Jeremiah’s Call and Commission

The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,

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.

Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.

The Almond Branch and Boiling Pot

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”

Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it.”

And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.”

Judah’s Apostasy

Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Hear the word of the Lord, house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.

You generation, look to the word of the Lord. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, Or a land of thick darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam; We will no longer come to You’?

Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord; ‘I will not look at you in anger. For I am gracious,’ declares the Lord; ‘I will not be angry forever.

The prophets are as wind, And the word is not in them. So it will be done to them!”

Judgment Proclaimed

Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of armies says: “Because you have spoken this word, Behold, I am making My words fire in your mouth, And this people wood, and it will consume them.

To whom shall I speak and give warning, That they may hear? Behold, their ears are closed And they cannot listen. Behold, the word of the Lord has become for them a rebuke; They take no delight in it.

Hear, earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people, The fruit of their plans, Because they have not listened to My words, And as for My Law, they have rejected it also.

Message at the Temple Gate

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

“Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah, who enter by these gates to worship the Lord!’”

Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’

“Behold, you are trusting in deceptive words to no avail.

“So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you; and you shall call to them, but they will not answer you.

The wise men are put to shame, They are dismayed and caught; Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord, So what kind of wisdom do they have?

Now hear the word of the Lord, you women, And let your ears receive the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters wailing, And have every woman teach her neighbor a song of mourning.

A Satire on Idolatry

Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, house of Israel.

The Broken Covenant

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;