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Jeremiah 18-22
English Standard Version
Jeremiah 18-22
English Standard Version
The Potter and the Clay
18 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Arise, and go down to (A)the potter's house, and there I will let you hear[a] my words.” 3 So I went down to (B)the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 And the vessel he was making of clay was (C)spoiled in the potter's hand, and (D)he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, (E)can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. (F)Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will (G)pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, (H)turns from its evil, (I)I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will (J)build and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 11 Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. (K)Return, every one from his evil way, and (L)amend your ways and your deeds.’
12 “But they say, (M)‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to (N)the stubbornness of his evil heart.’
13 “Therefore thus says the Lord:
(O)Ask among the nations,
Who has heard the like of this?
The virgin Israel
has done (P)a very horrible thing.
14 Does the snow of Lebanon leave
the crags of Sirion?[b]
Do the mountain waters run dry,[c]
the cold flowing streams?
15 (Q)But my people have forgotten me;
they make offerings to (R)false gods;
they made them stumble in their ways,
(S)in the ancient roads,
and to walk into side roads,
(T)not the highway,
16 making their land (U)a horror,
a thing (V)to be hissed at forever.
(W)Everyone who passes by it is horrified
(X)and shakes his head.
17 (Y)Like the east wind (Z)I will scatter them
before the enemy.
(AA)I will show them my back, not my face,
in the day of their calamity.”
18 Then they said, (AB)“Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, (AC)for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. (AD)Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.”
19 Hear me, O Lord,
and (AE)listen to the voice of my adversaries.
20 (AF)Should good be repaid with evil?
Yet (AG)they have dug a pit for my life.
(AH)Remember how I stood before you
to speak good for them,
to turn away your wrath from them.
21 Therefore (AI)deliver up their children to famine;
give them over to the power of the sword;
let their wives become childless (AJ)and widowed.
May their men meet death by pestilence,
their youths be struck down by the sword in battle.
22 (AK)May a cry be heard from their houses,
when you bring the plunderer suddenly upon them!
For (AL)they have dug a pit to take me
(AM)and laid snares for my feet.
23 Yet (AN)you, O Lord, know
all their plotting to kill me.
(AO)Forgive not their iniquity,
nor blot out their sin from your sight.
Let them be overthrown before you;
deal with them in the time of your anger.
The Broken Flask
19 Thus says the Lord, “Go, buy (AP)a potter's earthenware (AQ)flask, and take some of (AR)the elders of the people and some of (AS)the elders of the priests, 2 and go out (AT)to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you. 3 You shall say, (AU)‘Hear the word of the Lord, (AV)O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing such disaster upon this place that (AW)the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 4 (AX)Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; (AY)and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, 5 (AZ)and have built the high places of Baal (BA)to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, (BB)which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind— 6 therefore, (BC)behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or (BD)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7 And in this place (BE)I will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, (BF)and will cause their people to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. (BG)I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth. 8 And I will make this city (BH)a horror, (BI)a thing to be hissed at. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its wounds. 9 (BJ)And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his neighbor (BK)in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.’
10 “Then (BL)you shall break (BM)the flask in the sight of the men who go with you, 11 and shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, (BN)as one breaks a potter's vessel, (BO)so that it can never be mended. (BP)Men shall bury in Topheth because there will be no place else to bury. 12 Thus will I do to this place, declares the Lord, and to its inhabitants, making this city (BQ)like Topheth. 13 The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah—(BR)all the houses on whose (BS)roofs offerings have been offered (BT)to all the host of heaven, and (BU)drink offerings have been poured out to other gods—shall be defiled (BV)like the place of Topheth.’”
14 Then Jeremiah came from (BW)Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, (BX)and he stood in the court of the Lord's house and said to all the people: 15 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I am bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, (BY)because they have stiffened their neck, (BZ)refusing to hear my words.”
Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur
20 Now (CA)Pashhur the priest, the son of (CB)Immer, who was (CC)chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2 Then (CD)Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him (CE)in the stocks that were in the upper (CF)Benjamin Gate of the house of the Lord. 3 The next day, when (CG)Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call your name (CH)Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. 4 For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will make you (CI)a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. 5 Moreover, (CJ)I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its (CK)prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. 6 And you, (CL)Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, (CM)to whom you have prophesied falsely.”
7 O Lord, (CN)you have deceived me,
and I was deceived;
(CO)you are stronger than I,
and you have prevailed.
(CP)I have become a laughingstock all the day;
everyone mocks me.
8 For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I shout, (CQ)“Violence and destruction!”
For (CR)the word of the Lord has become for me
(CS)a reproach and (CT)derision all day long.
9 If I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,”
(CU)there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and (CV)I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
10 (CW)For I hear many whispering.
(CX)Terror is on every side!
“Denounce him! (CY)Let us denounce him!”
say all my (CZ)close friends,
(DA)watching for (DB)my fall.
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
then (DC)we can overcome him
and take our revenge on him.”
11 But (DD)the Lord is with me as a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble;
(DE)they will not overcome me.
(DF)They will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
Their (DG)eternal dishonor
will never be forgotten.
12 O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous,
(DH)who sees the heart and the mind,[d]
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause.
13 (DI)Sing to the Lord;
praise the Lord!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hand of evildoers.
14 (DJ)Cursed be the day
on which I was born!
The day when my mother bore me,
let it not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father,
“A son is born to you,”
(DK)making him very glad.
16 Let that man be like (DL)the cities
that the Lord overthrew without pity;
(DM)let him hear a cry in the morning
and an alarm at noon,
17 (DN)because he did not kill me in the womb;
so my mother would have been my grave,
and her womb forever great.
18 (DO)Why did I come out from the womb
(DP)to see toil and sorrow,
and spend my days in shame?
Jerusalem Will Fall to Nebuchadnezzar
21 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him (DQ)Pashhur the son of Malchiah and (DR)Zephaniah the priest, the son of (DS)Maaseiah, saying, 2 (DT)“Inquire of the Lord for us, (DU)for Nebuchadnezzar[e] king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to (DV)all his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”
3 Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: (DW)Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. (DX)And I will bring them together into the midst of this city. 5 I myself will fight against you (DY)with outstretched hand and strong arm, (DZ)in anger and in fury and in great wrath. 6 And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. 7 Afterward, declares the Lord, (EA)I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. (EB)He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’
8 “And to this people you shall say: (EC)‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, (ED)I set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 He who stays in this city shall die (EE)by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and (EF)surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live (EG)and shall have his life as a prize of war. 10 For (EH)I have set my face against this city for harm and (EI)not for good, declares the Lord: (EJ)it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’
Message to the House of David
11 “And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, 12 O house of David! Thus says the Lord:
(EK)“‘Execute justice (EL)in the morning,
and deliver from the hand of the oppressor
him who has been robbed,
(EM)lest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
because of your evil deeds.’”
13 (EN)“Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,
O rock of the plain,
declares the Lord;
you who say, (EO)‘Who shall come down against us,
or who shall enter our habitations?’
14 (EP)I will punish you according to (EQ)the fruit of your deeds,
declares the Lord;
(ER)I will kindle a fire in her forest,
(ES)and it shall devour all that is around her.”
22 Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, 2 and say, (ET)‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. 3 Thus says the Lord: (EU)Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And (EV)do no wrong or violence (EW)to the resident alien, (EX)the fatherless, and the widow, nor (EY)shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you will indeed obey this word, (EZ)then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. 5 But if you will not obey these words, I (FA)swear by myself, declares the Lord, that (FB)this house shall become a desolation. 6 For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:
“‘You are like Gilead to me,
like the summit of (FC)Lebanon,
yet surely I will make you a desert,
(FD)an uninhabited city.[f]
7 (FE)I will prepare destroyers against you,
each with his weapons,
(FF)and they shall cut down your choicest cedars
and cast them into the fire.
8 “‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, (FG)“Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?” 9 (FH)And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”’”
10 (FI)Weep not for him who is dead,
nor grieve for him,
(FJ)but weep bitterly for him who goes away,
for he shall return no more
to see his native land.
Message to the Sons of Josiah
11 For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and (FK)who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, 12 but (FL)in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.”
13 (FM)“Woe to him who builds his house by (FN)unrighteousness,
and his upper rooms by injustice,
(FO)who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
and does not give him his wages,
14 who says, ‘I will build myself a great house
with spacious upper rooms,’
who cuts out windows for it,
paneling it with cedar
and (FP)painting it with vermilion.
15 Do you think you are a king
because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
and (FQ)do justice and righteousness?
(FR)Then it was well with him.
16 (FS)He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
(FT)then it was well.
Is not this (FU)to know me?
declares the Lord.
17 But you have eyes and heart
only for your dishonest gain,
(FV)for shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence.”
18 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
(FW)“They shall not lament for him, saying,
(FX)‘Ah, my brother!’ or ‘Ah, sister!’
They shall not lament for him, saying,
(FY)‘Ah, lord!’ or ‘Ah, his majesty!’
19 With the burial of a donkey (FZ)he shall be buried,
dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”
20 “Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,
and lift up your voice in Bashan;
cry out from (GA)Abarim,
for all (GB)your lovers are destroyed.
21 I spoke to you in your prosperity,
but you said, ‘I will not listen.’
(GC)This has been your way from (GD)your youth,
that you have not obeyed my voice.
22 (GE)The wind shall shepherd all your shepherds,
and (GF)your lovers shall go into captivity;
(GG)then you will be ashamed and confounded
because of all your evil.
23 O inhabitant of (GH)Lebanon,
nested among the cedars,
how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you,
(GI)pain as of a woman in labor!”
24 (GJ)“As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were (GK)the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25 and (GL)give you (GM)into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 (GN)I will hurl you and (GO)the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. 27 But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.”
28 Is this man (GP)Coniah a despised, broken pot,
a (GQ)vessel no one cares for?
Why are he and his children hurled and cast
into a (GR)land that they do not know?
29 (GS)O land, land, land,
hear the word of the Lord!
30 Thus says the Lord:
“Write this man down as (GT)childless,
a man who shall not succeed in his days,
(GU)for none of his offspring shall succeed
(GV)in sitting on the throne of David
and ruling again in Judah.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 18:2 Or will cause you to hear
- Jeremiah 18:14 Hebrew of the field
- Jeremiah 18:14 Hebrew Are foreign waters plucked up
- Jeremiah 20:12 Hebrew kidneys
- Jeremiah 21:2 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, an alternate spelling of Nebuchadnezzar (king of Babylon) occurring frequently from Jeremiah 21–52; this latter spelling is used throughout Jeremiah for consistency
- Jeremiah 22:6 Hebrew cities
Jeremiah 18-22
New International Version
Jeremiah 18-22
New International Version
At the Potter’s House
18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay(A) in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand,(B) Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted,(C) torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent(D) and not inflict on it the disaster(E) I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built(F) up and planted, 10 and if it does evil(G) in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider(H) the good I had intended to do for it.(I)
11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster(J) for you and devising a plan(K) against you. So turn(L) from your evil ways,(M) each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’(N) 12 But they will reply, ‘It’s no use.(O) We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.(P)’”
13 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“Inquire among the nations:
Who has ever heard anything like this?(Q)
A most horrible(R) thing has been done
by Virgin(S) Israel.
14 Does the snow of Lebanon
ever vanish from its rocky slopes?
Do its cool waters from distant sources
ever stop flowing?[a]
15 Yet my people have forgotten(T) me;
they burn incense(U) to worthless idols,(V)
which made them stumble(W) in their ways,
in the ancient paths.(X)
They made them walk in byways,
on roads not built up.(Y)
16 Their land will be an object of horror(Z)
and of lasting scorn;(AA)
all who pass by will be appalled(AB)
and will shake their heads.(AC)
17 Like a wind(AD) from the east,
I will scatter them before their enemies;
I will show them my back and not my face(AE)
in the day of their disaster.”
18 They said, “Come, let’s make plans(AF) against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest(AG) will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise,(AH) nor the word from the prophets.(AI) So come, let’s attack him with our tongues(AJ) and pay no attention to anything he says.”
19 Listen to me, Lord;
hear what my accusers(AK) are saying!
20 Should good be repaid with evil?(AL)
Yet they have dug a pit(AM) for me.
Remember that I stood(AN) before you
and spoke in their behalf(AO)
to turn your wrath away from them.
21 So give their children over to famine;(AP)
hand them over to the power of the sword.(AQ)
Let their wives be made childless and widows;(AR)
let their men be put to death,
their young men(AS) slain by the sword in battle.
22 Let a cry(AT) be heard from their houses
when you suddenly bring invaders against them,
for they have dug a pit(AU) to capture me
and have hidden snares(AV) for my feet.
23 But you, Lord, know
all their plots to kill(AW) me.
Do not forgive(AX) their crimes
or blot out their sins from your sight.
Let them be overthrown before you;
deal with them in the time of your anger.(AY)
19 This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter.(AZ) Take along some of the elders(BA) of the people and of the priests 2 and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom,(BB) near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. There proclaim the words I tell you, 3 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings(BC) of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster(BD) on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle.(BE) 4 For they have forsaken(BF) me and made this a place of foreign gods(BG); they have burned incense(BH) in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.(BI) 5 They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children(BJ) in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind.(BK) 6 So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call this place Topheth(BL) or the Valley of Ben Hinnom,(BM) but the Valley of Slaughter.(BN)
7 “‘In this place I will ruin[b] the plans(BO) of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies,(BP) at the hands of those who want to kill them, and I will give their carcasses(BQ) as food(BR) to the birds and the wild animals. 8 I will devastate this city and make it an object of horror and scorn;(BS) all who pass by will be appalled(BT) and will scoff because of all its wounds.(BU) 9 I will make them eat(BV) the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh because their enemies(BW) will press the siege so hard against them to destroy them.’
10 “Then break the jar(BX) while those who go with you are watching, 11 and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I will smash(BY) this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury(BZ) the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. 12 This is what I will do to this place and to those who live here, declares the Lord. I will make this city like Topheth. 13 The houses(CA) in Jerusalem and those of the kings of Judah will be defiled(CB) like this place, Topheth—all the houses where they burned incense on the roofs(CC) to all the starry hosts(CD) and poured out drink offerings(CE) to other gods.’”
14 Jeremiah then returned from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and stood in the court(CF) of the Lord’s temple and said to all the people, 15 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on this city and all the villages around it every disaster(CG) I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked(CH) and would not listen(CI) to my words.’”
Jeremiah and Pashhur
20 When the priest Pashhur son of Immer,(CJ) the official(CK) in charge of the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, 2 he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten(CL) and put in the stocks(CM) at the Upper Gate of Benjamin(CN) at the Lord’s temple. 3 The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord’s name(CO) for you is not Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side.(CP) 4 For this is what the Lord says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyes(CQ) you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will give(CR) all Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon, who will carry(CS) them away to Babylon or put them to the sword. 5 I will deliver all the wealth(CT) of this city into the hands of their enemies—all its products, all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. They will take it away(CU) as plunder and carry it off to Babylon. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into exile to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied(CV) lies.’”
Jeremiah’s Complaint
7 You deceived[c](CW) me, Lord, and I was deceived[d];
you overpowered(CX) me and prevailed.
I am ridiculed(CY) all day long;
everyone mocks(CZ) me.
8 Whenever I speak, I cry out
proclaiming violence and destruction.(DA)
So the word of the Lord has brought me
insult and reproach(DB) all day long.
9 But if I say, “I will not mention his word
or speak anymore in his name,”(DC)
his word is in my heart like a fire,(DD)
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;(DE)
indeed, I cannot.
10 I hear many whispering,
“Terror(DF) on every side!
Denounce(DG) him! Let’s denounce him!”
All my friends(DH)
are waiting for me to slip,(DI) saying,
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
then we will prevail(DJ) over him
and take our revenge(DK) on him.”
11 But the Lord(DL) is with me like a mighty warrior;
so my persecutors(DM) will stumble and not prevail.(DN)
They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced;(DO)
their dishonor will never be forgotten.
12 Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous
and probe the heart and mind,(DP)
let me see your vengeance(DQ) on them,
for to you I have committed(DR) my cause.
13 Sing(DS) to the Lord!
Give praise to the Lord!
He rescues(DT) the life of the needy
from the hands of the wicked.(DU)
14 Cursed be the day I was born!(DV)
May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought my father the news,
who made him very glad, saying,
“A child is born to you—a son!”
16 May that man be like the towns(DW)
the Lord overthrew without pity.
May he hear wailing(DX) in the morning,
a battle cry at noon.
17 For he did not kill me in the womb,(DY)
with my mother as my grave,
her womb enlarged forever.
18 Why did I ever come out of the womb(DZ)
to see trouble(EA) and sorrow
and to end my days in shame?(EB)
God Rejects Zedekiah’s Request
21 The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah(EC) sent to him Pashhur(ED) son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah(EE) son of Maaseiah. They said: 2 “Inquire(EF) now of the Lord for us because Nebuchadnezzar[e](EG) king of Babylon(EH) is attacking us. Perhaps the Lord will perform wonders(EI) for us as in times past so that he will withdraw from us.”
3 But Jeremiah answered them, “Tell Zedekiah, 4 ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am about to turn(EJ) against you the weapons of war that are in your hands, which you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Babylonians[f] who are outside the wall besieging(EK) you. And I will gather them inside this city. 5 I myself will fight(EL) against you with an outstretched hand(EM) and a mighty arm(EN) in furious anger and in great wrath. 6 I will strike(EO) down those who live in this city—both man and beast—and they will die of a terrible plague.(EP) 7 After that, declares the Lord, I will give Zedekiah(EQ) king of Judah, his officials and the people in this city who survive the plague,(ER) sword and famine, into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon(ES) and to their enemies(ET) who want to kill them.(EU) He will put them to the sword;(EV) he will show them no mercy or pity or compassion.’(EW)
8 “Furthermore, tell the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: See, I am setting before you the way of life(EX) and the way of death. 9 Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague.(EY) But whoever goes out and surrenders(EZ) to the Babylonians who are besieging you will live; they will escape with their lives.(FA) 10 I have determined to do this city harm(FB) and not good, declares the Lord. It will be given into the hands(FC) of the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.’(FD)
11 “Moreover, say to the royal house(FE) of Judah, ‘Hear the word of the Lord. 12 This is what the Lord says to you, house of David:
“‘Administer justice(FF) every morning;
rescue from the hand of the oppressor(FG)
the one who has been robbed,
or my wrath will break out and burn like fire(FH)
because of the evil(FI) you have done—
burn with no one to quench(FJ) it.
13 I am against(FK) you, Jerusalem,
you who live above this valley(FL)
on the rocky plateau, declares the Lord—
you who say, “Who can come against us?
Who can enter our refuge?”(FM)
14 I will punish you as your deeds(FN) deserve,
declares the Lord.
I will kindle a fire(FO) in your forests(FP)
that will consume everything around you.’”
Judgment Against Wicked Kings
22 This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king(FQ) of Judah and proclaim this message there: 2 ‘Hear(FR) the word of the Lord to you, king of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne(FS)—you, your officials and your people who come through these gates.(FT) 3 This is what the Lord says: Do what is just(FU) and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor(FV) the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow,(FW) and do not shed innocent blood(FX) in this place. 4 For if you are careful to carry out these commands, then kings(FY) who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people. 5 But if you do not obey(FZ) these commands, declares the Lord, I swear(GA) by myself that this palace will become a ruin.’”
6 For this is what the Lord says about the palace of the king of Judah:
“Though you are like Gilead(GB) to me,
like the summit of Lebanon,(GC)
I will surely make you like a wasteland,(GD)
like towns not inhabited.
7 I will send destroyers(GE) against you,
each man with his weapons,
and they will cut(GF) up your fine cedar beams
and throw them into the fire.(GG)
8 “People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?’(GH) 9 And the answer will be: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and have worshiped and served other gods.(GI)’”
10 Do not weep for the dead(GJ) king or mourn(GK) his loss;
rather, weep bitterly for him who is exiled,
because he will never return(GL)
nor see his native land again.
11 For this is what the Lord says about Shallum[g](GM) son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah but has gone from this place: “He will never return. 12 He will die(GN) in the place where they have led him captive; he will not see this land again.”
13 “Woe(GO) to him who builds(GP) his palace by unrighteousness,
his upper rooms by injustice,
making his own people work for nothing,
not paying(GQ) them for their labor.
14 He says, ‘I will build myself a great palace(GR)
with spacious upper rooms.’
So he makes large windows in it,
panels it with cedar(GS)
and decorates it in red.(GT)
15 “Does it make you a king
to have more and more cedar?
Did not your father have food and drink?
He did what was right and just,(GU)
so all went well(GV) with him.
16 He defended the cause of the poor and needy,(GW)
and so all went well.
Is that not what it means to know(GX) me?”
declares the Lord.
17 “But your eyes and your heart
are set only on dishonest gain,(GY)
on shedding innocent blood(GZ)
and on oppression and extortion.”(HA)
18 Therefore this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:
“They will not mourn(HB) for him:
‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’
They will not mourn for him:
‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’
19 He will have the burial(HC) of a donkey—
dragged away and thrown(HD)
outside the gates of Jerusalem.”
20 “Go up to Lebanon and cry out,(HE)
let your voice be heard in Bashan,(HF)
cry out from Abarim,(HG)
for all your allies(HH) are crushed.
21 I warned you when you felt secure,(HI)
but you said, ‘I will not listen!’
This has been your way from your youth;(HJ)
you have not obeyed(HK) me.
22 The wind(HL) will drive all your shepherds(HM) away,
and your allies(HN) will go into exile.
Then you will be ashamed and disgraced(HO)
because of all your wickedness.
23 You who live in ‘Lebanon,[h](HP)’
who are nestled in cedar buildings,
how you will groan when pangs come upon you,
pain(HQ) like that of a woman in labor!
24 “As surely as I live,” declares the Lord, “even if you, Jehoiachin[i](HR) son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring(HS) on my right hand, I would still pull you off. 25 I will deliver(HT) you into the hands of those who want to kill you, those you fear—Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Babylonians.[j] 26 I will hurl(HU) you and the mother(HV) who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. 27 You will never come back to the land you long to return(HW) to.”
28 Is this man Jehoiachin(HX) a despised, broken pot,(HY)
an object no one wants?
Why will he and his children be hurled(HZ) out,
cast into a land(IA) they do not know?
29 O land,(IB) land, land,
hear the word of the Lord!
30 This is what the Lord says:
“Record this man as if childless,(IC)
a man who will not prosper(ID) in his lifetime,
for none of his offspring(IE) will prosper,
none will sit on the throne(IF) of David
or rule anymore in Judah.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 18:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
- Jeremiah 19:7 The Hebrew for ruin sounds like the Hebrew for jar (see verses 1 and 10).
- Jeremiah 20:7 Or persuaded
- Jeremiah 20:7 Or persuaded
- Jeremiah 21:2 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, of which Nebuchadnezzar is a variant; here and often in Jeremiah and Ezekiel
- Jeremiah 21:4 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 9
- Jeremiah 22:11 Also called Jehoahaz
- Jeremiah 22:23 That is, the palace in Jerusalem (see 1 Kings 7:2)
- Jeremiah 22:24 Hebrew Koniah, a variant of Jehoiachin; also in verse 28
- Jeremiah 22:25 Or Chaldeans
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