Beginning
10 People of Israel, listen to what the Lord says to you.
2 The Lord says,
‘Do not copy the way that people of other nations live.
They are afraid of strange things that they see in the sky.
But you must not be afraid of those things.[a]
3 The customs of those people are useless.[b]
They cut down a tree in the forest.
A worker uses his tools to make it into an idol.
4 He covers it with silver and gold
to make it look beautiful.
He uses nails to fix it together
so that it will not fall down.
5 Those idols cannot speak.
They are like scarecrows that a farmer puts in his field of vegetables.[c]
The idols cannot walk,
so people have to carry them.
So do not be afraid of them.
They cannot hurt you.
And they do not have any power to help you.’
6 There is nobody like you, Lord.
You are great and your name shows your power.
7 Everyone should respect you,
the King who rules all the nations.
You deserve that people give you honour.
There is nobody like you anywhere in the world.
Among all the wise people of the nations
and among all their kings,
there is no one like you.
8 The people of those nations are stupid and foolish.
They think that wooden idols can teach them something!
9 They bring thin silver from Spain.
They bring gold from Uphaz.
Workers who know how to use wood and metal
make the idols look beautiful.
They put valuable blue and purple clothes on the idols.
Workers who have special skills do this.
10 But the Lord is the only true God.
He is the God who is alive.
He is the King who rules for ever.
When he is angry, the earth shakes.
None of the nations can stop his anger.
11 Tell the nations this:
‘Your gods did not make the earth or the sky.
They will disappear completely from everywhere on earth
and everywhere in the sky.’
12 But the Lord used his power to make the earth.
He used his wisdom to make it strong.
He knew how to put the sky to cover the earth.
13 When he shouts like thunder,
the water in the sky roars.
He causes clouds to rise from the far places of the earth.
He causes bright lightning to show in the storms.
He opens his rooms so that the wind comes out
and it blows everywhere.
14 People who worship idols are stupid.
They do not understand what they are doing.
The men who make idols will be ashamed.
They make images of gods that are false.
None of their idols have the breath of life in them.
15 They are useless things that people should laugh at.
When the time for their punishment arrives,
God will destroy them.
16 The God that Jacob's descendants worship
is not like those idols.
He created everything.
He chose the Israelites as the people who would belong to him.
His name is the Lord Almighty.
God will soon punish the people of Judah
17 Your enemies are all around
and they are ready to attack you.
So get all your things together.
Prepare to leave your country.
18 This is what the Lord says:
‘I will now throw out the people who live in this land.
I will bring much trouble to them,
and they will be in pain.’
19 ‘A terrible thing has happened to us![d]
We have received a very bad wound.
We thought, “We are very ill,
but one day we will get better.”
20 But now they have destroyed our tent.
They have broken the ropes that held it.[e]
Our children have gone,
and none of them remain.
There is nobody still alive
who can help us build our homes again.
21 Our leaders are fools.
They do not ask the Lord for his advice.
So they have failed to take care of us,
and all their people have disappeared.[f]
22 Listen! We have heard the news!
There is the noise of a great army in the north.
It is marching towards us!
It is coming to attack the towns of Judah.
It will make them heaps of stones.
Only wild animals will live in them.
23 Lord, I know that nobody controls their own life.
Nobody can decide what will happen to them.
24 Lord, teach us what is right,
but do it carefully.
Please do not punish us in your anger.
That would be the end of us.
25 Instead, be angry with the nations that do not respect you.
Be angry with the people who do not worship you.
Those are the people who have destroyed Jacob's descendants.[g]
They have killed our people.
They have destroyed our land and our homes.’
The people have not obeyed God's covenant with them
11 The Lord gave this message to Jeremiah: 2 ‘Listen to the rules of the covenant that I made with my people. Tell them to the people who live in Jerusalem and the other towns in Judah. 3 Tell them that the Lord, Israel's God, says, “I will curse anyone who does not obey the rules of this covenant. 4 I gave those rules to your ancestors when I brought them safely out of Egypt. That place was like a hot oven where they were in great pain. At that time, I said to them, ‘Obey me and do everything that I command you to do. If you obey my covenant with you, you will be my people and I will be your God. 5 I will do what I promised to your ancestors. I promised to give to them a land where there was plenty of food and drink, enough for everyone.’ That is the land that you still live in today.” ’
I answered, ‘Amen, Lord, I would like that to happen.’
6 The Lord said to me, ‘Speak all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: “Listen to the rules of my covenant with you. Obey them! 7 I clearly warned your ancestors that they must obey me. I warned them many times since I brought them safely out of Egypt. I have continued to do that, even until today. 8 But they did not listen to me. They did not agree to obey my covenant. Instead, they continued to do all the wicked things that they wanted to do. They would not change how they lived. So I punished them in the way that the covenant said they deserved. I had commanded them to obey the rules of the covenant, and they did not do that.” ’
9 The Lord said to me, ‘The people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem have decided to turn against me. 10 They are doing the same evil things that their ancestors did. Their ancestors refused to obey my commands. These people do that, and they also serve and worship other gods. I made a covenant with their ancestors. But the nations of Judah and Israel have refused to obey that covenant. 11 So now, I, the Lord, say this: “I will bring great trouble to these people. They will not be able to escape. When they call out to me for help, I will not listen to them. 12 The people who live in Jerusalem and in the other towns of Judah will ask their false gods to help them. Those are the gods that they offer sacrifices to. But when this terrible trouble comes, those gods will never be able to rescue them. 13 You people of Judah have as many gods as you have towns! You have built many altars to offer sacrifices to that disgusting god, Baal. You have built as many of those altars as there are streets in Jerusalem!”
14 So, Jeremiah, do not pray for these people. Do not ask me to do anything to help them. Do not ask me to save them. When trouble comes and they ask me for help, I will not listen to them.
15 The people that I love are doing wicked things.
They should not be in my temple.
They think that they will be safe
if they offer animal sacrifices to me.
They enjoy the evil things that they do,
and their punishment will certainly happen.
16 I, the Lord, called you a beautiful olive tree.
It was a tree that gave lots of good fruit.
But now I will destroy you with fire.
The flames will make a loud noise.
All your branches will be useless.
17 I, the Lord Almighty, planted you in the land, like a tree.
But now you have caused me to be angry.
You nations of Israel and Judah have done evil things.
And you have offered sacrifices to Baal.
So now I have decided to punish you with great trouble.’
The men in Anathoth want to kill Jeremiah
18 The Lord showed me what the people were doing.[h] He helped me to understood what was really happening. 19 Before that, I did not know about their plans to kill me. I was like a lamb that men were taking away to kill it. I did not know that they were saying, ‘We should cut down this tree and destroy its fruit![i] Jeremiah must not continue to live in this world. Then people will forget all about him.’
20 So I said, ‘Lord Almighty, you judge people in a fair way. You know what people are thinking. You understand how they feel. I trust you to show that I have not done anything that is wrong. So please punish these people. Pay them back for their sins.’
21 The Lord told me that some men in Anathoth wanted to kill me. They said to me, ‘Stop telling us messages from the Lord! If you do not stop, we will kill you.’ 22 So the Lord Almighty said, ‘Yes, I will certainly punish them! Their young men will die as they fight in war. Their children will be so hungry that they die. 23 All those men in Anathoth who wanted to kill you will die. At the right time, I will punish them with great trouble.’
Jeremiah tells the Lord about his troubles
12 Lord, when I complain to you,
you always do what is right.
But I must ask you about your justice.
Why do wicked people have success in life?
Why do people who cheat their friends
live in comfort?
2 They are like trees that you have planted.
They have strong roots.
They produce good fruits.
Those people like to talk about you a lot,
but they do not really love you.
3 But you know everything about me, Lord.
You watch me carefully to test me.
You know what I am thinking.
You should kill those wicked men, as they deserve!
Take them away like sheep,
to kill them when the time is right.
4 Our land has been dry for a long time.
The grass everywhere is dying.
How long will this continue?
The animals and the birds are dying.
This has happened because the people who live in this land do wicked things.
They like to boast,
‘God will not see what happens to us.’
The Lord answers Jeremiah
5 ‘Jeremiah, you are running a race against people,
and you are already tired!
So you will never be able to run a race against horses.
You are walking in flat fields,
and you still fall over!
So it will be much worse when you try to run
through the trees and bushes near the Jordan River.[j]
6 Even your own brothers and family have turned against you.
They join with other people to attack you.
So do not trust them,
even when they say kind words to you.
7 I have decided to turn away from my nation.
I will leave the people that I chose to belong to me.
I will put the people that I love
under the power of their enemies.
8 The people that belong to me
have turned against me.
They are like a lion that hides in the forest.
It roars and is ready to attack me.
Because of that,
I have turned against my people.
9 They attack me like hyenas,
but vultures are ready to attack them.
Tell all the wild animals to come,
so that they can eat their dead bodies!
10 Many foreign leaders will come.
They will destroy the land where my people live.
It was a beautiful garden where I planted my people.
But enemies will make it become like a desert.
11 They will make it a dry and empty place,
where nobody lives and nothing grows.
The whole land will be like a desert.
There will be nobody to take care of it.
12 Soldiers will march over the hills in the wilderness.
They will come to destroy the whole land.
I, the Lord, will use them as my weapon.
I will punish everyone.
Nobody will be safe.
13 My people will plant seeds of wheat,
but they will only have weeds at harvest time.
They will work very hard,
but they will get nothing.
At harvest time,
they will have no crops to be proud of.
Because I am very angry,
they will not have any food.’
14 This is what the Lord says: ‘I will punish the wicked nations that came to attack the land of my people. It was the land that I gave to Israel's people to be their home. But those enemies destroyed it. So I will remove them from their own lands. I will rescue the people of Judah from among them. 15 But after I have removed those nations, I will return to help them. I will be kind to them. I will bring them back to the countries where they belong. Each nation will return to live in its own land. 16 But they must learn to live in the way that my people live. At one time they taught my people to use Baal's name when they made promises. But now they must give honour to me as the true God. When they make a promise, they must say, “I promise to do this, as surely as the Lord lives.” If they do these things, they will belong among my people. 17 But if any nation refuses to obey me, I will destroy it completely.’ That is what the Lord says.
A linen belt
13 The Lord said to me, ‘Go and buy a linen belt.[k] Tie it around your body. But do not put it into water.’ 2 So I bought a belt, as the Lord had told me to do. I tied it around me.
3 The Lord spoke to me again. 4 He said, ‘Take the belt that you bought and you are now wearing. Take it now to Perath. Hide it there in a hole in the rocks.’ 5 So I went to Perath. I hid it there, as the Lord had commanded me to do.[l]
6 Many days after that, the Lord said to me, ‘Now go to Perath again. Get the belt that I told you to hide there.’ 7 So I went back to Perath. I dug out the belt from the place where I had hidden it. But it had become spoiled. I could not use it any more.
8 Then the Lord said to me, 9 ‘I, the Lord, tell you this: See what happened to your belt. Now I will destroy everything that the people of Judah and Jerusalem are proud of. 10 Those wicked people refuse to listen to my words. They do whatever they want to do. They are too proud to change. They serve other gods and they worship them. Now they will become as useless as this linen belt. 11 I tell you this: My people should have been like a belt for me. I held all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah very near to me. I chose them to be my special people. They should have respected me and given me honour so that people would praise me. But they refused to obey me.
12 You must tell them, “The Lord, Israel's God, says this: People make wine bottles so that they can fill them with wine.” They may answer, “We know that is why people make wine bottles. Everyone knows that!” 13 Then tell them, “Now I will fill all the people who live in this land. I will fill the kings from David's family, the prophets, the priests and the people who live in Jerusalem. Yes, I will fill them all with so much wine that they become drunk! 14 I will knock them against each other, so that they break like bottles. I will punish everyone, parents and their children. I will not be sorry for them and I will not be kind to them. I will destroy them, and nothing can stop me.” That is what the Lord says.’
Jeremiah warns the people of Judah
15 ‘Listen carefully to me.
Do not be too proud to listen!
The Lord has spoken to you.
16 Give honour to the Lord your God,
before it is too late.
Do it before he makes everywhere become dark.
Then you will fall down,
like someone who walks on the mountains at night.
You may hope for light to come,
but God will make it completely dark.[m]
17 If you refuse to listen to God's message,
I will hide myself and I will weep.
Because you are so proud,
tears will pour from my eyes.
I will cry because the Lord has sent his own people away
as prisoners to a foreign land.
18 Tell the king and his mother,
“Come down from your thrones.
Your beautiful crowns will soon fall from your heads.”[n]
19 The cities in the south of Judah will keep their gates shut.
Nobody will go in or out of the cities.
Enemies will take the people of Judah away as prisoners.
They will take them all into exile.
20 Leaders of Jerusalem, look up!
See the enemy that is coming from the north.
What has happened to your people?
You were proud of them
and you should have taken care of them.
You are like shepherds who have lost their sheep.
21 The Lord will choose other people to rule over you.
They are people that you wanted to be your friends,
but now they will have power over you.
So what will you say about that?
You will be afraid and in much pain,
like a woman who is giving birth to a baby.
22 You may ask,
“Why are these things happening to me?”
It is because of your many terrible sins.
Like an adulteress, they have torn off your dress
to make you ashamed.
23 You have done evil things for a long time.
So you cannot now start to do good things.
Can anyone change the colour of his skin?
Can a leopard remove the marks on its body?
No! And you cannot change yourselves either.’
24 The Lord says,
‘I will blow you away,
as a hot desert wind blows away straw.
25 That is how I have decided to punish you.
It is what you deserve
because you have forgotten me.
You have trusted in false gods.
26 So I will cause you to be very ashamed,
like a woman whose dress they have removed.
27 People of Jerusalem,
you are in terrible trouble!
I have seen the disgusting things that you do.
You are like a woman who has not been faithful to her husband.
Like a prostitute, you look for other gods to serve.
You cannot control yourselves,
as you do disgusting things on the hills and in the fields.
Will you never be clean and pure again?’[o]
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