1.
1 These
are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests from the town of
Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. 2 The
Lord first gave messages to Jeremiah during the thirteenth year of the reign of
Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah. 3 The
Lord's messages continued throughout the reign of King Jehoiakim, Josiah's son,
until the eleventh year of the reign of King Zedekiah, another of Josiah's
sons. In August of that eleventh year the people of Jerusalem were taken away
as captives. 4 The
Lord gave me this message. 5 "I
knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set
you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations." 6 "O
Sovereign Lord," I said, "I can't speak for you! I'm too young!" 7 The
Lord replied, "Don't say, 'I'm too young,' for you must go wherever I send
you and say whatever I tell you. 8 And
don't be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I,
the Lord, have spoken!" 9 Then
the Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said, "Look, I have put my
words in your mouth! 10 Today
I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms. Some you must uproot
and tear down, destroy and overthrow. Others you must build up and plant." 11 Then
the Lord said to me, "Look, Jeremiah! What do you see?" And I
replied, "I see a branch from an almond tree." 12 And
the Lord said, "That's right, and it means that I am watching, and I will
certainly carry out all my plans." 13 Then
the Lord spoke to me again and asked, "What do you see now?" And I
replied, "I see a pot of boiling water, spilling from the north." 14
"Yes," the Lord said, "for terror from the north will boil out
on the people of this land. 15
Listen! I am calling the armies of the kingdoms of the north to come to
Jerusalem. I, the Lord, have spoken! "They will set their thrones at the
gates of the city. They will attack its walls and all the other towns of Judah. 16 I will
pronounce judgment on my people for all their evil - for deserting me and
burning incense to other gods. Yes, they worship idols made with their own
hands! 17
"Get up and prepare for action. Go out and tell them everything I tell you
to say. Do not be afraid of them, or I will make you look foolish in front of
them. 18 For
see, today I have made you strong like a fortified city that cannot be
captured, like an iron pillar or a bronze wall. You will stand against the
whole land - the kings, officials, priests, and people of Judah. 19 They
will fight you, but they will fail. For I am with you, and I will take care of
you. I, the Lord, have spoken!" 2. 1 The
Lord gave me another message. He said, 2
"Go and shout this message to Jerusalem. This is what the Lord says£º
"I remember how eager you were to please me as a young bride long ago, how
you loved me and followed me even through the barren wilderness. 3 In
those days Israel was holy to the Lord, the first of his children. All who
harmed his people were declared guilty, and disaster fell on them. I, the Lord,
have spoken!" 4 Listen
to the word of the Lord, people of Jacob - all you families of Israel! 5 This is
what the Lord says£º "What did your ancestors find wrong with me that led
them to stray so far from me? They worshiped worthless idols, only to become
worthless themselves. 6 They
did not ask, 'Where is the Lord who brought us safely out of Egypt and led us
through the barren wilderness - a land of deserts and pits, a land of drought
and death, where no one lives or even travels?' 7
"And when I brought you into a fruitful land to enjoy its bounty and
goodness, you defiled my land and corrupted the possession I had promised you. 8 The
priests did not ask, 'Where is the Lord?' Those who taught my word ignored me,
the rulers turned against me, and the prophets spoke in the name of Baal,
wasting their time on worthless idols. 9
Therefore, I will bring my case against you," says the Lord. "I will
even bring charges against your children's children in the years to come. 10
"Go west and look in the land of Cyprus; go east and search through the
land of Kedar. Has anyone ever heard of anything as strange as this? 11 Has
any nation ever traded its gods for new ones, even though they are not gods at
all? Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols! 12 The
heavens are shocked at such a thing and shrink back in horror and dismay,"
says the Lord. 13
"For my people have done two evil things£º They have abandoned me - the
fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns
that can hold no water at all! 14
"Why has Israel become a slave? Why has he been carried away as plunder? 15 Strong
lions have roared against him, and the land has been destroyed. The towns are
now in ruins, and no one lives in them anymore. 16
Egyptians, marching from their cities of Memphis and Tahpanhes, have destroyed
Israel's glory and power. 17 And
you have brought this upon yourselves by rebelling against the Lord your God,
even though he was leading you on the way! 18
"What have you gained by your alliances with Egypt and your covenants with
Assyria? What good to you are the streams of the Nile or the waters of the
Euphrates River? 19 Your
wickedness will bring its own punishment. Your turning from me will shame you.
You will see what an evil, bitter thing it is to abandon the Lord your God and
not to fear him. I, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven's Armies, have spoken! 20
"Long ago I broke the yoke that oppressed you and tore away the chains of
your slavery, but still you said, 'I will not serve you.' On every hill and
under every green tree, you have prostituted yourselves by bowing down to
idols. 21 But I
was the one who planted you, choosing a vine of the purest stock - the very
best. How did you grow into this corrupt wild vine? 22 No
amount of soap or lye can make you clean. I still see the stain of your guilt.
I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken! 23
"You say, 'That'not true! I haven't worshiped the images of Baal!' But how
can you say that? Go and look in any valley in the land! Face the awful sins
you have done. You are like a restless female camel desperately searching for a
mate. 24 You
are like a wild donkey, sniffing the wind at mating time. Who can restrain her
lust? Those who desire her don't need to search, for she goes running to them! 25 When
will you stop running? When will you stop panting after other gods? But you
say, 'Save your breath. I'm in love with these foreign gods, and I can't stop
loving them now!' 26
"Israel is like a thief who feels shame only when he gets caught. They,
their kings, officials, priests, and prophets - all are alike in this. 27 To an
image carved from a piece of wood they say, 'You are my father.' To an idol
chiseled from a block of stone they say, 'You are my mother.' They turn their
backs on me, but in times of trouble they cry out to me, 'Come and save us!' 28 But
why not call on these gods you have made? When trouble comes, let them save you
if they can! For you have as many gods as there are towns in Judah. 29 Why do
you accuse me of doing wrong? You are the ones who have rebelled," says
the Lord. 30
"I have punished your children, but they did not respond to my discipline.
You yourselves have killed your prophets as a lion kills its prey. 31
"O my people, listen to the words of the Lord! Have I been like a desert
to Israel? Have I been to them a land of darkness? Why then do my people say,
'At last we are free from God! We don't need him anymore!' 32 Does a
young woman forget her jewelry? Does a bride hide her wedding dress? Yet for
years on end my people have forgotten me. 33
"How you plot and scheme to win your lovers. Even an experienced
prostitute could learn from you! 34 Your
clothing is stained with the blood of the innocent and the poor, though you
didn't catch them breaking into your houses! 35 And
yet you say, 'I have done nothing wrong. Surely God isn't angry with me!' But
now I will punish you severely because you claim you have not sinned. 36 First
here, then there - you flit from one ally to another asking for help. But your
new friends in Egypt will let you down, just as Assyria did before. 37 In
despair, you will be led into exile with your hands on your heads, for the Lord
has rejected the nations you trust. They will not help you at all. 3. 1
"If a man divorces a woman and she goes and marries someone else, he will
not take her back again, for that would surely corrupt the land. But you have
prostituted yourself with many lovers, so why are you trying to come back to
me?" says the Lord. 2
"Look at the shrines on every hilltop. Is there any place you have not
been defiled by your adultery with other gods? You sit like a prostitute beside
the road waiting for a customer. You sit alone like a nomad in the desert. You
have polluted the land with your prostitution and your wickedness. 3 That's
why even the spring rains have failed. For you are a brazen prostitute and
completely shameless. 4 Yet you
say to me, 'Father, you have been my guide since my youth. 5 Surely
you won't be angry forever! Surely you can forget about it!' So you talk, but
you keep on doing all the evil you can." 6 During
the reign of King Josiah, the Lord said to me, "Have you seen what fickle
Israel has done? Like a wife who commits adultery, Israel has worshiped other
gods on every hill and under every green tree. 7 I
thought, 'After she has done all this, she will return to me.' But she did not
return, and her faithless sister Judah saw this. 8 She saw
that I divorced faithless Israel because of her adultery. But that treacherous
sister Judah had no fear, and now she, too, has left me and given herself to
prostitution. 9 Israel
treated it all so lightly - she thought nothing of committing adultery by
worshiping idols made of wood and stone. So now the land has been polluted. 10 But
despite all this, her faithless sister Judah has never sincerely returned to
me. She has only pretended to be sorry. I, the Lord, have spoken!" 11 Then
the Lord said to me, "Even faithless Israel is less guilty than
treacherous Judah! 12
Therefore, go and give this message to Israel. This is what the Lord says£º
"O Israel, my faithless people, come home to me again, for I am merciful.
I will not be angry with you forever. 13 Only
acknowledge your guilt. Admit that you rebelled against the Lord your God and
committed adultery against him by worshiping idols under every green tree.
Confess that you refused to listen to my voice. I, the Lord, have spoken! 14
"Return home, you wayward children," says the Lord, "for I am
your master. I will bring you back to the land of Israel - one from this town
and two from that family - from wherever you are scattered. 15 And I
will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will guide you with knowledge
and understanding. 16
"And when your land is once more filled with people," says the Lord,
"you will no longer wish for 'the good old days' when you possessed the
Ark of the Lord's Covenant. You will not miss those days or even remember them,
and there will be no need to rebuild the Ark. 17 In
that day Jerusalem will be known as 'The Throne of the Lord.' All nations will
come there to honor the Lord. They will no longer stubbornly follow their own
evil desires. 18 In
those days the people of Judah and Israel will return together from exile in
the north. They will return to the land I gave their ancestors as an inheritance
forever. 19
"I thought to myself, 'I would love to treat you as my own children!' I
wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land - the finest
possession in the world. I looked forward to your calling me 'Father,' and I
wanted you never to turn from me. 20 But
you have been unfaithful to me, you people of Israel! You have been like a
faithless wife who leaves her husband. I, the Lord, have spoken." 21 Voices
are heard high on the windswept mountains, the weeping and pleading of Israel's
people. For they have chosen crooked paths and have forgotten the Lord their
God. 22
"My wayward children," says the Lord, "come back to me, and I
will heal your wayward hearts." "Yes, we're coming," the people
reply, "for you are the Lord our God. 23 Our worship
of idols on the hills and our religious orgies on the mountains are a delusion.
Only in the Lord our God will Israel ever find salvation. 24 From
childhood we have watched as everything our ancestors worked for - their flocks
and herds, their sons and daughters - was squandered on a delusion.
25 Let us
now lie down in shame and cover ourselves with dishonor, for we and our
ancestors have sinned against the Lord our God. From our childhood to this day
we have never obeyed him."