Beginning
10 Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.
2 Thus says the Lord: Learn not the way of the [heathen] nations and be not dismayed at the signs of the heavens, though they are dismayed at them,
3 For the customs and ordinances of the peoples are false, empty, and futile; it is but a tree which one cuts out of the forest [to make for himself a god], the work of the hands of the craftsman with the ax or other tool.
4 They deck [the idol] with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers so it will not fall apart or move around.
5 [Their idols] are like pillars of turned work [as upright and stationary and immobile as a palm tree], like scarecrows in a cucumber field; they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it possible for them to do good [and it is not in them].
6 None at all is like You, O Lord; You are great, and Your name is great in might.
7 Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? For it is fitting to You and Your due! For among all the wise [men or gods] of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You.
8 But they are altogether irrational and stupid and foolish. Their instruction is given by idols who are but wood [it is a teaching of falsity, emptiness, futility]!
9 Silver beaten [into plates] is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; the [idols’] clothing is violet and purple—they are all the work of skillful men.
10 But the Lord is the true God and the God of truth (the God Who is Truth). He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, and the nations are not able to bear His indignation.
11 Thus shall you say to them: The gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.
12 God made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and by His understanding and skill stretched out the heavens.
13 When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind out from His treasuries and from His storehouses.
14 Every man has become like a brute, irrational and stupid, without knowledge [of God]; every goldsmith is brought to shame by his graven idols; for his molten images are frauds and falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
15 They are devoid of worth, usefulness, or truth, a work of delusion and mockery; in their time of trial and punishment they shall [helplessly] perish.
16 The Portion of Jacob [the true God on Whom Israel has a claim] is not like these, for He is the Fashioner and Maker of all things, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance—the Lord of hosts is His name.
17 Gather up your bundle [of baggage] from the ground, O you who dwell under siege.
18 For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time and will bring distress on them, that they may feel it and find it [to be as I have said, and turn to Me].
19 Woe is me because of my hurt! [says Jeremiah, speaking for the nation.] My wound is grievous and incurable. But I said, Surely this sickness and suffering and grief are mine, and I must endure, tolerate, and bear them.
20 My tent (home) is taken by force and plundered, and all my [tent] cords are broken. My children have gone forth [as captives] from me, and they are no more; there is no one to stretch forth my tent any more and to set up my [tent] curtains.
21 For the shepherds [of the people] have become like brutes, irrational and stupid, and have not sought the Lord or inquired of Him or required Him [by necessity and by right of His word]. Therefore they have not dealt prudently and have not prospered, and all their flocks are scattered.
22 Hark, the sound of a rumor! [The invading army] comes!—a great commotion out of the north country—to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling place of jackals.
23 O Lord [pleads Jeremiah in the name of the people], I know that [the determination of] the way of a man is not in himself; it is not in man [even in a strong man or in a man at his best] to direct his [own] steps.(A)
24 O Lord, correct, instruct, and chastise me, but with judgment and in just measure—not in Your anger, lest You diminish me and bring me to nothing.
25 Pour out Your wrath upon the nations that do not know or recognize You and upon the peoples that do not call upon Your name. For they have devoured Jacob, yes, devoured him and consumed him and made his habitation a desolate waste.
11 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
2 Hear the words of this covenant or solemn pledge, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
3 Say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Cursed is the man who does not heed the words of this covenant or solemn pledge
4 Which I commanded your fathers at the time that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Listen to My voice and do according to all that I command you. So will you be My people, and I will be your God,
5 That I may perform the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then I answered, Amen (so be it), O Lord.
6 And the Lord said to me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the words of this covenant or solemn pledge and do them.
7 For I earnestly protested to and warned your fathers at the time that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, protesting to and warning them persistently, saying, Obey My voice.
8 Yet they did not obey or incline their ear [to Me], but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his own evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all [the calamities threatened in] the words of this covenant or solemn pledge, which I had commanded, but they did not do.
9 And the Lord said to me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
10 They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear My words; they have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant or solemn pledge which I made with their fathers.
11 Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I am bringing evil and calamity upon them which they will not be able to escape; though they cry to Me, I will not listen to them.
12 Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they offer incense, but they cannot save them at all in the time of their evil trouble.
13 For [as many as] the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah; and [as many as] the number of the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, even altars to burn incense to Baal.
14 Therefore do not pray for this people or lift up a cry or prayer for them, for I will not listen when they cry out to Me in the time of their evil trouble.
15 What right has My beloved [to be] in My house when she has wrought lewdness and done treacherously many times? Can vows and the holy flesh [of your sacrifices] remove from you your wickedness and avert your calamity? Can you by these [escape your doom and] rejoice exultantly?
16 The Lord [acknowledged you once to be worthy to be] called a green olive tree, fair and of good fruit; but with the roar of a great tempest He will set fire to it, and its branches will be consumed.(B)
17 For the Lord of hosts, Who planted you, has pronounced evil and calamity against you because of the evil which the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done against themselves in provoking Me to anger by offering incense to Baal.
18 And the Lord gave me [Jeremiah] knowledge of it [their plot], and I knew it; then You [O Lord] showed me their doings.
19 But I was like a tame lamb that is brought to the slaughter; I did not know that they had devised inventions and schemes against me, saying, Let us destroy the tree with its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.
20 But, O Lord of hosts, Who judges rightly and justly, Who tests the heart and the mind, let me see Your vengeance on them, for to You I have revealed and committed my cause [rolling it upon You].
21 Therefore thus says the Lord about the men of Anathoth [Jeremiah’s hometown], who seek your life [Jeremiah] and say, Prophesy not in the name of the Lord, that you die not by our hands—
22 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and their daughters will die by famine;
23 And there will be no remnant [of the conspirators] left, for I will bring evil and calamity upon the men of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.
12 Uncompromisingly righteous and rigidly just are You, O Lord, when I complain against and contend with You. Yet let me plead and reason the case with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are all they at ease and thriving who deal very treacherously and deceitfully?
2 You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; they grow, yes, they bring forth fruit. You are near in their mouths but far from their hearts.
3 But You, O Lord, know and understand me and my devotion to You; You see me and try my heart toward You. [O Lord] pull [these rebellious ones] out like sheep for the slaughter and devote and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
4 How long must the land mourn and the grass and herbs of the whole country wither? Through the wickedness of those who dwell in it, the beasts and the birds are consumed and are swept away [by the drought], because men [mocked] me, saying, He shall not [live to] see our final end.
5 [But the Lord rebukes Jeremiah’s impatience, saying] If you have raced with men on foot and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses? And if [you take to flight] in a land of peace where you feel secure, then what will you do [when you tread the tangled maze of jungle haunted by lions] in the swelling and flooding of the Jordan?
6 For even your brethren and the house of your father—even they have dealt treacherously with you; yes, even they are [like a pack of hounds] in full cry after you. Believe them not, though they speak fair words and promise good things to you.
7 I have forsaken My house, I have cast off My heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of My life into the hands of her enemies.
8 My heritage has become to Me like a lion in the forest; she has uttered her voice against Me; therefore I have [treated her as if I] hated her.
9 Is My heritage to Me like a speckled bird of prey? Are the birds of prey against her round about? Go, assemble all the wild beasts of the field; bring them to devour.
10 Many shepherds [of an invading host] have destroyed My vineyard, they have trampled My portion underfoot; they have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
11 They have made it a desolation, and desolate it mourns before Me; the whole land has been made desolate, but no man lays it to heart.
12 Destroyers have come upon all the bare heights in the desert, for the sword of the Lord devours from one end of the land even to the other; no flesh has peace or can find the means to escape.
13 They have sown wheat but have reaped thorns; they have worn themselves out but without profit. And they shall be ashamed of your [lack of] harvests and revenues because of the fierce and glowing anger of the Lord.
14 Thus says the Lord against all My evil neighbor [nations] who touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit: Behold, I will pluck them up from their land and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them.
15 And after I have plucked them up, I will return and have compassion on them and will bring them back again, every man to his heritage and every man to his land.
16 And if these [neighbor nations] will diligently learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, saying, As the Lord lives—even as they taught My people to swear by Baal—then will they be built up in the midst of My people.
17 But if any nation will not hear and obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, says the Lord.
13 Thus the Lord said to me: Go and buy yourself a linen girdle and put it on your loins, but do not put it in water.
2 So I bought a girdle or waistcloth, according to the word of the Lord, and put it on my loins.
3 And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying,
4 Take the girdle which you have bought, which is on your loins, and arise, go to the [river] Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.
5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.
6 And after many days the Lord said to me, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the girdle which I commanded you to hide there.
7 Then I went to the Euphrates and dug and took the girdle or waistcloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the girdle was decayed and spoiled; it was good for nothing.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
9 Thus says the Lord: After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10 These evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and to worship them, shall even be like this girdle or waistcloth, which is profitable for nothing.
11 For as the girdle clings to the loins of a man, so I caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me, says the Lord, that they might be for Me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory; but they would not listen or obey.
12 Therefore you shall speak to them this word: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Every bottle and jar should be filled with wine. [The people] will say to you, Do we not certainly know that every bottle and jar should be filled with wine?
13 Then say to them, Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings who sit upon David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
14 And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, says the Lord. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.
15 Hear and give ear, do not be proud, for the Lord has spoken [says Jeremiah].
16 Give glory to the Lord your God before He brings darkness and before your feet stumble upon the dark and twilit mountains, and [before], while you are looking for light, He turns it into the shadow of death and makes it thick darkness.
17 But if you will not hear and obey, I will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.
18 Say to the king and the queen mother, Humble yourselves and take a lowly seat, for down from your head has come your beautiful crown (the crown of your glory).
19 The cities of the South (the Negeb) have been shut up, and there is no one to open them; all Judah has been carried away captive, it has been wholly taken captive and into exile.
20 Lift up your eyes and behold those [the eruption of a hostile army] who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you [to shepherd], your beautiful flock?
21 What will you say [O Jerusalem] when He [the Lord] sets over you as head those [tyrannical foreign nations] whom you yourselves [at intervals] have taught to be lovers (allies) with you [instructing them, even your friends, to be head over you]? Will not pangs take hold of you like that of a woman in travail?
22 And if you say in your heart, Why have these things come upon me?—[the answer is], Because of the greatness of your iniquity has your long robe been pulled aside [showing you in the garb of a menial] and have you [barefooted and treated like a slave] suffered violence.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also can you do good who are accustomed and taught [even trained] to do evil.
24 Therefore I will scatter you like chaff driven away by the wind from the desert.
25 This is your lot, the portion measured to you from Me, says the Lord, because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood [false gods and alliances with idolatrous nations].
26 Therefore I Myself will [retaliate], throwing your skirts up over your face, that your shame [of being clad like a slave] may be exposed.
27 I have seen your detestable acts, even your adulteries and your lustful neighings [after idols], and the lewdness of your harlotry on the hills in the field. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! For how long a time yet will you not [meet My conditions and] be made clean?
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation