Beginning

7 The Devar that came to Yirmeyah from Hashem, saying,

² Stand at the Sha’ar Beis Hashem, and preach there this word, and say, Hear the Devar Hashem, all ye of Yehudah, that enter in at these She’arim (Gates) l’hishta’chavot (to worship, to prostrate before) Hashem.

³ Thus saith Hashem Tzva’os, Elohei Yisroel, Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will cause you to dwell in makom hazeh (this place).

⁴ Trust ye not in divrei hasheker (lying words, words of falsehood), saying, This is the Heikhal Hashem, the Heikhal Hashem, the Heikhal Hashem.

⁵ For if ye throughly amend your ways and your deeds; if ye throughly dispense mishpat between an ish and his re’a (neighbor);

⁶ If ye oppress not the ger, the yatom, and the almanah, and shed not dahm naki (innocent blood) in this place, neither walk after elohim acherim to your hurt;

⁷ Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in HaAretz that I gave to Avoteichem, l’min olam v’ad olam (from forever to forever).

⁸ Hinei, ye trust in divrei sheker (lying words), that are worthless.

⁹ Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear l’sheker (falsely), and burn ketoret unto Ba’al, and walk after elohim acherim whom ye know not;

¹⁰ And come and stand before Me in HaBeis Hazeh, which is called by Shmi, and say, We are delivered l’ma’an (in order to) do all these to’evot (abominations)?

¹¹ Is HaBeis Hazeh, which is called by Shmi, become a me’arah paritzim (a cave, a den of robbers, criminals) in your eyes? Hinei, even I have been watching, saith Hashem.

¹² But go ye now unto My Makom (Place) which was in Shiloh, where I made dwell Shmi barishonah (at the first), and see what I did to it because of the ra’at Ami Yisroel (the wickedness of My people Israel).

¹³ And now, because ye have done all these ma’asim, saith Hashem, and I spoke unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye paid not heed; and I called you, but ye answered not;

¹⁴ Therefore will I do unto this Beis, which is called by Shmi, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to Avoteichem, as I have done to Shiloh.

¹⁵ And I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your achim, even the whole zera Ephrayim.

¹⁶ Therefore pray not thou on behalf of HaAm Hazeh, neither lift up plea nor tefillah for them, neither make intercession to Me; for I will not hear thee.

¹⁷ Seest thou not what they do in the towns of Yehudah and in the chutzot (streets of) Yerushalayim?

¹⁸ The banim gather wood, and the avot kindle the eish, and the nashim knead their batzek (dough), to make cakes to the Malkat HaShomayim (Queen of Heaven), and to pour out nesakhim (drink offerings) unto elohim acherim, that they may provoke Me to anger.

¹⁹ Do they provoke Me to anger? saith Hashem; are they not provoking themselves, even to boshet (shame) on their own faces?

²⁰ Therefore thus saith Adonoi Hashem; Hinei, Mine anger and My fury shall be poured out upon Hamakom Hazeh (this place), upon haadam, and upon behemah, and upon the etz hasadeh, and upon the pri ha’adamah; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.

²¹ Thus saith Hashem Tzva’os, Elohei Yisroel; Add your olot unto your zevakhim, and eat basar.

²² For I spoke not unto Avoteichem, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of Eretz Mitzrayim, concerning olah or zevach;

²³ But this thing I commanded them, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be for you Elohim (your G-d), and ye shall be My people; and walk ye in kol HaDerech that I have commanded you, l’ma’an (in order that) it may go well with you.

²⁴ But they paid heed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the inclinations of the stubbornness of their lev harah (evil heart), and went backward, and not forward.

²⁵ Since the day that Avoteichem came forth out of Eretz Mitzrayim unto this day I have even sent unto you all My servants the Nevi’im, daily rising up early and sending them;

²⁶ Yet they paid heed not unto Me, nor inclined their ear, but stiffened stubbornly their neck; they did more evil than their Avot.

²⁷ Therefore thou shalt speak all these devarim unto them; but they will not pay heed to thee; thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.

²⁸ But thou shalt say unto them, This is a Goy (Nation) that obeyeth not the voice of Hashem Elohav, nor respondeth to musar; haemunah (the faith) is lost, and is cut off from their mouth.

²⁹ Cut off thine hair, O Yerushalayim, and throw it away, and take up a kinah (lamentation) on barren heights; for Hashem hath rejected and abandoned the dor evrato (the generation of His wrath).

³⁰ For the Bnei Yehudah have done rah in My sight, saith Hashem; they have set their shikkutzim (abominations) in the Beis which is called by Shmi, to make it tameh.

³¹ And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the Gey Ben Hinnom, to burn their banim and their banot in the eish; which I commanded them not, neither entered it into My mind.

³² Therefore, hinei, the yamim are coming, saith Hashem, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the Gey Ben Hinnom, but the Gey Haharegah (Valley of Slaughter); for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no room.

³³ And the nivlat HaAm Hazeh (carcass of this people) shall be food for the oph HaShomayim, and for the behemat ha’aretz; and none shall frighten them away.

³⁴ Then will I cause to cease from the towns of Yehudah, and from the chutzot Yerushalayim, the sound of joy, and the sound of simchah, the sound of the Choson (Bridegroom) and the sound of the Kallah (Bride); for HaAretz shall be desolate.

8 At that time, saith Hashem, they [i.e., the invaders] shall remove the atzmot of the melachim of Yehudah, and the atzmot of his sarim, and the atzmot of the kohanim, and the atzmot of the nevi’im, and the atzmot of the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, out of their keverim;

² And they shall spread them out before the shemesh, and the yarei’ach, and all the tz’va haShomayim, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have consulted, and whom they have worshiped; they shall not be gathered up, nor be buried in a kever; they shall be like domen upon the surface of ha’adamah.

³ And mavet shall be chosen rather than chayyim by all the She’erit of them that remain of this mishpakhah hara’ah, which remain in all the places where I have banished them, saith Hashem Tzva’os.

⁴ Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Hashem: Shall they fall, and not get up? Shall one turn away, and not turn back?

⁵ Why then does HaAm Hazeh turn away in perpetual meshuvah (backsliding)? They hold fast to deceit, refusing to make teshuvah.

⁶ I paid heed and heard, but they spoke not aright; no ish made teshuvah from his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Every one pursues his own course, like the sus (horse) charging into milchamah.

⁷ Yea, the stork in the Shomayim knoweth her mo’adim (appointed times); and the turtledove and the swift and the crane are shomer over their time for migration; but Ami (My People) have no da’as (knowledge) of the Mishpat Hashem (rule, ordinance, regulation, law of Hashem).

⁸ How can ye say, We are chachamim (wise ones), and the torat Hashem is with us, when, hinei, the et sheker (deceiving pen) of the sofrim (scribes) has made it [the torat Hashem] into sheker (a falsehood, i.e., falsely authoritative scribal interpretation has twisted Scripture, perverting its truth; see also Jer 2:8; 2K3:16; here is a warning against false teachers, and it is important because the scribal group in Israel would become the rabbinic group in time to come, and here their doctrines are coming into direct opposition to the Torah and the inerrant prophecies of Jeremiah.).

⁹ The chachamim (wise men) are ashamed, they are dismayed and trapped; they have rejected the Devar Hashem; so what chochmah (wisdom) is in them?

¹⁰ Therefore will I give their nashim unto others, and their sadot to them that shall inherit them; for every one from the katan even unto the gadol is greedy for unjust gain, from the navi even unto the kohen every one doeth sheker.

¹¹ For they give superficial treatment to the hurt of Bat Ami, saying, Shalom, shalom; v’ein shalom.

¹² Were they ashamed when they did to’evah (abomination)? No, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they know to blush; therefore shall they fall among them that fall; in the time of their pekuddat (visitation [for punishment], time of reckoning) they shall be brought down, saith Hashem.

¹³ I would surely have harvested them, saith Hashem, but no grapes are on the gefen, nor te’enim (figs) on the te’enah (fig tree), even the leaf shall wither; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.

¹⁴ Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us perish there; for Hashem Eloheinu hath made us to perish, and given us mey rosh (poisonous water) to drink, because we have sinned against Hashem.

¹⁵ We looked for shalom, but no tov came; and for et marpeh (a time of healing), and, hinei, terror!

¹⁶ The snorting of his [the foe from the north] susim (horses) was heard from Dan; kol ha’aretz trembled at the sound of the neighing of his stallions; for they are come, and have devoured eretz, and all that is in it; the Ir (city, i.e., the city of Dan in the north of Israel), and those that dwell therein.

¹⁷ For, hinei, I will send nachashim, tzifonim (vipers), among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith Hashem.

¹⁸ When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my lev is faint within me.

¹⁹ Hinei, the voice of the cry of the Bat Ami from eretz markhakim (a land of places far away): is Hashem not in Tziyon? Is her Melech not in her? Why have they provoked Me to anger with their pesilim (idols), and with alien vanities (futile foreign g-ds)?

²⁰ The katzir (harvest) is past, kayitz (summer) is ended, and loh noshanu (we are not saved [from coming judgment and punishment]).

²¹ For the hurt of the Bat Ami am I hurt; I mourn; desolation hath taken hold on me.

²² Is there no tzori (medicinal balsam or balm) in Gil`ad; is there no rofeh (physician) there? Why then is the health of the Bat Ami not recovered?

9 Oh that my rosh (head) were mayim, and mine eyes a makor dimah (a fountain of tears), that I might weep yomam valailah for the slain of the Bat Ami!

^2 (9:1) Oh that I had in the midbar a malon orkhim (travelers’ lodge); that I might leave my people, and go from them! For they are all no’afim (adulterers), an atzeret bogedim (band of treacherous traitors)

^3 (2) And they bend to the ready their leshon like their keshet (bow) for sheker; but not for emunah have they prevailed in ha’aretz; for they proceed from ra’ah to ra’ah, and they know not Me, saith Hashem.

^4 (3) Be ye shomer every one over his re’a (neighbor, friend) and trust ye not in kol ach (any brother); for kol ach will ya’akov (utterly supplant, deceive), and every re’a (neighbor) will holech rakhil (walk as the slanderer, gossiper).

^5 (4) And they will deceive every one his re’a, and will not speak emes; they have taught their leshon to speak sheker, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.

^6 (5) Thine habitation is in the midst of mirmah; through mirmah they refuse to know Me, saith Hashem.

^7 (6) Therefore thus saith Hashem Tzva’os, Hineni, I will refine them, and test them; for what but this shall I do for the Bat Ami?

^8 (7) Their leshon is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh mirmah; one speaketh shalom to his re’a with his mouth, but inwardly he lieth in ambush.

^9 (8) Shall I not visit them [in punishment] for these things? saith Hashem. Shall not My Nefesh be avenged on such a Goy (nation) as this?

^10 (9) I take up a weeping and nehi (lamentation) for the harim, and for the pastures of the midbar a kinah (lamentation), because they are scorched, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the mikneh (cattle); both the oph haShomayim and the behemah are fled; they are gone.

^11 (10) And I will make Yerushalayim a heap of ruins, and a ma’on of jackals; and I will make the towns of Yehudah desolate, without an inhabitant.

^12 (11) Who is the ish hechacham (wise man), that may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of Hashem hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what HaAretz perisheth and is scorched like a midbar, that none passeth through?

^13 (12) And Hashem saith, Because they have forsaken My torah which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, neither walked therein;

^14 (13) But have walked after the sherirut (stubbornness) of their own lev, and after Ba’alim, which their avot taught them;

^15 (14) Therefore thus saith Hashem Tzva’os, the Elohei Yisroel; Hineni, I will make this people eat la’anah (wormwood), and give them poisoned water to drink.

^16 (15) I will scatter them also among the Goyim, whom neither they nor their avot have known; and I will send a cherev after them, till I have consumed them.

^17 (16) Thus saith Hashem Tzva’os, Consider ye, and call for the wailing women, that they may come; and send for the chachamot (wise women), that they may come;

^18 (17) And let them make haste, and take up a nehi (lamentation) for us, that our eyes may run down with dimah (tears), and our eyelids gush out with mayim.

^19 (18) For a sound of nehi (lamentation) is heard from Tziyon, How are we plundered! We are greatly ashamed, because we have forsaken eretz, because mishkenoteinu have expelled us.

^20 (19) Yet hear the Devar Hashem, O ye nashim, and let your ear receive the word of His mouth, and teach your banot nehi (lamentation), and everyone her re’a (neighbor) kinah (dirge).

^21 (20) For mavet (death) is come up into our windows, and is entered into our fortresses, to cut off the olal (children) from the street, and the bochurim from the rechovot.

^22 (21) Speak, Thus saith Hashem, Even the nevilah of adam shall fall like domen (dung) upon the sadeh, and the omer (sheaf) after the kotzer (harvester), and none shall gather them.

^23 (22) Thus saith Hashem, Let not the chacham (wise man) glory in his chochmah, neither let the gibbor (mighty man) glory in his gevurah (might), let not the oisher (rich man) glory in his riches;

^24 (23) But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am Hashem Who exercises chesed, mishpat, and tzedakah, on ha’aretz; for in these things I delight, saith Hashem.

^25 (24) Hinei, the yamim come, saith Hashem, that I will punish kol mul b’arlah (all circumcized in arlah [only]);

^26 (25) Mitzrayim, and Yehudah, and Edom, and the Bnei Ammon, and Moav, and kol ketzutzei pe’ah (all in the farthest corners), that dwell in the midbar; for all these Goyim are uncircumcised, and kol Bais Yisroel are arlei lev (uncircumcised in heart, i.e., in need of regeneration, see Yn 3:3; Dt 10:16; 30:6; Jer 4:4; 31:31-34; Ro 9:6; 2:28-29; Isa 52:1; Ezek 36:25-27; 44:7,9; Co 2:11-12; 2C 5:17; Ti 3:4-7].