Then I said, “Oh, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, Because I am a youth.”

The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ And those who handle the Law did not know Me; The rulers also revolted against Me, And the prophets prophesied by Baal And walked after things that were of no benefit.

Your own wickedness will correct you, And your apostasies will punish you; Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter For you to abandon the Lord your God, And the fear of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord God of armies.

“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baals’? Look at your way in the valley! Know what you have done! You are a swift young camel running about senselessly on her ways,

“Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you knowledge and understanding.

“For My people are foolish, They do not know Me; They are foolish children And have no understanding. They are skillful at doing evil, But they do not know how to do good.”

Then I said, “They are only the poor, They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the Lord Or the judgment of their God.

I will go to the great And speak to them, For they know the way of the Lord And the judgment of their God.” But together they too have broken the yoke And burst the restraints.

Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from far away, you house of Israel,” declares the Lord. “It is an enduring nation, It is an ancient nation, A nation whose language you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say.

Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done? They were not ashamed at all, Nor did they know even how to be ashamed. Therefore they will fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They will collapse,” says the Lord.

Therefore hear, you nations, And know, you congregation, what is among them.

“I have made you an assayer and an examiner among My people, So that you may know and put their way to the test.”

Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, offer sacrifices to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,

Even the stork in the sky Knows her seasons; And the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane Keep to the time of their migration; But My people do not know The judgment of the Lord.

Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done? They were not ashamed at all, And they did not know how to be ashamed; Therefore they will fall among those who fall; At the time of their punishment they will collapse,” Says the Lord.

“They bend their tongues like their bows; Lies and not truth prevail in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me,” declares the Lord.

Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the Lord.

I will also scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them until I have put an end to them.”

but let the one who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises mercy, justice, and righteousness on the earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

Every person is stupid, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, For his cast metal images are deceitful, And there is no breath in them.

I know, Lord, that a person’s way is not in himself, Nor is it in a person who walks to direct his steps.

Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know You, And on the families who do not call upon Your name; For they have devoured Jacob; They have devoured him and consumed him, And have laid waste his settlement.

Plots against Jeremiah

Moreover, the Lord made it known to me and I knew it; Then You showed me their deeds.

But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; And I did not know that they had devised plots against me, saying, “Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit, And let’s cut him off from the land of the living, So that his name will no longer be remembered.”

But You know me, Lord; You see me And examine my heart’s attitude toward You. Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter, And set them apart for a day of slaughter!