Beginning

23 Woe be unto the ro’im that destroy and scatter the tzon of My pasture! saith Hashem.

² Therefore thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel against the ro’im that shepherd My people; Ye have scattered My tzon, and driven them away, and have not attended to them; hineni, I will attend to you for the rah of your doings, saith Hashem.

³ And I will gather the she’erit (remnant) of My tzon out of all countries where I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.

⁴ And I will set up ro’im (shepherds) over them which shall shepherd them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith Hashem.

⁵ Hinei, the days come, saith Hashem, that I will raise up unto Dovid a Tzemach Tzaddik [i.e., Moshiach Ben Dovid Yehoshua, see 30:9; 33:15; Zech 3:8 Ezra 3:8; Zech 6:11-12; Mt 2:23; Isa 4:2; 9:2-7; 11:1-12; 53:2,11; Moshiach the new "Joshua" Isa 49:8], and a Melech shall reign and act wisely, and shall execute mishpat and tzedakah in ha’aretz.

⁶ In his days Yehudah shall be saved, and Yisroel shall dwell safely; and this is Shmo whereby he shall be called Adonoi Tzidkeinu.

⁷ Therefore, hinei, the days are coming, saith Hashem, that they shall no more say, Hashem liveth, which brought up the Bnei Yisroel out of Eretz Mitzrayim;

⁸ But, Hashem liveth, which brought up and which led the zera Bais Yisroel out of the eretz tzafonah, and from all countries to where I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.

⁹ Mine lev within me is broken because of the nevi’im; all my atzmot shake; I am like an ish shikkor, and like a gever (man) whom yayin hath overcome, because of Hashem, and because of Divrei Kadsho (His Holy Devarim).

¹⁰ For ha’aretz is full of mena’afim; for because of a curse ha’aretz mourneth; the pleasant places of the midbar are dried up, and their course is ra’ah, and their gevurah is not right.

¹¹ For both navi and kohen are profane; indeed, in My Beis have I found their wickedness, saith Hashem.

¹² Therefore their derech shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness; they shall be driven on, and fall therein; for I will bring ra’ah upon them, even the year of their visitation [for punishment], saith Hashem.

¹³ And I have seen a repulsive thing in the nevi’im of Shomron; they prophesied by Ba’al, and caused My people Yisroel to err.

¹⁴ I have seen also in the nevi’im of Yerushalayim a horrible thing; they commit ni’uf and walk in sheker; they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth turn back from his wickedness; they are all of them unto Me as Sodom and the inhabitants thereof as Amora (Gomorrah).

¹⁵ Therefore thus saith Hashem Tzva’os concerning the nevi’im; Hineni, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the bitter water of gall; for from the nevi’im of Yerushalayim is chanupah (profaneness) gone forth into kol ha’aretz.

¹⁶ Thus saith Hashem Tzva’os, Pay no heed unto the devarim of the nevi’im that prophesy unto you; they are deluding you; they speak a chazon (vision) of their own lev, and not out of the mouth of Hashem.

¹⁷ They say continually unto them that despise Me, Hashem hath said, Ye shall have shalom; and they say unto everyone that walketh after the sherirut (stubbornness) of his own lev, No ra’ah shall come upon you.

¹⁸ For who hath stood in the sod (council) of Hashem, and hath perceived and heard His Devar? Who hath marked His word, and heard it?

¹⁹ Hinei, a whirlwind of Hashem is gone forth in fury, even a violent whirlwind; it shall fall grievously upon the rosh of the resha’im.

²⁰ The anger of Hashem shall not turn back, until He have executed, and until He have performed, the mezimmot (designs) of His lev; in the acharit hayamim ye shall understand it perfectly.

²¹ I have not sent these nevi’im, yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.

²² But if they had stood in My sod (council), and had caused My people to hear My Devarim, then they should have turned them from their derech harah, and from the ra’ah of their doings.

²³ Am I Elohei mikarov, saith Hashem, and not Elohei merachok?

²⁴ Can any ish hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith Hashem. Do not I fill Shomayim and Ha’Aretz? saith Hashem.

²⁵ I have heard what the nevi’im said, that prophesy sheker (lies) biShmi (in My Name), saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.

²⁶ How long shall this be in the lev of the nevi’im that prophesy sheker? Indeed, they are nevi’im of the delusion of their own lev;

²⁷ Which think to cause My people to forget My Shem by their chalomot (dreams) which they tell every ish to his neighbor, as their avot have forgotten My Shem through Ba’al [worship].

²⁸ The navi that hath a chalom, let him tell a chalom; and he that hath My Devar, let him speak My Devar emes (faithfully). What is the chaff to the wheat? saith Hashem.

²⁹ Is not My Devar like an eish? saith Hashem. And like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

³⁰ Therefore, hineni, I am against the nevi’im, saith Hashem, that steal My devarim every ish from his neighbor.

³¹ Hineni, I am against the nevi’im, saith Hashem, that use their [own] lashon, and say, He saith.

³² Hineni, I am against them that prophesy chalomot sheker, saith Hashem, and do tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies, and by their recklessness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith Hashem.

³³ And when this people, or the navi, or a kohen, shall ask thee, saying, What is the massa (burden, prophecy) of Hashem? Thou shalt then say unto them, What massa burden)? I will even forsake you, saith Hashem.

³⁴ And as for the navi, and the kohen, and HaAm, that shall say, The massa (burden) of Hashem, I will even punish that ish and his bais.

³⁵ Thus shall ye say every ish to his neighbor, and every ish to his brother, What hath Hashem answered? And, What hath Hashem spoken?

³⁶ And the massa (burden) of Hashem shall ye mention no more; for every man’s word shall be his massa (burden); for ye have perverted the Devarim of the Elohim Chayyim, of Hashem Tzva’os Eloheinu.

³⁷ Thus shalt thou say to the navi, What hath Hashem answered thee? And, What hath Hashem spoken?

³⁸ But since ye say, The massa (burden) of Hashem; therefore thus saith Hashem, Because ye say this word, The massa (burden) of Hashem, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The massa (burden) of Hashem;

³⁹ Therefore, hineni, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the Ir that I gave you and avoteichem, and cast you out of My presence;

⁴⁰ And I will bring a cherpat olam (everlasting disgrace) upon you, and a kelimut olam (perpetual dishonor), which shall not be forgotten.

24 Hashem showed me, and, hinei, two baskets of figs were set in front of the Heikhal Hashem; after that Nevuchadretzar Melech Bavel had carried away into the Golus Melech Yehudah Yechanyah ben Y’hoyakim, and the sarim (princes) of Yehudah, with the craftsmen and artisans, from Yerushalayim, and had brought them to Babylon.

² One basket had figs tovot me’od, even like the figs that are early ripening; and the other basket had figs ra’ot me’od, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.

³ Then said Hashem unto me, What seest thou, Yirmeyah? And I answered, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, that cannot be eaten they are so bad.

⁴ Again the Devar Hashem came unto me, saying,

⁵ Thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that of Yehudah are carried away unto the Golus, whom I have sent out of this place into the Eretz Kasdim (Chaldeans) for their good.

⁶ For I will set mine eyes over them for tovah, and I will bring them again to ha’aretz hazot; and I will build them up, and not tear them down; and I will plant them, and not uproot them.

⁷ And I will give them a lev to have da’as of me, that I am Hashem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their Elohim; for they shall return unto Me with all their lev.

⁸ And as the bad figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad, surely thus saith Hashem, So will I give Tzidkiyah Melech Yehudah, and his sarim (princes), and the she’erit Yerushalayim, that remain in ha’aretz hazot, and them that dwell in Eretz Mitzrayim;

⁹ And I will deliver them for abhorrence, for an offense to kol mamlechot ha’aretz to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a kelalah (curse) in all places where I shall drive them.

¹⁰ And I will send the cherev, the ra’av (famine), and the dever (pestilence), among them, until they are consumed from off ha’aretz that I gave unto them and to their avot.

25 The davar that came to Yirmeyah concerning kol HaAm Yehudah in the fourth year of Y’hoyakim Ben Yoshiyah Melech Yehudah, that was the first year of Nevuchadretzar Melech Bavel;

² The which Yirmeyah HaNavi spoke unto kol HaAm Yehudah, and to all the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, saying,

³ From the thirteenth year of Yoshiyah Ben Amon Melech Yehudah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the Devar Hashem hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not paid heed.

⁴ And Hashem hath sent unto you all His avadim the nevi’im, rising early and sending them; but ye have not paid heed, nor inclined your ozen to hear.

⁵ They said, Shuvu, make teshuvah now every ish from his derech ra’ah, and from the rah of your doings, and dwell in ha’aretz that Hashem hath given unto you and to avoteichem l’min olam v’ad olam;

⁶ And go not after elohim acherim to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke Me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no harm.

⁷ Yet ye have not paid heed unto Me, saith Hashem; that ye might provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.

⁸ Therefore thus saith Hashem Tzva’os; Because ye have not paid heed to My Devarim,

⁹ Hinei, I will send and take all the mishpekhot of the tzafon (north), saith Hashem, and Avdi Nevuchadretzar Melech Bavel, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these Goyim all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.

¹⁰ Moreover I will cause to perish from them the kol sasson (voice of gladness), and the kol simchah (voice of joy), the voice of the Choson, and the voice of the Kallah, the sound of the millstones, and the ohr of the ner.

¹¹ And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these Goyim shall serve Melech Bavel shiv’im shanah (seventy years). [T.N. Note: length of Exile predicted here.]

¹² And it shall come to pass, when shiv’im shanah are accomplished, that I will punish Melech Bavel, and that nation, saith Hashem, for their avon, and the Eretz Kasdim (Land of Chaldeans), and will make it perpetual desolations.

¹³ And I will bring upon that land all My Devarim which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this sefer, which Yirmeyah hath prophesied against kol HaGoyim.

¹⁴ For Goyim rabbim and melachim gedolim shall enslave them also; I will recompense them according to their deeds, according to the ma’aseh of their own hands.

¹⁵ For thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel unto me, Take this kos hayayin haChemah (wine cup of wrath, see Lk 22:42) from My yad, and cause kol HaGoyim, to whom I send thee, to drink it.

¹⁶ And they shall drink, and stagger, and go mad, because of the cherev that I will send among them.

¹⁷ Then took I the Kos from the yad Hashem, and made all the Goyim to drink, unto whom Hashem had sent me;

¹⁸ Namely, Yerushalayim, and the towns of Yehudah, and the melachim thereof, and the sarim thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a kelalah (curse); as it is this day;

¹⁹ Pharaoh Melech Mitzrayim, and his avadim, and his sarim and all his people;

²⁰ And all the mixed multitude rabble, and kol melachim of Eretz Utz, and kol melachim of Eretz Pelishtim, and Ashkelon, and Azzah (Gaza), and Ekron, and the she’erit (remnant) of Ashdod,

²¹ Edom, and Moav, and the Bnei Ammon,

²² And kol melachim of Tzor, and kol melachim of Tzidon, and the melachim of the coastlands which are beyond the yam,

²³ Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that are in the utmost [desert] fringes,

²⁴ And kol melachim of Arabia, and kol melachim of the mixed multitude rabble that dwell in the desert,

²⁵ And kol melachim of Zimri, and kol melachim of Eilam, and kol melachim of the Medes,

²⁶ And kol melachim of the tzafon, far and near, one after another, and all the mamlechot ha’aretz, which are upon the face of adamah; and Melech Sheshach [Babylon] shall drink after them.

²⁷ Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith Hashem Tzva’os Elohei Yisroel; Drink ye, and become shikkor, and vomit, and fall, and rise no more, because of the cherev which I will send among you.

²⁸ And it shall be, if they refuse to take the Kos at thine yad to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith Hashem Tzva’os, Ye shall certainly drink.

²⁹ For, hinei, I begin to bring ra’ah on the Ir which is called by My Shem, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished; for I will call for a cherev upon all the inhabitants of ha’aretz, saith Hashem Tzva’os.

³⁰ Therefore prophesy thou against them all these Devarim, and say unto them, Hashem shall roar from on high, and utter His voice from His Ma’on Kodesh; He shall mightily roar upon His Naveh (Dwelling); He shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of ha’aretz.

³¹ A noise shall come even to the ends of ha’aretz; for Hashem hath a legal controversy with the Goyim, He will plead His case with kol basar; He will give them that are wicked to the cherev, saith Hashem.

³² Thus saith Hashem Tzva’os, Hinei, ra’ah shall go forth from Goy to Goy, and a sa’ar gadol (great whirlwind) shall be raised up from the farthest ends of Eretz.

³³ And the slain of Hashem shall be at that day from one end of ha’aretz even unto the other end of ha’aretz; they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the adamah.

³⁴ Wail, ye ro’im (shepherds), and weep; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye leaders of the tzon; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a precious pottery vessel.

³⁵ And the ro’im (shepherds) shall have no refuge for fleeing, nor the leader of the tzon to escape.

³⁶ A voice of the cry of the ro’im and a wailing of the leaders of the tzon, shall be heard: for Hashem hath destroyed their pasture.

³⁷ And the ne’ot hashalom (peaceful folds) are laid waste because of the Charon Af Hashem.

³⁸ He hath left His hiding place, as the lion; for their land is desolate because of the charon (anger) of the oppressor, and because of His charon af.