Beginning
The Lord and the Idols
10 Family of Israel, listen to the Lord! 2 This is what the Lord says:
“Don’t live like people from other nations.
Don’t be afraid of special signs in the sky.[a]
The other nations are afraid of what they see in the sky.
But you must not be afraid of them.
3 The customs of other people are worth nothing.
Their idols are nothing but wood from the forest.
Their idols are made by workers with their chisels.[b]
4 They make their idols beautiful with silver and gold.
They use hammers and nails to fasten their idols down
so that they will not fall over.
5 The idols of the other nations are like
a scarecrow in a cucumber field.
They cannot walk.
They cannot talk, and the people must carry them.
So don’t be afraid of their idols.
They cannot hurt you.
And they cannot help you either.”
6 Lord, there is no one like you.
You are great!
Your name is great and powerful!
7 Everyone should respect you, King of all the nations.
You deserve their respect.
There are many wise men among the nations,
but not one of them is as wise as you.
8 All the people of the other nations are stupid and foolish.
Their teachings come from worthless wooden statues.
9 They use silver from the city of Tarshish
and gold from the city of Uphaz and make their statues.
Carpenters and metalworkers make the idols.
They put blue and purple clothes on them.
“Wise men” make these “gods.”
10 But the Lord is the only true God.
He is the only God who is alive.
He is the King who rules forever.
The earth shakes when he is angry.
The people of the nations cannot stop his anger.
11 The Lord says, “Tell them this message:
‘These false gods did not make heaven and earth.
They will be destroyed and disappear from heaven and earth.’”[c]
12 God is the one who used his power and made the earth.
He used his wisdom and built the world.
With his understanding he stretched the sky over the earth.
13 God causes the loud thunder,
and he causes great floods of water to fall from the sky.
He makes clouds rise in the sky every place on earth.
He sends lightning with the rain.
He brings out the wind from his storehouses.
14 People are so stupid!
Metalworkers are fooled by the idols that they themselves made.
These statues are nothing but lies.
They are stupid.[d]
15 These idols are worth nothing.
They are something to make fun of.
In the time of judgment they will be destroyed.
16 But Jacob’s God[e] is not like the idols.
He made everything,
and Israel is the family that God chose to be his own people.
His name is Lord All-Powerful.
Destruction Is Coming
17 Get everything you own and prepare to leave.
People of Judah, you are trapped in the city,
and the enemy is all around it.
18 This is what the Lord says:
“This time, I will throw the people of Judah out of this country.
I will bring pain and trouble to them.
I will do this so that they will learn their lesson.”[f]
19 I am hurt badly.
I am injured and I cannot be healed.
But I told myself, “This is my sickness;
I must suffer through it.”
20 My tent is ruined.
All its ropes are broken.
My children left me.
They are gone.
No one is left to put up my tent.
No one is left to fix a shelter for me.
21 The shepherds are stupid.
They don’t try to find the Lord.
They are not wise,
so their flocks are scattered and lost.
22 Listen! A loud noise!
The noise is coming from the north.[g]
It will destroy the cities of Judah.
Judah will become an empty desert.
It will be a home for jackals.
23 Lord, I know that our lives do not belong to us.
We have no control over what happens.
24 So correct us, Lord!
But please be fair.
Don’t punish us in anger,
or you will destroy us!
25 If you are angry, then punish the other nations.
They don’t know or respect you.
They don’t worship you.
Those nations destroyed Jacob’s family.
They destroyed Israel completely.
They destroyed Israel’s homeland.
The Agreement Is Broken
11 This is the message from the Lord: 2 “Jeremiah, listen to the words of this agreement and tell them to the people living in Jerusalem and the rest of Judah. 3 Tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Bad things will happen to anyone who does not obey this agreement. 4 I am talking about the agreement I made with your ancestors when I brought them out of that furnace[h] called Egypt.’ At that time I told them, ‘Listen to me and obey all the commands I give you. Then you will be my people and I will be your God.’
5 “I did this to keep the promise that I had made to your ancestors. I promised to give them a very fertile land—a land flowing with milk and honey. And you are living in that country today.”
I answered, “Amen, Lord.”
6 The Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, tell this message in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the words of this agreement, and then obey these laws. 7 I gave a warning to your ancestors at the time I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I have warned them again and again to this day. I told them to obey me. 8 But your ancestors did not listen to me. They were stubborn and did what their own evil hearts wanted. The agreement says that bad things will happen to them if they don’t obey. So I made all the bad things happen to them. I commanded them to obey the agreement, but they did not.’”
9 The Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, I know that the people of Judah and the people living in Jerusalem have made secret plans. 10 They are committing the same sins that their ancestors did. Their ancestors refused to listen to my message. They followed and worshiped other gods. The family of Israel and the family of Judah have broken the agreement I made with their ancestors.”
11 So this is what the Lord says: “I will soon make something terrible happen to the people of Judah. They will not be able to escape. They will be sorry and cry to me for help, but I will not listen to them. 12 The people in the towns of Judah and in the city of Jerusalem will go and pray to their idols for help. They burn incense to those idols. But their idols will not be able to help the people of Judah when that terrible disaster comes.
13 “People of Judah, you have many idols—there are as many idols as there are towns in Judah. You have built many altars for worshiping that disgusting god Baal—there are as many altars as there are streets in Jerusalem.
14 “As for you, Jeremiah, don’t pray for these people of Judah. Don’t beg for them. Don’t say prayers for them. I will not listen. They will suffer and then call to me for help, but I will not listen.
15 “Judah is the one I love, but why is she in my temple?
She has done too many evil things.
Judah, do you think vows and sacrifices will keep you from being destroyed?
Will I then allow you to enjoy your evil ways?”
16 The Lord gave you a name.
He called you, “A green olive tree, beautiful to look at.”
But with a powerful storm, he will set that tree on fire,
and its branches will be burned up.[i]
17 The Lord All-Powerful planted you, and he said that disaster will come to you. That is because the family of Israel and the family of Judah have done evil things. They offered sacrifices to Baal, and that made him angry!
Evil Plans Against Jeremiah
18 The Lord showed me that the men of Anathoth[j] were making plans against me. He showed me what they were doing, so I knew they were against me. 19 Before he showed me this, I was like a gentle lamb waiting to be butchered. I did not understand that they were against me. They were saying this about me: “Let us destroy the tree and its fruit! Let us kill him! Then people will forget him.” 20 So I prayed, “Lord All-Powerful, you are a fair judge. You know how to test people’s hearts and minds. I will tell you my arguments, and I will let you give them the punishment they deserve.”
21 The Lord said to me, “Those people from Anathoth are planning to take your life. They are telling you not to prophesy in the name of the Lord or they will kill you. This is what I have to say about them: 22 I, the Lord All-Powerful, promise that I will soon punish those people. Their young men will die in war. Their sons and daughters will die from hunger. 23 No one from the city of Anathoth will be left. No one will survive. I will punish them and cause something bad to happen to them.”
Jeremiah Complains to God
12 Lord, if I argue with you,
you are always right.
But I want to ask you about some things that don’t seem right.
Why are wicked people successful?
Why do people you cannot trust have such easy lives?
2 You have put these wicked people here like plants with strong roots.
They grow and produce fruit.
With their mouths they say that you are near and dear to them,
but in their hearts they are really far away from you.
3 But you know my heart, Lord.
You see me and test my mind.
Drag the evil people away like sheep to be killed.
Choose them for the day of slaughter.
4 How much longer will the land be dry?
How long will the grass be dry and dead?
The birds and the animals of this land have all died,
and it is the fault of the wicked.
But they are saying,
“Jeremiah will not live long enough to see what happens to us.”
God’s Answer to Jeremiah
5 “Jeremiah, if running in a race against men makes you tired,
how will you race against horses?
If you trip and fall in a safe place,
what will you do in a dangerous place?
What will you do in the thornbushes
that grow along the Jordan River?
6 These men are your own brothers.
Members of your own family are making plans against you.
People from your own family are shouting at you.
Don’t trust them,
even when they speak to you like friends.
The Lord Rejects Judah
7 “I have abandoned my house.
I have left my own property.[k]
I have given Judah, the one I love,
to her enemies.
8 My own people turned against me like a wild lion.
They roared at me, so I turned away from them.
9 My own people have become like
a dying animal surrounded by vultures.
These birds are circling around her.
Come on, wild animals.
Come get something to eat.
10 Many shepherds have ruined my vineyard.
They have trampled the plants in my field.
They have made my beautiful field a desert.
11 They have turned it into an empty desert.
It is dry and dead.
The whole land has been ruined,
and no one is left to care for it.
12 The empty hills are covered with soldiers
who have come to destroy everything.
The Lord is using them to punish that land from one end to the other.
No one is safe.
13 The people will plant wheat,
but they will harvest only thorns.
They will work hard until they are very tired,
but they will get nothing for all their work.
They will be ashamed of their crop.
The Lord’s anger caused this.”
The Lord’s Promise to Israel’s Neighbors
14 This is what the Lord says: “I will tell you what I will do for all those who live around the land of Israel. They are very wicked. They have destroyed the land I gave to the people of Israel. I will pull the evil people up and throw them out of their land, and I will pull the people of Judah up with them. 15 But after I pull them up out of their land, I will feel sorry for them. I will bring each family back to its own property and to its own land. 16 I want these people to learn their lessons well. In the past they taught my people to use Baal’s name to make promises. Now, I want them to learn to use my name. I want them to say, ‘As the Lord lives ….’ If they do that, I will allow them to be successful, and I will let them live among my people. 17 But if a nation does not listen to my message, I will completely destroy it. I will pull it up like a dead plant.” This message is from the Lord.
The Sign of the Loincloth
13 This is what the Lord said to me: “Jeremiah, go and buy a linen loincloth.[l] Then put it around your waist. Don’t let it get wet.”
2 So I bought a linen loincloth, just as the Lord told me to do, and I put it around my waist. 3 Then the message from the Lord came to me a second time. 4 This was the message: “Jeremiah, take the loincloth you bought and are wearing, and go to Perath.[m] Hide the loincloth there in a crack in the rocks.”
5 So I went to Perath and hid the loincloth there, just as the Lord told me to do. 6 Many days later the Lord said to me, “Now, Jeremiah, go to Perath. Get the loincloth that I told you to hide there.”
7 So I went to Perath and dug the loincloth out of the crack in the rocks where I had hidden it. But now I could not wear the loincloth, because it was ruined. It was not good for anything.
8 Then the message from the Lord came to me. 9 This is what the Lord said: “The loincloth is ruined and not good for anything. In the same way, I will ruin the proud people of Judah and Jerusalem. 10 I will ruin them because they refuse to listen to my messages. They are stubborn and do only what they want to do. They follow and worship other gods. They will be like this linen loincloth. They will be ruined and not good for anything. 11 A loincloth is wrapped tightly around a man’s waist. In the same way, I wrapped the family of Israel and the family of Judah around me.” This message is from the Lord. “I did that so that they would be my people and bring me fame, praise, and honor. But my people did not listen to me.”
Warnings to Judah
12 “Jeremiah, say to the people of Judah: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Every wineskin should be filled with wine.’ They will laugh and say to you, ‘Of course, we know that every wineskin should be filled with wine.’ 13 Then you will say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I will make everyone who lives in this land helpless, like a drunken man. I am talking about the kings who sit on David’s throne. I am also talking about the priests, the prophets, and all the people who live in Jerusalem. 14 I will make them stumble and fall against each other, even the fathers and sons.’ This message is from the Lord. ‘I will not feel sorry or have pity for them. I will not allow compassion to stop me from destroying the people of Judah.’”
15 Listen and pay attention.
The Lord has spoken to you.
Do not be proud.
16 Honor the Lord your God.
Praise him or he will bring darkness.
Praise him before you fall on the dark hills.
You people of Judah are hoping for light,
but the Lord will turn the light into thick darkness.
He will change it into the deepest gloom.
17 If you people of Judah don’t listen to him,
I will hide and cry.
Your pride will cause me to cry.
I will cry very hard.
My eyes will overflow with tears,
because the Lord’s flock[n] will be captured.
18 Tell these things to the king and his wife,
“Come down from your thrones.
Your beautiful crowns have fallen from your heads.”
19 The cities in the Negev are locked.
No one can open them.
All the people of Judah have been taken away as captives.
They were carried away as prisoners.
20 Jerusalem, look!
The enemy is coming from the north[o]!
Where is the flock[p] you were once in charge of?
That beautiful flock is gone now.
21 I will let your enemies become your rulers—
people you once trusted with your secrets.
What will you say then?
Surely you will feel great pain,
like a woman giving birth.
22 You might ask yourself,
“Why has this bad thing happened to me?”
It happened because of your many sins.
Because of your sins, your skirt was torn off,
and your sandals were taken away.
They did this to embarrass you.
23 A black man cannot change the color of his skin,
and a leopard cannot change its spots.
In the same way, Jerusalem, you cannot change and do good.
You always do bad things.
24 “I will force you to leave your homes.
You will run in all directions.
You will be like chaff blown away by the desert wind.
25 This is what will happen to you.
This is your part in my plans.”
This message is from the Lord.
“Why will this happen?
Because you forgot me.
You trusted false gods.
26 Jerusalem, I will pull your skirt up over your face.
Everyone will see you,
and you will be ashamed.
27 I saw the terrible things you did.[q]
I saw you laughing and having sex with your lovers.
I know about your plans to be like a prostitute.
I have seen you on the hills and in the fields.
It will be very bad for you, Jerusalem.
How long will you continue doing your dirty sins?”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International