How long shall thy vain
thoughts
lodge within thee?
bible-kjv
63:8 For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not
lie: so he was their Saviour.
63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his
presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and
he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
63:10 But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was
turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
63:11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people,
saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the
shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within
him? 63:12 That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious
arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting
name? 63:13 That led them through the deep, as an horse in the
wilderness, that they should not stumble? 63:14 As a beast goeth down
into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so didst
thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.
63:15 Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy
holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the
sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they
restrained? 63:16 Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be
ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our
father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.
63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened
our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of
thine inheritance.
63:18 The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while:
our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.
63:19 We are thine: thou never barest rule over them; they were not
called by thy name.
64:1 Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come
down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, 64:2 As when
the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make
thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at
thy presence! 64:3 When thou didst terrible things which we looked
not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.
64:4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor
perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee,
what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
64:5 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those
that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have
sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities,
like the wind, have taken us away.
64:7 And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up
himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and
hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.
64:8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou
our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
64:9 Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for
ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.
64:10 Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
64:11 Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised
thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid
waste.
64:12 Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou
hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore? 65:1 I am sought of them
that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said,
Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.
65:2 I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people,
which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;
65:3 A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that
sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick; 65:4
Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat
swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
65:5 Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier
than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the
day.
65:6 Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but
will recompense, even recompense into their bosom, 65:7 Your
iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the
LORD, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me
upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into their
bosom.
65:8 Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and
one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for
my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all.
65:9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an
inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my
servants shall dwell there.
65:10 And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a
place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me.
65:11 But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy
mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the
drink offering unto that number.
65:12 Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow
down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when
I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did
choose that wherein I delighted not.
65:13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants shall
eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye
shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be
ashamed: 65:14 Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye
shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit.
65:15 And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the
Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name: 65:16
That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the
God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God
of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they
are hid from mine eyes.
65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the
former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
65:18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for,
behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
65:19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the
voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of
crying.
65:20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man
that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred
years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be
accursed.
65:21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall
plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
65:22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant,
and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people,
and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
65:23 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for
they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with
them.
65:24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer;
and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall
eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They
shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.
66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my
footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the
place of my rest? 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and
all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I
look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth
at my word.
66:3 He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth
a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation,
as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he
blessed an idol.
Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in
their abominations.
66:4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears
upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they
did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in
which I delighted not.
66:5 Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your
brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said,
Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they
shall be ashamed.
66:6 A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice
of the LORD that rendereth recompence to his enemies.
66:7 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came,
she was delivered of a man child.
66:8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the
earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at
once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
66:9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith
the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy
God.
66:10 Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that
love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: 66:11
That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her
consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the
abundance of her glory.
66:12 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like
a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then
shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon
her knees.
66:13 As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye
shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
66:14 And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones
shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the LORD shall be known
toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.
66:15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots
like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with
flames of fire.
66:16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh:
and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
66:17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the
gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the
abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the
LORD.
66:18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I
will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my
glory.
66:19 And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that
escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw
the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not
heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my
glory among the Gentiles.
66:20 And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the
LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters,
and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem,
saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean
vessel into the house of the LORD.
66:21 And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith
the LORD.
66:22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make,
shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your
name remain.
66:23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another,
and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship
before me, saith the LORD.
66:24 And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men
that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die,
neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring
unto all flesh.
The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah
1:1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that
were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: 1:2 To whom the word of the
LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the
thirteenth year of his reign.
1:3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of
Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah
king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the
fifth month.
1:4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 1:5 Before I
formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out
of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the
nations.
1:6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a
child.
1:7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt
go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou
shalt speak.
1:8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee,
saith the LORD.
1:9 Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the
LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
1:10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the
kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw
down, to build, and to plant.
1:11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah,
what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
1:12 Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will
hasten my word to perform it.
1:13 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,
What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face
thereof is toward the north.
1:14 Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break
forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
1:15 For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the
north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every
one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against
all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of
Judah.
1:16 And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their
wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other
gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
1:17 Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them
all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I
confound thee before them.
1:18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an
iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the
kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests
thereof, and against the people of the land.
1:19 And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail
against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.
2:1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2:2 Go and cry
in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember
thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when
thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
2:3 Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his
increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them,
saith the LORD.
2:4 Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the
families of the house of Israel: 2:5 Thus saith the LORD, What
iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from
me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? 2:6 Neither
said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of
Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts
and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death,
through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?
2:7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit
thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my
land, and made mine heritage an abomination.
2:8 The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the
law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the
prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not
profit.
2:9 Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your
children's children will I plead.
2:10 For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar,
and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.
2:11 Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my
people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
2:12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be
ye very desolate, saith the LORD.
2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the
fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken
cisterns, that can hold no water.
2:14 Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled?
2:15 The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his
land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant.
2:16 Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of
thy head.
2:17 Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast
forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way? 2:18 And now
what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of
Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the
waters of the river? 2:19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee,
and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that
it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy
God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
2:20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and
thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and
under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.
2:21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how
then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto
me? 2:22 For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much
soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.
2:23 How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after
Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art
a swift dromedary traversing her ways; 2:24 A wild ass used to the
wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion
who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary
themselves; in her month they shall find her.
2:25 Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst:
but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and
after them will I go.
2:26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of
Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests,
and their prophets.
2:27 Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast
brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not
their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and
save us.
2:28 But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise,
if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the
number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.
2:29 Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against
me, saith the LORD.
2:30 In vain have I smitten your children; they received no
correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a
destroying lion.
2:31 O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a
wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people,
We are lords; we will come no more unto thee? 2:32 Can a maid forget
her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me
days without number.
2:33 Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also
taught the wicked ones thy ways.
2:34 Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor
innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.
2:35 Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall
turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I
have not sinned.
2:36 Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt
be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
2:37 Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine
head: for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not
prosper in them.
3:1 They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and
become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that
land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many
lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.
3:2 Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast
not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian
in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms
and with thy wickedness.
3:3 Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no
latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be
ashamed.
3:4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the
guide of my youth? 3:5 Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he
keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as
thou couldest.
3:6 The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast
thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon
every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played
the harlot.
3:7 And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me.
But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
3:8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel
committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of
divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and
played the harlot also.
3:9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that
she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with
stocks.
3:10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned
unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.
3:11 And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified
herself more than treacherous Judah.
3:12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return,
thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine
anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will
not keep anger for ever.
3:13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed
against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers
under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the
LORD.
3:14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married
unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and
I will bring you to Zion: 3:15 And I will give you pastors according
to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
3:16 And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in
the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The
ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind:
neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither
shall that be done any more.
3:17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD;
and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the
LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the
imagination of their evil heart.
3:18 In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of
Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to
the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.
3:19 But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give
thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I
said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.
3:20 Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so
have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the
LORD.
3:21 A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications
of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they
have forgotten the LORD their God.
3:22 Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your
backslidings.
Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.
3:23 Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the
multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of
Israel.
3:24 For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth;
their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
3:25 We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we
have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our
youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD
our God.
4:1 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and
if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt
thou not remove.
4:2 And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and
in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and
in him shall they glory.
4:3 For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break
up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
4:4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of
your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury
come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the
evil of your doings.
4:5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye
the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble
yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.
4:6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will
bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
4:7 The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the
Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy
land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an
inhabitant.
4:8 For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce
anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.
4:9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the
heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the
priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.
4:10 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this
people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword
reacheth unto the soul.
4:11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A
dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of
my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse, 4:12 Even a full wind from
those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against
them.
4:13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as
a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we
are spoiled.
4:14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest
be saved.
How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee? 4:15
For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount
Ephraim.
4:16 Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against
Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their
voice against the cities of Judah.
4:17 As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because
she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.
4:18 Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this
is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto
thine heart.
4:19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart
maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard,
O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
4:20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is
spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.
4:21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the
trumpet? 4:22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they
are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise
to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
4:23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and
the heavens, and they had no light.
4:24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills
moved lightly.
4:25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the
heavens were fled.
4:26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all
the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and
by his fierce anger.
4:27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate;
yet will I not make a full end.
4:28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black;
because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent,
neither will I turn back from it.
4:29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and
bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks:
every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.
4:30 And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou
clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments
of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt
thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek
thy life.
4:31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the
anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of
the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her
hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of
murderers.
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.
