Isaiah 65 - Jeremiah 8
Tree of Life Version
Outstretched Hands
65 “I was sought by those who did not ask for Me,
I was found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Hineni, hineni!’
to a nation not called by My Name.[a]
2 I have stretched out My hands all day
to a rebellious people,[b]
who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own thoughts.
3 These people provoke Me continually
to My face,
sacrificing in gardens,
burning incense on bricks,
4 sitting among graves,
spending the night in cave-tombs;
eating swine’s flesh,
and the broth of detestable things is in their pots,
5 who say, ‘Keep to yourself, don’t come to me,
for I am holier than you!’
These are smoke in My nostrils,
a fire that burns all day.
6 Behold, it is written before Me;
I will not keep silence, but will repay,
even repay into their laps,
7 your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together,”
says Adonai,
“because they burned incense on the mountains,
and scorned Me on the hills.
So I will measure into their laps
full wages for their former deeds.”
8 Thus says Adonai:
“As new wine is found in a cluster,
and one says, ‘Do not destroy it,
for a blessing is in it,’
so I will do for My servants’ sakes,
that I may not destroy them all.
9 I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
an heir of My mountains from Judah.
My chosen ones will inherit it,
and My servants will dwell there.
10 Sharon will be a fold of flocks,
and the valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down in,
for My people who seek Me.
11 But you who forsake Adonai,
who forget My holy mountain,
who prepare a table for Fortune,
who fill cups of mixed wine for Fate,
12 I will fate you to the sword,
and all of you will kneel to slaughter.
For I called, but you did not answer,
I spoke, but you did not hear.
So you did what was evil in My sight,
and chose what I did not delight in.”
13 Therefore thus says Adonai Elohim:
“Behold, My servants will eat,
while you will go hungry.
Behold, My servants will drink,
but you will be thirsty.
Behold, My servants will rejoice,
but you will be put to shame.
14 Behold, My servants will sing for joy
with a happy heart,
but you will cry from pain of heart,
and wail out of a broken spirit.
15 You will leave your name behind
as a curse for My chosen ones,
and Adonai Elohim will slay you.
But He will call His servants by another name.
16 So he who says a bracha in the land
will be blessed by the God of truth,
and he who swears in the land
will swear by the God of truth.
For the former troubles are forgotten,
because they are hidden from My sight!
New Heavens and New Earth
17 For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth.[c]
The former things will not be remembered
or come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating.
For behold, I am creating Jerusalem for rejoicing,
and her people for joy.
19 Then I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
and be glad in My people.
No longer will the voice of weeping
or the voice of crying be heard in her.
20 No longer will there be in it an infant
who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days.
For the youth will die at a hundred years,
But one who misses the mark of a hundred
must be accursed.
21 They will build houses and inhabit them.
They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They will not build and another inhabit,
nor plant and another eat.
For like the days of a tree,
so will be the days of My people,
and My chosen ones will long enjoy
the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain
nor bear children for calamity.
For they are the offspring of those blessed by Adonai,
as well as descendants with them.
24 And it will come to pass that before they call,
I will answer,
and while they are still speaking,
I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together.
The lion will eat straw like the ox,
but dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will not hurt or destroy
in all My holy mountain,” says Adonai.
Tremble At His Word
66 Thus says Adonai:
“Heaven is My throne,
and the earth is My footstool.[d]
Where then is the House you would build for Me?
Where is the place of My rest?
2 For My hand has made all these things,
so all these things came to be,”
declares Adonai.
“But on this one will I look,
one humble and of a contrite spirit,
who trembles at My word.”
3 One who kills an ox
is like one who kills a man;
one who sacrifices a lamb
is like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
one who offers a grain offering
is like one who offers swine’s blood;
one who burns incense
is like one who blesses an idol.
They have chosen their own ways,
so their soul delights in their abominations.
4 So I will choose their punishments
and bring on them what they dread.
For when I called, no one answered;
when I spoke, they did not listen.
But they did what was evil in My eyes,
and chose what I did not delight in.
5 Hear the word of Adonai,
you who tremble at His word:
“Your brothers who hated you,
excluding you for My Name’s sake, have said,
‘Let Adonai be glorified,
that we may see your joy’—
but they will be put to shame.”
6 A sound of uproar from the city,
a sound from the Temple—
the sound of Adonai
who fully repays His enemies.
A Nation Born in a Day
7 Before she was in labor,
she gave birth.
Before her pain came,
she delivered a male child.
8 Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Can a land be born in one day?
Can a nation be brought forth at once?
For as soon as Zion was in labor,
she gave birth to her children.
9 “Will I bring the moment of birth,
and not give delivery?” says Adonai.
“Will I who cause delivery
shut up the womb?” says your God.
10 Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her,
all you who love her.
Rejoice for joy with her
all you who mourned over her.
11 For you will nurse and be satisfied
from her comforting breast.
You will drink deeply and delight
from her glorious abundance.
12 For thus says Adonai:
“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream.
You will be nursed, carried on the hip,
and bounced on her knees.
13 As one whom his mother comforts,
so I will comfort you,
so you will be comforted in Jerusalem.
14 You will see, your heart will rejoice,
and your bones will flourish like grass.
So the hand of Adonai will be known to His servants,
and His indignation to His enemies.
15 For behold, Adonai will come in fire,
and His chariots like the whirlwind,
to render His anger with fury,
and His rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and His sword
Adonai will execute judgment on all flesh
and those slain by Adonai will be many.
17 Those who consecrate and purify themselves to enter the groves, following after one in the midst, who eat swine’s flesh, vermin and mice, will come to an end altogether.
It is a declaration of Adonai. 18 “For I know their works and their thoughts. It will come about that I will gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see My glory. 19 Then I will set up a sign among them, and I will send survivors from them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul and Lud (who pull the bow), to Tubal and Javan, to distant islands that have not heard My fame or seen My glory. Then they will declare My glory among the nations.
20 “Then they will bring all your kinsmen from all the nations, as an offering to Adonai, on horses and in chariots, and on litters, mules and camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says Adonai, “just as Bnei-Yisrael bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the House of Adonai. 21 I will also take some of them as priests and for Levites,” says Adonai.
22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, will endure before Me”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“so your descendants and your name will endure.”
23 “And it will come to pass,
that from one New Moon to another,
and from one Shabbat to another,
all flesh will come to bow down before Me,”
says Adonai.
24 “As they leave, they will look on the corpses of the people who rebelled against Me. For their worm will not die, and their fire will not be quenched, and they will be a horror to all flesh.”
The Call of Jeremiah
1 The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the kohanim who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. 2 The word of Adonai came to him during the days of King Josiah of Judah, son of Amon, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It continued during the days of King Jehoiakim of Judah, son of Josiah, until the end of the eleventh year of King Zedekiah of Judah, son of Josiah—until the exile from Jerusalem in the fifth month.
4 The word of Adonai came to me, saying:
5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you,
and before you were born, I set you apart—
I appointed you prophet to the nations.”
6 Then I said, “Alas, Adonai Elohim!
Look, I don’t know how to speak!
For I’m still a boy!”
7 But Adonai answered me,
“Do not say ‘I’m only a boy!’
For to everyone I send you, you will go,
and all I command you, you will speak.
8 Do not be afraid of them!
For I am with you to deliver you.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
9 Then Adonai stretched out His hand and touched my mouth and Adonai said to me,
“Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
10 See, today I have appointed you over nations and over kingdoms:
to uproot and to tear down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”
11 Moreover, the word of Adonai came to me, saying, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
I answered, “I see an almond branch.”
12 Then Adonai said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching over[e] My word to perform it.”
13 The word of Adonai came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?”
I replied, “I see a boiling pot that is tilting away from the north.”
14 Then Adonai said to me:
“From the north, disaster will be poured out
on all the inhabitants of the land.
15 Behold! I am calling all the families
of the kingdoms of the north.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
“So they will come and each will set up his throne
at the entry of the gates of Jerusalem,
against all her surrounding walls
and against all the cities of Judah.
16 I will pronounce My judgments on them for all their wickedness—
they have forsaken Me,
offering incense to other gods,
worshipping the works of their hands.
17 Now, you, gird up your loins!
Get up and tell them everything that I order you!
Do not be terrified by them,
or else I will terrify you before them.
18 Look, today I have set you up
as a fortified city—
an iron pillar and bronze walls—
against the whole land,
against the kings of Judah, its princes
against its kohanim,
and against the people of the land.
19 Though they will fight against you,
they will not win,
for I am with you, to deliver you.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
Judah Rebuked for Her Sins
2 Again the word of Adonai came to me, saying: 2 “Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, thus says Adonai:
I remember the devotion of your youth,
your love as a bride,
and the way you followed Me in the wilderness,
in a land not sown.
3 Israel was kadosh to Adonai,
the firstfruits of the harvest.[f]
All who devoured him were held guilty.
Catastrophe overtook them.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
4 Hear the word of Adonai, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says Adonai:
“What fault did your fathers find in Me
that they strayed so far from Me?
They walked after worthless things,
becoming worthless themselves?[g]
6 They did not ask ‘Where is Adonai,
who brought us up from the land of Egypt
and led us through the wilderness,
through a land of deserts and rifts,
through a land of drought and distress,
through a land where no one travels,
where no one lives?’
7 Yet I brought you into a fertile land,
to eat of its fruit and goodness.
When you came, you defiled My land.
You made My heritage an abomination.
8 The kohanim did not ask,
‘Where is Adonai?’
The Torah experts did not know Me.
The shepherds rebelled against Me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal
and went after unprofitable things.
9 Therefore I will plead with you again!”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
“I will contend with your children’s children.
10 Cross to the coasts of Kittim[h] and see!
Send to Kedar, and observe carefully.
See if there has been anything like this.
11 Has a nation changed its gods—
even though they are not gods?
Yet My people have exchanged their glory
for worthless things.
12 Be appalled at this, O heavens!
Be utterly horrified and dumbfounded.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
13 “My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me
—the spring of living water—
and they dug their own cisterns—
cracked cisterns that hold no water.
14 Is Israel a servant—a slave by birth?
Then why has he become plunder?
15 Young lions have roared at him
they have roared loudly.
They made his land a waste—
his cities are in ruins and uninhabited.
16 Even the sons of Noph and Tahpanhes
have grazed on the crown of your head.
17 Have you not brought this on yourself,
when He led you in the way?
18 But now, what is on the road to Egypt?
Drinking the waters of the Nile?
Or what is on the road to Assyria?
Drinking the waters of the Euphrates?
19 Your own wickedness will rebuke you
and your backslidings will chide you.
Know then and see
how bad and bitter it is for you
to forsake Adonai your God.
Nor is fear of Me in you.”
It is a declaration of the Lord Adonai-Tzva’ot.
20 “Indeed, long ago I broke your yoke
and tore off your bonds.
You said, ‘I will not serve!’
Instead, on every high hill
and under every green tree
you sprawled out as a prostitute.
21 Yet I had planted you as a choice vine
from completely faithful seed.
How then did you become to Me
a wandering wild vine?
22 Even though you wash with lye
and use an abundance of soap,
the stain of your iniquity is before Me.”
It is a declaration of the Lord Adonai.
23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled—
I have not gone after the Baalim[i]?
Look at your behavior in the Valley!
Recognize what you have done.
You are a swift young camel
galloping aimlessly,
24 a wild donkey used to the wilderness—
sniffing the wind in her passion—
in her heat, who can restrain her?
All males that pursue her will not tire themselves.
At mating time they will find her.
25 Do not run while your feet are bare
and your throat is thirsty.
But you said ‘There is no hope!
No! For I have loved foreign gods
and I will go after them.’
26 As a thief is shamed when caught,
so the house of Israel is shamed—
they, their kings, their princes,
their kohanim and their prophets.
27 They say to wood, ‘You are my father’
and to a stone, ‘You birthed me.’
They have turned their back to Me
and not their face.
Yet when they are in trouble
they say, ‘Rise up and save us!’
28 Where are your gods that you made for yourself?
Let them come—if they can save you
when you are in trouble!
For you have as many gods
as you have cities, O Judah.
29 Why do you strive with Me?
You have all rebelled against Me.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
30 “In vain I struck your children.
They took no correction.
Your sword devoured your prophets
like a ravaging lion.”
31 You, generation, heed Adonai’s word!
“Have I been a wilderness to Israel
or a land of thick darkness?
Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam.
We won’t come to You any more’?
32 Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
or a bride her attire?
Yet My people have forgotten Me,
days without number.
33 How clever are your ways of seeking love.
Therefore you even taught wicked women your ways.
34 Moreover on your skirts is found
the blood of the innocent poor
—you did not find them breaking in.
Yet in spite of all these things,
35 you say, ‘I am innocent—
surely His anger is turned away from me?’
See, I will pass judgment on you,
since you say: ‘I haven’t sinned!’
36 Why do you make light of
changing your way?
You will be put to shame by Egypt
as you were put to shame by Assyria.
37 You will also go out from there
with your hands on your head.
For Adonai has rejected those in whom you trust—
you will not prosper by them.”
Unfaithful Judah and Unfaithful Israel
3 “If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him to be with another man,
will he return to her again?
Would not such a land be totally polluted?
You are a prostitute with many lovers.
Now are you returning to Me?”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
2 “Lift your eyes to the barren hills and see!
Where have you not been violated?
By the wayside you sat waiting for them
like a nomad in the desert.
You have polluted the land
with your prostitution and wickedness.
3 Therefore showers have been withheld
and there has been no spring rain.
You have a harlot’s brazen look;
you refuse to be ashamed.
4 Did you not just now call to Me:
‘Avi! You are a friend of my youth.
5 Would He keep a grudge forever?
Would He keep it to the end?’
So you said—
yet you have done
all the evil things you could.”
6 Then Adonai said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what backsliding Israel did? She went up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there she committed adultery. 7 Yet I thought that after she had done all this she would return to Me. But she did not return. Even her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. 8 I noted that when backsliding Israel committed adultery I sent her away and gave her a certificate of divorce. Yet, unfaithful Judah, her sister, did not fear. Instead she also went and committed adultery. 9 It happened that through her frivolous prostitution, she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and with wood. 10 Yet after all this her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to Me with her whole heart, but only insincerely,”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
11 Then Adonai said to me, “Backsliding Israel has proved herself more righteous than unfaithful Judah. 12 Go! Proclaim these words toward the north, saying:
“Return backsliding Israel,” says Adonai.
“I will no longer frown on you,
for I am merciful,” says Adonai.
“I will not keep a grudge forever.
13 Only acknowledge your iniquity.
For you sinned against Adonai your God
and scattered your favors to foreign gods
under every green tree.
You have not obeyed My voice.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
Call to Backsliding Children
14 “Return, O backsliding children,” declares Adonai.
“For I am your Husband.
I will choose you—
one from a city and two from a clan—
and will bring you to Zion.
15 I will give you shepherds after My own heart
who will feed you knowledge and understanding.
16 It will be in those days when you multiply
and become fruitful in the land.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
“They will no longer talk about the ark of the covenant of Adonai, nor will it come to mind or be remembered. Neither will it be missed or another one made again. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of Adonai and all the nations will gather into it, to Jerusalem, in the Name of Adonai. No longer will they walk according to the stubbornness of their evil heart. 18 In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel. They will come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.”
19 “Then I Myself said:
‘How gladly would I make you sons
and give you a pleasant land—
the most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’
I thought you would call Me—Avi!—
and would not turn from following Me.
20 Yet as a woman betrays her lover,
so have you betrayed Me, O house of Israel.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
21 A voice is heard on the barren hills
—the weeping and supplication of the children of Israel—
because they perverted their way
and forgot Adonai their God.
22 “Return, backsliding children!
I will heal your backsliding.”
“Yes, we will come to You
for You are Adonai Eloheinu.
23 Surely help from the hills is a delusion—
the commotion of the mountains!
Surely in Adonai Eloheinu
is the salvation of Israel.
24 But the shame has consumed
the labor of our fathers since our youth—
their flocks and their herds,
their sons and their daughters.
25 Let’s lie down with our shame
and let our disgrace cover us!
For we have sinned against Adonai Eloheinu
—both we and our fathers—
from our youth even to this day.
We have not paid attention to
the voice of Adonai Eloheinu.”
4 “If you will return, O Israel,
return to Me,” declares Adonai.
“If you will put your detestable things out of My sight.
Then you will not waver.
2 You will swear, ‘As Adonai lives!’
in truth, in justice and in righteousness.
The nations will bless themselves in Him
and in Him they will glory.”
3 Thus says Adonai to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:
“Break up your unplowed ground
and do not sow among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to Adonai
and remove the foreskins of your heart,
men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Else My wrath will break out like fire and blaze,
with no one to quench it,
because of your evil deeds!”
Imminent Invasion from the North
5 Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, saying:
“Blow the shofar in the land!”
Cry aloud and say,
“Assemble yourselves!
Let us go into the fortified cities.”
6 “Raise a banner toward Zion!
Take refuge! Do not delay!
For I bring calamity from the north,
even terrible destruction.
7 A lion has come up from his thicket—
a destroyer of nations has set out.
He has left his place
to make your land a wasteland.
Your cities will lie in ruins,
without inhabitant.
8 Therefore, put on sackcloth—
lament and wail!
For the fierce anger of Adonai
has not turned away from us.”
9 “It will happen in that day”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“that the king’s heart will fail,
as will the heart of the princes.
The kohanim will be appalled,
and the prophets will be stunned.”
10 Then I said, “Alas, Adonai Elohim! How completely You have deceived this people and Jerusalem saying, ‘You will have shalom,’ until the sword touches the soul!”
11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A scorching wind from the barren hills in the wilderness blows toward My people, but not to winnow or to sift— 12 a wind too strong for these things will come from Me. Now even I will pronounce judgments against them.”
13 See, he comes up like clouds,
and his chariots like whirlwinds.
His horses are swifter than eagles—
“Oy! We are ruined!”
14 O Jerusalem, purify your heart from wickedness, so that you may be saved.
How long will your wicked thoughts lodge within you?
15 A voice announces from Dan
and proclaims calamity from the hills of Ephraim,
16 “Remind the nations,
proclaim over Jerusalem!
Besiegers are soon coming from a far country,
raising their voice against the cities of Judah.
17 Like keepers of a field they surround her,
because she has been rebellious against Me.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
18 Your conduct and your deeds
have brought these things on you.
This is your calamity!
How bitter it is!
How it smites your heart!
19 My stomach, my stomach!
I writhe in anguish!
The pain of my heart!
My heart is pounding within me!
I cannot keep silent
because I have heard, O my soul,
the sound of the shofar,
the battle-cry of war.
20 Disaster on disaster is reported.
So the whole land is ruined.
My tents are suddenly ravaged,
my curtains in an instant.
21 How long must I see the battle standard
and hear the sound of the shofar?
22 “For My people are foolish.
They do not know Me.
They are senseless children,
and they have no understanding.
They are wise to do evil,
but to do good they do not know.”
23 I looked at the earth and behold,
it was deserted and desolate,
and at the heavens
and they had no light.
24 I looked at the mountains—
behold, they were shaking
and all the hills swaying to and fro.
25 I looked and behold, no people!
All the birds of the sky had fled.
26 I looked and behold, the fruitful field was a wilderness
and all of its cities were in ruins
before Adonai, before His fierce anger.
27 For thus says Adonai,
“The whole land will be wasteland,
yet I will not totally destroy it.
28 Therefore, the earth will mourn
and the heavens above grow black.
For I have spoken, I have purposed,
nor will I relent, nor turn from it.
29 At the sound of horsemen and archers
the whole city flees.
They go into the thickets
and climb up on the rocks.
The whole city is deserted—
no one dwells in it.
30 And you, O desolate one, what will you do?
Though you dress in scarlet,
though you adorn yourself with gold ornaments
though you enlarge your eyes with paint—
in vain
you make yourself beautiful—
your lovers despise you,
they seek your life.
31 For I heard a cry like one in labor,
the anguish of one giving birth to her first child—
the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands saying,
“Oy, now to me!
For my soul faints
before murderers.”
God’s Just Judgment
5 Roam the streets of Jerusalem,
look around and consider,
search through her squares!
If you can find a person,
if there is one who does justice,
who seeks truth,
then I will pardon the city.
2 Though they say, “As Adonai lives!”
surely they swear falsely.
3 Adonai, do Your eyes not look for faithfulness?
You struck them, but they did not grieve.
You disciplined them, but they refused correction.
They made their faces harder than stone.
They refused to return.
4 Then I said:
These are only the poor.
They are foolish.
For they do not know the way of Adonai,
the ordinance of their God.
5 I will go to the distinguished
and speak to them.
Surely they know the way of Adonai,
the ordinance of their God.
But they too had broken the yoke
and torn off the bonds.
6 Therefore a lion from the forest will kill them.
A desert wolf will ravage them.
A leopard watches over their cities.
Everyone who ventures out will be torn to pieces,
For their rebellion is great,
their backslidings frequent.
7 “Why therefore should I forgive you?
Your children have forsaken Me
and sworn by those who are not gods.
Even though I fed them well,
they committed adultery
and thronged to the prostitute houses.
8 They are well-fed, lustful stallions,
each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.
9 For such, should I not punish them?”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
“On such a nation as this
should I not avenge Myself?
10 Go up into her vines and ravage them,
but do not completely destroy them.
Strip away her branches
for they are not Adonai’s.
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have been utterly unfaithful to Me.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
12 They have lied about Adonai saying:
“Not He! No harm will come to us.
Nor will we see sword or famine.
13 The prophets are but wind
and the word is not in them.
Let what they say be done to them!”
14 Therefore thus says Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot:
“Because you speak this word, behold,
I will make My words in your mouth fire
and this people wood—
and it will devour them.
15 See, I am bringing a nation against you
from afar, O house of Israel.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
“It is an enduring nation,
an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you neither know
nor understand what they say.
16 Their quiver is an open grave.
They are all mighty warriors.
17 They will devour your harvest and your food.
They will devour your sons and your daughters.
They will devour your flocks and your herds.
They will devour your vines and your fig trees.
They will demolish your fortified cities
—the ones in which you trust—
with the sword.
18 “Yet even in those days,” declares Adonai, “I will not completely destroy you. 19 So it will come to pass that when you ask, ‘Why has Adonai Eloheinu done all these things to us?’ you will tell them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’
20 “Declare this in the house of Jacob
and proclaim it in Judah, saying:
21 ‘Hear this you foolish people
who have no understanding,
who have eyes but do not see,
who have ears but do not hear.
22 Do you not fear Me?’ says Adonai.
‘Do you not tremble in My presence?’
For I made the sand a boundary of the sea,
an everlasting decree that cannot be broken.
Though the waves roll, they cannot prevail.
Though they roar, they cannot cross it.
23 But this people have a stubborn and rebellious heart.
They have turned aside and gone away.
24 They do not say in their heart,
‘Let us now fear Adonai Eloheinu,
who gives rain in its season
—fall rain and spring rain—
who reserves for us the appointed weeks of harvest.’
25 Your iniquities have turned these away,
your sins have deprived you of bounty.
26 For among My people are wicked men,
watching like bait-layers lying in wait.
They set a trap—they catch men.
27 As a cage is full of birds,
so are their houses full of deceit.
That is why they grew great and rich.
28 They grew fat and sleek.
They also overlooked evil deeds.
They do not uphold a cause
—the cause of an orphan to prosper—
nor do they defend the right of the poor.
29 Should I not punish them?” says Adonai.
“On such a nation
should I not avenge Myself?
30 An appalling and horrible thing
has happened in the land.
31 The prophets prophesy falsely,
the kohanim rule by their own authority,
and My people love it this way!
But what will you do in the end?”
Jerusalem Under Siege
6 Flee for refuge, children of Benjamin,
from the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow the shofar in Tekoa
and raise a signal in Beth-cherem!
For disaster looms from the north,
even terrible destruction.
2 “The lovely, delicate Daughter of Zion
I will cut off.”
3 Shepherds with their flocks are coming against her.
All around her they pitch their tents,
each pasturing in his own place.
4 “Prepare for war against her.
Rise up! Let’s attack at noon.”
“Oy for us! For day is fading—
evening shadows are lengthening.”
5 “Rise up! Let’s attack at night
and destroy her palaces.”
6 For thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot:
“Chop down her trees!
Raise a siege ramp at Jerusalem.
This city must be punished—
in her midst is only oppression.
7 As a well gushes out its waters,
so she pours out her wickedness.
Violence and havoc are heard in her,
sickness and wounds ever before Me.
8 Be warned, O Jerusalem,
lest I abandon you,
lest I make you desolate—
an uninhabited land.”
9 Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot:
“Glean the remnant of Israel
thoroughly as a vine.
Pass your hand over the branches once more,
like a grape-gatherer.”
10 “To whom can I speak and warn
so they would hear?
See, their ears are uncircumcised,
unable to hear!
The word of Adonai has become scorn to them.
They have no delight in it.
11 So I am full of the wrath of Adonai.
I am weary of holding it in!
Pour it out on a child in the street,
on young men gathered together.
For husband will be taken with wife,
the aged with the very old.
12 Their homes will be turned over to others
—together with their fields and their wives.
For I will stretch out My hand
on the inhabitants of the land.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
13 “For from the least to the greatest,
all of them are greedy for gain,
and from prophet even to kohen,
everyone practices deceit.
14 They healed the wound of My people superficially,
saying ‘Shalom, shalom!’
when there is no shalom.”
15 “Were they ashamed when they
committed abomination? No, they were
not at all ashamed; they did not know
how to blush. Therefore they shall fall
among those who fall; at the time that
I punish them, they shall be
overthrown,” says Adonai.
16 Thus says Adonai:
“Stand in the roads and look.
Ask for the ancient paths—
where the good way is—and walk in it.
Then you will find rest for your souls.[j]
But they said, ‘We won’t walk in it.’
17 So I set watchmen over you, saying
‘Listen to the sound of the shofar!’
But they said, ‘We won’t listen.’
18 Therefore hear, O nations
and observe, O congregation,
what is against them.
19 Hear, O earth!
See, I will bring disaster on this people
—fruit of their schemes—
for they did not listen to My words
and rejected My Torah.
20 Of what use to Me is frankincense coming from Sheba
or sweet cane from a distant country?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
nor are your sacrifices pleasing to Me.”
21 Therefore thus says Adonai:
“Look, I am laying before this people stumbling blocks—
and against them they will stumble—
fathers and the sons together,
a neighbor and his friend,
and they will perish.”
Destruction from the North
22 Thus says Adonai:
“Look, a people coming from a northern land,
a great nation roused from the ends of the earth!
23 They are armed with bow and spear,
cruel and with no compassion.
They sound like the roaring sea—
as they ride on horses
as men in battle formation,
against you, Daughter of Zion!”
24 “We have heard of their fame.
Our hands hang limp;
anguish has gripped us,
pain like a woman in labor.
25 Don’t go out into the field
or walk on the road.
Since the enemy has a sword,
there’s terror on every side!”
26 “Daughter of My people,
put on sackcloth and roll in ashes.
Mourn as for an only son
with bitter lamentation.”
“For suddenly the destroyer
will come on us!”
27 “I have made you a metal-tester among My people—
so you may observe and test their way.
28 They are all stubborn rebels
spreading slander.
They are bronze and iron,
all of them are corrupt.
29 The bellows blow fiercely,
blasting away the lead with fire.
The refining is completely in vain,
for the wicked are not drawn off.
30 They are called ‘cast off silver’—
for Adonai has cast them off.”
Mend Your Ways!
7 The word that came to Jeremiah from Adonai, saying: 2 Stand in the gate of Adonai’s house and proclaim there this word and say: “Hear the word of Adonai, all you of Judah that come through these gates to worship Adonai. 3 Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel; mend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you live in this place. 4 Do not trust in deceptive words and say ‘The Temple of Adonai, the Temple of Adonai, the Temple of Adonai!’
5 “No, if you truly mend your ways and your deeds—if you are doing justice between a man and his neighbor, 6 not oppressing the sojourner, orphan and widow nor shedding innocent blood in this place, nor going after other gods to your own ruin— 7 then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. 8 Look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are empty. 9 Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and perjury, and offer incense to Baal and walk after other gods whom you have not known— 10 and then come and stand before Me in this house that bears My Name, saying, ‘We are saved!’—so that you may keep doing all these abominations? 11 Has this House, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?[k] Look, even I have seen it!” It is a declaration of Adonai.
12 “Indeed, go now to My place that was in Shiloh, where I first made My Name dwell. Now see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. 13 While you were doing all these things,” declares Adonai, “I spoke to you early and often, but you did not listen, and I called you but you did not answer. 14 Therefore I will do to the House that bears My Name—the one in which you trust, the one that I gave to you and to your fathers—as I have done to Shiloh. 15 And I will cast you out of My sight, just as I cast out all your brothers, all the offspring of Ephraim.
16 “As for you, do not pray for this people. Do not offer any supplication or petition for them, nor entreat Me, because I will not hear you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire and the women knead the dough to make sacrificial cakes to the queen of heaven. Moreover, they pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to provoke Me to anger. 19 But am I the One they are provoking?” declares Adonai. “Are they not vexing themselves to their own shame?”
20 Therefore thus says Adonai Elohim: “My anger and My wrath is about to be poured out on this place—on man and beast, and on the trees of the field and the fruit of the land—and it will burn and not be quenched.”
21 Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the meat! 22 For on the day that I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt I did not speak to them nor did I command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices, 23 but I explicitly commanded them: ‘Obey My voice and I will be your God to you and you will be My people. Walk in all the ways that I command you that it may go well with you.’ 24 But they did not listen or pay attention. Instead they followed their own counsel, in the stubbornness of their evil heart. They have gone backward and not forward, 25 from the day your fathers left the land of Egypt until today. Although I sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily and persistently, 26 they did not listen to Me or pay attention. Rather, they stiffened their neck, doing more evil than their fathers.
27 “When you tell them all these things, they will not listen to you. When you call to them, they will not answer you. 28 So you will say to them, ‘This nation has not obeyed the voice of Adonai their God or received correction. Truth has perished and is cut off from their mouth. 29 Cut off your hair and throw it away and take up a lamentation on the barren hills. For Adonai has spurned and cast off the generation of His wrath.”
Valley of Slaughter
30 “The children of Judah have done what is evil in My sight”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“They have set their detestable things in the House that bears My Name to defile it. 31 They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire—which I did not command, nor did it even enter My mind. 32 Therefore, the days are soon coming,” declares Adonai, “when it will no longer be called Topheth, nor the Valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. For they will bury in Topheth until there is no room. 33 The carcasses of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth, and no one will frighten them away. 34 Then I will bring an end, from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem, to the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. For the land will be desolate.”
8 “At that time”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of his princes, the bones of the kohanim and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will be brought out of their graves. 2 They will spread them out to the sun, the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, and after which they have walked and sought, and which they have worshipped. They will not be gathered or buried, but will be like dung on the face of the ground. 3 So death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family that remains in all the places to which I have driven them.” It is a declaration of Adonai-Tzva’ot.
Each Turns His Own Way
4 Moreover you will say to them, thus says Adonai:
“Do men fall and not get up again?
Does one turn away and not return?
5 Why then has this people—Jerusalem—
turned away in perpetual backsliding?
They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.
6 I listened attentively,
but they have not spoken what is right.
No one repents of his wickedness,
saying, ‘What have I done?’
Each one turns in his own direction,
like a horse charging into battle.
7 Even the stork in the sky
knows her appointed times,
and the turtledove, swallow and crane
observe the time of their migration,
but My people do not know
the judgments of Adonai.
8 How can you say, ‘We are wise!
The Torah of Adonai is with us’?
In fact, it is the lying pen of the scribes
that have made it a lie.
9 The wise men will be put to shame—
shattered, trapped.
Look! They have rejected Adonai’s word,
so what wisdom do they have?
10 Therefore I will give their wives to others
and their fields to new owners.
For from the least to the greatest
everyone is greedy for gain.
From the prophet even to the kohen
everyone practices deceit.
11 They heal the fracture of the daughter of My people
by treating it superficially—
saying, ‘Shalom, shalom,’
when there is no shalom.
12 Were they ashamed of the abomination they committed?
No, not ashamed, not at all—
they do not know how to blush!
So they will fall among the fallen.
At the time of their punishment
they will be brought down.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
13 “I will utterly consume them,” says Adonai.
“There will be no grapes on the vine,
and no figs on the fig tree,
and even the leaf will wither,
and what I gave them will pass away.”
14 “Why are we sitting here?
Assemble!
Let us flee to the fortified cities
and perish there!
For Adonai Eloheinu has silenced us
and given us poisoned water to drink.
For we have sinned against Adonai.
15 We hoped for shalom,
but it is no good,
for a time of healing
—and suddenly, terror!”
16 From Dan is heard
the snorting of his horses.
At the sound of his stallions neighing,
the whole land quakes.
For they come and devour
the land and everything in it—
the city and all who live there.
17 “For I am about to send serpents on you,
vipers for which there is no charm,
and they will bite you.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
Weeping for Jerusalem
18 My joy is overcome by grief,
my heart is faint within me.
19 Listen, the sound of the cry of the daughter of my people
—a voice from a distant land—
“Is Adonai no longer in Zion?
Is her King no longer in her?”
“Why have they provoked Me with their graven images,
with foreign idols?”
20 “Harvest is past,
summer is over,
yet we are not saved.”
21 “Because of the brokenness of the daughter of my people,
I am brokenhearted.
I mourn—desolation grips me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Then why has no healing gone up
for the daughter of my people?
23 If only my head were water
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
then I would weep day and night
for the slain of the daughter of my people!
Footnotes
- Isaiah 65:1 cf. Rom. 10:20.
- Isaiah 65:2 cf. Rom. 10:21.
- Isaiah 65:17 cf. 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1.
- Isaiah 66:1 cf. Matt. 5:34-35; Acts 7:49-50.
- Jeremiah 1:12 The Heb. words for almond and watching over are similar.
- Jeremiah 2:3 cf. Jacob 1:18.
- Jeremiah 2:5 cf. Rom. 1:21.
- Jeremiah 2:10 Cyprus and nearby coasts.
- Jeremiah 2:23 Plural for Baal; gods.
- Jeremiah 6:16 cf. Matt. 11:29.
- Jeremiah 7:11 cf. Matt. 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.