:

15 "This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: 'I will soon bring disaster to Jerusalem and the villages around it, as I said I would. This will happen because the people are very stubborn and do not listen at all to what I say.'"

1 Pashhur son of Immer was a priest and the highest officer in the Temple of the Lord. When he heard Jeremiah prophesying in the Temple courtyard,

2 he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten. And he locked Jeremiah's hands and feet between large blocks of wood at the Upper Gate of Benjamin of the Lord's Temple.

3 The next day when Pashhur took Jeremiah out of the blocks of wood, Jeremiah said to him, "The Lord's name for you is not Pashhur. Now his name for you is Terror on Every Side.

4 This is what the Lord says: 'I will soon make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. You will watch enemies killing your friends with swords. And I will give all the people of Judah to the king of Babylon, who will take them away as captives to Babylon and then will kill them with swords.

5 I will give all the wealth of this city to its enemies -- its goods, its valuables, and the treasures of the kings of Judah. The enemies will carry all those valuables off to Babylon.

6 And Pashhur, you and everyone in your house will be taken captive. You will be forced to go to Babylon, where you will die and be buried, you and your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.'"

7 Lord, you tricked me, and I was fooled. You are stronger than I am, so you won. I have become a joke; everyone makes fun of me all day long.

8 Every time I speak, I shout. I am always shouting about violence and destruction. I tell the people about the message I received from the Lord, but this only brings me insults. The people make fun of me all day long.

9 Sometimes I say to myself, "I will forget about the Lord. I will not speak anymore in his name." But then his message becomes like a burning fire inside me, deep within my bones. I get tired of trying to hold it inside of me, and finally, I cannot hold it in.

10 I hear many people whispering about me: "Terror on every side! Tell on him! Let's tell the rulers about him." My friends are all just waiting for me to make some mistake. They are saying, "Maybe we can trick him so we can defeat him and pay him back."

11 But the Lord is with me like a strong warrior, so those who are chasing me will trip and fall; they will not defeat me. They will be ashamed because they have failed, and their shame will never be forgotten.

12 Lord All-Powerful, you test good people; you look deeply into the heart and mind of a person. I have told you my arguments against these people, so let me see you give them the punishment they deserve.

13 Sing to the Lord! He saves the life of the poor from the power of the wicked.

14 Let there be a curse on the day I was born; let there be no blessing on the day when my mother gave birth to me.

15 Let there be a curse on the man who brought my father the news: "You have a son!" This made my father very glad.

16 Let that man be like the towns the Lord destroyed without pity. Let him hear loud crying in the morning and battle cries at noon,

17 because he did not kill me before I was born. Then my mother would have been my grave; she would have stayed pregnant forever.

18 Why did I have to come out of my mother's body? All I have known is trouble and sorrow, and my life will end in shame.

1 This is the word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah. It came when Zedekiah king of Judah sent Pashhur son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah.

2 They said, "Ask the Lord for us what will happen, because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is attacking us. Maybe the Lord will do miracles for us as he did in the past so Nebuchadnezzar will stop attacking us and leave."

3 But Jeremiah answered them, "Tell King Zedekiah this:

4 'Here is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: You have weapons of war in your hands to defend yourselves against the king of Babylon and the Babylonians, who are all around the city wall. But I will make those weapons useless. Soon I will bring them into the center of this city.

5 In my anger, my very great anger, I myself will fight against you with my great power and strength.

6 I will kill everything living in Jerusalem -- both people and animals. They will die from terrible diseases.

7 Then, says the Lord, I'll hand over Zedekiah king of Judah, his officers, and the people in Jerusalem who do not die from the terrible diseases or battle or hunger, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I will let those win who want to kill the people of Judah, so the people of Judah and Jerusalem will be killed in war. Nebuchadnezzar will not show any mercy or pity or feel sorry for them!'

8 "Also tell this to the people of Jerusalem: 'This is what the Lord says: I will let you choose to live or die.

9 Anyone who stays in Jerusalem will die in war or from hunger or from a terrible disease. But anyone who goes out of Jerusalem and surrenders to the Babylonians who are attacking you will live. Anyone who leaves the city will save his life as if it were a prize won in war.

10 I have decided to make trouble for this city and not to help it, says the Lord. I will give it to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.'

11 "Say to Judah's royal family: 'Hear the word of the Lord.

12 Family of David, this is what the Lord says: You must judge people fairly every morning. Save the person who has been robbed from the power of his attacker. If you don't, I will become very angry. My anger will be like a fire that no one can put out, because you have done evil things.

13 "'Jerusalem, I am against you, you who live on top of the mountain over this valley, says the Lord. You say, "No one can attack us or come into our strong city."

14 But I will give you the punishment you deserve, says the Lord. I will start a fire in your forests that will burn up everything around you!'"

1 This is what the Lord says: "Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and prophesy this message there:

2 'Hear the word of the Lord, king of Judah, who rules from David's throne. You and your officers, and your people who come through these gates, listen!

3 This is what the Lord says: Do what is fair and right. Save the one who has been robbed from the power of his attacker. Don't mistreat or hurt the foreigners, orphans, or widows. Don't kill innocent people here.

4 If you carefully obey these commands, kings who sit on David's throne will come through the gates of this palace with their officers and people, riding in chariots and on horses.

5 But if you don't obey these commands, says the Lord, I swear by my own name that this king's palace will become a ruin.'"

6 This is what the Lord says about the palace where the king of Judah lives: "You are tall like the forests of Gilead, like the mountaintops of Lebanon. But I will truly make you into a desert, into towns where no one lives.

7 I will send men to destroy the palace, each with his weapons. They will cut up your strong, beautiful cedar beams and throw them into the fire.

8 "People from many nations will pass by this city and ask each other, 'Why has the Lord done such a terrible thing to Jerusalem, this great city?'

9 And the answer will be: 'Because the people of Judah quit following the agreement with the Lord their God. They worshiped and served other gods.'"

10 Don't cry for the dead king or be sad about him. But cry painfully for the king who is being taken away, because he will never return or see his homeland again.

11 This is what the Lord says about Jehoahaz son of Josiah who became king of Judah after his father died and who has left this place: "He will never return.

12 He will die where he has been taken captive, and he will not see this land again."

13 "How terrible it will be for one who builds his palace by doing evil, who cheats people so he can build its upper rooms. He makes his own people work for nothing and does not pay them.

14 He says, 'I will build a great palace for myself with large upper rooms.' So he builds it with large windows and uses cedar wood for the walls, which he paints red.

15 "Does having a lot of cedar in your house make you a great king? Your father was satisfied to have food and drink. He did what was right and fair, so everything went well for him.

16 He helped those who were poor and needy, so everything went well for him. That is what it means to know God," says the Lord.

17 "But you only look for and think about what you can get dishonestly. You are even willing to kill innocent people to get it. You feel free to hurt people and to steal from them."

18 So this is what the Lord says to Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: "The people of Judah will not cry when Jehoiakim dies, saying: 'Oh, my brother,' or 'Oh, my sister.' They will not cry for him, saying: 'Oh, master,' or 'Oh, my king.'

19 They will bury him like a donkey, dragging his body away and throwing it outside the gates of Jerusalem.

20 "Judah, go up to Lebanon and cry out. Let your voice be heard in Bashan. Cry out from Abarim, because all your friends are destroyed!

21 Judah, when you were successful, I warned you, but you said, 'I won't listen.' You have acted like this since you were young; you have not obeyed me.

22 Like a storm, my punishment will blow all your shepherds away and send your friends into captivity. Then you will really be ashamed and disgraced because of all the wicked things you did.

23 King, you live in your palace, cozy in your rooms of cedar. But when your punishment comes, how you will groan like a woman giving birth to a baby!

24 "As surely as I live," says the Lord, "Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, even if you were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off.

25 I will hand you over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Babylonians -- those people you fear because they want to kill you.

26 I will throw you and your mother into another country. Neither of you was born there, but both of you will die there.

27 They will want to come back, but they will never be able to return."

28 Jehoiachin is like a broken pot someone threw away; he is like something no one wants. thrown out and sent into a foreign land?

29 Land, land, land of Judah, hear the word of the Lord!

30 This is what the Lord says: "Write this down in the record about Jehoiachin: He is a man without children, a man who will not be successful in his lifetime. And none of his descendants will be successful; none will sit on the throne of David or rule in Judah."

1 "How terrible it will be for the leaders of Judah, who are scattering and destroying my people," says the Lord.

2 They are responsible for the people, so the Lord, the God of Israel, says to them: "You have scattered my people and forced them away and not taken care of them. So I will punish you for the evil things you have done," says the Lord.

3 "I sent my people to other countries, but I will gather those who are left alive and bring them back to their own country. Then they will have many children and grow in number.

4 I will place new leaders over my people, who will take care of them. And my people will not be afraid or terrified again, and none of them will be lost," says the Lord

5 "The days are coming," says the Lord, "when I will raise up a good branch in David's family. He will be a king who will rule in a wise way; he will do what is fair and right in the land.

6 In his time Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety. This will be his name: The Lord Does What Is Right.

7 "So the days are coming," says the Lord, "when people will not say again: 'As surely as the Lord lives, who brought Israel out of Egypt . . .'

8 But people will say something new: 'As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where he had sent them away. . .' Then the people of Israel will live in their own land."

9 A message to the prophets: My heart is broken. All my bones shake. I'm like someone who is drunk, like someone who has been overcome with wine. and his holy words.

10 The land of Judah is full of people who are guilty of adultery. Because of this, the Lord cursed the land. It has become a very sad place, and the pastures have dried up. The people are evil and use their power in the wrong way.

11 "Both the prophets and the priests live as if there were no God. I have found them doing evil things even in my own Temple," says the Lord.

12 "So they will be in danger. They will be forced into darkness where they will be defeated. I will bring disaster on them in the year I punish them," says the Lord.

13 "I saw the prophets of Samaria do something wrong. and led my people Israel away.

14 And I have seen the prophets of Jerusalem do terrible things. They are guilty of adultery and live by lies. They encourage evil people to keep on doing evil, so the people don't stop sinning. All of those people are like the city of Sodom

15 So this is what the Lord All-Powerful says about the prophets: "I will make those prophets eat bitter food and drink poisoned water, because the prophets of Jerusalem spread wickedness through the whole country."

16 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "Don't pay attention to what those prophets are saying to you. They are trying to fool you. They talk about visions their own minds made up, not about visions from me.

17 They say to those who hate me: 'The Lord says: You will have peace.' They say to all those who are stubborn and do as they please: 'Nothing bad will happen to you.'

18 But none of these prophets has stood in the meeting of angels to see or hear the message of the Lord. None of them has paid close attention to his message.

19 Look, the punishment from the Lord will come like a storm. His anger will be like a hurricane. It will come swirling down on the heads of those wicked people

20 The Lord's anger will not stop until he finishes what he plans to do. When that day is over, you will understand this clearly.

21 I did not send those prophets, but they ran to tell their message. I did not speak to them, but they prophesied anyway

22 But if they had stood in the meeting of angels, they would have told my message to my people. They would have turned the people from their evil ways and from doing evil.

23 "I am a God who is near," says the Lord. "I am also a God who is far away."

24 "No one can hide where I cannot see him," says the Lord. "I fill all of heaven and earth," says the Lord.

25 "I have heard the prophets who prophesy lies in my name. They say, 'I have had a dream! I have had a dream!'

26 How long will this continue in the minds of these lying prophets? They prophesy from their own wishful thinking.

27 They are trying to make the people of Judah forget me by telling each other these dreams. In the same way, their ancestors forgot me and worshiped Baal.

28 Is straw the same thing as wheat?" says the Lord. "If a prophet wants to tell about his dreams, let him! But let the person who hears my message speak it truthfully!

29 Isn't my message like a fire?" says the Lord. "Isn't it like a hammer that smashes a rock?

30 "So I am against the false prophets," says the Lord. "They keep stealing words from each other and say they are from me.

31 I am against the false prophets," says the Lord. "They use their own words and pretend it is a message from me.

32 I am against the prophets who prophesy false dreams," says the Lord. "They mislead my people with their lies and false teachings! I did not send them or command them to do anything for me. They can't help the people of Judah at all," says the Lord.

33 "Suppose the people of Judah, a prophet, or a priest asks you: 'Jeremiah, what is the message from the Lord?' You will answer them and say, 'You are a heavy load to the Lord, and I will throw you down, says the Lord.'

34 A prophet or a priest or one of the people might say, 'This is a message from the Lord.' That person has lied, so I will punish him and his whole family.

35 This is what you will say to each other: 'What did the Lord answer?' or 'What did the Lord say?'

36 But you will never again say, 'The message of the Lord,' because the only message you speak is your own words. You have changed the words of our God, the living God, the Lord All-Powerful

37 This is how you should speak to the prophets: 'What answer did the Lord give you?' or 'What did the Lord say?'

38 But don't say, 'The message from the Lord.' If you use these words, this is what the Lord says: Because you called it a 'message from the Lord,' though I told you not to use those words

39 I will pick you up and throw you away from me, along with Jerusalem, which I gave to your ancestors and to you.

40 And I will make a disgrace of you forever; your shame will never be forgotten."

1 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon captured Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim and king of Judah, his officers, and all the craftsmen and metalworkers of Judah. He took them away from Jerusalem and brought them to Babylon. It was then that the Lord showed me two baskets of figs arranged in front of the Temple of the Lord.

2 One of the baskets had very good figs in it, like figs that ripen early in the season. But the other basket had figs too rotten to eat.

3 The Lord said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I answered, "I see figs. The good figs are very good, but the rotten figs are too rotten to eat."

4 Then the Lord spoke his word to me:

5 "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I sent the people of Judah out of their country to live in the country of Babylon. I think of those people as good, like these good figs.

6 I will look after them and bring them back to the land of Judah. I will not tear them down, but I will build them up. I will not pull them up, but I will plant them so they can grow.

7 I will make them want to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, because they will return to me with their whole hearts.

8 "'But the bad figs are too rotten to eat.' So this is what the Lord says: 'Zedekiah king of Judah, his officers, and all the people from Jerusalem who are left alive, even those who live in Egypt, will be like those rotten figs.

9 I will make those people hated as an evil people by all the kingdoms of the earth. People will make fun of them and tell jokes about them and point fingers at them and curse them everywhere I scatter them.

10 I will send war, hunger, and disease against them. I will attack them until they have all been killed. Then they will no longer be in the land I gave to them and their ancestors.'"

1 This is the message that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah. It came in the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah and the first year Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon.

2 This is the message Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and Jerusalem:

3 The Lord has spoken his word to me again and again for these past twenty-three years. I have been a prophet since the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah. I have spoken messages from the Lord to you from that time until today, but you have not listened.

4 The Lord has sent all his servants the prophets to you over and over again, but you have not listened or paid any attention to them.

5 Those prophets have said, "Stop your evil ways. Stop doing what is wrong so you can stay in the land that the Lord gave to you and your ancestors to live in forever.

6 Don't follow other gods to serve them or to worship them. Don't make me, the Lord, angry by worshiping idols that are the work of your own hands, or I will punish you."

7 "But you people of Judah did not listen to me," says the Lord. "You made me angry by worshiping idols that were the work of your own hands, so I punished you."

8 So this is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "Since you have not listened to my messages,

9 I will send for all the peoples of the north," says the Lord, "along with my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I will bring them all against Judah, those who live there, and all the nations around you, too. I will completely destroy all those countries and leave them in ruins forever. People will be shocked when they see how badly I have destroyed those countries.

10 I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and happiness, the sounds of brides and bridegrooms, and the sound of people grinding meal. And I will take away the light of the lamp.

11 That whole area will be an empty desert, and these nations will be slaves of the king of Babylon for seventy years.

12 "But when the seventy years have passed, I will punish the king of Babylon and his entire nation for their evil," says the Lord. "I will make that land a desert forever.

13 I will make happen all the terrible things I said about Babylonia -- everything Jeremiah prophesied about all those foreign nations, the warnings written in this book.

14 Even the Babylonians will have to serve many nations and many great kings. I will give them the punishment they deserve for all their own hands have done."

15 The Lord, the God of Israel, said this to me: "My anger is like the wine in a cup. Take it from my hand and make all the nations, to whom I am sending you, drink all of my anger from this cup.

16 They will drink my anger and stumble about and act like madmen because of the war I am going to send among them."

17 So I took the cup from the Lord's hand and went to those nations and made them drink from it.

18 I served this wine to the people of Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, and the kings and officers of Judah, so they would become a ruin. Then people would be shocked and would insult them and speak evil of them. And so it has been to this day.

19 I also made these people drink of the Lord's anger: the king of Egypt, his servants, his officers, all his people,

20 and all the foreigners there; all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines (the kings of the cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the people left at Ashdod);

21 the people of Edom, Moab, and Ammon;

22 all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; all the kings of the coastal countries to the west;

23 the people of Dedan and Tema and Buz; all who cut their hair short;

24 all the kings of Arabia; and the kings of the people who live in the desert;

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

26 and all the kings of the north, near and far, one after the other. I made all the kingdoms on earth drink from the cup of the Lord's anger, but the king of Babylon will drink from this cup after all the others.

27 "Then say to them, 'This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: Drink this cup of my anger. Get drunk from it and vomit. Fall down and don't get up because of the war I am sending among you!'

28 "If they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink, say to them, 'The Lord All-Powerful says this: You must drink from this cup.

29 Look! I am already bringing disaster on Jerusalem, the city that is called by my name. Do you think you will not be punished? You will be punished! I am sending war on all the people of the earth, says the Lord All-Powerful.'

30 "You, Jeremiah, will prophesy against them with all these words. Say to them: 'The Lord will roar from heaven and will shout from his Holy Temple. He will roar loudly against his land. He will shout like people who walk on grapes to make wine; he will shout against all who live on the earth.

31 The noise will spread all over the earth, because the Lord will accuse all the nations. He will judge and tell what is wrong with all people, and he will kill the evil people with a sword,'" says the Lord.

32 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "Disasters will soon spread from nation to nation. They will come like a powerful storm from the faraway places on earth."

33 At that time those killed by the Lord will reach from one end of the earth to the other. No one will cry for them or gather up their bodies and bury them. They will be left lying on the ground like dung.

34 Cry, you leaders! Cry out loud! Roll around in the dust, leaders of the people! It is now time for you to be killed. You will fall and be scattered, like pieces of a broken jar.

35 There will be no place for the leaders to hide; they will not escape.

36 I hear the sound of the leaders shouting. I hear the leaders of the people crying loudly, because the Lord is destroying their land.

37 Those peaceful pastures will be like an empty desert, because the Lord is very angry.

38 Like a lion, he has left his den. Their land has been destroyed because of the terrible war he brought, because of his fierce anger.

1 This message came from the Lord soon after Jehoiakim son of Josiah became king of Judah.

2 This is what the Lord said: "Jeremiah, stand in the courtyard of the Temple of the Lord. Give this message to all the people of the towns of Judah who are coming to worship at the Temple of the Lord. Tell them everything I tell you to say; don't leave out a word.

3 Maybe they will listen and stop their evil ways. If they will, I will change my mind about bringing on them the disaster that I am planning because of the evil they have done.

4 Say to them: 'This is what the Lord says: You must obey me and follow my teachings that I gave you.

5 You must listen to what my servants the prophets say to you. I have sent them to you again and again, but you did not listen.

6 If you don't obey me, I will destroy my Temple in Jerusalem as I destroyed my Holy Tent at Shiloh. When I do, people all over the world will curse Jerusalem.'"

7 The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the Temple of the Lord.

8 When Jeremiah finished speaking everything the Lord had commanded him to say, the priests, prophets, and all the people grabbed Jeremiah. They said, "You must die!

9 How dare you prophesy in the name of the Lord that this Temple will be destroyed like the one at Shiloh! How dare you say that Jerusalem will become a desert without anyone to live in it!" And all the people crowded around Jeremiah in the Temple of the Lord.

10 Now when the officers of Judah heard about what was happening, they came out of the king's palace and went up to the Temple of the Lord and took their places at the entrance of the New Gate.

11 Then the priests and prophets said to the officers and all the other people, "Jeremiah should be killed. He prophesied against Jerusalem, and you heard him yourselves."

12 Then Jeremiah spoke these words to all the officers of Judah and all the other people: "The Lord sent me to say everything you have heard about this Temple and this city.

13 Now change your lives and start doing good and obey the Lord your God. Then he will change his mind and not bring on you the disaster he has told you about.

14 As for me, I am in your power. Do to me what you think is good and right.

15 But be sure of one thing. If you kill me, you will be guilty of killing an innocent person. You will make this city and everyone who lives in it guilty, too! The Lord truly sent me to you to give you this message."

16 Then the officers and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, "Jeremiah must not be killed. What he told us comes from the Lord our God."

17 Then some of the older leaders of Judah stood up and said to all the people,

18 "Micah, from the city of Moresheth, was a prophet during the time Hezekiah was king of Judah. Micah said to all the people of Judah, 'This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: Jerusalem will be plowed like a field. It will become a pile of rocks, and the hill where the Temple stands will be covered with bushes.'

19 "Hezekiah king of Judah and the people of Judah did not kill Micah. You know that Hezekiah feared the Lord and tried to please the Lord. So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on Judah the disaster he had promised. If we hurt Jeremiah, we will bring a terrible disaster on ourselves!"

20 (Now there was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord. His name was Uriah son of Shemaiah from the city of Kiriath Jearim. He preached the same things against Jerusalem and the land of Judah that Jeremiah did.

21 When King Jehoiakim, all his army officers, and all the leaders of Judah heard Uriah preach, King Jehoiakim wanted to kill Uriah. But Uriah heard about it and was afraid. So he escaped to Egypt.

22 Then King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan son of Acbor and some other men to Egypt,

23 and they brought Uriah back from Egypt. Then they took him to King Jehoiakim, who had Uriah killed with a sword. His body was thrown into the burial place where poor people are buried.)

24 Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah. So Ahikam did not hand Jeremiah over to be killed by the people.

1 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah soon after Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah.

2 This is what the Lord said to me: "Make a yoke out of straps and poles, and put it on the back of your neck.

3 Then send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon by their messengers who have come to Jerusalem to see Zedekiah king of Judah.

4 Tell them to give this message to their masters: 'The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: "Tell your masters:

5 I made the earth, its people, and all its animals with my great power and strength. I can give the earth to anyone I want.

6 Now I have given all these lands to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant. I will make even the wild animals obey him.

7 All nations will serve Nebuchadnezzar and his son and grandson. Then the time will come for Babylon to be defeated, and many nations and great kings will make Babylon their servant.

8 "' "But if some nations or kingdoms refuse to serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and refuse to be under his control, I will punish them with war, hunger, and terrible diseases, says the Lord. I will use Nebuchadnezzar to destroy them.

9 So don't listen to your false prophets, those who use magic to tell the future, those who explain dreams, the mediums, or magicians. They all tell you, 'You will not be slaves to the king of Babylon.'

10 They are telling you lies that will cause you to be taken far from your homeland. I will force you to leave your homes, and you will die in another land.

11 But the nations who put themselves under the control of the king of Babylon and serve him I will let stay in their own country, says the Lord. The people from those nations will live in their own land and farm it."' "

12 I gave the same message to Zedekiah king of Judah. I said, "Put yourself under the control of the king of Babylon and serve him, and you will live.

13 Why should you and your people die from war, hunger, or disease, as the Lord said would happen to those who do not serve the king of Babylon?

14 But the false prophets are saying, 'You will never be slaves to the king of Babylon.' Don't listen to them because they are prophesying lies to you!

15 'I did not send them,' says the Lord. 'They are prophesying lies and saying the message is from me. So I will send you away, Judah. And you and those prophets who prophesy to you will die.'"

16 Then I, Jeremiah, said to the priests and all the people, "This is what the Lord says: Those false prophets are saying, 'The Babylonians will soon return what they took from the Temple of the Lord.' Don't listen to them! They are prophesying lies to you.

17 Don't listen to those prophets. But serve the king of Babylon, and you will live. There is no reason for you to cause Jerusalem to become a ruin.

18 If they are prophets and have the message from the Lord, let them pray to the Lord All-Powerful. Let them ask that the items which are still in the Temple of the Lord and in the king's palace and in Jerusalem not be taken away to Babylon.

19 "This is what the Lord All-Powerful says about those items left in Jerusalem: the pillars, the large bronze bowl, which is called the Sea, the stands that can be moved, and other things.

20 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take these away when he took as captives Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other important people from Judah and Jerusalem to Babylon.

21 This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says about the items left in the Temple of the Lord and in the king's palace and in Jerusalem:

22 'All of them will also be taken to Babylon. And they will stay there until the day I go to get them,' says the Lord. 'Then I will bring them back and return them to this place.'"

1 It was in that same year, in the fifth month of Zedekiah's fourth year as king of Judah, soon after he began to rule. The prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, from the town of Gibeon, spoke to me in the Temple of the Lord in front of the priests and all the people. He said:

2 "The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: 'I have broken the yoke the king of Babylon has put on Judah.

3 Before two years are over, I will bring back everything that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took to Babylon from the Lord's Temple.

4 I will also bring back Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and all the other captives from Judah who went to Babylon,' says the Lord. 'So I will break the yoke the king of Babylon put on Judah.'"

5 Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in front of the priests and all the people who were standing in the Temple of the Lord.

6 He said, "Amen! Let the Lord really do that! May the Lord make the message you prophesy come true. May he bring back here everything from the Lord's Temple and all the people who were taken as captives to Babylon.

7 "But listen to what I am going to say to you and all the people.

8 There were prophets long before we became prophets, Hananiah. They prophesied that war, hunger, and terrible diseases would come to many countries and great kingdoms.

9 But if a prophet prophesies that we will have peace and that message comes true, he can be recognized as one truly sent by the Lord."

10 Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke off Jeremiah's neck and broke it.

11 Hananiah said in front of all the people, "This is what the Lord says: 'In the same way I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He put that yoke on all the nations of the world, but I will break it before two years are over.'" After Hananiah had said that, Jeremiah left the Temple.

12 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke off of the prophet Jeremiah's neck.

13 The Lord said, "Go and tell Hananiah, 'This is what the Lord says: You have broken a wooden yoke, but I will make a yoke of iron in its place!

14 The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: I will put a yoke of iron on the necks of all these nations to make them serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will be slaves to him. I will even give Nebuchadnezzar control over the wild animals.'"

15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, "Listen, Hananiah! The Lord did not send you, and you have made the people of Judah trust in lies.

16 So this is what the Lord says: 'Soon I will remove you from the earth. You will die this year, because you taught the people to turn against the Lord.'"

17 Hananiah died in the seventh month of that same year.

1 This is the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the older leaders who were among the captives, the priests, and the prophets. He sent it to all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had taken as captives from Jerusalem to Babylon.

2 (This letter was sent after all these people were taken away: Jehoiachin the king and the queen mother; the officers and leaders of Judah and Jerusalem; and the craftsmen and metalworkers from Jerusalem.)

3 Zedekiah king of Judah sent Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. So Jeremiah gave them this letter to carry to Babylon:

4 This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says to all those people I sent away from Jerusalem as captives to Babylon:

5 "Build houses and settle in the land. Plant gardens and eat the food they grow.

6 Get married and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons, and let your daughters be married so they also may have sons and daughters. Have many children in Babylon; don't become fewer in number.

7 Also do good things for the city where I sent you as captives. Pray to the Lord for the city where you are living, because if good things happen in the city, good things will happen to you also."

8 The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: "Don't let the prophets among you and the people who do magic fool you. Don't listen to their dreams.

9 They are prophesying lies to you, saying that their message is from me. But I did not send them," says the Lord.

10 This is what the Lord says: "Babylon will be powerful for seventy years. After that time I will come to you, and I will keep my promise to bring you back to Jerusalem.

11 I say this because I know what I am planning for you," says the Lord. "I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future.

12 Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

13 You will search for me. And when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me!

14 I will let you find me," says the Lord. "And I will bring you back from your captivity. I forced you to leave this place, but I will gather you from all the nations, from the places I have sent you as captives," says the Lord. "And I will bring you back to this place."

15 You might say, "The Lord has given us prophets here in Babylon."

16 But the Lord says this about the king who is sitting on David's throne now and all the other people still in Jerusalem, your relatives who did not go as captives to Babylon with you.

17 The Lord All-Powerful says: "I will soon send war, hunger, and terrible diseases against those still in Jerusalem. I will make them like bad figs that are too rotten to eat.

18 I will chase them with war, hunger, and terrible diseases. I will make them hated by all the kingdoms of the earth. People will curse them and be shocked and will use them as a shameful example wherever I make them go.

19 This is because they have not listened to my message," says the Lord. "I sent my message to them again and again through my servants, the prophets, but they did not listen," says the Lord.

20 You captives, whom I forced to leave Jerusalem and go to Babylon, listen to the message from the Lord.

21 The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says this about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah: "These two men have been prophesying lies to you, saying that their message is from me. But soon I will hand over those two prophets to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them in front of you.

22 Because of them, all the captives from Judah in Babylon will use this curse: 'May the Lord treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.'

23 They have done evil things among the people of Israel. They are guilty of adultery with their neighbors' wives. They have also spoken lies and said those lies were a message from me. I did not tell them to do that. I know what they have done; I am a witness to it," says the Lord.

24 Also give a message to Shemaiah from the Nehelamite family.

25 The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: "Shemaiah, you sent letters in your name to all the people in Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests.

26 You said to Zephaniah, 'The Lord has made you priest in place of Jehoiada. You are to be in charge of the Temple of the Lord. You should arrest any madman who acts like a prophet. Lock his hands and feet between wooden blocks, and put iron rings around his neck.

27 Now Jeremiah from Anathoth is acting like a prophet. So why haven't you arrested him?

28 Jeremiah has sent this message to us in Babylon: You will be there for a long time, so build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they grow.'"

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

30 Then the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah:

31 "Send this message to all the captives in Babylon: 'This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Shemaiah has prophesied to you, but I did not send him. He has made you believe a lie.

32 So the Lord says, I will soon punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his family. He will not see the good things I will do for my people, says the Lord. None of his family will be left alive among the people, because he has taught the people to turn against me.'"

1 These are the words that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah.

2 The Lord, the God of Israel, said: "Jeremiah, write in a book all the words I have spoken to you.

3 The days will come when I will bring Israel and Judah back from captivity," says the Lord. "I will return them to the land I gave their ancestors, and they will own it!" says the Lord.

4 The Lord spoke this message about the people of Israel and Judah:

5 This is what the Lord said: "We hear people crying from fear. They are afraid; there is no peace.

6 Ask this question, and consider it: A man cannot have a baby. So why do I see every strong man holding his stomach in pain like a woman having a baby? Why is everyone's face turning white like a dead man's face?

7 This will be a terrible day! There will never be another time like this. This is a time of great trouble for the people of Jacob, but they will be saved from it."

8 The Lord All-Powerful says, "At that time I will break the yoke from their necks and tear off the ropes that hold them. Foreign people will never again make my people slaves.

9 They will serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will send to them.

10 "So people of Jacob, my servants, don't be afraid. Israel, don't be frightened," says the Lord. "I will soon save you from that faraway place where you are captives. I will save your family from that land. The people of Jacob will be safe and have peace again; there will be no enemy to frighten them.

11 I am with you and will save you," says the Lord. "I will completely destroy all those nations where I scattered you, but I will not completely destroy you. I will punish you fairly, but I will still punish you."

12 This is what the Lord said: "You people have a wound that cannot be cured; your injury will not heal.

13 There is no one to argue your case and no cure for your sores. So you will not be healed.

14 All those nations who were your friends have forgotten you. They don't care about you. I have hurt you as an enemy would. I punished you very hard, because your guilt was so great and your sins were so many.

15 Why are you crying out about your injury? There is no cure for your pain. I did these things to you because of your great guilt, because of your many sins.

16 But all those nations that destroyed you will now be destroyed. All your enemies will become captives in other lands. Those who stole from you will have their own things stolen. Those who took things from you in war will have their own things taken.

17 I will bring back your health and heal your injuries," says the Lord, "because other people forced you away. They said about you, 'No one cares about Jerusalem!'"

18 This is what the Lord said: "I will soon make the tents of Jacob's people as they used to be, and I will have pity on Israel's houses. The city will be rebuilt on its hill of ruins, and the king's palace will stand in its proper place.

19 People in those places will sing songs of praise. There will be the sound of laughter. I will give them many children so their number will not be small. I will bring honor to them so no one will look down on them.

20 Their descendants will be as they were in the old days. I will set them up as a strong people before me, and I will punish the nations who have hurt them.

21 One of their own people will lead them; their ruler will come from among them. He will come near to me when I invite him. Who would dare to come to me uninvited?" says the Lord.

22 "So you will be my people, and I will be your God."

23 Look! It is a storm from the Lord! He is angry and has gone out to punish the people. Punishment will come like a storm crashing down on the evil people.

24 The Lord will stay angry until he finishes punishing the people. He will stay angry until he finishes the punishment he planned. When that day comes, you will understand this.

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

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Jeremiah 9

Jeremiah 10

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Jeremiah 30