No More Learning

5:1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now,
and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man,
if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I
will pardon it.

5:2 And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.

5:3 O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken
them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they
have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder
than a rock; they have refused to return.

5:4 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for
they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.

5:5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for
they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God:
but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.

5:6 Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of
the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their
cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces:
because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are
increased.

5:7 How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me,
and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full,
they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in
the harlots' houses.

5:8 They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after
his neighbour's wife.

5:9 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not
my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 5:10 Go ye up upon her
walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her
battlements; for they are not the LORD's.

5:11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very
treacherously against me, saith the LORD.

5:12 They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall
evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: 5:13 And the
prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it
be done unto them.

5:14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this
word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people
wood, and it shall devour them.

5:15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel,
saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a
nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what
they say.

5:16 Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.

5:17 And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy
sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and
thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall
impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.

5:18 Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a
full end with you.

5:19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the
LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them,
Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so
shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not your's.

5:20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah,
saying, 5:21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without
understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear
not: 5:22 Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my
presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a
perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof
toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can
they not pass over it? 5:23 But this people hath a revolting and a
rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.

5:24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our
God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season:
he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.

5:25 Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have
withholden good things from you.

5:26 For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he
that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.

5:27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit:
therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.

5:28 They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of
the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet
they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.

5:29 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my
soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 5:30 A wonderful and
horrible thing is committed in the land; 5:31 The prophets prophesy
falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love
to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof? 6:1 O ye
children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of
Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in
Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great
destruction.

6:2 I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate
woman.

6:3 The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall
pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one
in his place.

6:4 Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe
unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are
stretched out.

6:5 Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.

6:6 For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast
a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is
wholly oppression in the midst of her.

6:7 As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her
wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually
is grief and wounds.

6:8 Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee;
lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.

6:9 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly glean the
remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer
into the baskets.

6:10 To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear?
behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold,
the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in
it.

6:11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with
holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the
assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife
shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days.

6:12 And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields
and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the
inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD.

6:13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every
one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the
priest every one dealeth falsely.

6:14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people
slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

6:15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they
were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they
shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they
shall be cast down, saith the LORD.

6:16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for
the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall
find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

6:17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the
trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.

6:18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is
among them.

6:19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even
the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my
words, nor to my law, but rejected it.

6:20 To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the
sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not
acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.

6:21 Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks
before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall
upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.

6:22 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north
country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the
earth.

6:23 They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no
mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses,
set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.

6:24 We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish
hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.

6:25 Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword
of the enemy and fear is on every side.

6:26 O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow
thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter
lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.

6:27 I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that
thou mayest know and try their way.

6:28 They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are
brass and iron; they are all corrupters.

6:29 The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the
founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.

6:30 Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath
rejected them.

7:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 7:2 Stand in
the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim there this word, and say,
Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these
gates to worship the LORD.

7:3 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways
and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.

7:4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The
temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.

7:5 For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye
throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; 7:6 If ye
oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not
innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your
hurt: 7:7 Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land
that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.

7:8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

7:9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and
burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
7:10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my
name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? 7:11 Is
this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in
your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.

7:12 But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my
name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my
people Israel.

7:13 And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD,
and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not;
and I called you, but ye answered not; 7:14 Therefore will I do unto
this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the
place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to
Shiloh.

7:15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your
brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.

7:16 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor
prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear
thee.

7:17 Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the
streets of Jerusalem? 7:18 The children gather wood, and the fathers
kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the
queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that
they may provoke me to anger.

7:19 Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke
themselves to the confusion of their own faces? 7:20 Therefore thus
saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out
upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the
field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall
not be quenched.

7:21 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt
offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.

7:22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day
that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt
offerings or sacrifices: 7:23 But this thing commanded I them, saying,
Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and
walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well
unto you.

7:24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the
counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went
backward, and not forward.

7:25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of
Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the
prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: 7:26 Yet they
hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their
neck: they did worse than their fathers.

7:27 Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they
will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they
will not answer thee.

7:28 But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not
the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is
perished, and is cut off from their mouth.

7:29 Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a
lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken
the generation of his wrath.

7:30 For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the
LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by
my name, to pollute it.

7:31 And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the
valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in
the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.

7:32 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall
no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the
valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no
place.

7:33 And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of
the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them
away.

7:34 Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the
streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness,
the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land
shall be desolate.

8:1 At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of
the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the
priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves: 8:2 And they shall
spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven,
whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they
have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped:
they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon
the face of the earth.

8:3 And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of
them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places
whither I have driven them, saith the LORD of hosts.

8:4 Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they
fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return? 8:5 Why then
is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding?
they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.

8:6 I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented
him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to
his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.

8:7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the
turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming;
but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.

8:8 How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us?
Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.

8:9 The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they
have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them? 8:10
Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to
them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto
the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the
priest every one dealeth falsely.

8:11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people
slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

8:12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they
were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall
they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they
shall be cast down, saith the LORD.

8:13 I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no
grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade;
and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.

8:14 Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into
the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God
hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because
we have sinned against the LORD.

8:15 We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health,
and behold trouble! 8:16 The snorting of his horses was heard from
Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his
strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all
that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.

8:17 For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which
will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD.

8:18 When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in
me.

8:19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because
of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the LORD in Zion? is not
her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven
images, and with strange vanities? 8:20 The harvest is past, the
summer is ended, and we are not saved.

8:21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black;
astonishment hath taken hold on me.

8:22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then
is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? 9:1 Oh that
my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might
weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! 9:2 Oh
that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I
might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers,
an assembly of treacherous men.

9:3 And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are
not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil
to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.

9:4 Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any
brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour
will walk with slanders.

9:5 And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak
the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary
themselves to commit iniquity.

9:6 Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they
refuse to know me, saith the LORD.

9:7 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them,
and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people? 9:8
Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh
peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his
wait.

9:9 Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not
my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 9:10 For the mountains
will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the
wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can
pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both
the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.

9:11 And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will
make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.

9:12 Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to
whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for
what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none
passeth through? 9:13 And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken
my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither
walked therein; 9:14 But have walked after the imagination of their
own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them: 9:15
Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I
will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water
of gall to drink.

9:16 I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor
their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I
have consumed them.

9:17 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the
mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that
they may come: 9:18 And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for
us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out
with waters.

9:19 For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled!
we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because
our dwellings have cast us out.

9:20 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear
receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and
every one her neighbour lamentation.

9:21 For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our
palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from
the streets.

9:22 Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall
as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman,
and none shall gather them.

9:23 Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man
glory in his riches: 9:24 But let him that glorieth glory in this,
that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which
exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth:
for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

9:25 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all
them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised; 9:26 Egypt, and
Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are
in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these
nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are
uncircumcised in the heart.

10:1 Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of
Israel: 10:2 Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen,
and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are
dismayed at them.

10:3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree
out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

10:4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails
and with hammers, that it move not.

10:5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs
be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they
cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

10:6 Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art
great, and thy name is great in might.

10:7 Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it
appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in
all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.

10:8 But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a
doctrine of vanities.

10:9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from
Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue
and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.

10:10 But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an
everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the
nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.

10:11 Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the
heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from
under these heavens.

10:12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the
world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his
discretion.

10:13 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in
the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the
earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out
of his treasures.

10:14 Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is
confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and
there is no breath in them.

10:15 They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their
visitation they shall perish.

10:16 The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of
all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of
hosts is his name.

10:17 Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the
fortress.

10:18 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the
inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that
they may find it so.

10:19 Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous; but I said, Truly
this is a grief, and I must bear it.

10:20 My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my
children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to
stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.

10:21 For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the
LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be
scattered.

10:22 Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion
out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a
den of dragons.

10:23 O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not
in man that walketh to direct his steps.

10:24 O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest
thou bring me to nothing.

10:25 Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon
the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob,
and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation
desolate.

11:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying, 11:2 Hear ye
the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to
the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 11:3 And say thou unto them, Thus saith
the LORD God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words
of this covenant, 11:4 Which I commanded your fathers in the day that
I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace,
saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command
you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God: 11:5 That I may
perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a
land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I,
and said, So be it, O LORD.

11:6 Then the LORD said unto me, Proclaim all these words in the
cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the
words of this covenant, and do them.

11:7 For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I
brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising
early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice.

11:8 Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one
in the imagination of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon
them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do: but
they did them not.

11:9 And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of
Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

11:10 They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers,
which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to
serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my
covenant which I made with their fathers.

11:11 Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon
them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall
cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.

11:12 Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go,
and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not
save them at all in the time of their trouble.

11:13 For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O
Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye
set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto
Baal.

11:14 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry
or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry
unto me for their trouble.

11:15 What hath my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she hath
wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee?
when thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest.

11:16 The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of
goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire
upon it, and the branches of it are broken.

11:17 For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil
against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of
Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger
in offering incense unto Baal.

11:18 And the LORD hath given me knowledge of it, and I know it: then
thou shewedst me their doings.

11:19 But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter;
and I knew not that they had devised devices against me, saying, Let
us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off
from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.

11:20 But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the
reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee
have I revealed my cause.

11:21 Therefore thus saith the LORD of the men of Anathoth, that seek
thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the LORD, that thou die
not by our hand: 11:22 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold,
I will punish them: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons
and their daughters shall die by famine: 11:23 And there shall be no
remnant of them: for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even
the year of their visitation.
12:1 Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me
talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked
prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
12:2 Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow,
yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far
from their reins.

12:3 But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine
heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and
prepare them for the day of slaughter.

12:4 How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field
wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are
consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last
end.

12:5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee,
then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace,
wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in
the swelling of Jordan? 12:6 For even thy brethren, and the house of
thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they
have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they
speak fair words unto thee.

12:7 I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have
given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.

12:8 Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out
against me: therefore have I hated it.

12:9 Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round
about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field,
come to devour.

12:10 Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my
portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate
wilderness.

12:11 They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto
me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to
heart.

12:12 The spoilers are come upon all high places through the
wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of
the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace.

12:13 They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns: they have put
themselves to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of
your revenues because of the fierce anger of the LORD.

12:14 Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch
the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit;
Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house
of Judah from among them.

12:15 And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I
will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again,
every man to his heritage, and every man to his land.

12:16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the
ways of my people, to swear by my name, The LORD liveth; as they
taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the
midst of my people.

12:17 But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy
that nation, saith the LORD.

13:1 Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and
put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.

13:2 So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it
on my loins.

13:3 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,
13:4 Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and
arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.

13:5 So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me.

13:6 And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me,
Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I
commanded thee to hide there.

13:7 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from
the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it
was profitable for nothing.

13:8 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 13:9 Thus saith
the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the
great pride of Jerusalem.

13:10 This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in
the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve
them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good
for nothing.

13:11 For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I
caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house
of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and
for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not
hear.

13:12 Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus saith the
LORD God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they
shall say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall
be filled with wine? 13:13 Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith
the LORD, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even
the kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the
prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.

13:14 And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and
the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor
have mercy, but destroy them.

13:15 Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.

13:16 Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and
before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look
for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross
darkness.

13:17 But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places
for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears,
because the LORD's flock is carried away captive.

13:18 Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down:
for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.

13:19 The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open
them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be
wholly carried away captive.

13:20 Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north:
where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock? 13:21
What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught
them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take
thee, as a woman in travail? 13:22 And if thou say in thine heart,
Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine
iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare.

13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?
then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

13:24 Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away
by the wind of the wilderness.

13:25 This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the
LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.

13:26 Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy
shame may appear.

13:27 I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of
thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe
unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it
once be? 14:1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning
the dearth.

14:2 Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black
unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.

14:3 And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they
came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels
empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.

14:4 Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth,
the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.

14:5 Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because
there was no grass.

14:6 And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up
the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no
grass.

14:7 O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for
thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against
thee.

14:8 O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why
shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man
that turneth aside to tarry for a night? 14:9 Why shouldest thou be
as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD,
art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.

14:10 Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to
wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth
not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their
sins.

14:11 Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their
good.

14:12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer
burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will
consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.

14:13 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them,
Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will
give you assured peace in this place.

14:14 Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my
name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake
unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a
thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.

14:15 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that
prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and
famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those
prophets be consumed.

14:16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the
streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they
shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor
their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them.

14:17 Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes run
down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin
daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very
grievous blow.

14:18 If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the
sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick
with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a
land that they know not.

14:19 Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion? why
hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for
peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold
trouble! 14:20 We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the
iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.

14:21 Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake, do not disgrace the throne
of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.

14:22 Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause
rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our
God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these
things.

15:1 Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before
me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my
sight, and let them go forth.

15:2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall
we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as
are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword;
and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the
captivity, to the captivity.

15:3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the
sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and
the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.

15:4 And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the
earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that
which he did in Jerusalem.

15:5 For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall
bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest? 15:6 Thou
hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore
will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary
with repenting.

15:7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will
bereave them of children, I will destroy my people since they return
not from their ways.

15:8 Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I
have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler
at noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors
upon the city.

15:9 She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the
ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath been
ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the
sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.

15:10 Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife
and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on
usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth
curse me.

15:11 The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily
I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in
the time of affliction.

15:12 Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel? 15:13 Thy
substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price,
and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.

15:14 And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land
which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which
shall burn upon you.

15:15 O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me
of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that
for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.

15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto
me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O
LORD God of hosts.

15:17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat
alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.

15:18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth
to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters
that fail? 15:19 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then
will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou
take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let
them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.

15:20 And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and
they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against
thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the
LORD.

15:21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I
will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.

16:1 The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying, 16:2 Thou shalt
not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in
this place.

16:3 For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the
daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers
that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this
land; 16:4 They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be
lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon
the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by
famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and
for the beasts of the earth.

16:5 For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning,
neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace
from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.

16:6 Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall
not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves,
nor make themselves bald for them: 16:7 Neither shall men tear
themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither
shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father
or for their mother.

16:8 Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with
them to eat and to drink.

16:9 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I
will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days,
the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the
bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.

16:10 And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all
these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD
pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or
what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?
16:11 Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have
forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and
have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and
have not kept my law; 16:12 And ye have done worse than your fathers;
for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil
heart, that they may not hearken unto me: 16:13 Therefore will I cast
you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your
fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I
will not shew you favour.

16:14 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall
no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of
Israel out of the land of Egypt; 16:15 But, The LORD liveth, that
brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from
all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again
into their land that I gave unto their fathers.

16:16 Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they
shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they
shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of
the holes of the rocks.

16:17 For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my
face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.

16:18 And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double;
because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance
with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things.

16:19 O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day
of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the
earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity,
and things wherein there is no profit.

16:20 Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods? 16:21
Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause
them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name
is The LORD.

17:1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the
point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and
upon the horns of your altars; 17:2 Whilst their children remember
their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.

17:3 O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy
treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all
thy borders.

17:4 And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage
that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the
land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger,
which shall burn for ever.

17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and
maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.

17:6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see
when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the
wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.

17:7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the
LORD is.

17:8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that
spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat
cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the
year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:
who can know it? 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins,
even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the
fruit of his doings.

17:11 As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he
that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst
of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.

17:12 A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our
sanctuary.

17:13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be
ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth,
because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.

17:14 Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be
saved: for thou art my praise.

17:15 Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it
come now.

17:16 As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow
thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which
came out of my lips was right before thee.

17:17 Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.

17:18 Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be
confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring
upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.

17:19 Thus said the LORD unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the
children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the
which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; 17:20 And say
unto them, Hear ye the word of the LORD, ye kings of Judah, and all
Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these
gates: 17:21 Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no
burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;
17:22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath
day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I
commanded your fathers.

17:23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their
neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.

17:24 And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me,
saith the LORD, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city
on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein;
17:25 Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and
princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on
horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever.

17:26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the
places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the
plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt
offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and
bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the LORD.

17:27 But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day,
and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem
on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof,
and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be
quenched.

18:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 18:2
Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee
to hear my words.

18:3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a
work on the wheels.

18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the
potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the
potter to make it.

18:5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 18:6 O house of
Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold,
as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house
of Israel.

18:7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning
a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; 18:8 If
that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I
will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.

18:9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and
concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; 18:10 If it do evil in
my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good,
wherewith I said I would benefit them.

18:11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame
evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every
one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.

18:12 And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own
devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

18:13 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who
hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible
thing.

18:14 Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock
of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another
place be forsaken? 18:15 Because my people hath forgotten me, they
have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in
their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast
up; 18:16 To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every
one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.

18:17 I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I
will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their
calamity.

18:18 Then said they, Come and let us devise devices against Jeremiah;
for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the
wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with
the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.

18:19 Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that
contend with me.

18:20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit
for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them,
and to turn away thy wrath from them.

18:21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out
their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved
of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death;
let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.

18:22 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a
troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and
hid snares for my feet.

18:23 Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me:
forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight,
but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the
time of thine anger.

19:1 Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and
take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the
priests; 19:2 And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which
is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I
shall tell thee, 19:3 And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings
of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts,
the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the
which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.

19:4 Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and
have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their
fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place
with the blood of innocents; 19:5 They have built also the high places
of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal,
which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
19:6 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place
shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom,
but The valley of slaughter.

19:7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this
place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their
enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their
carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for
the beasts of the earth.

19:8 And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one
that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the
plagues thereof.

19:9 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the
flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of
his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and
they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.

19:10 Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go
with thee, 19:11 And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of
hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh
a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall
bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury.

19:12 Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the
inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet: 19:13 And the
houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be
defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose
roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have
poured out drink offerings unto other gods.

19:14 Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to
prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD's house; and said to
all the people, 19:15 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel;
Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the
evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened
their necks, that they might not hear my words.

20:1 Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief
governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied
these things.

20:2 Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks
that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the
LORD.

20:3 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth
Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath
not called thy name Pashur, but Magormissabib.

20:4 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to
thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of
their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all
Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them
captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.

20:5 Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all
the labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the
treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their
enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to
Babylon.

20:6 And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into
captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die,
and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou
hast prophesied lies.

20:7 O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived; thou art
stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one
mocketh me.

20:8 For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil;
because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a
derision, daily.

20:9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more
in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up
in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

20:10 For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report,
say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my
halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail
against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.

20:11 But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my
persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be
greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting
confusion shall never be forgotten.

20:12 But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the
reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee
have I opened my cause.

20:13 Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered
the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.

20:14 Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my
mother bare me be blessed.

20:15 Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A
man child is born unto thee; making him very glad.

20:16 And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and
repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the
shouting at noontide; 20:17 Because he slew me not from the womb; or
that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always
great with me.